Chapter 11: Magnus On a Mission

Alec smiled when Magnus came out the back door with a beer in each hand and a smile on his face, "Oh, this is nice."

Magnus leaned down for a kiss, it was supposed to be quick; he had planned it to be quick, but per usual it wasn't quick. He grinned down at Alec, "Maybe we should take these inside." He wiggled his eyes and shook the beers slightly in his hands for additional effect.

It was Friday night and Izzy had just left from watching the girls, she brought Charlotte and Ava over for a girl's night, she painted their nails and did a fake mud mask and the girls never knew the difference. She called it a spa day and the girls went crazy for it.

Alec went from work to the community center and Magnus took Raphael there while Max was allowed to the local art museum with Clary, they had some special talk that evening and Max practically begged to go, but he wasn't allowed in the city without an adult. It didn't take more than a two-minute phone conversation with Clary to get her to take him.

Magnus sat in the back of the meeting outside of the circle and just watched. He watched Raphael talking with his new friends and listening to the type of game they played. Alec was running this activity as Mr. and Mrs. Carson had an emergency and Alec refused to cancel the meeting. He felt it was the only outlet some of these teens ever got and he wasn't willing to not be there for them. He had run the meeting more than once and he had some ideas. He was talking about gossip this evening and how harmful it could be. He asked for a show of hands to see who has ever been a victim of gossip and when only a few, including Raphael, raised their hands he started in on his speech about being above that. He forced them all to play the telephone game to get his message across. The kids had a lot of fun and he even allowed them to share their stories and to work through it. His degree in Training and Development was really going to good use with the teens. Since Alec was now in upper management at Kane Services he spent more time with employees then creating and during his work here he got to nurture that ability. The smile he had on his face as he spoke to the teens made Magnus want to jump him then and there. Magnus and Raphael stuck around for the entire time that Alec allowed the two teens who stayed late to speak as long as they needed to.

Alec smirked at Magnus, "Anna may be asleep, but Max and Raphael are still up with Cecily, there is still time for them to go crazy."

Magnus handed over his beer and slid his chair over to be sitting so close to Alec that their legs were touching; he held out his hand and waited for Alec to intertwine their fingers. "Raphael was right. You were great tonight. Seeing you in there working your magic was amazing."

Alec snorted a small laugh, "You're turned on right now, aren't you?"

"Hence the comment to take this inside." Magnus shrugged his shoulders, "My man is hot, what can I say?"

Alec tipped his head back to rest on the back of his chair, "Magnus, I think I want to go back to school. I love my job but seeing those kid's face light up that they have a safe place is the best feeling. I think I want to get a psychology degree to be able to really help them."

"You want to quit work and go to school full time or go to night school?" Magnus twisted to look at him keeping their fingers laced together.

"Night school. I don't want to quit my job because I do love it. But I want to be able to understand these kids better and safely help them. You get a lot of training in HR that could be classified as psychology, but I want more. I want to help."

"I support you one hundred percent of the time and if this is what you want, then do it. We have a nice savings, you wouldn't have to take out student loans." Magnus squeezed his hand, "Look at me," he waited for Alec to roll his head over to the side to get a good look at him, "I wish you could see yourself while you're in there. You are amazing. You took the time to address every child, you answered any question and if you didn't know it, you pulled out your phone and tried to help. You listened to every word, every thought, and you hung onto them. You were so amazing."

Alec smiled, a small blush creeping up his neck to his cheeks, "Thank you." He sat up straight, "You really want to jump my bones right now, don't you?"

"Oh god yes." Magnus grinned, "I'm willing to risk Cece and Max together."

Alec belted out a laugh and leaned in for a kiss, "I love you. I don't know how I got to have you and keep you, but I'm so grateful for you."

"Come on," Magnus pulled on his arm while standing up, "You take these upstairs and I'll go get the little hellhounds to bed. Or at least tucked away in their rooms."

"Yes, sir,"

"Okay, now that's hot." Magnus kissed him once, and quickly this time.

…

Max felt the tug on his shirt and took his ear buds out when Raphael flopped on the bed, "I'm pretty sure I got Cece locked in her room." He grinned at him, pulling on Max's laptop to close the lid and shove it away.

