Chapter Six:
The phone buzzed shortly, in the most annoying pattern and pitch conceivable, and a pair of yellow cat eyes glared at it, considering whether to make it burst in to flames purely out of frustration.
No, the warlock (for he was the owner of the cat eyes, the actual cat not being in present company) decided. He didn't want to waste the energy. Instead he stayed right where he was, draped over the couch with his arms crossed firmly atop his chest.
Magnus had spent the past week in a funk. He had a terribly short temper, he was constantly distracted, he answered the phone by barking "Not today, Satan!" into the receiver before rudely hanging up. Chairman Meow even ran away (thought the cat kept tabs on the apartment just in case Alec came home to pet him). In truth, the warlock really wanted to act cool and indifferent and blasé about the whole thing; he wanted so badly to stop caring, caring about how Alec had cheated on him, caring about the baby, caring about how Alec was feeling. His pride had been hurt so badly, and this time, he didn't want to forgive. This time, he didn't want to be the older and wiser and more mature one, he didn't want to be the bigger person. He wanted to sulk like he had never wanted to sulk before, and when he was done, he planned on trashing the house. For now, he was too depressed to even crumple a newspaper.
He had, however, covered any and all photos of him and Alec and magicked all of Alec's things into a storeroom. When he was feeling really spiteful, he thought about sending it all to the doorstep of the institute, but every time he thought it, he felt too ashamed to do such a thing. Magnus was hurt, yes, and he was angry. But a large part of him hoped this whole mess would magically (hahah) disappear, and Alec would be back, and he could look at the photos and memories and Alec's beautiful face again. Too bad that would never happen.
The reality was, Magnus was disappointed. He knew that one of the things Alec had always secretly wanted was a family. Once, while they were confessing some of their deepest, darkest feelings, Alec had told the warlock that before they'd met, Alec planned to marry a shadowhunter girl, one he could at least be friends with, just so he could start a family. Alec had always secretly loved children, loved protecting his younger siblings, loved seeing people's adorable babies. He didn't talk about it much to other people, or show how cute he thought kids were, because he didn't want his softness to reveal his sexual orientation, and after he was out, he didn't want to be seen as a pervert. Magnus, on the other hand, had not spent many of his hundreds of years thinking about children or a family. Other people's kids were bratty and annoying, and eternity is a long time to settle down for, so why even think about it?
That is, until he met Alec. Alec made the High Warlock of Brooklyn want to settle down, want to think about eternity, and (he had to admit) had made him want kids. They had even talked a little about adopting, as that was of course their only option. And now, someone else had given Alec what he truly wanted. Magnus had failed.
Anger, at himself, and confusion, at how it had been managed, flared in his chest. Magnus had friends in some pretty high places, but he'd never heard so much as a whisper about male pregnancies or wombs. And Magnus had heard a lot of whispers in his time (the whispers, like the stories, were all true). Worry followed the other two emotions; Magnus knew a lot about magic, and whatever had lead to Alec… having a womb had to be incredibly powerful. That kind of spell work didn't happen without someone incredibly powerful to back it up. So… what demon knocked up his boyfriend?!
Magnus shook his head at himself disgustedly. Not his problem. He had already spent too much effort caring about and forgiving Alec the LAST time the shadowhunter had gone behind his back to meddle with demon magic, back when Alec had tried teaming up with Camille. The thought of that time made Magnus want to throw up or zap something to pieces.
He almost got the chance to zap something when the front door to the apartment suddenly opened, and a flurry of white and blue entered. Catarina's eyes narrowed, seeing how Magnus' fingers were itching to send sparks in her direction, and she held up her hand as if to calm her friend. Magnus, deciding again not to waste his energy, glared but relaxed his tensed-up arms. He was just about to tell her to go visit her demon parent in—
"You look like a drunk bum." The female warlock gave him a smirk as he flared with anger, but she moved to sit down on the armchair anyway. Surveying the room, it was evident that Magnus hadn't been outside in several days, and he had clearly been too, uh, preoccupied to do much cleaning. The normally homey apartment was now filled with empty coffee cups that Magnus had been too lazy to send to the garbage, and his clothes were wrinkled. He hadn't even done his hair, besides washing it once or twice. It hung limply around his head like it had a week ago, when he'd neglected it due to his worry about Alec.
