Bay's fingers spread their longest length across the ivory keys. The perfect eighths jumped up and down the scale before the right hand produced the melody that was naturally Rachmaninoff. The old pipes creaked as the water from the shower ran through them, trying to change the down beat, but Bay progressed. Even as the shower was turned off, she continued her practice until the bathroom door was opened, and Alec was in his borrowed room. The concerto ended with trickling notes and an abrupt, dramatic turn away from the piano.

Just as she had entered the doorway to the spare bedroom, her throat contracted and she began to cough violently. Alec turned toward her, and from his crouched position over his bag, stood. He walked toward her, but she had finished her bout of coughs. Bay met him halfway, hugging him around his bare torso. He petted the top of her hair.

"You smell like strawberries," she mused, giving his stomach butterfly kisses. Alec squirmed slightly.

"I forgot shampoo and body wash. I had to use yours." He grimaced, and made show like he couldn't stand the smell.

Bay grinned. "I think you smell nice." She pulled away, hands held flat on his stomach, and looked at him. "You have the softest stomach I've ever felt."

Alec flushed slightly. "Muscles don't fully heal after carrying a baby," he said, but she wasn't looking at him. Bay's eyes traveled across the scared and runed skin, pondering. Her finger traced a rune she knew was meant to keep him calm in mind and spirit. From above her, Alec told her softly, "You were in there once. Long time ago."

"I must have been very tiny."

"Yes, you were." Alec smiled so fondly at Bay that she flushed slightly and turned her head away from him. In his hand was a cellphone. He must have been reading it, she thought, while he was going through his bag for a shirt. Bay didn't like cellphones. They didn't work in Alicante, so she had never seen one until Sarah had bought a disposable phone in New York. She didn't know why Alec was using his, and, frankly, didn't like it. He was supposed to pay attention to her.

"Why do you have that?" She was irritated and didn't care if Alec could hear it in her voice or not.

"Have what––?" he asked. Alec noticed where she was looking and rolled his eyes at himself. "Magnus–– your father texted me."

"What did he say?" Bay chose to ignore any feelings that arose when Alec called Magnus her father.

"I don't know. I didn't even get a chance to put my shirt on." He put the cellphone into her hand, and instructed, "You can read it to me while I go do that."

Bay fiddled around–– she had learned a little about phones from Sarah–– until the screen lit up and informed her of a new message. She read aloud, "Little Alexander and number two are doing somersaults. It's unsettling."

Alec and her exchanged a confused glance, while he buttoned his blue short sleeve shirt. He shook his head, laughing softly when realization struck him, but when he looked back at her she could tell he was hesitant toward her. He was keeping a secret, Bay thought.

"How is this working?" she asked.

"Your father did something to it. I try not to ask."

Alec held his hand out to her, a silent request for his phone. He looked as if he was debating whether or not to respond. Pocketing the phone, he told her, "There are a couple things I want to talk to you about." Alec must have noticed the worry on Bay's face because he was quick to console. "Nothing bad I promise. I just want to make you know and want what's happening.

Uneasy, and without comfort from Alec's attempted consolation, Bay laid herself down on the bed. She didn't say anything, instead waiting for her dad to speak first. Bay's heart pounded in the silence. In the past weeks, any news was bad news. Like the kind that sent you across the globe to have a special kind of medicine attempt to kill you so that maybe you might live.

Alec sat on the edge of the bed, facing her, and rubbed his hand up and down her back. "Do you know what's going on exactly? Why I'm here?"

"You want to become my dad legally," Bay frowned at him. "That is why you're here, isn't it?"

"Yes, of course," he answered quickly. His hand stilled. "What that means is Magnus and I want you to live with us in New York."

"Sarah told me that, but––" Bay crawled onto his lap, batting her eyelashes–– "Idris is home to every shadowhunter. You could stay here with me."

Alec shook his head. "Magnus can't enter the wards, and I have to stay with him."

"You have to stay with me, too," she said, and not with some jealousy.