"Hey! I was working on something." Max groaned, hoping he remembered to hit save incase something went wrong.

"Right now, talking to me is more important." Raphael laid back on the bed, "Biological parents?" This was the first free moment they had since yesterday and Raphael had questions.

Max made a show of taking his earbuds and rolling them up, he put them on his laptop, then set both of them on his nightstand, "Apparently."

"Max?" Raphael twisted to look at him, "Are you okay?"

"I guess Raj and dad were best friends in high school and college. Raj got his girlfriend, Lydia, pregnant. Raj and dad started to drift apart but since neither of them wanted a baby they decided to make dad deal with it. They left the mother section blank and put his name on the birth certificate as the father. They looked at their baby and left it-"

"You aren't an 'it', you are Max Lightwood and you are my brother. If I have to stop saying there's something wrong with me then you have to stop calling yourself 'it'." Raphael frowned at him.

Max nodded, "Anyway, they didn't know what dad would do. He could have fessed up and said no. Then I would be in the system somewhere. What would I have done? What would I have become? Dad saved my life." Max felt the tears coming and bent forward to lay his forehead on Raphael's crossed legs.

"Hey," Raphael put his hand on Max's head, "You can't think of those things. The questions like that are endless and have no answers. Dad did the right thing and kept you. You are my brother and Cece's and Anna's. That's the important part. You got to talking it out with dad and put your fears to rest?"

"Yeah, I did. Dad is amazing, he's my superhero." Max sat up straight, "Something else is bothering me."

"What?"

"Dad mentioned a guy named Clark Underhill, he harassed dad at work. That place he worked before Kane Services. I don't know what all happened but something about it didn't make sense." Max shook his head, "He was trying to prove he isn't great at everything, he had flaws like the rest of us, but it wasn't really an ending. Just said it's his to deal with."

"We should google him." Raphael suggested.

"No googling, play with me." Cece came running into the room and jumped on Max's bed, landing across their legs, "Play with me, please"

"Get out of my room." Max pushed on her side to at least get her off his legs, "You're not allowed in my room."

"Raphael is in here." She complained.

"Raphael is allowed." Max poked at her side and she yelled at him, "Get out."

Magnus came into the room, "What are you guys yelling about?" He looked around the room but that didn't stop Max from poking Cece again and producing another squeal, "Cece, it's bed time."

…

Magnus took longer than he felt he should have with getting Cecily to calm down, for Max to leave her alone, and Raphael to stop encouraging them. He even threw out that he had a husband with beer waiting on him upstairs which only got him a round of 'gross' so then he threw out that being grounded is a real thing. They finally went to their own rooms.

He made it upstairs to see Alec kneeling in the hallway with a sleepy Anna, crying and rubbing her eyes. He groaned internally, all of their children were against them, "What's going on?"

"Papa!" Anna went around Alec and threw her arms in the air to be picked up, "Daddy, won't let me sleep with you guys. I don't like him." She pouted as he picked her up.

Alec stood up with a grin at the look of horror on Magnus' face. The likelihood of sex just dropped to the frozen ice caps, "I'll get you some water." Alec rubbed her back and kissed her cheek, heading back downstairs for a cup of water, not taking her words to heart.

"Princess Anna Sophia, you know the drill." Magnus rubbed her back and carried her into her room, her crying continued, "We are not crying about this, my Princess."

"Papa, please," She begged as she cried.

…

Alec tried to wait up for Magnus but he had been up since five that morning and he didn't make it home until almost nine because of the meeting running long. Then they got home in time to put Anna to bed, which meant for a long day and Alec was exhausted. It was another day of missed lunch and a crappy fast food dinner in-between his rush from work to the community center. He wouldn't change it for the world, but he was ready for bed.

"Oh my god, you look half dead." Magnus moaned when he entered the room, shutting the door behind him, "How are we going to have sex like this?" He used his hands to wave them over Alec's figure.

The book he had been reading was closed on his lap, he couldn't read the words anymore, "Can we not have sex?" He put his book on the nightstand and laid his feet out, stretching them, their blanket flattening with a small puff as it floated down. "I was sitting here thinking about how exhausted I am. And how exhausted I was last night. I miss talking to you."

