It was about midday when Alec woke from his magic induced slumber. Jace had stayed with him through the night, keeping Alec company.
That, and Alec wouldn't let go of Jace's arm.
On the other side of the Institute, Magnus had been working through the day to heal Rowan.
The girl had become a magnet for danger and it seemed as though Magnus was the on-call warlock to come and fix it. Which, he did not mind, since it meant he got to see Alec a lot more. But that didn't mean it wasn't physically and mentally exhausting.
However, this day didn't seem so bad, as Magnus got to play with Rowan's little girl.
"Thank you, again, Magnus." Rowan said, as she lifted herself into a sitting position.
Magnus held the little infant against his chest, gently tapping her back as he bounced on his heels. He smiled at Rowan, appreciative of her thanks.
"Sure you don't want this?" Rowan grinned, as she reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the burp cloth, wincing as she did.
"You do know I have magic right?" Magnus replied, continuing the bouncing motion.
Rowan just grinned at him.
Magnus stopped short, raising a single perfect eyebrow. "That's right, I don't know her name. What is her name?"
"Alexandria Isabelle."
Magnus' eyes widened a little and when little Alex started fussing, he picked up the bouncing again.
"I wanted her to have the best chance at life -" Rowan rung the blanket between her hands. "- what better way than to have the two most powerful Shadowhunters?"
"It's a wonderful name." Magnus grinned. "So long as I get to spoil."
On the side of the door, Alec and Jace could hear Rowan laughing. Pushing open the door, they were greeted by Rowan laughing and Magnus holding a cooing Alex. Magnus turned around to see Alec smirking.
"Not a word, Alexander."
"You ... you got a little something right here." Jace said, pointing at his own shoulder.
"Alec, it's good to see you looking rested." Rowan gave Magnus a side look.
Jace caught it.
And it didn't take a genius to figure out why.
"I see you feel better." Alec said coming over and sitting down on the side of the bed, playing with Alex's little feet when Magnus bounced by him, grinning.
"I heard what you did for her - keeping an eye on her." Rowan smiled, gently squeezing Alec's arm.
"Alexander," Magnus grinned, setting the infant in Alec's lap. "-meet Alexandria."
There was a look of stunned silence on Alec's part.
Jace was grinning like an idiot.
"Let's just hope she doesn't pick up his stubborness." Jace muttered.
Rowan grinned as Alec gave his parabatai a dark look. Then, he turned to Rowan.
"You do realize... she's half Morgenstern, right? She's related to Clary."
"I tried not to think about that, thank you." Jace narrowed his eyes at her.
"But she's half and that... is more powerful than anything." Alec said, making funny faces at Alex.
Rowan couldn't wipe the funny smile off her face.
Magnus was practically beaming with joy, watching Alec.
Naturally, it was adorable.
Isabelle and Clary took their turn to walk through the Infirmary then.
"We heard rumors you were awake! Oh by the Angel! She's so cute when she's awake." Isabelle took Alex from Alec's arms and snuggled the infant, inhaling that wonderful new baby smell. "What's her name?"
"Alexandria Isabelle."
Isabelle nearly fainted.
Jace took Alex from Izzy, which left open invitation for Izzy to climb up on Rowan's bed and smother her to death with a bear hug, with Alec laughing in the background.
"That is so cute! By the Angel she's going to be one kick ass Shadowhunter! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Okay.. Iz... Izzy, get off me." Rowan struggled to push the girl off her.
"Isabelle, you're going to rip her wounds open." Magnus said.
Izzy gasped and scrambled off Rowan.
Magnus lifted the tank top on Rowan's left side, checking the wound, sighing in relief that it wasn't broken open and he didn't have to use magic on it.
"Okay, everyone out. Let her rest." Magnus said, shooing everyone out, taking Alex from Jace and turned to Rowan. "I'll take her back to my place til you feel up to getting up, okay?" Rowan nodded in agreement, grabbing Alec's hand.
"Stay a minute?"
Alec nodded, watching as Magnus was the last to leave the Infirmary, carrying a bubbly Alex.
Rowan did nothing to try to control the shakes that rattled her body,and didn't attempt to stop herself from crying. Alec pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her, his chin on her head.
You never realized how thick your fog was until it lifted.
A slow, deeply satisfied smile came over him, and his breath quickened. "She's beautiful, by the way." He whispered softly.
"Even if her father is Valentine?" Rowan rasped, her voice barely above a whisper.
Alec nodded. "Like I said, She's still half of you - that's stronger than anything he will ever have." Placing a kiss in her hair, Alec sighed a happy relief. "Don't ever scare me like that again, got it?"
Rowan smiled softly through her tears at him.
He was staring at her. Just staring at her. He suddenly leaned in, and his fingers brushed her cheek. Warmth flooded her skin, and she frozen, waiting for him to pull back. He didn't. The tips of his fingers lingered on her cheek for a moment. Then, very slowly, his hand slipped forward, his palm brushing her skin. Frozen, she stared at him, watching his face, his expression, as his fingers moved from her cheek to her forehead to her chin, like a blind man tracing someone's features to see them in his mind.
"Alec ..."
He dropped his hand from her face, his gaze losing focus. "I thought we had lost you.. I kept replaying what I was going to tell her when she was older. Magnus, he ... " He couldn't say it.
Rowan silenced him with a soft, gentle kiss to his cheek.
"It's okay. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." Her hand went to his cheek, wiping away a single tear that had fallen from his beautiful eyes, his hand going over her's, holding it in place. "As long as I have a single breath left in me, I'm not going anywhere."