This story is a present for the lovely Izzie's birthday! (she's downwrlder on tumblr!) She got very excited about all of the ideas that went into making this story, so I wrote it for her for today because she's so special and deserves something special for her birthday but she lives several countries away from me, so this was the best I could do as far as a present for her!
As always, let me know what you thought of it!
Since he and Magnus had gotten married, Alec had generally hated his birthday. It only meant that he was a year closer to leaving his family, and that was the last thing he wanted to think about. But the kids had changed him in a million ways, and his views on his birthday was certainly one of those ways. They'd made it their tradition to simply take him out to his favorite restaurant, and then they would go home for a movie night in. Alec was fairly certain that keeping his birthday celebrations this simple was Magnus's form of a compromise.
And Alec had to admit that he secretly loved these celebrations, if they could be called that. Spending time with his family like this was really the only thing he ever wanted, or at least, that was what made him the happiest. The kids seemed to know to downplay it a bit, most likely curtesy of Magnus as well, and Alec was thankful for that. But he had to admit that when Rafael grabbed his hand on the way home and said, "Happy birthday, Daddy," that he felt more content than he had in a very long time.
This time, he had told Rafe that he could pick the movie, and he knew that would mean another movie night pretty soon so that Max could pick the movie for that night. Their household was nothing if not fair; Alec and Magnus had agreed very long ago that making sure the boys knew they were loved was their top priority. Alec knew that even though Rafael was eight, he was still getting used to having a family; he was still getting used to having people who loved him and would do anything for him. "Daddy?" he asked when he saw that Magnus and Max were occupied with their own conversation. "What would you say if I told you I got you a birthday present?"
That question took several moments for Alec to recover from, mostly because he could see that Rafael was extremely nervous about it. For as long as he could remember, he'd made it very clear that he didn't want birthday presents in any way. His family was enough for him, and he didn't want them to think otherwise. "Well, Rafe," he began, trying to keep his voice even and happy. "I would say that you most certainly did not need to do that, but I'm sure I'm going to love it." He sighed in contentment when Rafael smiled just as Magnus burst into laughter at whatever Max had just said.
Alec was quickly confused when Magnus's laughter was covered by a scream from Max. Without a second thought, Alec let go of Rafael's hand, automatically reaching for his seraph blade. Not having his bow made Alec slightly anxious, but he forgot all about that as soon as he realized just how many demons were currently ambushing them. There were two demons headed for him and Rafael, and Magnus was currently trying to fend off three of them. Their biggest problem wasn't the number of demons, exactly.
Under normal circumstances, the five demons would have been essentially no trouble. But adding Max and Rafael into the mix made things much worse. Both of the boys were learning the basics of fighting, but neither of them were allowed to carry a weapon with them, even if they had been proficient enough to actually fight. Which they were decidedly not nearly proficient enough. Not to mention the fact that Alec didn't have his bow, so he would have to actually engage in a fight with the demons instead of taking them out quickly. So Alec tried his best to shove Rafael behind him and trust that Magnus could protect Max.
Rafael did exactly as he had been taught, and that made Alec infinitely proud of him. They'd taught the boys to stay behind them and out of the way in the event of a fight, to not try to run, as that would make protecting them much more difficult. The only problem was that Alec was so focused on the two demons right beside of them that he didn't notice when one of the other demons escaped Magnus's notice. And he certainly didn't notice when the demon made its way around him.
Alec whirled around when he heard Magnus scream his name. But that didn't come nearly in time. By the time he realized that the demon was about grab ahold of Rafael, one of the demons that he'd been fighting knocked him to the ground. He saw sparks fly, presumably from Magnus, but when Alec heard Rafael's scream, he knew it hadn't been enough. He rolled himself over on his back despite the pain in his leg, despite the resistance to the demon's claws. It only took him seconds to slice through the demon with his seraph blade, but that was far too long.
Without a second thought, Alec got up, the pain in his leg coming in second to his panic over Rafael. He turned to see Magnus and Max leaning over Rafael, Magnus throwing up a shield so strong Alec knew he only had minutes before he passed out from using up so much energy. "Take care of the demons; I've got Rafael," he said, glancing down at Alec's leg before worriedly turning back to Rafael.
Alec worked on autopilot from that moment forward, taking out the demons without so much as a second thought. His mind was on his son, on what was happening behind him. As soon as he had taken out the last of the demons, he staggered to Magnus's side, the pain in his leg making it impossible for him to stand any longer. "Daddy," Max said, his voice betraying the tears he had yet to let fall. "Your leg..." his voice trailed off as though he had no idea of what to say about it.