"Alec, baby, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm not going to force you." Magnus went to work on taking his blue jeans off. Throwing them into the entryway to their closet and quickly removed his shirt in the same fashion as he spoke, "I know it brings up your anxiety."

"You can read my mind now?"

"I always could." Magnus went to their bed, pulling their blankets back, and snuggling in. He felt for Alec's legs and tugged on his knees. Alec followed the movement and laid back so Magnus could tuck himself in his side. "Come on, give it to me. We both know you need to talk about."

Alec sighed, "Why did they go to him and not call me? Raj and Lydia never should have said anything to Max. They had no right."

"Max is a good kid and he knows what real love feels like." Magnus moved his hand around from Alec's chest to his side, draping himself across his husband, taking in his warmth, and stealing it for himself.

Alec twisted just enough to tuck his arm under Magnus' neck and pulling him in close, "I know he's a good kid. He's an amazing son and brother. I knew I would have to tell him eventually. I just wanted to save him that pain. Lydia and Raj had no right to come into his life even by accident. They should have walked in the other direction, end of story."

"I know," Magnus whispered, but he was sure Alec didn't even hear him, "I know, baby, it's going to be okay."

"I mean they called him unwanted. Well, he isn't. He is wanted. He's my son. No, that's wrong, he's our son. How can they be so horrible to him and then adopt children of their own? I know I should be happy, kids need homes all the time. It's a good thing that there are two children not in the system but how can you refuse your own flesh and blood. I mean I feel so stupid for saying and feeling things like that because without them being idiots I wouldn't have him as our son. Life would be so different and I don't want different. I want what we have. I'm just so upset that they would be that cruel."

Magnus sighed and settled even deeper into the bed, he knew Alec needed to talk it out. Alec always got this way, he just had to talk things out and it would be okay. He was glad he could be that sounded board for him, he could be the one to bring Alec's anxiety down. "Lydia and Raj are horrible people, we have always known that. It's very sad that did this to Max, but you are right. Without them being stupid, we wouldn't have our complete family."

"I'm scared, Magnus."

That got his attention, he sat up on his elbow, raising completely off Alec. Alec twisted to be on his side, "Of what?"

"That he'll want to meet them. That he'll like them. I don't know. I'm just scared that maybe he'll want more from them." Alec sighed, "Am I being weird?"

"You and I both know we would support him in whatever decision he makes, but we have to step back and let him make that decision. He's now seventeen and we have to give him that choice." Magnus draped his arm over Alec's side, resting on his hip.

Alec nodded, the tears hiding behind his eyes with the threat of falling. His chest felt like someone was sitting on it, "I know. I know that."

"But a part of you doesn't want that."

Alec nodded, "I want to keep him in my bubble forever. I want my boy to stay my baby boy. I know he has to make his own choices and he would always have to make this choice someday, but is it so bad that I want to keep him as he is." Alec sighed, again.

Magnus pulled Alec to him, laying on his back and dragging Alec on top of him, "I know, baby, I know, but Max is a smart kid. He will weigh the situation and make a good decision."

"I'm being selfish, aren't I?"

"No, I wouldn't say selfish. I understand that pain, Alec. I don't want Max to see them anymore then you do and it would kill me if Camille showed up for Raphael." Magnus wrapped a hand around to the back of Alec's head, pulling on him to rest Alec's head on his chest, "We have lucked out on how great our children are with each other. Sure it's not always sunshine and roses, but that stuff is superficial. When it comes down to the real issues that matter those kids would never stray from one another. I'm sure Max and Raphael have already talked it out. You know our boys."

"What would I do without you?"

"Starve." Magnus smirked, "After all, I am a fantastic cook." It got the laugh he was looking for as Alec pulled back from him just to laugh at him.

There was a knock on their door then, Magnus groaned as it was becoming increasingly clear he was never having sex tonight. They weren't always about sex, but tonight after that meeting and seeing Alec in charge made him sexual charged.

"Come in?" Alec called to the door, to his surprise Max and Raphael came into their room, "What's up, guys?" Alec sat up and leaned against their headboard with Magnus following suit.

"I wasn't sure if it was okay to knock, but-" Max came forward and sat on the edge of their bed by Alec's feet, "-I heard laughing, so I took a chance."

