Chapter 14: Family Time

Max was standing outside the sixth grade classroom waiting for his sister to get out, she had a field trip day were they got a tour of the new school they would be attending the following year, it was the Friday before mid-winter break and they would be back at the end of their fifth grade school year. They also got high school buddies, both the middle school and the high school were connected. Their buddies were to guide them through their first year of middle school. Max had Eric as his senior buddy and he had graduated a few years ago and they still texted or emailed off and on. He wasn't sure what happened with Raphael's older buddy. But it was someone who would check up on you from time to time and if you felt comfortable with they would offer to help with homework. All high school students had to do it at least once; they were only required to do it for one semester as part of a credit to graduate. Raphael did his last year, his buddy left the school after that year as his father was in the military and they received orders to move. Max's buddy still in school but he didn't like the buddy system.

Cecily was in the classroom speaking with her buddy, he knew she was a junior, but he couldn't remember her name, and he couldn't see her face clear enough to remember. He saw them shifted and they appeared to be standing up, so Max took a few steps back. He had to pick up Cecily then head home because they were taking a family trip and they needed to leave as soon as they got home. Raphael left to get Anna. Raphael just got his own car, a used one, but it was his early graduation present from their parents.

"Hey, C, ready?" Max smiled when she came out of the room with a bright, massive smile.

She nodded and bounced over to him, "This is Elizabeth."

"Yes, you're in my English class." Max smiled at him, with his trademark smile.

She nodded, "And gym."

"Yes," He grinned, "You're the one who 'accidentally' hit Mrs. Glenn in the back of the head with the volleyball." He pointed at her and then put his arm down as it was rude.

She gave him a wide smile and stepped closer to him, "It was an accident."

Max found himself stepping in closer to her, her blue eyes held his attention, "She was berating your friend for sitting out at the time, wasn't she?"

"It slipped," She locked eyes with him, "She had a valid female reason to sit out." She was biting her lip now.

Cece stood in the middle of them looking back and forth, her neck hurting from the strain of seeing both of them, "Hey, she's my school buddy." She pipped in, waiting for Max to look at her, "Not your future girlfriend. Leave her alone." She pulled on Max's hand, "Let's go."

Max nodded, but looked back up at Elizabeth, "I don't listen to my sister much," He put his hand over Cece's mouth and hugged her back to his chest, "If you would like to go out sometime, let me know. I would be happy to be your junior- ouch." He pulled his hand away and glared at his sister, "You bit me."

Elizabeth started laughing, "I have to go, bye Cecily. Bye Max, you can call me." Her laughter grew as she heard the siblings begin their bickering.

…

"Dad!" Cece yelled the second she got in the house, she went into the living room and threw herself at Alec.

He was sitting on the couch folding his last round of laundry before they hit the road out to the mountain. They had rented a large cabin for the family. Jace and Clary were already up there. Izzy and Simon would be heading out tomorrow morning.

She landed on him with a thud against his chest, she wasn't crying, but the tears were there, "Dad, tell Max he can't do it."

Max followed her in with a frown, "C, it's not that bad."

Alec shifted her, "What is going on?" He pulled her to be sitting up on the couch next to him.

Cece frowned and pointed at Max, "He was flirting with my school buddy." She turned to her dad and frowned, "Tell him, he can't date her." She buried her head into his chest; she didn't want to look at her brother anymore.

Alec looked from her to Max, "Really?" Max and Cecily had just similar personalities that they seemed to always get on each other's nerves and today seemed to be no different.

"Elizabeth and I are in the same grade. She did something funny last week and were just laughing about it." Max shrugged.

Raphael came down the stairs with Anna and Magnus following, he was carrying Anna's blanket and Rexy. Magnus had his and Alec's bag in his hands following them down which was difficult with Anna and her slow pace.

Magnus frowned when he saw the scene below; he gave Max a love tap on the back of his head when he went by, "What'd you do to your sister?"

"Raph, you remember Elizabeth from gym?" Max ignored Magnus' question.