The biggest problem was that Alec had no idea of what to say either; he simply didn't care about his leg. Magnus glanced up at him, and Alec didn't need him to speak to know what he was thinking. There was likely poison running through Rafael's veins right at that very moment, and Alec knew they were almost powerless to help him. Luckily, the demon had only stuck two of its claws into Rafael's stomach; it hadn't had the chance to rake its claws any further, so there were only the two puncture wounds to contend with.
"We need to get him to Catarina," Magnus said, his voice tight and controlled. Rafael was set to get his first rune in just a few months, so the only way to heal him at the moment was with magic. And Magnus had never been terribly confident with his healing abilities, knowing that Catarina was much better at it than he was. Magnus shot another glance at Alec's leg, so he forced himself to get up and pretend like there was nothing wrong with his leg.
They worked rather efficiently to get Rafael home and in Catarina's care, but as soon as possible, Alec collapsed onto the couch, the pain making him nauseous. Alec finally took the time to rune himself, but those only did so much for the pain. So he simply closed his eyes and leaned back, trying to block out the pain until Magnus would have the time to tend to his leg. "Daddy?" Max asked, his voice breaking Alec out of his thoughts. "Can I see your leg?"
At first, Alec thought of telling Max that he was fine. But the look on Max's face told him that his son could most definitely see his pain, and Alec knew he couldn't lie to him. So he simply nodded and moved to show Max his wound. Although Max was six and turning seven in a week, Magnus had been working with him on his magic for years. Of course, he still had a lot that he needed to work on, and at times he could hardly control himself, but there were certain things that he excelled at. Healing was generally one of those things, but Alec also knew that his son had never been in a situation like this.
Alec clinched his fists, forcing himself to keep from moaning in pain as Max's magic hit his leg. He watched in silence as Max focused all of his energy on healing his leg. The sparks of his magic were sporadic at first, and Alec knew that was mostly because of how emotional he was. Max paused several times, each time he flexed his hands, obviously trying to regather his energy.
When Alec realized that Max's tears were finally falling down his face, he moved away from Max's hands and reached out for his son. "It's okay, Max," he said, his voice tight with the pain. "I can wait for Papa to heal it; I'm alright." Max pulled away from him, clenching his fists, sparks flying out between his fingers in anger and frustration. Despite his pain, Alec moved to pick Max up, leaning back on the couch once more, this time with his son in his arms. Max automatically turned to take hold of his shirt, his tears still steadily streaming down his face.
"It's not okay, Daddy," Max said, his voice broken by his tears. "I can't help you and I can't help Rafe. I can't do anything right." Alec had no idea where all of this was coming from because Max had certainly never been so full of such self-doubt before. So Alec chalked it up to the situation at hand, and he simply held Max tighter, kissing the top of his head and ignoring the fact that his shirt was being soaked with his son's tears. Alec could feel his heart breaking even more with every last one of Max's sobs, and he knew he was powerless to stop them.
Magnus closed his eyes for several long seconds, trying to clear his mind as much as possible. He was having a very hard time keeping himself calm, especially without Alec's help. And the fact that he knew Alec was hurting and in pain as well only made it that much harder for him to focus. But he knew that even if he tried to take the time away from Rafael to heal Alec that he would only refuse to be healed until Rafael was fine. So Magnus took another deep breath and asked Catarina what she needed him to do, trying his hardest to ignore the panic that was bubbling up inside of him.
"He's going to be fine, Magnus," Catarina said, ignoring Magnus's question for a few moments. He knew that she was trying to calm him down, but that didn't seem to help in any way. "I'm almost done, but I'm going to need you to hold him down. He's waking up, and I still have to draw out the poison, and you and I both know that's going to hurt him." Magnus moved to hold down Rafael's arms, opting to use magic to keep Rafael's legs still as well.
The worst part of Rafael waking up was that Magnus knew Catarina was right, and he couldn't help but wish that Rafael had stayed unconscious for just a little longer. "You're okay, Rafe," Magnus said, trying to erase the anxiety from his voice. "Aunt Catarina just has to do one more thing, but you've got to be brave for me, okay?" Magnus sighed when Rafael tried to nod, unable to do so because of how weak he was.
Catarina gave no warning when she began drawing out the poison. Rafael's face twisted in pain, his arms tightened against Magnus's, but he made no noise at all. And Magnus's heart broke when he realized that Rafael was most likely keeping himself from screaming because he didn't want to scare his family, especially Max. When Catarina finally finished, Rafael all but collapsed in relief, tears finally escaping his eyes. Magnus reached up to wipe the tears away, staying by his son's side for the few short moments until Rafael fell asleep from how tired he was.