Raphael mirrored Max's spot on the bed just by Magnus, "I told him the laughing could be something else but he knocked anyway." Raphael narrowly missed his father's feet from hitting his side, "You're the one who said you had a husband waiting for you upstairs with beer."

"Really?" Alec glared at Magnus, "Tone it down a little bit with the children." He hoped his glare overshadowed the bright red he knew his cheeks were becoming.

"You're just saying that because I can turn you redder than a tomato." Magnus grinned and poked at his side which Alec batted away at his hands, whining as he did so.

Raphael laughed at the color of his dad's cheeks, "Ha."

"Dad?" Max called his attention back to him.

"Yes, Max?" Alec softened his features before turning to him, "What's up?"

"Can I have my car keys back?" Max asked, "I know I drove yesterday and that was to help Raphael out, and okay a little selfish for myself, but-" He stopped and started to pick at the fabric of the blanket.

"But?" Alec waited for him.

Max wouldn't look at them, he really wanted access to the car back, but more so he wanted to know he had their trust again, "But I think I've done a good job lately with everything."

Alec looked at Magnus who shrugged. Clearly everyone was leaving this up to him, "One condition."

Max's head whipped up to stay at him, "Anything."

"Until we can work out the details, Raphael gets the car every Friday night." Alec looked pointedly at Max, "And I have to work at the center, plus with Magnus working, so I will need you to pick up slack with the girls. I know it might seem unfair since it is a Friday night but we need the help right now, Max; and Raphael needs to go to his meetings."

Max nodded, "Deal."

"Max," Magnus started in, "No more mess-ups like that crap with Sarah or it's gone for good. You are not to invite anyone into the house that we have not met and definitely not without asking first. Are we clean?"

Max smiled, "Thank you. And I promise no more stupid mistakes. Cece still gives me an evil eye from time to time. I swear that girl could make hell look pleasant."

"Hey!" Alec kicked him lightly on the thigh with his toes still under the blanket, "You be nice, that is my daughter you are talking about. I could tell you stories about you as a child."

"I think nothing is going to beat ripping her bear in half." Raphael sighed, "We will never live that down."

"You also sent it flying behind the couch once, Alec had to go on a recuse mission." Magnus pointed out to Max, "I mean Raphael wasn't any better. You two were all about having a baby sister until she turned two and then it was hell just to get you two to look at her."

"Cecily even asked me if I could buy her new brothers like we bought her a new bear." Alec frowned, "Oh and then I caught you guys throwing the bear around on the slide and I thought I was going to go crazy. I actually yelled at you two."

"Wait," Raphael frowned, "I don't remember that. You never yell. You save that for father."

"I was so mad, and Clary was there and Magnus was gone somewhere, I can't remember where. You two and Chris froze like the world was ending." Alec smirked a little.

Max frowned, "You don't yell."

"The last straw was when you two were wrestling and you knocked your little sister's face into the downstairs coffee table and we have to take her to urgent care. I almost did lose my mind then. I had to leave I was so angry."

"And then he asked me to buy him a baby." Magnus cut in to lighten the mood, "It was all cute. It was the end of a long weekend in Toronto and I was laying on the floor near this floor to ceiling glass window with my head in his lap looking outside and being all peaceful and he asked me just like that, 'buy me a baby.' I had to ask him to define what that meant and then he told me he wanted me to pay because I made more money than him." Magnus laughed at the redness returning to Alec's face, his favorite hobby.

Max and Raphael laughed at them, "I'm beginning to think father isn't the only dramatic one in this relationship."

"Yeah, yeah, but we got Anna out of it. So my plan worked." Alec smiled, "Nothing beats you, always embarrassing."

"I never do that." Magnus waved his hand out at him.

"Oh yeah, how about the night we let our family see the house for the first time and we talked about Cecily. You had to answer every one of Jace's weird questions about the process. Or the elevator ride on our honeymoon; I haven't forgotten that one. Or Ragnor and the first time I met him. I nearly jumped out of my skin and turned bright red at the same time. I practically ran from the house with Max in my arms. Or the zoo trip the next day." Alec smirked at him, turning slightly red at his own omissions, "I could go on you know."

Magnus leaned in for a quick kiss on his cheek, "I love you and you love all my dramatic antics."