"Loss, if I didn't answer your text messages, I don't see how that's an invitation to break in to my home."
"I did not break in. The door was unlocked. Clearly, you didn't lock it after your lover tore out of here a week ago, crying." She made a tcking sound and shook her head. "And I did not text you. I've been working. Perhaps it was a client. I only stopped by to mention that Alec—"
The cell phone on the coffee table buzzed again, and this time Magnus didn't have time to think before he snatched it up from the table, intent on answering the text message with a stream of curses in both English and Greater Demon. He nearly broke the phone attempting to type the message, until his eyes caught the words on the screen. It was Isabelle Lightwood.
"Alec passed out. Pls come quick or send warlock doctor frnd."
Magnus' heart skipped a beat at precisely the same time his stomach dropped out of his body, which was an interesting sensation, though certainly not the strangest one he'd ever felt. He swallowed, and looked up at his friend, who had her eyebrows raise.
"Come with me.
It was Jace that Magnus and Catarina met at the front gate of the Institute. Normally, the golden-haired shadowhunter would have cracked a joke or given one of his "dazzling" smiles, as he had once heard Clary call them. Today, however, the only glance he gave Magnus was a glare, and he barely nodded to the warlock woman before turning on his heel and heading inside. Magnus clenched his jaw, but followed, while Catarina rolled her eyes, falling in line behind her friend. When they got inside, Catarina asked what had happened.
"Well," Jace started, turning back to look at her. "It was a little while ago. Unfortunately we had to use the only means of communication we could think of, and they didn't work very well," he stated, referring to Magnus with thinly-veiled anger. Jace then refocused himself on Catarina, ignoring the distasteful look from the other warlock as he continued with a more respectful, if cool, tone. "Izzy was trying to ask him what's been wrong, and he got upset and collapsed. We got him into an infirmary bed and then sent the message. He's awake now, and he told us what was wrong."
They'd just arrived at the door to the room that Alec was in with Isabelle, and Jace came to a stop before spinning around leaning in to speak in a much lower volume. His golden eyes flickered over Magnus', intent on ignoring the warlock man in order to keep his cool, and settled on Cat's blue ones.
"Look. He told us what your diagnosis was. And he really believes what he's saying. Izzy and I would try to convince him otherwise, but.." a hand raked through his curly hair, indicating how on edge the young man really was. "He's really upset. He's not well. And I don't know how much more he can take." Again, his eyes flickered to Magnus before he continued, his voice even softer, though more intense. "I don't want to embarrass him. God knows what the Clave would do to him if they found out what he thinks he knows, what you're telling him. He'd be mortified, and possibly in danger. So Angel help me if this is some grand Downworlder trick and the two of you let it go any further…"
"It's not," Catarina said, just as softly as Jace, but with a gentleness to her voice. Her eyes slid to Magnus, who was glaring down at the floor, privately worried about the Clave coming after Alec. She turned to Jace. "I used mundane technology to check. It's surprisingly accurate. But even more accurate than that… There's a magic there, inside of him. A barest whisper, but I can feel it. Magnus can too."
At this, Magnus looked up, surprised, and caught Jace's inquisitive expression. The warlock had forgotten about the small bit of magical energy he'd felt emanating from his lover's abdomen, but his friend was right. There had been something there. And it hadn't felt evil…
Echoing his thoughts, Catarina continued. "I cannot feel any dangerous energies, though I did not have much time to inspect. Alec does not appear to be in danger. But if he is sick, I should see him." And with that, she sidestepped Jace and pushed her way in to the room, medical bag in tow.
