This chapter may contain light spoilers for the Bane Chronicles.
"I can't wait to stay with Uncle Magnus!" trilled an extremely-excited four-year-old Aurelia as she trotted down the street. She was hand-in-hand with her current favorite aunt, Isabelle, who was carrying a drowzy Maxine on her hip as well. The slightly-younger toddler's full head of gently waving brown hair was combed and drawn up into a pretty little bow, whilst Aurelia's black mane curled wildly in every which direction. Jace and Clary had given up on ever doing anything with it long ago, and the little girl seemed to like it better the way it was anyway. She was happy, and that was all that mattered.
"He is pretty great," Isabelle replied with a soft smile, letting go of the child's hand to pat the top of her head before taking her hand once more.
They had to hand the kids off to Magnus for the day in order to welcome a new Nephilim family into the Institute. There was a young couple, in their mid-twenties, along with a five-year-old child who went by the last name Ashdown, in spite of the fact that they had no real relation to the actual Shadowhunter family. The couple had been mundanes that had Ascended about eight years before, after the war with Sebastian that had killed so many good Nephilim.
Aurelia let out a little chirp of happiness, bouncing a little as she walked. While the toddler was full of energy, she was unbelievably well-behaved, and most likely wouldn't let go of Isabelle's hand unless she was told she had permission. "He's kinda weird, too!" she pointed out, her wide, molten gold eyes fixing themselves on her aunt's face, searching to make eye contact. "You know he calls me Maggie?"
"No," came the weak, squeaky argument. The tiny voice belonged to Maxine, whose dark eyes, so much like her mother's, were narrowed at her bigger cousin. Isabelle found it amusing that Magnus called both of his beloved nieces Maggie, insisting that one of them be named after him. No one really ever argued with him, either, so the sparkly warlock just went with it, even if it confused the poor little things. "I Maggie." Even though their age difference was only three months, Aurelia spoke far better than the brown-haired baby. That was probably due to the fact that Jace and Clary both taught her new words and pushed her to learn more daily, however. Isabelle just wasn't really into that. She wanted to baby Maxine as much as she possibly could, and Simon wanted the same. Jace had warned her that they were going to raise a spoiled brat, but he was absolutely not one to talk. Aurelia was going to grow up thinking she was a literal princess.
The raven-headed girl was just beaming back at her little cousin. "Okay. You can be Maggie. I'm A.J.!"
Isabelle couldn't help but smile at the baby Herondale's positivity. She was just so happy, almost all the time. The only time Isabelle had ever seen her upset was when her favorite blanket got ruined by a dryer malfunction. Well, and she was whiny when she was hungry, and she got into the weapons room very often, though Isabelle supposed that was more Jace's fault than anything. Ever since Aurelia could walk, Jace had been trying to teach her how to fight. Needless to say, Clary did not approve.
As they approached Magnus's apartment, Aurelia's excitement finally got the better of her, and she released her aunt's hand before bolting up the stairs to knock on the door. Her little hand raised up, but before it even touched the door, Magnus swung it open with a broad, theatrical wave of his arms. He was wearing what Isabelle made out to be a sort of suit, but it was almost too glittery and colorful to tell. To be honest, it was much, much brighter than what the man usually wore, and that was saying something. But he knew that the toddlers loved his sparkly clothes, and Magnus always loved seeing them smile.
"Welcome!" he greeted with a low bow, just so that he could be eye-level with Aurelia. "You look as lovely as ever, Miss A.J.," he told her, and the black-haired little girl grinned broadly in delight. Magnus was one of her very favorite people - ever. He was just so entertaining, and so sparkly, and so fun to be around. Of course, he was one of Maxine's favorites, as well, but the laid-back toddler wasn't nearly as expressive as her older cousin. Still, she offered the warlock the tiniest of smiles when he looked up at her with the same dramatic smile he'd given Aurelia.