"You two are the cutest." Raphael smiled, "Has there ever been a moment where you haven't been this cute?"

Alec looked at Magnus then Max, "You know we aren't perfect and we haven't always been cute. We have our moments. We have problems like any other couple."

Max frowned, "We've never seen it?" He didn't mean it to come out as a question, but his voice hitched a bit to make it one.

Magnus nodded, "Camille was a problem. Lydia and Raj were a problem."

"Clark Underhill," Raphael spoke up, he instantly regretted when three pairs of eyes stared at him. Max had told him about it and he knew he wasn't supposed to. Max hit him, Alec looked at Max, and Magnus stared at him like had grown a third head, "Sorry."

"Max, I should have known." Alec shook his head.

"Sorry, dad, I had to tell him. I didn't understand and I felt like there is more you're not telling us."

Magnus frowned, "You told them?"

"No, I told Max." Alec frowned as well.

"I'm going to assume you sugarcoated the situation to make it seem lighter then what it was." Magnus waited for his nod, "Yes, Clark Underhill was a huge problem. He was a horrible person and his actions caused such stress on Alec that it was impossible not to bring that stress home. You two felt the pressure as any children would. It was a very stressful situation. It's really Alec's story to tell."

"Always do the right thing." He gave his boys a sad smile, "Work is never more important than family. Always go with your gut. If something isn't right then do something about it."

"You going to tell us what else happened. Raph and I talked about it and there is something in our guts that something is missing from this story." Max pointed out to him.

Alec stared at Max, regretting getting his words pushed back in his face, "We were short staffed and I had always put so much effort into my work because when I was a single father I had to. I couldn't afford to lose my job. Unfortunately, these excuses are going to lead to a major problem. From day one Underhill didn't seem right to me, but I let it slide. The comments could be ignored. It was stressful, but I thought I could handle it. He showed up at the house and said things to Magnus. We started fighting then. Magnus wanted me to get rid of him, but I wanted to produce a good product at work and I couldn't do that if I was short staffed. It was a mistake and I would pay the price when I finally turned him in and he attacked me in my office. It took a lot of therapy and moving companies to finally be alright in my own skin again."

"Attacked you?" Max wanted to cry for his dad, "What does that mean?"

"Yeah," Magnus took the lead, "These things happen and they are horrible, but they are very real. Always trust your own selves, you two are very smart and you need to continue to believe in yourselves. I don't want to hear you two speak about Underhill again, he already took so much of our lives. The emotional toll is something we have both have come to terms with and moved on, it happened over 10 years ago and I don't want to hear you two talking about it. This is something Alec and I had to live through and it was a very difficult one. After this conversation tonight, I want it to end. Do you both understand?"

Alec sighed, watching his boys nod at Magnus, "Listen to me, the whole situation isn't something I'm proud of. I knew it was something I would want to speak to you about. Although, it is difficult to talk about I want you guys to learn from my mistakes-"

"Our mistakes." Magnus cut in.

Alec went on as if Magnus never spoke, "The life lesson here is everyone makes mistakes it's all about what you learn from those mistakes and how you pick yourselves up after them. Like Max, you made a mistake in allowing Sarah into the house and she hurt Cece's feelings, but you have since worked hard on making that up to her, you went as far as to break up with Sarah. You have done a great job with Cece and I'm proud that you owned up to what you did wrong and worked on fixing it."

"You know, this is not how I wanted my Friday not to go." Magnus smirked, "But I can't complain. I do enjoy my time with my boys." He put his hand on Alec's shoulder to squeeze it, he wanted to offer his support as the topic was always such a hard one.

"Well, you did say you had a husband and beer waiting upstairs, I think we can all guess how you wanted your Friday to end." Max arched an eyebrow at Magnus, who reached over to try and smack him, but Max was up and towards the door in a flash. "Come on, Raph, let's leave the parents to their alone time."

"Finally!" Magnus pushed on Raphael with his foot, "Alec, kiss me."

"Eeww, get away from me." Alec grinned.

Raphael's deep laugh was echoing off the walls, he got up and went out with Max as Magnus continued his grab for Alec who pulled away with a yelp. Raphael put his arm on Max's shoulder pulling him hard down the stairs, "They are sugary cute but gross sometimes."

"Right!" Max grinned.