Raphael thought for a moment, "Volleyball girl?" At Max's nod, he smirked, "That was hilarious. Mrs. Glenn totally deserved that, she was being such a bi-"

"Language." Magnus gave Raphael a harder love tap to the back of the head, as he went by them to sit on the couch to sandwich Cece between her dads.

"Yeah, well she's Cece's buddy. Elizabeth said I could call her." Max grinned.

Raphael nodded, "Wow," He grinned, "She's way cuter than you."

Max was practically bouncing with the joy of another date, both Magnus and Alec called him the serial dater and they weren't all that wrong, "I know right, you got the school roster I need her number from it."

"Nooo!" Cece yelled, "You can't date my buddy." She turned to Magnus when Alec wasn't speaking up, "Tell him, tell him he can't date my buddy."

Magnus looked down at her and hugged her to his side so he could look at Alec with a sigh; they couldn't tell Max no. They could tell him about it being a bad idea, but they couldn't stop Max if Elizabeth was willing.

The doorbell rang at that moment and Raphael went to get it, he smiled as Stephen walked in, "Hey."

"Hey," Stephen leaned for what Magnus thought was going to be a kiss until he realized who was in the room and pulled back.

"Stephen and Raphael please take Anna downstairs, Max you too. Make sure you're all packed. We are leaving in ten minutes." Alec wanted to give Raphael and Stephen the option to say goodbye in private, they were only going to be gone for a week, but he knew they would want to be alone. Both boys were shy around them and that was uncomfortable which is what Alec didn't want to happen.

"Dad!" Cece threw herself back against the back of the couch.

"Anna, leave your stuff up here and get your sister's blanket and Berry for me," Magnus called to them.

Raphael went down the stairs with Stephen first; he put his hands on Stephen's shoulders to guide him down, but when they got to the bottom he waited for Max to drag Anna to Cecily's room with a wink. He waited for them to be in the room before he pulled on Stephen's shirt leading him into his room, thankful that he just cleaned.

"Nice room," Stephen said, not looking anywhere but at Raphael. This would be their first time apart since they started dating months ago. He was nervous the first few times he came over, but he soon realized he had nothing to worry about.

Raphael smirked, "I don't care." He pulled him into the center of the room before letting him go and replacing their human to human contact with his lips.

Stephen wrapped his arms around Raphael's neck, keeping him close. He wasn't sure if he was pushing, or Raphael was pulling, but they were now against Raphael's far wall.

Raphael pulled back as Anna's high pitched laugh reached his eyes, "It's going to be a long week."

Stephen moved his hands from Raphael's neck down to his shoulders, then further down his sides to find their resting place on his hips, "Shut up, you know you're going to have a blast with your family."

"Yeah, I know." Raphael ran his arms up to rest on Stephen's arms just above the elbow, "But this is new and I'm not sure what to do."

It had been five months since their first date and they had been nothing but strong ever since. Stephen lived his life out of the closet, so it wasn't much to be public with him, it took over a month before Raphael was okay with being public in school, but it wasn't that hard since he loved holding hands so much. Stephen never pushed him and offered him all the time in the world, but Raphael enjoyed them as a couple too much to keep either of them in the closet. Max was the greatest and made himself a public force to anyone who was going to say anything against their relationship.

"Tell me you love me," Stephen smirked, this was a new thing for them and Stephen never grew tired of hearing it.

"I love you." Raphael sighed with the calming effect the words had on him.

"I love you too. Besides tomorrow I fly to Florida and if I hear my sister talking about Minnie one more time I am going to be sick," Stephen smiled, "It's all about Mickey, doesn't she get it?"

Raphael laughed at him, "Yeah right if she told you to put on her Minnie ears, you're putting on the Minnie ears."

"They better be sparkly." Stephen grinned, "I need to be flamboyant."

"Oh yes, gotta let your gay show." Raphael ran a hand up to the back of Stephen's neck, cutting off his reply. The kiss was quickly turning from a simple shut up kiss to one growing out of control. Being alone in his bedroom was doing things to him; things they didn't have time for. They had yet to have sex, they were moving slowly for Raphael's benefit, but he didn't want to move slow anymore. Now was not the time for that realization. Stephen put his hands on the sides of Raphael's hips, gripping the shirt tightly.