"I would like for that to be true, but that's your decision." The elder nephilim held her gaze with his own, and in it Bay could see desperation. The girl knew that she was going to live in New York in a few days time. Sarah had made plans that dictated her leaving her childhood home. Bay found it a nice change that Alec would ask what she wanted when all she'd known was dictation. "Do you want to come home with me, or live here with Sarah?"

She didn't waste time in answering, "I want to go with you."

The relief on Alec's face was evident. He hugged her closely to his body, and kissed her forehead. "I forgot to ask you before I started making everything legal."

"I thought you knew."

"I had assumed…," he didn't finish his thought. Alec touched his temple to her own, closing his eyes. "You have a whole family waiting for you," he murmured to her. "Both Jace and Isabelle wanted to come with me. I had to tell them it was better for me to come alone. They weren't convinced."

"Does Magnus really want me?" asked Bay, choosing her words carefully. She had debated over calling him Mr. Bane or Father, and found that she was uncomfortable with both.

Alec held her face in his hands, and was looking at her. She kept her attention anywhere on his face, but his eyes. "Magnus wants you and loves you just as much as I do," The nephilim insisted, brusquely. "I know it's difficult to see that in him, but you're not exactly the most welcoming person either."

Bay's face was considerate. "Am I mean to you?" she asked with pure curiosity, no bitterness gracing her words.

"Not always, but you can be."

She rolled off his lap to lie on her stomach once more. With her face in the sheets, she reminded, "You said there was something else you wanted to tell me."

Alec had laid himself beside the girl. His position was opposite her's, his chest to the ceiling. "Only with your father present."

"You do have a magical phone," pointed out Bay.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and pressed speed dial. "It's not magical––" Alec's mouth was covered by Bay's hand.

"Sarah knows more nephilim who use magica] than most beings of the Downworld. Don't bother to deny it."

From Alec's phone, Magnus' voice rang clear, "I know what you're going to say, but I don't care. One of our children will be named after you."

The elder nephilim attempted to wrestle a response from his mouth, but Bay's hand wouldn't let go.

"Did you butt dial me?" Magnus asked blandly after a minute. They were married long enough to be excited when called, but when no response came, ask whether or not the other had sat on their phone.

"Ah!" Bay shrieked after Alec had bitten her fingers. Though her outburst was mostly for show.

"No, no, I'm here," Alec spoke hurriedly at the same time Bay accused, "You bit me!"

"Bay's there with you?" inquired Magnus.

"Yes," he answered, trying to hide a grin. He placed the phone between Bay, who was sitting crossed legged, and himself.

"Hello, Bay." Cautiously Magnus asked, "How are you feeling today?"

"Knackered, and sore." She was quick in getting to the point. "Dad said you had something to tell me."

"Oh, did he?" The warlock's tone of voice was evidence enough to Alec that he knew what Bay was talking about.

"I wanted to tell her sooner rather than later," he said, unsure almost to the point of a question. "With you, of course."

Bay looked between the mobile and Alec. He was clearly uncomfortable, and his uneasy body language affected her. She was straining for the other man to speak, possibly to further hint at the turn of discussion.

"And you wanted to do that over the phone?"

The elder nephilim retorted, "If you want to wait––"

"No, I agree with you. It would be best to tell her now."

"Tell me what?" Bay finally snapped.

With slight hesitancy in his voice Alec said to her, "You're going to be a big sister."

The thickness in the air was palatable as if the steam from Alec shower had congregated in the room, and was choking her. Bay looked down at Alec's stomach subconsciously, but she had felt his abdomen. It was hard from years of battle, yet soft when she had pressed her head against it.

Alec caught her glance, and quickly assured, "Not me, no. I'm not having anymore babies."

"Then where are you getting it?" she demanded. Her eyes stung, and she prayed silently that the betrayal she felt couldn't be seen or heard. The clarity and brightness of the room was growing, as she felt her eyes shift and change.

"From me, and this time, there are two," Magnus' voice rang clear like diamonds, cutting into her skull. She almost screamed from the pain.

