Chapter Text
“Okay, Becca, just one more deep breath,” Alec said, moving the end of the stethoscope to the left side of the girl’s back. She tried doing as he asked, but ended up coughing harshly, tears welling up in her eyes. Her father was next to her, telling her to relax, and Alec couldn’t help but think that the one thing you shouldn’t tell a six-year-old when they’re trying not to choke is to relax.
When she did finally manage to catch her breath, Alec helped her get off the exam table before getting a lollipop from his desk and crouching down to hand it to her. “You did great, sweetie. I’ll give you some medicine to help with the cough and it will get better, okay?”
She squinted at him, cocking her head to the side. “What kind of medicine?”
“A syrup,” he replied. Before she could ask the question he knew she would (most children asked it), he added, “It’s not the bitter one, I promise.”
Becca smiled at that, nodding, “Okay.”
At 30, Alec Lightwood was considered quite young to be a successful pediatrician. But he’d worked hard for years to be where he was, and he was happy with how his life had turned out.
He hadn’t always wanted to be a doctor, no. If you’d asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up when he was five or ten, he probably would’ve said a pilot, or an astronaut, or whatever it was that most children dreamed of. Then, during Alec’s first year of high school, Max, his younger brother, had started getting very sick. Headaches, stomachaches, cramps and temporary loss of senses became a part of the Lightwood family’s everyday life. It had only lasted for a couple of months, but even a couple of days would have been too long – Max was miserable, and so was the rest of Alec’s family. They’d gone to a dozen different specialists, and then to a dozen more, and no one was able to find the problem. Until one faithful day, a wonderful doctor named Catarina Loss waltzed into their lives in her white shoes and in less than twenty minutes with Max managed to give a diagnosis that turned out to be correct. It had been a wonderful day for the entire family, and it struck a chord in Alec, making him go back to see the doctor later on, asking about her job.
He had only been fifteen at the time, but the conversations he had with her and her amazing way of dealing with patients stuck with him. After high school, it was mostly a blur of study-eat-sleep-repeat, through four years of college, another four of medical school, and three of residency, but now, finally, Alec was doing what he wanted – he was helping people, or, well, children, who needed help.
“Doctor?” One of the nurses called through the closed door.
“Yes?”
She entered the room with an apologetic look on her face. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but your sister called to remind you about lunch.”
“Oh, thank you,” he stopped for a second, trying to remember her name. Not knowing it probably made him an awful person, but in his defense, she’d only started working here two weeks ago. “Mary,” he finished finally.
“It’s Marie, actually,” she smiled.
“Marie,” he corrected himself. “Thanks again.”
The hospital cafeteria was as pleasant as it sounded. Okay, it wasn’t that horrible, but it wasn’t particularly great, either.
He spotted his sister, Isabelle, sitting on the far side of the room, and joined her after getting his meal.
“Hey, Iz.”
“Hola, hermano,” she replied. “¿Cómo estás?”
Alec rolled his eyes. “Is there a reason you’re dusting off your Spanish?”
“Nope,” she said, avoiding eye-contact.
“Iz?”
"Grandma and grandpa are coming to visit,” she said cautiously.
“Ugghh,” was all Alec could say to that. He loved his family, he really did. But his grandparents’ visit meant that, first, his mother would be in that everything-has-to-be-in-perfect-order mode, second, there would be a lot of talk about his and Izzy’s not-Christian lives, and third, he would once again be sent so far into the closet he’d be petting Aslan.
Years ago, when he’d come out to his parents, one of the first things his mother told him was ‘don’t tell abuela’. He did tell her, though, and there were tears and screams and prayers, and after all that, his mother’s parents decided never to speak of that again, instead choosing to focus on the whole our-grandson-is-a-doctor part. He did hear them ask Isabelle if her brother was still confused, once. Alec got the urge to tell them that there was nothing confusing about the fact that he liked having a dick up his ass. But somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to say that to his grandparents.
Snapping back to the present, he heard Isabelle talking.
“Anyway, they’ll be here for a week, starting on Wednesday.”
“Wednesday? Next Wednesday?”
“Yeah, why?”
“This is going to sound like a cop-out, but there’s this pediatrics convention in Seattle next week.”
“You’re leaving me alone?”
