This chapter is a bit shorter than my chapters normally are, but just bear with me while I get the story where I want it to be! Let me know your thoughts!
The next few days had gone by in a whirlwind for Magnus. He was terribly surprised to watch as Lena threw herself into Alec's arms the moment she saw that Alec was on his feet. Somehow, the way Alec wrapped his arms around Lena as though he never wanted to let go surprised Magnus even more. He had no idea how Lena and Alec had seemed to connect so quickly, but it wasn't something he planned on sitting around questioning.
The morning after Alec was strong enough to so much as get up and walk around, Magnus walked into their bedroom to find Alec packing. "Alexander?" he asked, knowing his voice betrayed every ounce of his surprise. "What are you doing? What's going on? Did I miss something? Because if I did, please explain it to me."
Alec immediately turned around to flash Magnus a quick smile, which only confused Magnus even more. "You didn't miss anything, Magnus," he began, moving away from the bed and closer to Magnus. "I just think it would be better if I moved out." When Magnus didn't respond at all, Alec continued attempting to explain. "You've got a daughter now. I don't want to make Lena uncomfortable, Magnus. I just think we need to take a few steps back and slow down a bit."
Magnus resisted the urge to protest because, deep down, he knew that Alec was right. He knew that Alec simply wanted to do what he felt was right for Lena, and he didn't want to admit that what Alec was saying was right. The only thing Magnus could find the strength to do was to step forward and wrap his arms around Alec, wishing that Alec wasn't so loving and kind.
Over the next few months, Magnus sat back and watched Alec and Lena become closer than he had ever imagined they could become. He was often left to wonder how they had become so close so quickly, but he tried to keep from overthinking it too much. He wanted to talk to Lena about it, but he had no idea how to go about it all. So he decided to just wait things out. Before Magnus could wait very long, however, Lena came to him.
"Papa, I have a question," she said, climbing up onto the couch and then scooting over to sit on Magnus's lap. Alec was currently at the Institute, so Magnus was automatically curious about what Lena might want to talk about while he was gone. The only problem was that Lena's question surprised Magnus more than he would have thought possible. "When can I start calling Alec 'Daddy?'"
For several moments, Magnus simply sat and stared down at his daughter, completely at a loss for words. He knew what he should have said, he knew what he needed to say, but he couldn't seem to figure out exactly how to say those things. "I'm sorry, Papa," Lena said quickly when Magnus didn't respond immediately.
"It was a stupid question. Just forget about it." When Lena began to move away from him, Magnus tightened his arms around her. The only thing he could seem to do at first was lean down a kiss her on top of her head. He'd always been horrible with conversations like this, and he didn't want to mess this particular one up.
"It's not a stupid question, Lena," he said, trying to think through everything before he spoke. "Alec loves you, and if you want him to be a part of our family, then you should just ask him." Lena turned then to look back up at Magnus, a mixture of love and fear in her eyes. "And before you ask me, Lena, of course I want him to be part of our family. But right now, this is completely up to you."
As Magnus spoke, a smile slowly began to grow on her face. Before she could say anything, however, the door began to open and Alec walked through. As soon as Alec was through the door, as soon as Alec saw the two of them, he immediately began smiling. "What are you two talking about?" he asked, coming to sit beside of them.
When Lena didn't say anything at all, Magnus gave her a nudge. "I wanted to ask you a question," she said, her voice terribly weak. Magnus forced himself to hide his smile, suddenly endeared by Lena's worry at asking Alec.
"You know you can ask me anything," Alec said, his voice only slightly betraying his apprehension over what she wanted to say. Several movements passed in which Lena simply stared at Alec, and Magnus could see that Alec was becoming more and more worried. Before Magnus could do anything, Lena had jumped off of his lap and all but sprinted to her bedroom.
Magnus didn't take the time to explain anything to Alec at the moment, he simply got up and followed Lena, knowing he had to do something before things got way too out of hand. "Alec would never want a warlock as a child," Lena said as soon as Magnus entered her room. "He's a Shadowhunter," she finished, as though this explained everything.
Instead of immediately trying to fix how Lena was feeling, Magnus simply walked over to take her in his arms once more. "Lena, Alec loves you. You know that better than anyone." When silent tears began streaming down Lena's face, Magnus realized that things were much more serious than he had first thought.
Alec had no idea what was going on, but he knew he had to stay up and find out from Magnus exactly what it was, no matter how tired he was. He was worried that he'd done something wrong. Lena had never acted that way with him before, and he was terribly afraid that he'd mess everything up.
When Magnus walked back into the room, Alec began speaking much too quickly. "Magnus, what's wrong? Did I do something? If I did, please let me fix it." Alec only stopped speaking when Magnus held up a hand to get him to do so. Sitting back down on the couch beside of him, Magnus sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds as though he was trying to steady himself.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Alexander," he began, his voice soft. "She's just scared." Alec didn't have to respond to ask him what Lena was afraid of to get Magnus to continue his explanation. "She wanted to ask you if she could call you 'Daddy,' but she's so worried that you'll tell her no."
For a moment, Alec was so struck by what Magnus had said that he didn't have any idea of what he might be able to say. In the end, the only thing he could come up with was, "Why would she think that?" and even he could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
"You're a Shadowhunter," Magnus said, leaving it at that and knowing that he didn't need to say anything more. The weight of what Magnus was implying hit Alec harder than he might have thought it could. "Alec, I'm so sorry," was all that Magnus could find to say, and Alec almost wished that he hadn't said anything else at all.
Alec didn't want to become angry; he knew it wasn't Magnus's fault that this was happening, but his frustration bubbled to the surface nonetheless. He simply got up from the couch. "Just forget about it, Magnus," he said, refusing to turn around as he walked toward the door.
Alec hadn't wanted to make a plan, but as he lay in bed that night, he realized that a plan was exactly what he needed. The only problem was that Alec knew exactly what he needed to do. What he needed to do for Lena, for Magnus even, was the one thing that made him more nervous than anything he had ever faced before.