Our Baby Girl

A Malec Fanfiction

Chapter Three; A Dream Fulfilled

~0~ Five Days Later~0~

Everything was prepared. The large, golden bowl sat on the coffee table in the Lightwood-Bane loft. A silver knife lay next to it, its blade glittering in the light of three foul-smelling black candles that made up a triangle. A large magical symbol that Alec didn't recognize encircled the bowl and candles (Magnus had drawn it there with a silver Sharpie). A soft green blanket was folded carefully and placed to the side of the setup.

Alec and Magnus stood on either side of the coffee table. Alec fidgeted a bit with nervous excitement. Magnus, smiling but concentrated, held the paper that contained the spell in his right hand. He'd taken off all of his rings except for one – the Lightwood ring on his fourth finger glowed dully, like the knife, in the candlelight.

"Are you ready?" Magnus asked, looking across the table at Alec. Alec nodded. Magnus smiled, and put the spell-paper into the gold bowl. He picked up the silver knife and handed it to Alec.

Alec drew the blade across his palm, drawing a thin line of blood. It hurt a bit, but he didn't care. If this ritual worked, a little bit of pain would be more than worth it. He held his hand over the bowl and let his blood drip into it.

"Now, the Marks," said Magnus, taking the knife from his husband. He was watching Alec carefully. Alec pulled his stele from the right pocket of his jeans and drew a rune next the each of the black candles – Creation, Angelic Power, and Wedded Union.

Magnus smiled at him with approval. Then he took the silver knife and sliced his own palm open. He grimaced as his blood dripped into the bowl and mixed with Alec's.

"What happens now?" Alec asked, walking around the table to stand next to Magnus. "You give yourself an iratze, that's what," said Magnus, gesturing to the cut on Alec's hand. "And when you're healed, I cast the spell."

"The paper with the spell on it is covered in blood," Alec pointed out, confused.

"I memorized it. And the paper is supposed to be in the bowl."

"Oh."

"Iratze. Now. I can't stand to see you bleeding, Alexander."

Alec blushed, and drew the healing rune on his hand. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine," said Magnus.

He began to chant in Latin, and Alec watched in awe as the candle flames turned blue and the runes began to glow.

"Prolem veneficus natus hódie,

Ex carne et sanguine symbola,

Parentes et Magnus Alexander Lightwood-Bane,

Angeli et Daemone – Ow!"

Chairman Meow had snuck up onto the couch behind them and jumped onto Magnus's head, digging his claws into the warlock's scalp. Alec panicked, knowing that spells often didn't work if they were interrupted, and pulled the cat from Magnus's head as gently as possible. He ran down the hall as Magnus hurriedly continued to chant, until he reached the door to their bedroom.

"Angeli et Daemones tueri puer,

Lux emissa caelitus, ab infernis in lucem,"

"Sorry, Chairman!" Alec yelled as he threw the small cat rather unceremoniously onto the bed. He grabbed the doorknob and wrenched the door shut, ignoring the Chairman's indignant yowls of protest.

"luminae Lunae,

Caro, sanguis, symbola,"

Magnus looked over his shoulder frantically, his heart thumping erratically in his chest – if the spell worked, the baby would appear on the table. If Alec missed it…

The raven-haired Shadowhunter sprinted back to the living room and skidded to a halt at Magnus's side, just as the warlock yelled the last line of the spell.

"Puer veneficus, apparent!"

A mushroom cloud of blue sparks erupted from the gold bowl. The flames of the black candles were blown out by some invisible wind, and the loft was plunged into darkness. Something grabbed Alec's hand, and he jumped, but relaxed when he realized it was Magnus.

"Did – did it work?" he asked nervously.

"Something happened," Magnus replied shakily. He snapped, and the living-room lights (blindingly bright) burst on. Even that tiny bit of magic left him feeling drained – this spell had taken a lot of energy. He blinked for a moment as his eyes adjusted.

Alec inhaled sharply beside him. "Mags," he said, squeezing Magnus's hand. He pointed at the coffee table. "Look!"

The bowl and the blanket had switched places. The fuzzy piece of green fleece was now in the center of the candles' triangle, and on the blanket…

On the blanket, there was a baby.

Instantly, Magnus's exhaustion vanished. His worries, anxieties, even his slight guilt over Chairman Meow, were forgotten. All he cared about was Alec and that baby, and he felt a euphoric smile spread across his face.

He looked at Alec. The Shadowhunter's big blue eyes were wide, and he was smiling too. Together, they walked forwards.

"It's a girl," Alec said softly. Her eyes were closed. She was sleeping - or was she?

Magnus felt panic rise in his throat. "Alec," he said, terror lacing his voice.

Alec looked at him, concerned. "What is it?"

"Alec, she's not breathing!"

"What?!"

Alec wrenched his hand out of Magnus's. He reached down and gathered the baby up, blanket and all. "No," he said breathlessly. The baby didn't respond. "No," Alec said again. "No, no, no, please – "

The baby's eyes flew open. She studied the two men above her – the panicked Alec and the terrified Magnus. Her eyes were a deep brown, nearly black.

Magnus exhaled. "She's all right," he said.

"Yeah," said Alec shakily, slowly smiling again. "Mags, do you know what else she is?"

