Hello! I'm so excited right now! Malec Week is finally here! I've literally been planning this for two months! I love these cuties so much, I can't even! When I saw the fandom would organise this event I was head-over-heals because, c'mon, it's always so much fun to work with Magnus and Alec and to do it for a complete week it's just a dream come true.

Okay now, to the story. When I read "Born to Endless Night" (this one-shot does not contain any spoiler of the after mentioned although my rambling might. Nothing important, I promise) I was very touched by the scene in which Maryse apologizes to Magnus, and also by how Magnus reacts. I mean, something like that could have gone so much worse than it did on the book, after all that Maryse did, after all that Magnus has suffered and yet... they're just tired, they don't want to start a fight again, they simply want to enjoy their family that has, somehow, become the same.

So it just... you guys know how much of a sucker for Hurt/Comfort I am, so don't sat I didn't warn you. This is a little something that includes Maryse, Magnus and acceptance. The idea came out of nowhere and it had been in the "pendants" list for a long while, so when the chance to write this for Malec Week came I simply took it.

I really hope you enjoy it! ;)

Saturday-Family Life
A Mother's Love

To say that Magnus Bane was familiarized with the New York Institute was an understandment―he'd been around for a long time and so had that place.

However, that didn't mean that he had to like the place or anything that it represented. For centuries Magnus had seen how shadowhunters, self-proclaimed saviors of the world, treated his kind as if they were inferior, worthless, not good enough to share the world with them, not even good enough to live in it and, quite honestly, the warlock wasn't interested in visiting such a place only to be looked down at.

On the other hand, warlocks like him had distinguished themselves for charging when it came to his magic and shadowhunters, heroic as they were, often needed the help of the demoniac spawn to get their own things solved, which concluded with him being forced to attend boring meetings at the Institute more often than he'd wished.

For once, though, Magnus had a happier reason to be standing at the doorway of the antique church now that he was dating someone that lived there and, even if Alexander Lightwood wasn't the kind of person to enjoy a serenade, the warlock still rejoiced in simple things such as passing by to pick him up, as long of course as his boyfriend's parents weren't there to express their discomfort at his appearance.

Which was precisely what he was doing right then, as he waited in the Institute's dining room for Alexander to return, given how just before they left the building the shadowhunter had decided it would probably rain and he needed a coat. Without second thoughts Magnus had agreed to wait for him downstairs―which had only been the calmness before the storm.

At first he didn't notice her, as the place was much too dark and all Maryse Lightwood ever wore was black or an obscure shade of blue. Plus, his mind wasn't actually in the antique building, too dilapidated to appreciate its beauty, too full of ghosts to be attractive.

It wasn't until the Lightwood matriarch spoke that he took notice of her and turned to meet the woman, a little stunned.

"Magnus Bane, can I have a word with you?" she questioned, more like ordered, gesturing for a chair next to her, even though she herself was standing.

Deciding against making a scene merely because his first impulse was to answer 'I'd rather stay here' he neared the woman even when he remained upright.

"I'd like to talk to you about a couple of issues" Maryse continued, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Well, shoot" the warlock replied shortly, reminding himself to be bit more formal when Maryse pursed her lips.

"Pardon me?" she questioned.

"I meant to say go ahead, Maryse" he replied, refraining himself from rolling his eyes.

"As I was saying" she continued, shaking her head, as if to say this was all a setback. "You and I, Magnus Bane, have known each other for a long time and we've managed a good relationship when it comes to work, so it's indeed very shameful for me to ask a favor from you, do you understand?" she offered.

This time, Magnus actually had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from snorting.

"That I do get" he muttered through gritted teeth, although Maryse decided upon ignoring that detail.

"But, as it turns out right now, it's the love of a mother what pushes me to speak to you and ask you to leave Alexander alone" she concluded, throwing her shoulders back, her chin raised to appear higher than the warlock was, even when he was still two good inches taller than her, overlooking the fact that she was wearing high-heels.

This time, no amount of chewing on his cheek was able to stop Magnus from letting his true emotions show on his features.

"Excuse me?" he nearly spat at her, too astonished to mind etiquette.

