Magnus got up slowly, doing his very best to keep from waking up Alec who had somehow ended up curled up against him at some point during the night. He had set a sort of spell the night before that would work as an alarm clock but would only be heard by him. This was because today was Max's birthday. And not the birthday of their nine-year-old son.
He silently made his way across the hall to Max's room, moving to sit on the side of his bed. Magnus reached down to gently shake his son awake. Thankfully, Max was someone who always woke easily and who wasn't very upset at being woken up. That little fact had made their lives much easier over the years.
"Time to get up, Blueberry," Magnus said softly, smiling as Max let out a tired giggle. "I know it's early," he continued. "But we have a special mission this morning." At that, Max sat up and rubbed his eyes. He still seemed to be a bit too tired to say anything, so he just cocked his head to one side in question.
Picking Max up and carrying him toward the kitchen, Magnus kept quiet until he was sure the sound of their voices wouldn't wake Alec. He sat Max on the counter for a moment and finally clarified. "So, Max, today is your Uncle Max's birthday. That means that I need a couple of things from you." Max nodded in agreement, making Magnus smile once more at what a terribly sweet child he had been gifted with. "Your father is going to be kind of upset, so I need you to be on your absolute best behavior."
He reached over and picked Max up once more, setting him on the floor and reaching down automatically to straighten his shirt out. "But right now, I need you to help me make breakfast for your dad. We're gonna take it to him in bed and make his day a bit better. You know what his favorite is, right?"
At that, Max immediately smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Blueberry pancakes, coming up!" he said, immediately going to get the stool he used when helping either of his dads with the cooking. Magnus knew that this was something unusual for them to do, but after watching Alec spend all of Max's last birthday absolutely miserable, he felt he was obligated to try to head it off at the pass this year.
About halfway through their cooking, Magnus heard Alec begin to move around, so he left Max with a part of the cooking that he couldn't burn and he went to force Alec to stay in bed. "No, no, no," he said as he entered their room and saw Alec beginning to get out of bed. "You stay right there, Max and I are going to bring you everything you could possibly need this morning." To Magnus's surprise, Alec didn't put up a fight, he just simply leaned back against the headboard and pulled the covers back up to himself.
In a few short minutes, he and Max entered the bedroom, Max carrying a large plate of pancakes and bacon with Magnus carrying everything that could have easily spilled. Upon their entrance, Alec's face immediately brightened. It wasn't the widest smile Magnus had ever seen on his face, but it was definitely an improvement upon how he had seemed minutes before, so Magnus took it as a success.
Max ran around to Alec's side of the bed and held the plate up, a huge grin on his face. "Blueberry pancakes from your Blueberry," he announced, helping Alec's smile to grow a bit wider. When he had transferred the food from his hands to Alec's, he climbed in bed beside of his father. Alec immediately wrapped his arms around Max, seeming to be content, but Magnus wasn't too sure he completely bought into it.
Things went perfectly fine, everyone was relatively happy, and then Max did something Magnus had not been prepared for. He had planned the day practically down to the minute, but he hadn't predicted what would possibly come out of his son's mouth. That had been a mistake.
"Daddy? I have a question," Max began, directing this at Alec. When Alec nodded, his mouth still full of food, Max continued, beginning the conversation that Magnus immediately knew would take them downhill from there. "What was Uncle Max like?" It was a simple, innocent question, and Magnus knew that Max was only curious, that he meant no harm, but the way in which Alec froze at the question was enough to break Magnus's heart.
Alec moved to slowly place his fork on his plate, his thoughts obviously filled with emotion that he was hoping he could contain. Magnus reached over to wrap his arm around Alec from where he sat on the bed, trapping Max between the two of them. When Alec began speaking, his voice was stronger than Magnus had expected it to be. "He was actually a lot like you, Max," he said, carefully choosing his words.
"He was kind and gentle and just an absolutely amazing young man. He had a heart for others, that's for sure. The world needs more people like him." Alec stopped abruptly, as though he had more to say but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Max seemed to understand this somehow, and he remained silent.
The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes, but when it seemed as though Alec wasn't going to touch the food anymore, Magnus moved to being cleaning it up. He was halfway out the door when Max spoke up once more, causing him to pause and have to catch the plates he almost dropped. "Daddy, what would Uncle Max want to do to celebrate his birthday? I was thinking maybe we could celebrate it for him."
Instead of taking the time to walk the dishes to the kitchen as he had originally planned, Magnus immediately magicked them away, turning back around to try to become damage control if possible. Alec's expression was surprisingly calm, almost entirely thoughtful with only a trace of the emotion Magnus knew he was feeling. After a few moments, Alec spoke once more, "He liked comics," he said, almost to himself.
Immediately, Max's face lit up. "Oh, Daddy, can we please go get him a comic? We can leave it in his favorite place in the Institute." At that, Magnus was having trouble keeping his own emotions out of the picture; he couldn't imagine what Alec's mind was like at the moment.
Slowly, Alec nodded, moving to get out of bed for the second time that morning. "I think I'd like that, actually." This seemed as though it was pointed at Magnus, a way to show that he wasn't as upset as Magnus likely imagined he was.
