Mission: The Parent Trap
Chapter 1: The Beginning
A/N: Hi there. I know I said I was going to update weekly, but instead, you get the second chapter two months later. I'm sorry. I didn't expect to get so busy during the Ramadhan month, as well as during Eid al-Fitr, and the month after that.
Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments or Disney's The Parent Trap.
20th June 2026
Cecily let out a satisfied sigh as she sat on the beach, legs hugged to her chest, watching the ocean waves crashing into each other. It had been three days since she and her papa, Magnus Bane, moved from Brighton to Malibu, and she was already tanned like never before. The weather in Britain couldn't compare to Californian weather.
Two days ago, one of her papa's oldest friend and pseudo sister, Clary, came for a visit. The redhead moved to Los Angeles a few months before them, so she really missed her. When Clary came, the redhead surprised her—and her papa—by bringing with her an acceptance packet to Praetor Lupus Dance and Gymnastics Summer Camp for Girls. She had wanted to apply again this year, but she was told that the camp was full and they were no longer taking any applicants.
So, of course, she was ecstatic. Her papa was not.
She had wanted to go to that particular summer camp for such a long time, mainly because every year, her favourite rhythmic gymnast became a guess instructor there. But her papa always had one excuse or another for her not to go. She didn't know why her papa disliked the summer camp so much. Fortunately, she and Clary managed to change her papa's mind.
She did feel a little bit guilty for leaving her papa to deal with unpacking on his own though.
It seemed like she had let her mind drift because before she realized it, someone had sat beside her and gave her a shoulder nudge. She knew without turning that it was Clary though, from the scent of her floral perfume. She returned the nudge and asked:
"Was my papa really angry at you?"
"Kind of, but he'll forgive me."
Cecily rested her head on Clary's shoulder. "Thank you."
"I didn't really do anything aside from asking Maia to reconsider your application, but you're welcome all the same."
"Still…"
They continued sitting there in silence, observing other people. There are some in the ocean, getting a few more hours of surfing before the sun set, while some others were sun tanning. Kids ran around and build sand castles.
"Clary, do you think I can go and search for my dad while I'm here?" She had sat up straight at this point, and turned to look at the redhead.
Cecily had always been curious about her parentage. As a child, she kept on badgering her papa about it. An opportunity present itself when she had to describe the person who gave birth to her and write a letter to them. Because it was for school, her papa finally sat her down and told her that the person who gave birth to her was a carrier. He told her that his name was Alec, and he was two years younger than him and had the most beautiful blue eyes. But Cecily remembered the sad look on her papa's face when he told her, so she told him she had enough information and ever since that day, she had never asked about her dad anymore.
Clary met her gaze. "Do you want to search for him?"
She bit her bottom lips and looked away. Trying to look for her dad behind her papa's back—because she thought her papa definitely wouldn't let her, and she couldn't ask because she didn't want her papa to look so sad ever again—felt like a betrayal somehow. But she was in the United States now, the same country her dad lived in. She couldn't just continue living without trying to reach out to him. She was about to answer when she caught side of her papa walking out to the deck, a drink in his hand. He saw her looking, and gave her a wave. She returned the wave as she replied; voice almost a whisper, "No."
30th September 2020
Magnus was worried when he picked up Cecily from school and his firecracker wasn't acting like her usual self. Usually, Cecily would be so excited everyday when school ended because that meant it was time for her rhythmic gymnastics lessons. Today, she was reserved.
"Are you all right, darling?" He looked at her from the corner of his eyes before turning his gaze back to the road.
Cecily hugged her bag to her chest. "I'm fine, thank you."
"Sweetheart, you know you can tell me anything, right?"
Cecily didn't answer. She was silent for a few minutes before she asked, "Can I skip lessons today? I don't feel like doing gymnastics."
Now Magnus knew something was really wrong because Cecily never skipped lessons unless she was really, really sick and couldn't get out of bed. He stopped at a red light and turned to look at Cecily, but his little girl was curled up looking at the opposite direction. Cecily was so quiet; he would believe she was asleep if it wasn't for the reflection of her blinking on the window.
He decided to go straight to the source and called Cecily's schoolteacher.
The conversation with Cecily's schoolteacher made him want to drink. Not wanting Cecily to overhear him, he waited for his little girl to go to her room before making the call. His heart ached for his baby when the teacher, Ms. Blythe explained about the task they had to do in class, and how the other children made fun of her when she couldn't turn in her work because she didn't know anything about the person who had given birth to her.
After the call ended, Magnus sat in his office, staring blankly at the wall. That was when he decided to tell Cecily anything she wanted to know about Alec, his feelings be damned.
20th June 2026
Maxine hugged her friend goodbye, and thanked them for the ride home before taking a deep breath and exhaling. She mentally prepared herself before she entered the house, thinking, 'Time to face the music.' She dropped her dance bag on the couch when she passed the "informal living room"—the smaller of two living rooms in their house—and called out, "Anyone home?"