"As you've heard" Maryse nodded stoically. "If you loved my son half as you claim you do, you'd understand, Bane. You see, think of it in the best interest of Alexander―once this caprice burns down and he realizes his mistake… once his reputation is already stained with this eyesore relationship of yours…" she said, a contemptuous smile placed upon her lips, her marbled features remaining unaltered.

"Maryse, I will have to deny doing such a thing because if you knew your son half as much as you boast of doing you would know―" he said, stepping to the front, forgetting about etiquette, forgetting about playing nice, only able to feel his blood boil with a numbing rage.

"Watch your tone, warlock" the woman cut him coldly, not batting an eyelash at his sudden outburst. "I opened you the doors of my house and welcomed you here merely because I thought you would understand something as simple as what I am asking from you, but seeing as you aren't, I―"

"Oh, so you welcomed me here! Now that you mention it, I was starting to feel like you wanted to kill me and hide my body! Not that, you know, you would do that. Funny, I don't think that matches the definition of 'welcoming'" Magnus mocked, letting go of a lopsided smirk.

"Magnus Bane, I forbid you of talking to me in such a disrespectful way" Maryse breath out, finally allowing rage taint her expression. "I wanted to do this the good way, but of course what would you, warlock, understand of a mother's love!"

The words, said too bluntly, almost spat at him, hit him too closely because, to be honest, Maryse was right. He could deal with the despise with which shadowhunters pronounced the name of his male parent, he could handle the way he was looked at by those so-called saviors, but he couldn't understand how he was supposed to react or even feel whenever the woman that had brought him to the world was mentioned.

To put it simply, Maryse had the reason. However, it was also true that it was terribly dirty to pull out such a card in a face-to-face discussion, and while he liked being a gentleman, that game could use two players.

"You're right, Maryse" he spat back with a crooked grin. "What would I know? Although, let me ask you something" he continued, a mischievous, almost cruel gleam in his eyes. "What would you know too? What does your son know either? Because if you love Alexander like you say you do, then answer me, Maryse, why is it that your son's eyes looked so empty when I first met him? Why is it that he was so eager to love someone who didn't judge him? Why is it that―?"

"Magnus" Alec's voice cut him to his left, the slight tremor in the boy's voice enough to stop the warlock right on his tracks. The black jacket he held in his right hand slipping through his fingers to the floor.

However, before the son of Asmodeus could turn around to assure Alexander that everything was fine, Maryse's features lit up.

"Alexander, your timing is perfect" the woman contended, gesturing to reach for the boy's wrist as if to pull him on her side not only in the discussion, but physically too. "Tell Magnus Bane here how you know as well as I do that the best for you is to give an end to this eyesore relationship".

"Excuse me?" Alec breath out, brow creased.

"I know you understand my concerns, Alexander" she continued, uncaring about his son's obvious discomfort. "Once this… caprice of yours has burn out… your reputation, son, think about it…" she said, stretching her long fingers so they curled around the boy's wrist.

"Don't touch him" Magnus snapped, startling them both and, ultimately, stopping Maryse from actually reaching Alec. "Let him decide on his own".

"Oh, and what is there to decide, warlock, when―"

"Enough, mother" Alec let out, allowing a fierce fire to shine in his eyes that Magnus had only seen in his sky-blue orbs when he was fighting. And, to be honest, this was a fight, of only not against a demon, but against someone that should have supported him no matter what. Not that Magnus would know about it anyways.

"Excuse me, Alexander?" Maryse managed sternly, eyes piercing and lips pressed together into a thin line.

"I said enough, mother. I know you have trouble understanding, but I didn't think the same could be said for your hearing" Alec replied, with a firmer voice straightening his back so he stood higher.

"What have you said?" Maryse spat with a blazing fury throbbing in her eyes and voice before she turned to Magnus rapidly, making her dark locks oh-so similar to Alec's fly around her. "It's your fault, Bane! Don't you see how you perverted my child into―"

"Oh, by the Angel, stop it already!" Isabelle cut her mother, startling the three arguing adults as she appeared in the stairs, wearing a black dress and a knee-high boots, only half of her hair curled up, while the other hung lazily in its straight form, the curling iron still in her right hand. "Shut up! I can't believe you're saying such a thing, mother! My brother is happy, don't you see that?" she concluded, placing herself in front of Alec, physically wanting to shield him from their mother's venomous words.