"What?" Magnus asked, looking over Alec's shoulder at the baby girl in his arms.

"She's ours."

Magnus smiled. "Alec?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Can – can I hold her?"

"Of course you can."

They sat down on the couch together, as Alec expertly swaddled the baby girl with the green fleece blanket. "Here you are," he said, handing her to Magnus.

Magnus took the baby gingerly, like she was made of glass. He carefully moved her to the crook of his elbow, like Alec had held her. The baby looked up at him with those big brown eyes.

"She looks like your sister," said Magnus, looking down at this wonder – his daughter – in his arms. "Alec smiled. "Yeah. She's got your hair though, it looks like."

Magnus studied the fine black hair on the baby's head. "We both have black hair," he said. "She could just as easily have your hair."

They sat in silence for a moment. Then Alec spoke. "What should we call her?"

"I had an idea," said Magnus, meeting Alec's gaze. "But I don't know how you'll feel about it."

"What is it?" Alec asked curiously.

"I was thinking… Maxine?"

Alec was silent for a moment. Magnus looked back down at their daughter, nestled in her blanket in his arms. She'd fallen asleep. "If you don't like it, we can call her something else," Magnus said.

"No, Mags," Alec said softly. Magnus looked at him again – Alec had teared up a bit. "That's perfect."

Magnus smiled. He leaned in and kissed Alec, careful of the child he was holding. When they broke apart, Alec was smiling too.

"For her middle name, would you be all right with Sophia?" he asked. "It's an old Lightwood family name… it's Izzy's middle name, actually."

"Maxine Sophia Lightwood-Bane," Magnus said. "I like it."

Alec smiled, and then his smile dropped. "What's wrong?" Magnus asked, worried.

"Isabelle," said Alec. "If I don't call her right now to tell her about Maxine," Magnus liked the sound of his daughter's name on his husband's lips. "She'll have my hide. Jace too."

"And Tessa," Magnus sighed. "We'd better make a few phone calls."

They sat together a little while longer, neither really wanting to get up, both watching the sleeping Maxine. Then, Alec took the baby from Magnus, and went to put her in her room.

Magnus walked to the kitchen and picked up Alec's cell phone. He dialed Isabelle's number.

She picked up on the fourth ring. "Hey Alec," she said. "What's up?"

"It's Magnus," Magnus said.

Isabelle's voice grew urgent. "Is Alec all right?"

"Yeah," he replied. "In fact, I think he's more than all right."

"What's going on?"

"There's someone here at the loft that I think you'll want to meet," said Magnus. "Come over as soon as you can. You can bring Simon too."

"Someone at the loft – what?"

"See you soon, Izzy dear!"

"Don't you dare hang up on m-"

Magnus hung up. He knew Isabelle – she'd probably be here in twenty minutes with a sleepy-eyed Simon in tow. Better to let her be curious then to waste time having an hour-long interrogation. He picked up the phone again – there were several more calls he had to make.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Sure enough, twenty-five minutes later there was an impatient rapping on the front door. Magnus had been in the nursery with Alec up until that point. He squeezed his husband's hand and went to let the family in.

On the other side of the door was Isabelle, her lipsticked mouth set in a defiant line, as if she was daring him to test her patience. Beside her stood Simon, looking tired, just as predicted. Behind them were Clary, Jace, and Stephen, who was dressed in a pair of blue flannel pajamas with police cars on them. Tessa and Jem were there too – Jem was holding Lizzy, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. She clutched a gray stuffed cat to her chest.

"Well," Magnus said. "I was hardly expecting you all to turn up at once."

"Magnus–" Isabelle began to speak, probably to yell at him and to demand to know what was going on. She was cut off by a baby's wail.

Isabelle's jaw dropped, and Clary looked shocked. "Is that... is there a baby in your apartment?"

"I suppose you'll have to find out," said Magnus, stepping aside to let them in.

Isabelle wasted no time. She shoved past him, surprisingly agile considering she was seven months pregnant. She dragged Simon behind her by his wrist. Jace ran in too, followed eagerly by Tessa. Jem and Clary stepped into the loft carefully. "Magnus," Jem asked tentatively. "Could I lay Lizzy down somewhere?"

A few minutes later, Stephen and Lizzy were settled into the guest bedroom. Magnus led Jem and Clary to the nursery, where the other four and Alec were crowded around the cradle, where his daughter lay wailing.

"She woke up," Alec called unnecessarily over Tessa's head.

"Really?" Magnus asked sarcastically, moving to stand next to his raven-haired Shadowhunter. "I hadn't noticed."

Alec glared at him. Magnus grinned and ruffled his hair.

"Guys," Jace asked. "Who is this?"

Alec reached into the cradle and picked up the baby, who was still swaddled in the green fleece. He rocked her gently, and she slowly stopped crying. Magnus wrapped an arm around Alec's shoulders.

"Everyone," Alec said quietly. "This is Maxine Sophia Lightwood-Bane."

Jace and Simon gaped at him. Izzy, Clary, Jem, and Tessa grinned widely.

"Our baby girl," Magnus said.

Isabelle clapped her hands and bounced a bit. "Do you know what this means?!" she squealed.

"I get to throw you a baby shower!"