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Rafe presses his nose against the aquarium glass and eyes the Amazon Mollies from even closer. It looks a bit silly at his age, but the twelve-year-old shadowhunter has long given up second-guessing himself. It’s due to his fathers’ good parenting, likely. Alec and Magnus are very proud of their oldest, his love for animals, the silly ways he feeds his curiosity, and his knowledge of nature trivia that he loooooooves to share.
“So, what can you tell us about these?” Alec asks, well knowing that his son is only waiting for the go-ahead.
“They are so cool, Dad! They are an all-female species. All parents and children are women. They’re like us, just the other way around.”
His younger brother Max giggles. “Do they adopt their children, too?”
“No. That’s even more interesting. They reproduce asexually.”
Max furrows his brow. “What does that mean?”
“Like Uncle Raphael,” Rafe says.
“Uncle Raphael reproduces with no one,” Magnus intervenes, shooting his husband a desperate look.
“Right. Because he’s celibit,” Max says.
“It’s called celibate, honey, “ Alec corrects. “And that’s not the real reason why. Raphael wouldn’t have reproduced before that, either.”
“Because he was a vampire?” Max asks.
Alec chuckles. “No. He’s simply not interested in romance or sex.”
Sex is still a very theoretical concept for Max, of course, but they had the birds-and-the-bees talk a while ago when he found his big brother’s sex education book. He never heard that people don’t like either of these things. Grown-ups that is.
“The mollies actually do have sex,” Rafe helpfully supplies, making Max’s confusion only bigger.
“They do?” Magnus asks, furrowing his brows. Okay. At least Papa is just as astounded as he is, Max thinks.
“Yes. With males from another species,” Rafe smirks.
“But you said they reproduce asexually,” Alec states confused.
“Yes. Have been for hundreds of thousands of years. Awesome, right? The sperm only triggers the development of the egg, nothing more.”
Magnus glances over at Alec. “Well, some asexual people also have sex,” he says, shrugging when Alec’s eyes grow wide. He’s never been that comfortable talking about it, leaving these things to his husband. Though Magnus said the boys must know they can talk with him about everything if they need to.
“But Dad just said,” Max says.
Alec chuckles a little nervously, and after a last glance at his encouragingly looking husband, he explains, “Some ace people do have sex, others don’t. And both is perfectly fine.” Magnus smiles at him proudly, and Alec exhales in relief. “Come, let’s see if we can see the seahorses,” he says.
“Oh, they’re awesome, too!” Rafe exclaims.
“What’s so special about them?” Max asks.
Rafe laughs out loud. “They do have sex, but the men are having the babies.”
“Cool!” Max calls and pulls at his fathers’ hands
“Didn’t expect this conversation today,” Alec murmurs to Magnus.
“Me neither,” Magnus chuckles. “At least, our kids will know that whatever they experience when they hit puberty is totally normal.”