"You too, Isabelle? You too?" the older Lightwood exclaimed with an exaggerated pained expression.

"Mother, I only slept for four hours, don't expect much from me right now, especially not if it's withholding!" the girl replied, staring right into her mother's eyes. "Let's be honest, the only reason why dating a downworlder would be a problem is if it were a mermaid. I mean, that stinks, seriously, but since Magnus is a warlock I don't see where your issue is! Now, with that established you can all stop arguing and I can actually get some peace in my own house, thank you very much!" she blurted out, gesturing madly with her hands before placing them on her hips as she turned on her heels to leave, giving Maryse her back. "By the way, Magnus, that's a nice jacket" she offered with a breath-taking smile that Magnus corresponded with a playful courtesy.

And with that, she was gone, the rattling of her shoes lost in the ancient church.

For a moment, Maryse's expression became the one of a person who had just been slapped. In a way, she had been, with words instead of the back of a hand, but slapped nevertheless. Her already pale skin had gone paler, her eyes wide in astonishment.

"Mother, I―" Alec tried in a gentler voice, attempting to take the woman's hand in a sign of support.

The boy's action, though, didn't stop the crease in Maryse's forehead, even when it was quite successful at bringing her back to real life, which wasn't such a wise thing to do, as it only brought a blazing wrath back to her eyes.

"Get out of here!" she cut him furiously. "Get out of here you too!"

"Fine by me" Alec nodded with an icy voice, letting his lax arm fall to his side before tugging gently at Magnus' hand. "Let's go".

"Alexander…" the warlock let out, his tone shy from shaky.

"Let's go. Please" the young boy repeated, already heading to the door.

Noticing the gritted teeth of his boyfriend and Maryse's marble-cold features, the warlock had no other option that to nod and follow the shadowhunter out of the place, craving to get as far away from that crushing atmosphere as possible.

"I… I can't believe it" Alec managed just as they turned the first corner. "I… she shouldn't have, Magnus, I'm so sorry" he muttered, stopping on his tracks and turning around so he faced the aftermentioned.

"It's fine, Alec, don't worry" Magnus replied simply, shrugging with a bitter grin.

"No, it's not 'fine', Magnus!" the boy refuted, shaking his head repeatedly to mark his point. "She had no right to say that, it was not her place and it's simply not fair that she did it!"

"Alexander, c'mon―"

"No, I mean it. It's bothering you, Magnus, I can see that!" the shadowhunter cut him off. "Don't lie to me! The point of the matter is that you're a wonderful person and she had no right to say what she said to you!" Alec continued, a fierce gleam to his eyes, the craving need to protect, to protect him present in his orbs that managed a smile to form in Magnus' lips.

There was something ferocious in Alec's features, in the way he held his jaw, in how his eyes pierced through him and in the way he seemed so collected and so firm in his words. And that, only seeing Alexander so ready to go against his very own mother for him, someone that the shadowhunters considered nothing more but riffraff was enough to soften the warlock's eyes.

"Alexander, I understand your reaction, but really, it's no big deal" he promised, leaning down to press a kiss to the boy's lips. Not a passionate or even a lingering one, but rather only the firm pressure of both their mouths against each other in the seal of a promise. "Plus, what do you know, I could actually be a terrible person" he added, a mischievous grin back to his features.

"A terrible person, huh?" Alec muttered against the corner of Magnus' lips with a shy smile as he leaned on the warlock's left shoulder, drawing an arm around his waist. "Don't tell me. And what do you do?"

"Oh, as a demon's spawn I could steal your soul, Or those sapphires you have for eyes" he suggested, tickling Alec's right side before he, too, circled the boy's shoulders and brought the boy closer to him.

"Idiot" the shadowhunter nodded playfully with a roll of his eyes. "What would your eyes be then? Emeralds?"

"I'm pretty sure my eyes have yellow in them too and emeralds are only green" Magnus replied in a fond voice, allowing himself to believe in that innocent boy's words and rest his left cheek on the top of Alec's head.