"And you, too, little one," Magnus continued and reached out to take Maxine in his arms. The dark-eyed child went to him immediately, which was surprising considering that she nearly never left her parent's arms.
Isabelle smiled softly at the three of them and stretched her arm a bit, tired from holding Maxine's weight. "All right, you guys. Jace is going to come get you when we're done getting the Ashdowns settled in. Don't give Uncle Magnus too much grief, okay?" she asked, mostly referring to Aurelia. The kid was very inquisitive and easily-bored, and Magnus's apartment had so many different things to get into. "Keep them safe, Magnus," she went on in a near warning. Isabelle was unashamedly protective of Maxine, and she made sure that the warlock understood he'd be in big trouble if she so much as got a bruise. Actually, everyone knew that if she trusted them with her baby, they had better take their job seriously.
Magnus gave her a very big, very reassuring grin before she turned to walk away. Isabelle sighed softly and smiled a bit. Magnus was a wonderful uncle, and he'd watch out for them almost as well as their own parents. She had nothing to be worried about.
"Now..." Magnus said slowly as he began to close the door, a smirk stretching across his face as he turned to face Aurelia, still balancing Maxine on one hip. "What shall we do today, biscuits?" Aurelia always loved when Magnus asked that question. That question meant that they could go do whatever they wanted, and they got to pick. Well, usually Maxine picked, but Aurelia always had fun. Plus Magnus was really interesting to watch, because he was always so sparkly and so shiny. It was always fun.
When no one immediately answered his question, Magnus arched an eyebrow. Usually Maxine would shout out something that she wanted to do - usually put on makeup or explore Magnus's endless array of vibrant clothes. Maxine was very easily-entertained, and while Aurelia found those things to be pretty boring, it at least gave her something to do to pass the time. Magnus had cool clothes, too, but Aurelia didn't like the makeup so much. She found that Uncle Magnus was not good at applying it, in her opinion. She often hoped for a chance to put some of the sparkly stuff on her own face, but she hadn't done it before, and didn't know if she was allowed or not. It wasn't that important to her, so she decided not to even ask.
"Um..." Aurelia started, noticing that Maxine was beginning to nod off on Uncle Magnus's shoulder. She guessed it was up to her to pick what they did. "Let's play... hide 'n seek!" she chirped with what she hoped was her very brightest grin. That way, maybe she'd be more likely to get what she wanted.
The sparkly man tipped his head at the request, before he mirrored her grin near perfectly. "Yes, of course," he told her, turning to lay the now-sleeping Maxine down on the soft leather couch. She probably wouldn't want to play when she was sleepy, anyway, and Magnus didn't mind having some time with just Aurelia. She was so bright and sunny, even if she did look quite a bit like one drunken, golden-eyed Herondale he'd once met at a bar in London. The disturbing one that shot things.
She possessed the same fiery golden eyes and black hair as that poor soul, but her countenance was completely different. Magnus supposed that might just be because she was a child, oblivious to the evils of the world. He, along with the rest of the people who loved her, would do his best to keep her as she was now - happy and sweet and fun-loving, even if that meant keeping her energetic, nosy side. It was better than the alternative.
So he was more than willing to play hide 'n seek for a little while, though his apartment wasn't quite big enough for them to have a really suitable game. Still, Aurelia was having fun, and hopefully getting some of her boundless energy out of her system.
It was about the second hour of playing that Magnus realized that he might've dug himself a sort of grave with this game. Aurelia was still bouncing around and seemed to want to play forever. The worst part was that she was good at it, and he had to put some effort into his seeking. He'd find her in the oddest places - in an empty pot that Magnus had once reserved for a sort of tree, wriggled in between his pillow and pillowcase, hanging from the coat rack... But all that joy on her face was worth the effort, he decided as she managed to find him in his hiding spot behind the recliner. She'd let out a teeny, tiny squeak and run over to throw her arms around his neck before running off once more so that she could find a new hiding spot while Magnus counted.