Magnus walked into the living room to find Max asleep in Alec's arms. He knew that Alec was likely still awake because of the pain in his leg, but Magnus also knew that all of the danger of Alec's wound was long gone. Runes treated the effects of the demon's poison, but they hadn't been strong enough to take away the physical wound itself. Without a word, Magnus sat on the floor and began working on Alec's leg, almost smiling when he saw Alec relax with relief. "Papa?" Max's sleepy voice spoke up as Magnus finished healing Alec's leg and got up from the floor. "Is Rafe okay?"
Sitting beside of Alec on the couch, Magnus mustered up the best smile he could manage. "Of course he is, Max; he's absolutely fine. He's sleeping it off at the moment." Max glanced between Alec and Magnus for several moments, as if trying to figure out what to say or do. Magnus felt his heart break when Max began telling him that he hadn't been able to heal Alec's leg. The last thing Magnus wanted was for Max to begin doubting his magical abilities. He was actually quite advanced for his age, but that didn't mean he never had trouble with it from time to time.
"Can I go see Rafe?" Max said quickly after he finished his story, changing the subject likely because he didn't want to hear what Magnus had to say about it. "I won't wake him up, I promise," Max said when he saw Magnus was going to shake his head. "I just want to be with my brother." Alec was, very unsurprisingly, the one who gave in, taking Max to lay down beside of Rafael without a word. Magnus felt his heart shatter even more when Rafael reached out for Max seemingly in his sleep.
When Magnus woke up, he momentarily forgot where he was and had to take several moments to orient himself. And then he realized that Max was gently shaking him, looking up at him with eyes that were gleaming with tears. Magnus followed Max into the living room, doing his best to keep from waking Alec up. Alec looked terribly uncomfortable where he had fallen asleep in his chair beside of Rafael's bed, but Magnus knew that moving him would mean waking him up, so he forced himself to leave, knowing that Alec needed his rest.
"Why couldn't I heal Daddy?" Max asked as soon as they sat down on the couch. Magnus quickly realized that Max had most likely had a nightmare related to the fact that he hadn't been able to help Alec's leg in any way. "Am I always going to be this bad at magic? I've been practicing so hard and I just couldn't do it. I don't understand." Max's voice was desperate, and Magnus almost felt helpless, but he knew it was up to him to make things better, so he swallowed his own emotions and focused on his son.
"I don't tell you this enough, Max, but you're absolutely wonderful at magic," Magnus began, reaching over to take Max's hand. "You were upset and worried about both Rafe and your dad. No one can blame you for not being fully in control of your magic. That would have been an awful lot to ask of you, son. If I'm being honest, I was barely in control of my own magic." Magnus smiled when Max looked up at him in a sort of hopeful surprise.
Magnus reached over to take Max in his arms, hoping that at least some of what he'd just said got through to his son. "I have to practice more," Max said after several long minutes. "I have to take care of Rafe." Max's voice was terribly final, and Magnus couldn't help but smile at it. He moved away from Magnus then, turning back only to ask Magnus to help him make a meal that Rafael would feel well enough to eat. All Magnus could do was shake his head and get up from the couch to follow his son into the kitchen, wondering how he'd ended up with the world's best family.
When Alec woke up, he was happy to see that Max was dutifully watching over Rafael, almost as though he'd become the older brother overnight. Rafael looked heartbreakingly surprised when Rafael and Magnus came in with breakfast for him. "I'm sorry, Daddy," was the first thing Rafael managed to say, and Alec was speechless because of it. As if Rafael had done anything wrong. Alec tried to tamp down the wave of guilt that he felt wash over him. If anyone was to blame, it certainly wasn't Rafael, it was himself.
"It's not your fault, Rafe," Max said before anyone else could speak up. "Now just eat because if you don't I'll start feeding it to you myself." Rafael looked at Max in thinly veiled surprise before moving to eat without another word. On any other day, Alec would have laughed at how mature Max was acting, at how much older he was making himself seem. But all Alec could seem to do was focus on his guilt, focus on the fact that everything that had happened was his fault.
Over the next few hours, Max was the one who seemed to take care of Rafael the most. And that was something that made Alec terribly proud of his son. But they all stopped in their tracks when Rafael winced in pain. "Are you hurt again?" Max automatically asked, and Rafael shook his head without a second thought. But Max reached for Rafael's hand regardless, and Alec wasn't a bit surprised when he saw the soft sparks that quickly began to seep out from between their hands. Rafael tried to pull away from Max, but he didn't let that happen. "Don't worry, Rafe. I'm going to make sure you're not in pain."