"You just ruined it" the younger of them argued, holding back laughter.

"Alexander, honey, you need to read more poetry" the warlock offered, apparently, not having any issued with mocking his boyfriend.

"I read poetry!" Alec claimed with faked angriness. "The fact that Poe or Wilde are not ones to describe their character's eyes is not my fault!"

"You are wrong there, you see. Wilde was a romantic" Magnus argued with a serious expression that soon enough cracked under the mischievous gleam of his eyes.

"Oh, and you would know that, wouldn't you?" the Lightwood inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course, darling, it's called reading!" Magnus continued. "Ever heard of 'The Nightingale and the Rose'?"

"The bird dies in the end! For nothing!" Alec refuted, pretending he thought it was a big deal, even when he couldn't have cared less about the death of a fictional bird.

Still, a voice that he'd willed away, buried deep under loads of busy work wouldn't have it at the moment, and so it decided to whisper in his ear that, perhaps, only perhaps, the reason behind why any of Oscar Wilde's love stories ended well was that his own love story never had the chance of a lived happily ever after, instead being sent to prison for two long years, his reputation finished and repudiated by his own family after being found guilty of sodomy*.

Pursing his lips at the afterthought, chest tight as he leaned a little closer to Magnus, savoring how he had been born in a century in which he could do that and such an action wouldn't be received with a death sentence.

Most of times, anyways, which only brought back his mother's words and the reason they were out there when it had started to drizzle.

"She's gonna hear me" he let out suddenly, not a true menace, but more of a vow, of a pledge.

"Alexander, you don't have to do it―" the warlock started, only to be cut off by his boyfriend.

"No, but I want to" the Lightwood replied, adamant. "Because if she doesn't want to see you, then she's not gonna see me either" he concluded, resolutely taking Magnus' left hand in his right, turning on his heels.

"Alexander, let it be, at least for now" Magnus offered. "You can spend the night in my loft, talk to her once things have cooled down".

"I would go right now, you know?" Alec replied, death-serious. Magnus could only smile at him. "Besides, don't try to take advantage of this situation by using it to take me to your house" Alec joked with a lazy smile.

"I know you would" the warlock replied instead. "But it's not wise, alright? Let matters cool down a little".

Hesitantly, Alexander nodded before leaning to rest his head on Magnus once more. Said and done, they headed to the warlock's apartment.

–*–*–

It wasn't until a week or two later, when they were sitting at the table for breakfast that Alec brought the matter up again.

"I'm going back to the Institute" ha announced, putting down his fork.

"Alexander…"

"No, I'm serious, Magnus. I don't have anything against staying here for as long as this Cold War lasts, but that's not how I like to do things. You told me to let things cool down and I put the matter down, but she has yet to hear my opinion on the matter".

Unable to resist Alec's sweet decision, the defensive indignation in his behalf, perhaps not even wanting to stop the shadowhunter, Magnus let him do.

"Alec, you… you don't have to do this" he tried one last time.

"I know. But she shouldn't have said those things and yet she didn't second-thought them" the shadowhunter pointed out. "Besides, wearing your clothes is alright, but I don't see me wearing a sweater that reads 'C'mon, baby, I know you want to call me' for the rest of my life" he pointed out sensing his boyfriend's hesitance despite how his last statement had pulled a tired smile to the warlock's lips, Alec took Magnus' hands in his on top of the table and gave them a tiny squeeze. "Magnus, listen, the last weeks have been nothing other than amazing and I'd love to spend every day I have left like this. Just you and me. And I'm willing to let her know that".

Biting the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from mentioning that he had plenty of sweaters in his apartment that didn't have such a thing printed on the front of them or that he could plainly conjure Alec's own right then and there or even that they could ask Isabelle ―who also refused to speak to Maryse until further notice for what he understood of the family drama― to bring whatever Alec wanted from the Institute to the apartment, Magnus decided upon letting his boyfriend do as he pleased, perhaps with the egoistic ulterior motive of rejoicing with that ferocious need to protect ―to protect him, no less surprising, a worthless downworlder in the eyes of his parents― that gleamed in the boy's sapphires eyes.