"Ew, Raph, kissing's gross. You can get cooties." Anna groaned from the doorway, "Those are bad."

Stephen pulled all the way back, dropping his arms, and whipping his lip, "Raphael and I have had our cootie shots." He bent down to meet her eye to eye, squeezing her cheeks getting a high pitch giggle.

"Ew, he touched me!" Anna squeaked, "Cooties!" She bolted for the stairs with Max going after her with Cece's things.

She bolted straight into Magnus' arms, he barely had enough time to catch her without falling over himself. Max showed up half a second later which caused Cece to glare and storm over for her things.

"Papa, Stephen touched me. He gave me cooties." She grinned.

"Cooties huh?" Magnus grinned, "And now you're giving them to me?"

She thought for a second then put her hands on his cheeks, "We can have them together." She gave him the stare down with a complete deadpan expression.

Magnus frowned, "You scare me, child."

Alec laughed at them while Raphael and Stephen reentered the room. Raphael had his bag and blanket in hand, he crossed the room to set his bag in the growing pile by the door. One for Magnus and Alec, another for the girls, then him and Max had separate bags. Each of the kids had their own blankets and the girls had a stuffed animal. They were taking the mini-van Magnus traded his car in so they have plenty of room with the third-row seating.

Anna looked around to Raphael then back to Magnus, "Papa, they were touching first to get cooties. Like gross touching."

"Anna!" Max grabbed her out of Magnus' arms and squished her to him, getting a giggle out of her.

Alec was up in a flash, plucking her out of Max's arms, he pulled her onto his lap as he sat back on the couch with Cece close to his side, "How were they touching?"

"Dad!" Raphael groaned at the same time as Anna spoke.

Anna answered, "They were kissing." She made a kissy sound, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Kissing." She bounced on Alec's lap. She was their little character always dramatic, Magnus was convince she was going to be an actress someday.

"Yep, my cue to leave. Bye, have fun." Stephen kissed Raphael's cheek and left out the door without a look back just a slight wave of his hand over his head.

Magnus smirked at Raphael, who was bright red, but spoke to Alec, "Look, baby, your not the only one who can turn that deep shade of red."

Alec frowned, "You are so mean. Raphael, honey, come here." He moved just slightly so Raphael could seat down on the couch as well, Raphael rested his head on Alec's shoulder. He poked Anna in the side twice getting her to giggle.

Magnus pulled on the back of Max's neck to get him over, "You can only date Elizabeth as long as you can say with certainty that you should break up it is not going to backlash to your sister and hurt her. I personally promise to take away everything you owe if this hurts your sister. I mean car, laptop, phone, books, sketch pad, you name it; it's now mine. Got it?"

Max nodded, "Yes, sir."

"We're not kidding Max. We can't tell you who to date, but this directly effects one of your sisters." Alec stopped twisting Anna and locked eyes with Max, "I trust you to make a good decision. All three of you seem to have a good opinion of her, so you can call her and date her if you want, but remember the effects of this."

Max pulled on Magnus' arm to get him in to go into the kitchen with him, "Can we just pack the food already?"

Alec twisted to get a better look at Raphael, "What were you doing? I gave you the perfect opportunity. You're not supposed to get caught by your kid sister."

"You guys get caught all time," Raphael whined.

"Hey, we are married. That's different." Alec started strong then smirked, "Plus your father is old and he needs all the kisses he can get."

"I can hear you, you know?" Magnus called from the kitchen.

"Oh I know baby, I was just saying how much I love you." Alec grinned as he yelled back, the girls giggled; Cece completely over the upsetting situation.

"I hate you," Magnus replied with a huge laugh from Max, "Max is on my side."

Alec shook his head, "He loves me," He whispered to the kids around him, "Now, is everyone packed?" He got nods from Raphael and Cece.

Anna frowned with a deep thoughtful look, "Daddy, I don't know." She sounded distressed at the thought.

"You are baby girl, we packed last night, remember?" She thought for a second then shrugged, Alec stood up to get everything moving, "Girls go help Papa and Max. Raphael, start bringing some bags out to the van."