“Max will be there,” he reasoned.
“Max still lives at home, he can’t exactly go against them. I’m gonna be on my own. Do you know how horrible that’s going to be?”
“You’re not going to be there all the time. Just say you’re busy at work. You’ll survive until I get back.”
Changing the subject, Isabelle asked, “Are we still on for tonight?”
“You’re coming?”
“Of course! When have I ever skipped movie night?”
He pretended to count on his fingers. “One… Two… Three times in the last two months.”
“Fair enough. But I’ll be there tonight, one hundred percent.”
“Meliorn out of town again?” Alec asked. His sister’s boyfriend travelled a lot for work, although what exactly his job was, Alec had no idea.
“No, he’s at home.”
“You know I wouldn’t mind him joining our movie nights, right?”
“I know, but I want to spend quality time with my big brother."
“You’re worried I don’t approve of him,” he said, and it wasn’t a question.
I’m not, he is,” Izzy replied. “Not many people would want their little sisters to date guys with tattoos on their faces.”
“His tattoo is of a leaf. It’s not really an intimidating design,” Alec shrugged. “Besides, I don’t think I should have a say in who you date.” Even if he did, he actually liked Meliorn. Well, he’d only seen him once. For three minutes. But he seemed to be a good guy.
“Okay, then. I’ll ask him.” Looking at her watch, she added, “I should get back downstairs. I’ll see you at home?”
“I’ll get snacks on the way back. Want anything special?”
“Ice cream.”
“Ice cream isn’t a snack.”
“Then ice cream with a side of chips,” Izzy said, getting up from the table.
***
Shoulder-length black hair with blue tips, hints of make-up, and the already-mentioned leaf tattoo. Those were the first things Alec noticed when he answered the door later that night.
“Hey, Meliorn, I’m glad you could make it,” he said, moving out of the way so the other could enter.
“Thanks for having me, Alec,” Meliorn replied, walking in. “Where’s Isabelle?”
“Bathroom. She’ll be out in a minute,” Alec answered as they walked to the living room.
“Is she just giving you the opportunity to give me the speech?”
“The speech?” The meaning registered with him after a moment, “Oh, the hurt my sister and I’ll hurt you speech? No, that’s not really my thing. And Izzy took kick-boxing lessons in high school, she could do it herself.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, she doesn’t really advertise it. It’s like a special boss-move you only get to see when you screw up massively.”
“Oooh, I chose a good one to start with!”
“Not again, Iz!”
“Yes, again, Alec.”
“Again, what?” Meliorn asked, looking between the siblings who seemed to be in the middle of a stare-off.
“She wants to watch Inside Out,” Alec explained.
“I thought this was movie night, not cartoon night.”
“It’s not a cartoon, it’s an animated film,” Isabelle countered.
“That we’ve already watched four times this year,” Alec said, exasperated. Turning to Meliorn, he continued, “Izzy has a thing for Disney movies.”
“We’ve all got our things, don’t we?” She questioned. “I had to watch Pokémon movies with you.”
“That was fifteen years ago, you can’t use that as an excuse!”
“Okay, but that doesn’t make sense. The emotions in her mother’s head are all female, the ones in her father’s are all male. Why are hers mixed?”
“Meliorn, baby, this is a kids’ movie,” Izzy said.
“No, he’s right. There’s no logic in that,” Alec argued.
“It’s a kids’ movie. Why should there be any logic in it?”
“Because—“ Alec groaned. “Just eat your ice cream.”
“I have to admit, this wasn’t what I expected when Isabelle invited me,” Meliorn said as he and Alec were cleaning up the room after the fourth Disney movie of the night.
“Well, you’re welcome to join us next time, it’s my turn to choose what we watch. She doesn’t particularly like gore, so I’m thinking the Saw franchise,” Alec grinned, his eyes getting that mean-older-brother-with-a-plan look.
“Oh I definitely want to be here for that!” He laughed just as Izzy came into the room.
Moving her eyes from one to the other, she asked, “What? What did you do?”
“Nothing yet,” Alec replied.
“Don’t worry, dearest. We’re just getting to know each other,” Meliorn said, leaning in to kiss her cheek.
“I changed my mind. I don’t want you two to get along.”