Sincerely, though, he only hoped against hope that there weren't any reprisals from Maryse to Alexander for what he was doing.

"Let's do this" Alexander proposed. "We go back, I get my luggage done and if she's not there we don't argue anymore and let this down, but if she is, she's gonna hear me and that's that".

"Alexander…"

"Last offer. Give or take" he murmured with a smile.

Sighing, Magnus gave in, because, really, there was not a chance that he didn't surrender to whatever Alexander wanted.

When shortly after they were entering the building the warlock was glad to find the ground floor of the church empty. For what Alexander knew, Jace and Isabelle were out on a mission and, hopefully, Maryse wouldn't be there. Good, he thought, as he followed the shadowhunter upstairs, at least they could leave then, no issues needed.

It wasn't until a good quarter of an hour later, when they were still in Alec's room, a small suitcase laying open on top of the boy's bed that the footfalls of someone walking towards the room they occupied while wearing high-heels were heard. Let it be Isabelle, let it be Isabelle, please, Magnus mentally prayed, to no god, and to no use either, he dwelled on as he heard the woman speak.

"Alexander. Magnus Bane" Maryse greeted them sternly, her voice not as filled with despise as before, but not welcoming either.

"We were already leaving" the woman's son replied, his tone so cold, so nonchalant, that it surprised not only Maryse, but Magnus as well. The female shadowhunter's lips pressed into a thin line that she noticed the indifference with which she was treated; she took a step forward.

"No-no, Alexander, please… please stay" she asked, finally catching up with the couple. Only then did Magnus notice that the wrinkled around her eyes had deepened and she didn't seem to have been sleeping enough, for what the bags in her face told. "I… Last time I talked to you my words were heedless and I shouldn't have spoken" she continued, closing her eyes with heaviness, almost as if she couldn't stand her son's sight, as if the words were being stripped from her.

"Glad you noticed" Alec snapped with the same inflection he had before.

"Alexander…" the woman nearly pleaded, allowing her oh-so stoic features contort with the pain of an imaginary slap.

"Alec…" Magnus seconded her, unable to bear the way in which the shadowhunter was speaking to someone who, he know, he held so dear to his heart for any longer, despite the way in which Maryse had treated him barely a couple of weeks in the past.

"No, Bane, I deserve it" Maryse replied quietly, turning her eyes to the ground in a defeated expression that the warlock saw for the first time in any shadowhunter, much less Maryse Lightwood.

"Precisely" Alec spat back.

"I… I had an argument with Jace, too" Maryse continued, her expression growing more tired by the minute. "And he sort of… he made me realize I shouldn't have spoken about things I didn't understand".

"It was about time you did" Alec repeated, so nonchalant that even Magnus had to note that saying such a thing wasn't something he'd imagined himself doing, much less to his mother.

Truthfully, Magnus couldn't claim that he had a saying in how Alexander was treating Maryse because, quite honestly, the woman had been certain when she'd said he knew nothing about a mother and son relationship, and thus he had no right to speak on that department.

However, Magnus knew Alec, and he understood the boy's actions well enough to say that no matter how the Lightwood's blood boiled at the woman's words, that was still someone he valued dearly, and once things had calmed down, once the pouring rain had washed away the anger, he would regret each and every one of his words.

Furthermore, the anguish in the woman's features seemed genuine, the way in which she chewed on her lower lip in nervousness, how she resignedly closed her eyes―it was all sincere, and Magnus, hurt as he was by her previous actions, was not resentful enough to ignore how she was trying to make amends.

"Alexander, at least listen to her" he managed, but the boy shook his head adamantly. The Lightwood matriarch, on her side allowed the ghost of a smile to trace her features.

"Let him, Magnus, I deserve it" she murmured, the pain in her voice too much to be covered by the fact that she had stopped her lips from trembling as she spoke. "I understand, Alexander, I do. I wasn't there when you needed me in the past and now I'm failing you once more" she accepted in a low voice before she turned to Magnus with a slight grimace that, for once, wasn't caused by the warlock's presence but rather by her own actions. "I'm sorry" she offered, reaching in a slow motion for Magnus' wrists, giving him enough time to step back if he was disgusted by her. He let her do. "If I could, I would erase my words from you memory. I would, I promise you".