Not wanting to deal with the impetuous golden boy, Magnus started to follow suit, forgetting momentarily that he'd been set on avoiding Alec, but Jace reached out to stop him. "Wait," he started, and, ignoring the glare from the warlock, pulled Magnus away from the door. As Cat closed the door behind her Jace turned to look Magnus full in the eye. Suddenly, the younger man's facial expression was harder to read.
"You did this." Jace's voice was not questioning, but Magnus shook his head in answer anyway.
"No. I don't know how this happened."
"Then someone else made him this way. And you don't give a shit who would do something like this to someone you say you love?" Jace leaned back, disgust creeping across his face. "I'm starting to wish Alec had never met you."
Magnus was just about to reply that he felt the same way about Jace when Isabelle poked her head out of the room. "Jace," she said, urgently. "Come here." Forgetting their quarrel, both shadowhunter and warlock stepped in to the room, where Catarina had once again set up her ultrasound and was perched on the bed, to one side of Alec. Isabelle was on his other side, gripping his hand… but for who's reassurance, it was impossible to tell. Alec couldn't help but think she was taking this surprisingly well. Of course, Jace was too hard to read; after the first moment, Alec's adopted brother had avoided looking directly at Alec's abdomen or eyes.
Magnus, however, now could not take his eyes off of Alec, who was so focused on Catarina that he hadn't even noticed the two come in. The warlock immediately noticed the swell of his lover's stomach, more noticeable now than it had even been a week ago. His heart sank slowly when he realized it was because the shadowhunter had lost more weight, and this time, he wasn't even upset at himself for caring. It was much easier to wallow in his own pain and grief when he wasn't face with the obvious struggles of someone who, deep down, he really did love. Pushing his anger and resentment aside, but also restraining himself from reaching out to comfort Alec, Magnus waited silently in the corner for the ultrasound to continue, listening as Catarina gave reassuring but firm advice.
"… the light-headedness will continue, but as long as you remain hydrated and nourished, you will have a better chance of controlling it. You must also be careful not to become too emotional, which will be a difficult task as your hormones begin to change to accommodate the child—" here, Magnus saw Jace flinch out of the corner of his eye—"but you really must take precautions to protect the health of the both of you. You may also find that it helps to sit or stand up more slowly…"
By this time, the ultrasound was up and working, and the gray and black blobs began to look familiar to Alec and Magnus as Catarina pressed the wand to Alec's rounded flesh. Suddenly, she paused and gestured towards the screen, urging her companions to look with a soft, "there." Isabelle squeaked again, and Jace couldn't help but mutter, "By the Angel…" The noise from behind him caused Alec to turn around, a guarded expression on his face, which only deepened once he saw that Magnus was there, too. The warlock's breath caught in his throat, guilt rising to the surface of his mind as he watched his lover promptly turn back to the screen. Oh, how Magnus wished with all he had that he knew what was going on, how he wished that this baby could really belong to him and Alec.
"Everything looks quite fine from here. You appear to be approximately three months along, but as I said a week ago, I will know more by bringing you to the clinic, after hours of course. You look physically better at the moment, but I would like to check your vitals—that is, your heart rate and blood pressure—once more before I leave, just as a precaution." She looked from him to the other inhabitants around the room. "I will now step outside the room to allow you to talk, but I can leave these…" she pulled out a few photo copies of the previous ultrasound, "here for you to look at."
She turned off the screen and shoved some her equipment back into her bag, leaving the bag on the chair as she glided out of the room, followed quickly by Jace. Isabelle turned to Alec.
"Wow," she said, softly. Alec nodded, once, wiping the ultrasound gel off his stomach with the corner of the bed sheet.
"Yeah," he murmured, looking back at her before turning around to look at Magnus. Noticing his glance, Isabelle squeezed his hand and stood up, vaguely mentioning that she'd be right outside as she walked out the door. Magnus and Alec were finally alone.
{{Well, time for our heroes to confront their issues… I, personally, am very happy to have Magnus back, though I wonder what exactly he'll have to say for himself. He better be nice though… Oh, and never fear, the larger plot is coming together, and I DO have fairly decent explanations. Thanks for sticking with me! XO, Em}}