Soft and worried, Alec asked, "Bay, are you feeling alright?"

Bay's bottom lip trembled. "I'm sorry," she apologized, choking over her words. "I'm sorry I didn't look for you when I was younger. I never really thought about it, and had assumed you were dead. I shouldn't have assumed."

"You don't need to be sorry. There was no way––"

She didn't see Alec move to hold her–– she was crying to deeply––, but when his arms went around her Bay pushed back. She didn't want his comfort. Magnus and he were replacing her. The girl had never called the one person in the world who cared for her wellbeing since infancy mother. That title had been taken before any memories could be retraced in Bay's past. She felt the deepest sense of betrayal. She had waited for them, but they didn't wait for her.

"You're replacing me," she tried to accuse but the words slurred and came out as a harsh breath.

"No!" both Magnus and Alec's voice yelled in the same moment. The nephilim continued, "We would never do that. You were at the top of our minds when––"

Bay scrambled off the bed, and ran to the door. Her feet quick, ready if her dad wanted to stop her. She slipped out into the hall, and whispered, "I want to stay with Sarah," before she shut the door with a sense of finality.

o.O.o

Silence followed the girl's departure, bringing with it doleful emotion. Alec pulled his knees up, and covered his face with his hands. In his mind thoughts of failure spun in repeated circles, reprimanding him.

"Alec," the voice in his phone asked, "you can pretend the phone is me and hug it in your curled up position."

"You don't know what position I'm in."

"Of course I do," he said indignantly, as if the notion was absurd. "You're curled into a ball, and the only reason your not hiding your face behind your hands is so you can talk to me."

"Go away," Alec mumbled in a tone that belied his request. "You're trying to make me feel better."

"That would my intention, yes."

"I made her cry, Magnus. I don't deserve to be happy."

He had been the oldest child since he was a toddler, nothing could be more normal in his world. He hadn't considered that Bay was growing up as an only child. Bay was possessive, and would see other children around him and Magnus as rivals. In the same way Alec couldn't imagine a world without Isabelle and Jace, Bay couldn't see other smaller bodies residing with her.

Magnus did not speak during his brief pause. Alec continued, "We've chosen the worst time to have more kids."

The warlock hummed in thought. "I'd always thought that I was a man with an able sense of timing."

"Stop trying to make me smile," Alec groaned.

"No, I don't think I will." Magnus' voice became serious. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I shouldn't have done what I did. I'm sorry you have to go through Bay's temper tantrum."

"Is that what that was?" Alec asked in all honesty. "Magnus, I need you here. I can't–– this is my first time babysitting her, and I've screwed-up."

"I would be there if I could, but either way you're doing fine. Soon you and Bay will be home. Speaking of which, did you speak to Aline today?"

Alec uncurled himself, laying himself across the bed, legs splayed, and head laid on unfamiliar pillows. He placed his phone on his chest. The weight tugged at his breathing, holding him down.

Alec was straight to the point. "Yes I did, and I have Arthur Phineas' signature. The only thing left is for Sarah to sign away her rights."

Magnus was silent for a moment. "You've accomplished that much today?" he asked incredulous. "I thought you'd waste a couple days playing with Bay."

Alec scoffed.

"Now I guess all that's left is to pack her stuff, and come home," Magnus mused happily, unaware of the accomplishment it was.

Alec pressed his head back further into the pillow, his brows furrowed. "She said she wanted to stay here, with Sarah." The words were cruel and harsh against his mouth.

"Did Bay say this when angry?"

"Right before she stormed out," he mumbled, miserably.

"Saying things you don't mean is all part of a temper tantrum. Give her time to cool down then go talk to her. But in the meantime," Magnus sounded smug, "would you like to ask about my day?"

The corner of his mouth twitched. "How was your day?"

"Pretty uneventful, really. But I've been thinking about future plans. When Alexander jr. and number two are born they'll be sleeping in our room."

"I agree with that, but we're not naming one of them after me. Not happening."