Instantly, she heard a reply, "In the kitchen." It was her Aunt Isabelle. Maxine shuddered. She hoped Aunt Izzy wasn't trying to cook. The older woman hugged her as soon as she entered the kitchen. She let out a relieved sigh when she saw the entire take out menu on the kitchen table that Aunt Izzy was browsing through before she came in.
"How was your day?" Isabelle asked, returning to her seat.
"It was great, despite what happened with Layla and Mandy." She took a seat in front of Isabelle. "My team is working on a new routine for our group dance. It's a lyrical dance number."
"For the all-camp event?"
Maxine nodded. She took one of the menus on the table and looked through it, before looking at her aunt again. She wondered if her aunt knew. If Isabelle knew, then that meant her dad obviously knew as well. She hadn't seen her dad yet though. "Is daddy down at his office?"
Her dad owned a vineyard, which, lucky for her meant that her dad's office was also on their estate. So, she didn't have to wait too long for her dad to return if he was at the office.
Isabelle shook her head. "Nope. He's out on a date. That's why I'm here and looking at all these menus. I'm supposed to babysit you, and make sure you are fed without giving you food poisoning."
Her eyes widened when she heard the words "on a date", but then pouted when she registered the rest of the sentence. "I don't need to be babysat."
Isabelle shrugged. "I have my orders. Besides, I'm crashing here for the weekend. I don't want to spend the night at the family home, and I don't feel comfortable crashing at Rebecca's apartment when Simon's not here as well."
Simon, Aunt Isabelle's husband, was a recruiter or something for this international company, and he often travelled for work.
"So, a date?" Maxine asked.
"Alec is having dinner with Daniel Rossi. Your dad insisted that it was a business dinner, to finalize their partnership for this business venture or something, but I don't think Daniel intended it to be just a "business" dinner." Isabelle scrunched up her nose in distaste when the name passed her lips.
Maxine frowned. "Daniel Rossi…isn't he the owner of that five star restaurant that dad had been doing business with for the last couple of weeks?"
"He is."
Maxine's frown deepened, but she tried to hide it. She pushed the menu she was looking at—menu from Nando's—and pointed at one item from the list. "I want this one." Then, she said a quick, "Be right back," before leaving the kitchen.
She sprawled on her queen-sized bed, mimicking a starfish, as soon as she arrived into her bedroom. She looked up at the ceiling and sighed, wondering if her dad really was on just a business meeting, or was it a date? She met Daniel Rossi a few times when he came up to the vineyard for a meeting with dad, and she could see that the other man had some interest in her dad. And the thing about her dad was; he could be a bit oblivious until it hit him in the face.
She decided to call him to stop herself from wondering all night long. At least, if she had her dad's word that this wouldn't progress into anything romantic, then she could rest easy. She had nothing against her dad being happy, if he was truly in love. She could make adjustments if the other guy truly loved her dad too, and not just her dad's money, or the recognition the Lightwood name would bring.
Maxine took out her phone and called her dad. The first time, it rang for a long time before going to voicemail. Anxiety started creeping into her as she tried again. Fortunately, this time her dad answered at the second ring.
"Daddy," she said, breathing a sigh of relief when she heard his voice.
"I'm sorry I didn't answer earlier. I had my phone on silent." After a short pause, he continued, "Are you okay? I left you a note."
Leaving notes was something they did, if one of them were going out before the other gets home.
"I haven't seen it, but I saw Aunt Izzy."
"Let me guess, she called this a dinner date."
"Is it?"
Alec's sigh could be heard from the other line. "Maxie, I've promised you, didn't I? I would never start anything without talking to you first." Not again, was left unsaid.
"I know, I'm sorry. I was just being silly."
"It's fine. I have to go now, sweetie, but I'll be home before midnight, okay? Then, tomorrow we could talk. I received a rather interesting phone call from Sandra Anderson earlier today about you attacking her daughter."
Maxine squawked. There it was, the thing she was dreading. "It wasn't my fault," she exclaimed.
Alec chuckled. "We'll talk about it tomorrow." There was a short pause again, before he continued, "Listen, I really need to go now, okay? Order some take out, don't eat anything Izzy cooked, and make sure to pack your stuff. Camp's in two days after all."
Maxine giggled. Aunt Izzy's cooking was legendary for being inedible. Hers and her dad's cooking weren't great either, but it was at least edible. People called it "the Lightwood curse". Uncle Jace was the only one who could cook in their family, but then, that was because he was adopted into the Lightwood family. She told her dad to have fun, but not too much, before ending the call.
Satisfied, she had a smile on her face as she got up and went to take a shower.
4th April 2019
A silent Jace was waiting for him when he arrived home that day. All his siblings and his parents had a spare key to his house so he wasn't worried when he saw Jace there. However, he was curious about why Jace looked so furious. Jace didn't outright say it but he knew because the blond didn't greet him in a loud or boisterous way, or didn't give him a hug or a clap on the back. His brother just looked at him with a frown on his face and arms crossed over his chest.