He couldn't help but wonder if this was how all baby Herondales had been. After all, looking past all their demons and inner turmoil, they loved others immensely, and Aurelia seemed to have love to spare. Magnus almost couldn't believe how pleasant she was, after his encounters with her father and several of his ancestors.
He just really hoped she didn't walk down a dark path like he'd seen happen before. From his experience, even if everything in a Herondale's life seemed to be going right, they would find something to mess up. They were just really good at ruining themselves, he supposed.
And apparently, they were unbelievably good at hide 'n seek. Magnus was sure that he'd combed over every single room in the apartment multiple times, and for the life of him, he could not find the child, and once twenty minutes had gone by, he was beginning to get worried. Perhaps not for the toddler as much as for himself, though. Jace would most assuredly find a place to lay a Magnus-skin rug if he let anything happen to his baby, and therefore Magnus resolved to never let Aurelia, or Maxine, for that matter, get hurt under his watch.
But he just could not find this child. He wasn't really sure how much time had passed while he searched, but soon there was a knock at the door. Magnus took a very deep, steadying breath as he headed over to answer it. He was not at all surprised when a golden-haired, golden-eyed man strode in with a huge smile on his face.
"A.J.!" Jace called, effectively waking Maxine, who began to whimper and gripe automatically. Magnus barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes, lest his precious little niece think he was upset at her, and went to go lift the newly-awoken toddler as Jace continued, "Daddy's here to pick you up!"
There was, as Magnus predicted, no response. Jace frowned deeply and turned to face the warlock, tilting his head. "Where's my daughter?" he questioned, his eyes containing more than a subtle hint at a threat. Magnus didn't really blame him - his apartment was filled to the brim with lots of random, dangerous things that an inquisitive little tot like Aurelia could get into.
A sudden idea popped into the warlock's head and he sighed deeply. "Maggie, sweatpea, Uncle Magnus gives up! You can come out now!" he called, cupping one hand around his mouth.
The response was instant - Aurelia's high-pitched little voice replied from the laundry/trash room in the back of the house: "I'm not Maggie!" Magnus couldn't hide his amusement as the tiny girl scrambled over some trash bags. Her normally-clean and unmarked face was streaked with the brightest blue and purple glittery eyeliner that Magnus thought he had ever seen - he'd thrown the products out about two weeks ago and had never gotten around to actually emptying the room of trash. And as if the glittery face wasn't bad enough, the child had on one of Magnus's old hot pink leather jackets, studded with sequins. He hadn't seen that article of clothing in quite a while, and assumed that Alec had tried to hide it from him so that he wouldn't wear it again. Her hair was also suspiciously spiky and clumpy.
Jace was openly gawking at his daughter's appearance, his eyes stretched wide. Magnus was fully expecting to face divine judgment for this. He probably deserved it anyway, for losing the kid in the first place, but as he watched, Jace's lips twitched up into a fond little smile. The young man trotted through the kitchen and knelt down before the toddler, reaching out to mess with her gelled black hair. "A.J., what did you do?" he asked, and Magnus was almost surprised at the gentleness of his tone. He'd heard him speak to his daughter thousands of times before, just like this, but it never ceased to amaze him. Jace was like another human being altogether around his family.
As stated before, Herondales loved deeply. That much was evident by the adoration in both sets of golden eyes as father and daughter spoke to one another.
"I'm Uncle Magnus!" Aurelia announced as she performed a surprisingly graceful - by four-year-old standards - twirl, reaching into her pocket and sprinkling blue glitter toward her father when she finished. "See?" She looked particularly proud of herself. "I'm pretty!"
Magnus watched Jace bite his lower lip to stifle laughter as he nuzzled the top of her head. "You're always pretty, sunshine," he told her before helping her out of the pink leather jacket. "But I think we need to give this back to Uncle Magnus now, hm?"