"That's too bad. I already had a blanket monogramed."

"No you didn't. We don't even know the genders." Alec coughed. "Would you like to see the Silent Brothers–– have them check on you?"

Magnus' voice held both suspicion and confusion. "You didn't want that the first time around."

The nephilim rubbed the back of his neck, almost embarrassed. "I think I was kind of rebelling, but––"

The speakers crackled at the excelled volume of Magnus' laugh. Alec knew what he was going to say before he said it. A perk of being married for six years.

"I didn't know you were such a rebel when you were young!" Magnus cackled. "Had you told me, we could have gone to this exotic bar in––"

"I regret ever asking," said Alec, annoyed. "I'm hanging up."

"No, no, wait. Give me a moment."

It took a considerable amount of time for the elder man to keep the laughter from his voice. He could be heard collapsing in a chair–– Alec pictured him wiping away tears.

"You were saying?"

The shadowhunter purposely did not repeat himself. "I just want to do things more traditionally. I understand if you're not comfortable, but I regret not having a Silent Brother check-in on me, which a Brother would have given us a gender, and been there for the birth. As much as I wish Bay could have been kept a bigger secret, I don't want to hide the twins like we did Bay. I don't think that would send a good message to her."

"I'll think about it. We would need a Brother that's trust worthy. I like the idea about being more open, I feel we deserve that, but there is still that fear, Alec. It will never go away."

Alec didn't need to respond. A mutual agreement was held between them without words. Instead he decided to change the subject. "Do you think I should go talk to Bay?"

"I'm sure you're desperate, but one last thing. I made the appointment to see if my bone marrow is a match."

"If you are a match, would you have to wait until the twins were born before donating?"

Magnus chuckled. "I wouldn't know, darling," he said. "Go talk to Bay. I love you."

"I love you, too." Alec listened to the ending click of his phone disconnecting, begrudgingly. He lifted the mobile onto the bedside table, and rolled himself into a sitting position perched on the edge of the bed. He needed to speak to Bay. Alec wondered if it would always feel like this. When he and Bay had an argument, would he feel so much trepidation in settling the differences?

Alec forced his body into the hallway and knocked on Bay's door. Not surprisingly no answer was given. The nephilim pushed the door open slowly, peaking his head inside. The room was dark. His eyes had to adjust to the abrupt change. He saw the outline of his daughter sitting in the far corner at her vanity table. Her back was hunched over, and Alec couldn't tell if it was from pain or simply fatigue.

"Bay," Alec said unsure of what to say further. He flicked up the light-switch.

Her body tensed and her face contorted in suffering. The last thing he saw before abruptly turning off the lights was a small, glass bottle drop from Bay's hands to the floor. Alec rushed to her side. He was relieved for a moment when he remembered the sensitivity of the Mark that was handed down to her. He thought it was the cause of her distress, but when he placed his hand on her arm he knew his assumption was wrong. Bay's body was shaking.

Alec felt for pulse in the girl's neck. He pulled his fingers back, feeling more worried for her heart rate was speeding as if she had sprinted in the last minute. He next searched for the bottle he had seen fall. He brought it to his nose, and smelled the bitterness of medicine.

"What was in this?" he asked urgently. When his words dissipated in the silence he yelled, "Bay answer me!"

Alec could see the shapes of her face now. In the muted darkness her features conveyed no response. He took her pulse, which was equally as fast as before, once more. His decision was made. Bay would be taken to the hospital.

She was held in his arms and out of the room with a swoop of quick hands. Alec shielded her eyes from witchlight that glared throughout the hall. They flickered brighter when Bay was in the hall than when it had just been him. He knew what this meant. He had been skeptical at first–– who would ever accuse their seven year old daughter of this?–– but he could feel power escaping through her shaking arms and the way her body curled in on itself, clinging desperately to the heat inside her that had become too intense and was escaping. He had heard of many men who had died from the little energy left after they induced so much power into themselves. Bay was a child.