"Did something happened?" he asked.
"Where were you?"
"I went out for lunch with Sebastian. Why?" Alec frowned.
Jace sighed, dropping his posture and ran a hand through his hair. "Maxine's teacher tried to call you. She's sick. They called me when the call went to voicemail after five times."
A feeling of dread crept into Alec as he fished out his phone and unlocked it. There was no notification for him, but when opened his call logs, indeed there were five missed calls from Maxine's elementary school, Alicante Academy. "I…I left my phone on the table with Sebastian when I went to the toilet."
"When are you going to break up with him?"
"I…"
"Alec, come on. What more do you need? Izzy and I told you that Sebastian didn't like Maxine and here's one proof. Do you want to wait for him to send your daughter off to boarding school before you do something?"
"No," Alec said, and Jace could hear the anger in his voice.
'Good,' the blond thought.
Alec excused himself and immediately went to Maxine's room. His baby was asleep, tucked in her bed, with a wet towel on her forehead. He sat on the edge of her bed, and brushed away a few strands of hair that fell onto her face.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered to the sleeping Maxine, careful not to wake the younger girl up. "I did something that I swore to myself I would never do." He placed a kiss softly on Maxine's forehead. "I promise I'll break up with Sebastian immediately, and we would never have him in our lives ever again."
After spending a few more minutes watching his baby girl sleep, he went down to the kitchen to start making dinner while making a mental note to talk to Maxine about this once she was awake and feeling better. To his surprise—really, he shouldn't be anymore because Jace had always done this, all the time—there was already a pot of chicken soup, and rice porridge cooking on the stoves. Jace himself was still in the kitchen, standing by the kitchen island, working on who-knows-what.
22nd June 2026
Cecily was glad that growing up, her papa and his friends were a constant in her life. Because it had prepared her for surprise hugs. Case in point, as soon as she entered the Camp Director's office to complete her registration, Maia Roberts, the Camp Director, stood up and hugged her tightly. She heard from Clary that Maia was one of her papa's friends, back when he still lived in Brooklyn. Only, Clary didn't say "papa" or her papa's name. She used the word "parents".
Clary thought she was subtle, but Cecily could see where the older woman was going with that hint. Or so she thought.
"…under no circumstances are you—Am I making you bored?" Maia asked when she noticed that Cecily was no longer paying attention.
Cecily snapped her attention back to the dark-skinned woman. She flushed under the woman's gaze. "I'm sorry. This was just fascinating," she replied, gesturing at the general attention of Maia's walls.
There were picture frames hung on the wall, and on the shelves near the wall. But what made her notice the pictures was her papa. He was in some of those pictures, and also the man she could identify as her dad. Suddenly, it clicked inside her brain that perhaps all of these—the special favour into the camp, the hints, and the painted portrait of her parents that Clary slipped into her luggage—it was all some kind of plan to make Cecily want to search for her dad.
Cecily didn't know why Clary was doing all this yet, but it won't make her change her mind.
Maia nodded understandingly. "See anything you like?"
Cecily nodded. "They all looked so young… You all looked so young." Then, realizing what she had said, she blushed. "I mean…not that you don't look young now but…"
Maia laughed. "I get what you meant." Then, she straightened up and went all business mode again. "So, I've explained the important rules to you, and all the other fussy ones, you can just read from the pamphlet provided in your acceptance package." After Cecily nodded, Maia continued, "Great. Now, you've already signed up for the dance and gymnastic classes before you got here, but if you changed your mind about any of the classes, or felt like adding some more—if it doesn't clash with your other classes—then, all you need to do is talk to your cabin counsellor and she will deal with the rest."
"Okay."
"The same goes for your "free time" activities. Please inform your cabin counsellor before going on the more adventurous activities like hiking or swimming in the lake. We don't want any accidents. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," Cecily nodded.
"One last thing," Maia added. "You might not be aware, but most of the campers here have known each other for quite some time, so some has probably already have a set team for the all-camp event. However, don't let discourage you to find and join any of the teams, okay? We encourage all campers to participate in the all-camp event."
"Got it," Cecily said, trying to find cheery but she somehow dreaded it. She doesn't work well in teams, which was why she only competed in the individual event, and never the group event in Rhythmic Gymnastics.
After they chatted for a few more minutes, and Cecily signed everything she needed to sign, Maia walked her out of the administration building. As she was walking down the stairs of the porch, her shoulder brushed with another camper who was going the opposite direction. She immediately apologized. The other camper didn't stop walking but the camper did managed to reply with a "No worries" before the camper cried out the Camp Director's name, and Cecily heard Maia replied with a "Maxine" and there was an amused hint in Maia's voice. She turned around just in time to see Maxine and Maia hug. She just shrugged before going off to find her cabin, and meet her cabin counsellor and cabin mates.
A/N: Because I mainly use AO3 nowadays, I posted this new chapter on A03 first. And well, comments about Alec was kind of overwhelming. Anyways, please comment. I would love to hear your thoughts.