Author's Note: School tomorrow got cancelled so I wanted to write and post something tonight. I know that Rafael is actually like two years older than Max but I'm pretending he's not.
Disclaimer: I do not own tmi or any of the characters.
There had been a time where the idea of going to his father's house would have made Alec sick to his stomach, now with the progress there relationship had made in the last few years he was actually a little excited.
He kept a tight hold on his oldest son's hand as they walked through Alicante. Max's blue skin and hair was the loudest thing about him. He had taken after Alec and stayed relatively quiet and avoided unnecessary attention. In the last year he had gotten particularly excited about reading and would make Alec and Magnus read to him until his eyes couldn't stay open. Alec had started setting aside time to help him work on reading and spelling while Magnus kept their younger son out of trouble.
Magnus walked ahead with little Rafael. It was impossible to walk at a leisurely pace with that kid yanking at his arm. It wasn't that Rafael was out of control, it was that he acted like a normal three year old. In comparison to his brother he was a little overwhelming. He ran around the loft, sometimes chasing the cats sometimes just running for the sake of running. He got into things he shouldn't always be in and drew on the walls while singing little songs to himself. Right now he was stomping his feet to get his new sneakers to light up blue and red.
"Daddy," Max tugged at his hand to get his attention. Alec looked down at his son who appeared to be in the middle of a very serious thought if the way he scrunched his nose up was any indication. "Where did Aunt Clary and Uncle Jace get there baby from? I haven't heard you or Papa say where they got it from."
Alec panicked, not expecting this question and certainly having no idea how to answer it. It took him a moment to realize that Max thought Jace and Clary had adopted a baby. They hadn't seen Clary since she had started showing a little over seven months ago. They didn't usually go so long without seeing Jace and Clary it was just that the pregnancy had complicated travel. Clary couldn't use a portal because of the baby and Jace didn't like to fly and it wasn't like Alec and Magnus could pack everything up for a visit. They had been lucky they were able to come this week.
"Well Max," Alec remembered Simon mentioning something about how mundanes told their children about birds dropping off babies on porches and stoops, "You know how Papa and I found you on the steps of the Academy?" He tried to give the six year old the best explanation using the mundie legend he could without actually knowing the full story.
"But we had to go get Rafael," Max said, "Don't you remember, Daddy? We went to that really hot place with the wrinkly grown-ups with white hair?"
"Florida?" The Tampa institute had taken in a shadowhunter boy a little over six months old when no one could find his parents. They waited a few months to hear anything before they called the Clave. After that Alec's father had brought it up to him, eager to have another grandchild.
Alec smiled when he remembered Max's amazement with a sweet old lady's hair at a restaurant. She had short curly white hair and a straw sun hat with fake flowers on the brim. She had heard Max's awed comments to Magnus and turned around and given him a small daisy from her hat. She taught him how to make a worm out of his straw wrapper and gave him a bite of the sundae she was eating. She had told them that he was such a sweetheart that she wanted to take him home and keep him.
"That's because the birds got it wrong," Alec felt a little bad about lying to his son, "And the dropped him off at the wrong doorstep." Max nodded once but kept the serious expression on his face. Alec knew that meant he accepted the answer but still wanted to keep thinking about the topic.
Magnus and Rafael were waiting for them to catch up in front of the couch. Magnus had scooped up Rafael, probably from him complaining about his feet starting to hurt. "What's up with the Blueberry?" Magnus tried to flatten part of Max's messy hair when they approached. "You okay, Max?"
"Daddy told me about the birds," Max reported. Magnus raised his eyebrows at Alec and Alec gave him an awkward shrug in response. Max looked up at Magnus with big eyes. "Why did the birds drop off Rafael on the wrong door step?"
"Oh the storks!" Magnus finally understood and Alec finally remembered the name of the bird. "Well, Blueberry, sometimes they get confused and go in the wrong direction. But don't worry we found your brother and he was right there waiting for us, weren't you buddy?" Rafael nodded confidently even though Alec was positive he had been too busy looking around to know what they were talking about.
Alec kneeled down and picked up Max. "You ready to meet your new cousin?"
-o.0.o-
The new parents and their son were already there. Clary and Jace both looked exhausted and happy while Robert held Jon and gushed over him when they walked in. Alec and Magnus both took turns holding Jon. Magnus had passed him back to Clary when he had started getting fussy. "Sorry Biscuit but I've already done this twice, it's going to be a decade before I can deal with it again," He had told her.
Max had found a stack of Sticky-Notes that Robert had left out on a table and entertained himself by pulling them apart and sticking them back together so they formed a long accordion. Clary had handed Jon off to Jace and drew little pictures on some of them for him. Rafael had showed Jace his light up shoes—Jace had told him he wished he could have a pair his size which got Rafael to giggle—and refused to take them off. Shortly after that declaration he had crawled onto Alec's lap and wrapped his arms around his neck and fallen asleep cuddled against him. Alec took the chance to tear open the Velcro straps of his shoes as quietly as he could and slip them off.
"Aunt Clary," Max asked as she doodled an abstract design on another Sticky-Note, "Do you think I could hold the baby? I'm good with babies, Papa said I was a big helper with Rafael."
"Sure, honey," She brushed a stray red curl out of her face, "But you're going to have to be very careful." She helped Max get settled on the couch, propping pillows under his arms to help him support Jon's head.
"Make sure to hold his head up," Jace instructed as he set Jon gently in his nephew's waiting arms. He knelt down next to the sofa just in case Max got tired or Jon got fussy again. "Look at that, you are a good helper."
Max beamed at the compliment, "Daddy, Papa, look!" He whisper-shouted to his dads. "He likes me!" Alec smiled as Max started talking to the baby. "Hi, Jonny. I'm happy the birds dropped you off on Aunt Clary and Uncle Jace's doorstep."
Jace's brow furrowed and he looked to Clary for an explanation. "Mundane thing, I'll explain later," She told him.
Magnus leaned into Alec's side and whispered, "If I knew he was going to be that freaking cute I wouldn't have panicked when you asked to adopt him." He reached over and rubbed a circle on Rafael's back with his finger tip.
"I would have convinced you one way or another," Alec promised, "I already named him before I even asked." Magnus chuckled quietly and kissed his cheek.
Jace perked up, having caught part of the conversation. "Got any tips on getting Clary to agree to a couple more?" It had taken Jace a full three years to convince Clary that it was normal for shadowhunters to have children young. It was one of few things she had a hard time processing.
"I can help you get a second one," Alec grinned remembering how he tried to get Max to start complaining about not having anyone to play with. It had sort of worked except all it took was Magnus magicking up a stack of disposable plastic cups and an hour of building towers and knocking them down together to get little Max to forget about it completely. "But anything after that you're on your own." Alec and Magnus were perfectly happy with their two little ones.
"What?" Jace's mouth spread into a wide grin, "Afraid to be out numbered?"
Magnus laughed and rested his head on Alec's shoulder, "Call us after Jon starts walking and you have to chase him around. Don't let the tiny legs and inexperience full you, they're fast little things. You'll understand then."