Alec met Sarah on the final level. Alec did not stop, continuing his descent at the same pace. Sarah stepped in line behind him. Her presence was reassuring to the blue-eyed man, as he pushed his way out the door and into the street.

Before Sarah could ask, Alec told her, "Bay's high on demon energies. Where's the nearest infirmary?"

"Follow me." He could hear something in her voice that differed from his own as she past the pair, leading him to where the city became less dense.

o.O.o

The nurses and doctor came in the room intermittently. Though nothing compared to the onslaught of medical persons when Bay had been admitted. Alec had been right in guessing that Bay didn't have much time left before she went cold. A Silent Brother stabilized her before all energy left her small frame.

Alec petted her hand, head bowed in the weight of troubling thoughts. His daughter had been on a regular dosing of powerful demon drugs. Every protective, fatherly part of him had screamed to lash-out at Sarah for not noticing. How could she not? How had he missed it? With Bay there were unexplained phenomena that happened–– her eyes for one, or when she had gotten angry a small stone bench crumbled near her. Could these things be explained by Magnus' power dominated over an already dominant Nephilim gene? No child had ever come from a couple such as theirs. There were no textbook answers.

Bay kicked at her sheets, alerting Alec from an unfocused stare.

"I'm in a hospital."

Her voice held no question, but Alec felt obligated to agree, "Yes, you are."

"How long have I been sleeping?"

He could easily check the wall clock for the time, but he refused to look away from his daughter, who was attempting to sit up. The elder nephilim eased her back down by her shoulders, giving her a look that was parental in nature and told her rest. He again took her hand.

"Not long enough." Alec debated his next words. Bay was blinking slowly, fighting the sleep she needed, but Alec had to know her knowledge about what she was taking and for how long. "Do you know why you're here?"

Bay also seemed to be elsewhere in thought for it was some time before she replied. "I did something. A Silent Brother was here. Why?"

Alec smoothed the creases in her forehead with the pad of his thumb. It was no wonder how she knew of a Brother healing her. The feeling of being invaded by them took time to dissipate. Bay was becoming worked up. He knew he had gone too far, but he couldn't stop questions from becoming asked. "Do you know what demon pox is?"

She was truthful when answering, "No."

"Well, you were taking medication for it. And a highly concentrated dose at that."

A realized expression turned horrified. Bay looked around frantically. "Where's Sarah? Does she know?"

"Sarah went back home for a while. And, no, she did not know," Alec said, his voice turning cold. Sarah had left once the Silent Brothers had left and Bay was stable. Sarah had most certainly not known. She left the room in a controlled rage, promising to be back once she had calmed. That was a couple hours ago.

"She wasn't supposed to find out," Bay whispered, sinking into the sheets. "I was supposed to keep it a secret."

"Who told you to keep it a secret?" Alec asked, though only for confirmation. He could figure who the man was to make a child dose herself with medication was.

"Mr. Phineas," she answered. Reverting back to the previous topic, Bay asked, "Is Sarah packing? Will she be back soon?"

Alec paused his task of pulling the covers over her shoulders half finished. He let them drop over her shoulder blades after a moment. "Why would Sarah be packing?"

"She's leaving in two days," the girl said, in a tone that didn't want to repeat the obvious. However, she noticed Alec's look of confusion and matched it with one of her own. "Oxford university offered her a job. She's leaving Wednesday."

"Wednesday is tomorrow," Alec blurted, having nothing better say. He thought it wise not to take out his frustrations with Sarah on a sleepy, little girl. "It's early tuesday morning."

Bay hummed in response, her eyelids slipping shut. She mumbled, "May I go home soon?"

Alec kissed the top of her head. "As soon as possible," he said, but Bay had fallen asleep.

o.O.o

"Are you sure there's nothing more you want to bring?" Sarah asked, wiping away tears from Bay's eyes. She wisely did not comment as she, too, was holding back tears.

Bay shook her head quickly. "I have everything I want," she said, eyeing the guard standing by the portal with suspicion. Alec stood not far away, but was giving both girls a last moment together before Sarah would step through the portal. Her destination: Oxford, England. "Father said we'll go shopping for clothes and other things."