Alec couldn't help but glance at Magnus for confirmation that Max's magic was actually working, and he was surprised to see Magnus's very stubble nod. When Rafael moved to rest his head on Max's shoulder, Alec had to get up and leave the room long enough to calm his emotions. When he came back in the room, Max and Rafael were both asleep, and Alec quickly found himself doing absolutely anything he could to keep his mind occupied. He straightened up Rafael's room, he washed Rafael's bloody sheets even though he knew Magnus could quickly take care of them with magic, he threw out both of their clothes from the attack, he even moved on to cleaning up the living room, anything he could do to keep himself busy.
He'd just resigned himself to reading when Magnus came looking for him. "It's not your fault, you know," Magnus said, his voice soft as though he didn't want the boys to hear him. "Accidents happen Alexander. You fought perfectly, just like you always do. Please don't blame yourself for this." Alec pulled away when Magnus tried to take his hand, even though he knew that Magnus was only trying to help. "Alright," Magnus said after several moments of looking back at him. "Rafael asked to see you," Magnus finished before getting up to head toward the kitchen.
Alec couldn't help but smile when he entered Rafael's room. Rafe was holding what was obviously the aforementioned birthday present. "Here's my attempt to make up for everything that happened yesterday," Rafael said, his voice much stronger than it had been earlier. "Happy birthday, Daddy." Alec sat down on the bed beside of Rafael, reaching up to ruffle his son's hair. The last thing Alec wanted to do was accept the present, but he could see how much it meant to Rafe, so he reached out for it anyway.
He couldn't help but laugh in surprise when he finally got it open, the words "Rosetta Stone" staring back up at him. "I know how bad you feel when you can't speak Spanish with me," Rafael began explaining, his smile evident in his voice even before Alec looked up. "And I also know how frustrated you get when Papa tries to teach you and you have trouble with it. So I wanted to give you something to help instead of having Papa force his fluent Spanish on you all the time." Alec couldn't help but laugh again, knowing his son was right. "Plus, I'm sure we can find something else to make fun of you over."
For years, Alec's horrid Spanish speaking abilities had been the brunt of many jokes in their household. But the longer things had gone on, the more it frustrated him. Magnus spoke Spanish perfectly, and even Max already spoke Spanish much better than Alec ever had. And now Rafael was giving him a way to learn the language with honor, without having to deal with the fact that everyone in their family was years ahead of him with the language. Alec reached for Rafael without thinking about it. "Thank you so much, Rafe," was all that he could bring himself to say without giving away too much emotion.
Rafael reached out for Alec's hand in an innocent way that he hadn't done in years. "And if you need any help, Daddy, you know where to find me," Rafael said, his smile widening. Alec kept quiet, only leaning down to kiss the top of Rafael's head, unable to do anything else. "Thank you, Daddy," Rafael eventually said, his voice soft and full of emotion. Alec didn't have the guts to ask what for, so he remained silent, knowing that Rafael would continue of his own accord.
"You always save me," Rafael finally continued, absentmindedly squeezing Alec's hand. "You and Papa always save me. You saved me in Buenos Aires. You saved me from the demons. You always save me." Alec had no idea what to say. He wanted to admit that he hadn't been the one to save Rafael from the demons in any way, but he knew that was something best kept inside his own mind. There were so many things he wanted to say to Rafael, so much he wanted to let his son know, especially about how loved he was, but Alec found that it was much better to keep his mouth shut, to simply hold his son tighter, than to speak his mind at a moment like this.
Before either of them could say anything else, Max came back in the room, and Alec could tell he had a mission in mind. "Alright, Daddy, it's my turn again," he said, holding up the books that were in his hand. "We can't interrupt my practice again." Max was so serious about this that it was mildly humorous. They'd decided that the term "practice" was to be designated to the two of them helping one another with their reading skills. Rafael needed help reading English, and Max needed help reading Spanish, so they made the perfect team to help one another.
Alec smiled as Max climbed up on the bed, Rafael automatically reaching out for him and the books he had brought with him. Magnus had followed Max in the room as well, and Alec couldn't help but laugh when he tried to squeeze himself on Rafael's bed as well. They were long past the stage where they could all comfortably lay there, so they quickly moved into Magnus and Alec's room, giving them much more space for their reading practice. After several chapters, Alec reached out for the book Max was holding. "If you three don't mind, I think it might be time for Daddy to get some Spanish practice," he said, moving to make a face at Magnus when he snorted.