Chapter Twenty-Five

Energy was something that Magnus had been completely drained of. To be able to close the portal to the void successfully and repair the damage it had created, he had to take strength from not only Alec, but Jace as well, but even if he had all the strength in the world, he'd still feel incredibly weak. Upon getting back to the Paris Institute, Alec lay Max on their bed and held his little hand in his, Clary stroked his hair like she would while watching him draw, Jace stood behind her with his hands carefully placed over her stomach and Magnus rested next to his unconscious son as he attempted to get back his strength. No one would leave Max's side. Time ceased to exist in the gloomy room and no one else mattered in the room apart from the boy lying next to Magnus. He'd occasionally see movement in the corner of his eye, get excited and then deflate when he realized it was just Clary's hand arranging Max's hair. Soon, the sound of small feet speeding towards the room started to become louder and with the swipe of his hand, Magnus slammed the door to the bedroom shut.

"He can't see his brother like this," he insisted as he slowly got up and made his way to the door.

Witnessing Alexander crying by Max's side was heart-rending, but he knew if he ever was forced to endure the sight of Rafael crying as he begged his brother to wake up, his spirit would cripple. Rafael knocked patiently on the door as he whistled merrily and asked for his parents and Max. Magnus didn't know what to say back to him as he rested his head against the door in silence. He willed for this all to be a very lucid nightmare that Alec would soon wake him from with a kiss and he'd see Max giggling at the end of his bed, yet when glanced back at Max, his heavy heart sank at the realisation that this was very much reality. Within seconds of knocking, Rafael began to kick the door and push against his father's fading magic. Eventually, Magnus stood back to let the door swing open, but he made sure Rafe couldn't see into the room with his body in the way. There were three boxes of steaming pizza in his arms as he stared up at him in confusion and when he tried to peak around his body, Magnus rapidly moved.

"What's going on?" Rafe asked.

How was he meant to conjure up the words to explain what had happened? He could barely stand straight as he ordered for Rafael to go back to his room, but the young boy was just as stubborn as his parents.

"Move out the way, Papa," Rafael demanded with his voice becoming louder,

Magnus was taken aback by his outburst, "Excuse me?"

With his patience obviously becoming obsolete, Rafael stamped on Magnus's foot, quickly pushed by him, handed Jace the pizza's and then looked at the bed. Magnus could barely watch his innocent son as he slowly moved towards the bed and looked up at Alec's distraught face. Rafael shook his head vigorously as he placed his hand on Max's chest to feel it rise and fall. While everyone else in the room had an aura of sadness, Rafael's seemed to be an aura of disbelief and hope and in an urgent attempt to wake up his brother, he repeatedly said his name. When he became bored of merely saying his name, Rafael climbed onto the bed and gazed down at Max as if to give him a small chance to wake up by himself.

He poked his nose- nothing.

He softly said his name again- nothing.

He plucked a feather out of one of the pillows and gently grazed in along Max's cheek, chin and neck. Magnus was prepared to pull Rafe off the bed and tell him to take the whole thing much more seriously, but as he reached for him, Max's nose began to twitch, his mouth started to curl and his eyes flickered. Tears of joy had never been more welcome as Max opened his eyes and wrestled his brother as if he had purely been having an elongated nap. Magnus squeezed Alec's shoulder as he felt his heart recuperate and he merrily said goodbye to the nightmare he had to briefly endure. He thought being a parent would be constant ups and downs, but he didn't realize that he'd be going from almost having a heart attack to thanking every angel in the sky. A weight was lifted from the room as it seemed to grow brighter and laughs circulated it rather than tears.

"Sometimes magic isn't always the answer," Rafael sighed as he sat on Alec's lap,

"And sometimes stamping on your father's foot results in punishments," Magnus replied as he picked up Max and gave him an abundance of kisses,

Max giggled as he pushed his father's lips away and buried his head in his neck, "There's pizza left right?"

"Of course that's the priority right now," Jace said as he stuffed his face with a slice of pizza.

After the almost grievous period, Clary was more than happy to eat pizza and then go to her room and collapse to the bed. She had never felt so exhausted and she almost forgot that she was pregnant as she contemplated the reasons for her strong desire to curl up under the covers and enter a deep sleep. But first, a steaming hot bath had to be had. While the bath was filling up, she messaged Simon, filling him in on everything that happened- something she knew Izzy had most likely already done- blissfully took off her clothes and then slid into the water. The heat was a slight sting at first, but quickly became welcomed as it alleviated every injury and scar and she let all worries and emotions melt into the water as she let it go up to her neck. When she closed her eyes, she could see the elated expression on Jace's face as he realized that they'd be having twins and when a smile grew on her face, she heard footsteps approach the bathroom. She didn't care who came in; she was too immersed in the soothing sensation of the water tickling her chin and the flow and flutter sounds of the water as her hands whirled around in it. While she listened to the music of the water, she felt familiar hands grace her shoulders and stroke her hair.

"You took your time," she hummed with her eyes still closed,

"Max was trying to re-enact his fights with demons," Jace softly chuckled,

"He was pretty amazing."

There was a brief silence until she felt feet enter the bath and she couldn't help but giggle as Jace entered and water began to spill over the sides. He parted his legs, making the perfect space for Clary to sit with her back against his chest and their hands locked as the water slowly began to settle. Only the bathtub, the water and the two of them were in existence as she took in Jace's husky scent and kissed along his jawline. His once hard finger tips had transformed into soft digits as they slid down her body and rested on her stomach as if his hands were a suit of armour. Her thinned hair cascaded down his shoulder like red vines, swirls could be created in the thick steam that had now completely conquered the room and Clary had found pleasure in poking her toes out of the water for a brief moment of coolness and the plunging them back into the relaxing volcano. She got to her knees and faced Jace, ignoring the water that trickled over the sides and grinning when Jace had to look up at her. Water dripped from her hair onto his cheeks and shoulders as their lips met and his arms slid up the curve of her back. The brisk raw cold would've been unbearable if it wasn't for Jace's embrace, his pecks flowed from her lips to her neck and half way down her stomach, before taking a deep breath and dipping under the water just to tickle her belly button. Pleads were obviously not going to stop him, leaving Clary no choice but to pull him up by force which only agitated the once calm water. When Jace got to his knees, they gazed into each other's eyes in silence while Clary ran her fingers through his wet hair and scrunched the ends in her hands and their delicate tender moment, turned into children splashing each other with water until there was no water left.

"I think I won," Jace laughed as he got out of the bath and wrapped a robe around him,

"But I won because you gave up," Clary smiled.

There were puddles all over the bathroom floor, but not enough towels or energy to attempt to dry them. As she stepped towards Jace, Clary slipped in one of the biggest puddles, but before she could think about keeping herself up, her husband had caught her and pulled her into him, wrapping his robe around her and kissing her head.

"What would you do without me?"