Aurelia nodded seriously. "Uh-huh. Can't take stuff," she informed Jace, who smiled and lifted her up to put her on his shoulders before handing the once-missing jacket to Magnus. He accepted it gratefully.
"Right. We can't take things if they're not ours," he told her, his smile broadening a bit when she rested her chin affectionately onto the top of his head. "Did you and Maxine have fun with Uncle Magnus today?" he inquired.
Maxine was the first one to reply to that. "Nap," she slurred, obviously still half-asleep. Magnus assumed she must've either had little sleep the night before, or she was just getting over a cold. The poor baby.
Aurelia beamed happily and reached out her hands toward Maxine, clearly happy that the other girl was awake. "Yay! 'Morning! Wanna play now?" she questioned, just before a large yawn escaped her and she rested her head back down onto her father's golden tresses. "Um... later?" she finished, apparently just realizing how sleepy she was herself.
Jace skillfully moved Aurelia down so that she was cradled safely in his left arm and kissed her forehead gently. "We can play later. But take a nap now, okay? When you wake up, you can meet the new kid back at the Institute," he told her, and her golden eyes opened blearily. Magnus marveled at how suddenly all that seemingly bottomless energy could run out.
The golden man reached out and took Maxine in his other arm and balanced the two children carefully so that neither was in danger of falling before he turned and smiled at Magnus. "Thank you for watching them today. Sorry I took so long getting here - the new family needed the grand tour," he explained, and Magnus waved a hand dismissively.
"I love keeping them. They're the best little nieces anyone could ask for," he assured the Herondale quietly, so as not to disturb the half-asleep babies in the other man's arms. "It's strange - I actually feel like their uncle sometimes."
Jace looked confused for a moment, his eyebrows knitting up in concern, before he nudged Magnus with his shoulder. "You are their uncle. We're family," he assured him with a signature Herondale smirk. "You should feel like that all the time, Magnus. Don't be stupid."
Magnus felt his mouth open ever so slightly in surprise, and could think of no suitable reply to that statement. Instead, he just smiled and walked over to open the door for the golden-headed man, as he had no free hands. The warlock waved one hand to signal that the Shadowhunter could leave, and Jace gave him a warm grin before heading down the stairs, careful not to bounce the children too much.
Just before Jace reached the bottom step, a sentence formed itself together in Magnus's sparkly head. "You're a good dad, Jace."
The young man craned his neck to look behind him, his golden eyes slightly wide in surprise, before his lips quirked up at the corners. "I'm trying to be," he said slowly, looking down at Aurelia with one of the most loving expressions Magnus thought he'd ever seen on the Shadowhunter's face. "She seems to think I'm doing all right."
And with that, the golden man walked out the door without giving Magnus a chance to speak. Instead, the warlock felt a smile tugging on his own mouth.
Perhaps... they were all doing just fine.
I think I like this one, but that could just be the lack of sleep talking x.x I got literally no sleep last night, so if this chapter is unintelligible or off in some parts, please inform me! I will fix it. This is also significantly longer than the other two chapters, as well. I was in a writing mood c:
Anyway, this is the first time I've typed up Aurelia when she was old enough to have a personality, and I hope I did all right. c: I'm excited to write more of her in the next few chapters as well.
I now have an actual direction that I'm going to take this story, so I may really not accept ideas :s I'm sorry, guys. I hope you'll enjoy the story regardless! Also, I know it's kind of fluffy right now... keep in mind that this isn't going to be all happy little one-shots. The plot won't seriously come into play until around the tenth chapter or so. I'm not too sure. :s
Please read, review, favorite, follow, and ask all the questions you want! I don't bite.
Guest Review Reply:
Allie: Thank you for your review c: I'm glad you like her name! I was a little nervous about using such an unusual name at first, but it's actually growing on me, I think. And that's really weird about your character! Auriel is a very pretty name, too.
God bless you all!
anim8or
P.S. Happy Cinco de Mayo~!