…

Raphael and Max piled into the back of the van while Alec fought with Anna on her seat belt and why she had to wear it the entire ride. Alec threatened to make her sit in the very back between Max and Raphael so they could watch her the entire time, she quickly changed her tone. She wanted to be by Cece because she would play with her.

The boys just sat and watched the scene play out, the girls were always so needy on road trips and this was just the beginning.

Raphael tapped on Max's phone, he had been texting nonstop since Raphael looked up Elizabeth's phone number on the rooster, "Are you going to spend the entire drive and week texting her?"

"You telling me you aren't going to be texting Stephen the entire time."

Raphael crossed his arms with his feisty retort coming, "We already promised to keep it low key because we both want to enjoy time with our families."

"Aren't you two happy?" Max winked at him to show Raphael he was kidding.

Raphael grinned, "We are." He whispered twisting in his seat to face Max who twisted to him as well. This way they could whisper and not be overheard. They had a lot of practice in this, "Max, I never thought I could be this happy. I felt something so wrong with me."

"I know you felt that way, but there is nothing wrong with you." Max sighed, "It's okay to feel any way you want to." His phone buzzed and he quickly sent off a text and put in the cup holder they had down between them, "I told her I have reached the family portion of this weekend and I would text more when I had time."

"Awe, all ears, just for me." Raphael made a dramatic wave of his hand to fan his hot face, as any perfectly good southern bell would have.

Max grinned at him, shoving his arm, "Oh, shut up."

Raphael laughed at him, "Honestly," He bent his head to the side to stop the raw emotions as best he could, "Stephen has been great. Slow when I need him to be. Fast when I need him to be. It's like he knows what I need better then I do. Two weeks ago, he told me he loved me and I just blinked and said it back. There was no pressure and it just felt right. The words left my mouth before I need and I meant them."

Max smiled, "I'm glad he's understanding and things are feeling right. That's all we ever want for you."

"I said those words and this light bulb went off, I- uhm- I-" Raphael lost his nerve. They had talked about their sex lives before, well talked about Max's sex life because Raphael didn't have one, but this was different and he didn't know how to get the words out.

"What?"

Raphael's insides tightened, but he couldn't stop the words now, "I want him."

The last word came out as a whispered so quiet Max almost couldn't hear him, "That's good. Right?"

"I don't know how to do this. I've never. Before." The words were broken, he glanced towards the front of the car.

Magnus was driving while holding Alec's hand over the center console. Alec was looking at his phone but talking to him. Alec had a smile on his face, and although they couldn't see, Raphael knew Magnus would have a matching smile. Cecily and Anna were already passed out even though they haven't even made it five minutes on the expressway yet. They always did sleep for long rides and had to be woken up to be reminded to use the restrooms. No one was listening to them, but Raphael still felt weird.

"I haven't asked because I know sex and attraction are still being discovered, but have you done anything with him?"

"We've kissed."

"Yeah, I've seen that. I meant beyond first base." Max moved his hands to get him to speed up. They would be at the first stop before Raphael, "Raph, you know you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. I understand."

"I do-" He hurried on, "I just feel like I'm so far behind."

"You're not. Don't compare yourself to others because you will always find a reason to be behind. You are going at Raphael speed and you have found someone who wants to match speeds with you. That's amazing."

"When I said that I loved him, something clicked, and it felt right. I can't explain it, but the thought of him now makes me want to take those steps I never wanted before. He's done it all and I haven't. But you're right; he's matching down to my speed and teaching me." Raphael sighed, "It feels so right. We have done more than just kissing. More than hands on. Well, him on me," He smiled at the memory, "We have not had sex yet." He was back to whispering, so Max had to read his lips.

Max smiled, "He's a good guy and I think you found a good one to experience your firsts with. Maybe even longer, but only time will tell that one."

"What are you two whispering about back there?" They both turned to see Alec twisted around to see them, his hand still locked in Magnus'. He grinned at them, "Secrets don't make friends."

"Well, it's a good thing you're our parents not our friends." Max shot back, he winked at Raphael who laughed at them.

This was going to be a fun trip.