Magnus couldn't help but smile when Max spoke again. "We have to get Uncle Simon, too," he said, jumping off the bed. "You know he gets when we go nerdy places without him." Magnus was surprised to find that both he and Alec were laughing at the truth of Max's comment.
As Magnus walked out of the comic store with Max ahead of Simon and Alec, he was slightly surprised that things had gone so smoothly. Alec had remained rather stoic through the entire trip, helping Max pick out a comic for his uncle. The only time Magnus had seen him tear up was when he realized that the comic they were getting was going to complete one of Max's collections that he had been trying to complete for about a year before his death.
Magnus allowed Simon and Alec to fall a bit behind, knowing that Simon had really only agreed to come along with them because he knew what it would mean to Alec. "Daddy?" Max's voice pulled Magnus out of his thoughts as they made their way toward the Institute. "I have another question."
"Shoot," Magnus replied, hoping that this question wouldn't be as bad as the last Max had asked. He was silently thankful that Max was asking whatever it was when Alec was out of earshot, knowing that it definitely held the possibility of a flood of emotions with it. What he hadn't been expecting was for the flood of emotions to be directed at him this time.
"What would Uncle Ragnor and Uncle Raphael want to do to celebrate their birthdays?" Max began, reaching over to take hold of Magnus's hand as they continued walking. "I was thinking that maybe we could do something for all of them on this day every year."
Magnus had to force himself to keep walking, to pretend that he wasn't bothered by Max's request. He didn't want to think about Ragnor or Raphael, he didn't want to think about how they were gone. And suddenly, he realized that Alec was having the same sort of feelings, a thought that left him speechless with a dull sort of pain.
When Magnus didn't answer in a timely manner, Max seemed to catch on to the fact that his question had been a bit emotional. "I'm sorry, Daddy," he said softly. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just didn't want to leave them out." As he often was, Magnus was momentarily stunned by Max's kindness. It was a sort of innocent kindness that Magnus had only seen in one or two people throughout his entire lifetime, and seeing it on his son was a new experience entirely.
"That's okay, Max," he started, trying to keep his voice as even as possible. "I was just thinking about then, that's all." His lie was heavy on his tongue, and he knew that Max could likely easily see through it, but he left it there all the same. "They were both really selfless people, Max," he continued, genuinely at a loss as to what to tell Max they could do. "I think they'd like it if we did something for other people. You know, something in their names?"
Max remained silent, obviously trying to think of things they could do. They walked the rest of the way to the Institute without speaking again, both of them trying to work through their thoughts. Alec then led the way to Max's favorite spot, allowing their son to place the comic there. Before Magnus knew it, the rest of the family had appeared, Isabelle and Jace looking much the way Alec had earlier that morning, Clary looking as though she didn't know how to help anyone around her. Magnus had to admit that he knew that feeling all too well.
For a few minutes, they simply stood in silence, seemingly finding comfort in the fact that everyone was there to share in the pain and the memory. Suddenly, Max turned around and looked up at Magnus, an idea obviously having come to him. "Daddy, I know what we could do. For Uncles Raphael and Ragnor, I mean."
Magnus simply raised an eyebrow, trying to swallow the lump in his throat as Alec came to take hold of one of his hands. "I know I sort of wasn't supposed to hear you and Daddy talking about this, but the other day I heard you saying something about a warlock baby that had been hurt by Shadowhunters. Then I heard you talking about this young vampire who something bad had happened to because he didn't have anyone to help him."
Alec's hand tightened around Magnus's, a sign that he wasn't entirely thrilled that Max had heard that particular conversation. "I was thinking," Max continued, unwilling to allow anything to stop him. "I was thinking that maybe we could try to do something to help Downworlders. You and Daddy have positions in the Clave now, so you could both work on it. Maybe something like an orphanage for unwanted warlocks, or maybe like a school or something kinda like the Academy that young Downworlders could go to if they have nowhere else to go. I'm sure you could both come up with something better, but I think Uncles Ragnor and Raphael would really like that to be in their names."
Magnus had to admit that it was an idea he absolutely adored. He knew it would be a terribly hard thing to try to pass in the Clave, but he knew that if anyone could establish something of this sort, it would be himself and Alec. It was immediately one of those moments in which Magnus didn't even have to look at Alec to know that they were already in agreement over the matter.
He bent down to pick Max up, a soft smile slowly creeping across his face. "You know what, Blueberry, I think that would be the most wonderful thing we could ever give Uncle Ragnor and Uncle Raphael. And I want you to help your father and I establish it." Max immediately smiled, obviously surprised and thrilled at the idea that his dads would want him to help with something so important. "Why don't we go start writing out a plan?" Magnus asked, turning around to leave the room and find some paper.
Alec quickly followed them, seeming as though he was entirely happy about the idea of helping Downworlders as well. Magnus knew he would put his everything into getting it passed, just as if he himself were a Downworlder. As Magnus crossed the threshold with Max in his arms, he was fairly certain he could hear the smile in Alec's voice as he paused to softly say, "Happy birthday, Max," before reaching to take their son for himself.
So, let me know how you guys felt about this one! I really enjoyed writing it because I miss all three of my babies!
The next chapter of this should be up tomorrow! It will be a very cute/emotional one for Valentine's Day, so get ready!