"You're being honest" Alec breath out suddenly in a confused tone before the warlock could reply anything.

"Excuse me?" Maryse whispered, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"That thing you do with your hair when you lie―you play with it" Alexander replied in something akin to astonishment as he pointed to her steady hands with a gesture of his head. "You are not doing it. You are not lying".

"I haven't deceived you since the last time I talked to you" the woman offered. "Although on that occasion I did speak some lies that I considered to be certain".

"And what made you change your mind then?" Alec inquired again, wanting to hear something more than his brother's words to explain Maryse's sudden empathy.

"Jace struck a chord when we… when we talked" Maryse explained. "And he opened my eyes to see that while you two didn't have a saying in what I was so offended by, like your failed parentage" she said, pointing ever so slightly to Magnus with the side of her head before she continued. "Or your… preference, I was willingly choosing to be an ass to you. He also said that it was sad that I had been such a wonderful figure in his life when I was failing miserably when it came to supporting you like I should have".

And just like that, with a pained expression and genuine regret marring her features, she opened her arms for her eldest son, not daring to step closer to him for the fear of a rejection.

With a smile, Magnus watched in fascination as his boyfriend lose that wary attitude, a smile he probably was unaware that had climbed to his mouth adorning his lips. In enthrallment, he watched as Alec eyed his mother calculatingly one last time before deciding it was safe to trust her and melt into her embrace.

They remained like that for a minute, both Lightwoods savoring that moment's calmness before they broke apart. As they did, Maryse turned to Magnus, her eyes gleaming with something akin to hope, opening her arms for him as well. This time, though, she didn't wait for his assent before stepping closer and engulfing him in her arms.

"I guess this is the overdue moment, let it be said, in which I welcome you to the family" she let out, wrapping her arms ―not hesitant, not disgusted anymore, but firm― around the warlock's waist. Unable to do anything else, Magnus imitated the gesture, under the relieved and very thankful eyes of Alec.

Before they broke apart, however, the women's right hand reached for his head, making Magnus lean over a little closer so she could speak into his ear.

"Magnus, I… I know you never had a mother figure" she started, her voice just shy of a whisper. "And I already apologized for what I said before, but I… if you'd have me, if you have the heart to accept me, I… I would like to let you know what a mother's love is like" she offered, and as she said that, she stood on her tip-toes, pressing a soft kiss to the warlock's forehead as if it were nothing ―not a big deal, not something that she should consider repulsive―, dedicating him a sincere smile.

"Mother, I―"Alexander tried, although Maryse merely shook her head softly.

"Don't say anything. It's alright" she assured, taking Magnus' left hand and Alec's right in hers for a moment before she directed the warlock's hand to her son's. "I'm proud of you. Of both of you. You don't know how much".

Nodding in understandment and deciding to put the matter down, Alec smiled as well, a gleam so kind in his sapphire eyes that Magnus felt his knees go weak.

Because, in the end, he might not have understood a lot of things, though he was certain of only one ―a mother's love could tremble, could make mistakes, but it could never be broken. And, complex as they were, Maryse loved her son, and the mere perspective of him forgetting and forgiving what the woman had done, for his own good, even, the opportunity of sharing a life with Alexander was enough to make Magnus want to embrace that complex and often odd life that included an actual family.

Well, how did that go? I just... I couldn't help myself, forgive me. These two just deserve to be loved and allowed to love, as for the asterisk, well, I love Oscar Wilde, I admire him as a poet hugely, but I'm also deeply touched by his life and how it was ruined. I've always thought that it was that very same impotence what motivated him to write such beautiful yet so heart-wrenching stories. Either way, he was a wonderful writer.

Okay, back t o the story, this will be a series of one-shots that will have nothing to do with one another and that mostly go doing a ping pong in time. If they get married in one of these, don't expect them to be in the next one. Same goes for the children. If Raphael and Max appear in one they might not be present in the next one.

To close it here, I really hope you liked it and please let me know in the comments if it was so!

Read you soon!