The previous night when Bay had felt well enough to join in the frantic packing, Magnus called. Alec left the kitchen, where he had been helping wrap dishes for Peter's mom to pick-up after they had gone. He must have told Magnus of Bay's hospitalization. When he came back into the room, the phone was held in his hand and pointed at her. She was told to talk to her father in her room.

Bay didn't know so much emotion could be proclaimed through radio waves in the air. Magnus went into intricate detail about what the next week would bring. When her body started to detox itself from the medication, for what the medication was actually used (what she had been taking was medication for a disease humans caught from demons), and the unfamiliar spells that he would preform on her so that her detoxing wouldn't upset the chemo meds. Magnus went on to tell her how much energy and the cost of items needed to heal her would take. How it was unhealthy for not only Bay, but the twins, and Magnus because the amount of power that will be passed through them. He did not stop there.

The fact that she hurt Alec with a temper tantrum in the beginning, and the irresponsibleness it was that she took two doseings in one day was discussed. The scolding continued to a point where she wanted to cry, I'm sorry I know It's my fault, but that would not do. Instead she chose another option.

"I hate you!"

The silence on the other end was almost as unbearable as a scream. Bay continued:

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have to take that demon drug! My eyes would be normal! Did you know that I never turned on the lights in here because talking to you would set my eyes off, and I'd be in pain. Because they hurt! I wish I was a hundred percent nephilim, but I'm half you. I don't know if I'll ever be able to bear runes, and if I can never bear runes I will never be a shadowhunter. I'll be too weak. I'll be a bigger outcast than I already am. But I guess it doesn't matter because I'll be dead before I'm old enough to have the ceremony."

Bay, breathing heavily, gripped the phone tight in her hand, wanting desperately for it to break. If it broke she wouldn't have to hear an angry Magnus ripping apart her confession.

Instead he audibly sighed, "I love you."

"Don't tell me that," Bay deflected.

"I wasn't. I was trying to remind myself." For some reason those words hurt more than what was to come. "Before you were born I had hoped you would become more like your dad. Even in my fantasies that you were alive and well, I tried to imagine you with his strength and kindness, but it seems you've become me. Can I tell you a secret?"

Treacherously, Bay's ears perked up. She sounded more eager than hoped when she answered, "Yes."

"When your age, I hated my eyes more than you dislike your's now."

"I doubt more," Bay said stubbornly.

Magnus laughed softly. To Bay it sounded a bit sad. "You have people who love you. I didn't."

The warlock didn't go into more detail, no matter how many times Bay tried to trick him into saying something more on the matter. Her respect toward him was earned throughout the rest of their conversation. Magnus told her about life in New York, and how she would become apart of it. He also had gotten his bone marrow checked and was discovered as a match. By the end of their talk Magnus had earned the title Father.

Alec took the notebook Sarah handed to him, which held information of her medicinal needs, possible allergies, and the like. Bay watched them say their good-byes, distinguish whose bags were whose, and say good-bye once more. It was then Bay's turn. Sarah gave her one last hug and kiss with a promise of Hanukkah in Oxford before she was gone.

Alec hugged her close to his accepted the comfort, but realization hadn't set in. She knew in her heart and mind the Sarah left, but her body had yet to respond. At least she knew the comfort would be there when the rest of her needed it.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Are you ready to go home?"

Bay looked up at him–– open and smiling, thought still sad for her loss. "I'm ready," she told her dad, tugging him along. "Father's waiting."

AN–– Not the last chapter. We're very close. How Close? Not sure yet, but very near the end. Sorry for all the tears in this chapter. I wish there weren't as many, but what can you do? I didn't speed through this chapter, but I feel like it didn't put as much skill into it as I would have had I had more time. As you can see I went way past my usual time.

Thank-you for the reviews. I never thought that by the end I'd have over a hundred reviews. It means a lot, thank-you.