Malec Chapters are best chapters! It's late now but October 21st was Born to Endless Loves 1st birthday! It his been offically a year since I started this story. Hands down the longest story I have ever written. Happy late birthday BTEL!
Born to Endless Love Chapter Twenty-nine: A Not So Happy Birthday.
Max age: 20, Alec age: 40
Alec Pov- I could hear feet shuffling around me but I was too tired to care. Okay, that's a lie. I'm not tired at all. I just know what day it is and I'm regretting it so I feel like the longer I sleep, the longer I can avoid it. As the shuffling noise got closer though, it was hard to keep ignoring.
Why did Max and Magnus think they could surprise me awake every year on this day? They must know that I have superior hearing and can sense them coming a mile away. Even so, they always sneak up to the bed and scream at me to get up. I internally sighed counting down from ten, knowing it would only be ten more seconds until they popped up and yelled surprise.
Once my count got to one, two loud voices yelled simultaneously "Happy birthday Father!" and Happy birthday Alexander!" I peeked one of my eyes open at them and sure enough, Magnus was holding a chocolate cake covered to the brink in candles that were lit with his signature blue fire. If I had to guess, I would say there were forty candles on the cake.
"Blow them out and make a wish" Max cheered excitedly, clapping his hands. I forced a smile on my face, looking at the dreaded candles. Like I thought, there were indeed forty on the cake. 'I wish this day was over' I thought before blowing all the candles out. They both cheered before Magnus snapped his fingers, making the candles vanish so no wax would fall onto the cake.
"There's breakfast ready in the kitchen for you Alexander. It's all your favorites" Magnus said smiling, before walking out of the room with the cake. I got out of my blankets putting my bare feet on the cozy carpet of our bedroom floor. "Let me guess, you took it from some fancy café" I called out to him. "Father, I made everything myself" Max boasted proudly.
Out of all the things that could have surprised me today, that had to be it. I don't think I've ever seen Max touch a pan let alone cook. "By made do you mean with magic?" He crossed his arms looking at me offended. "No! I really did make you everything with my own cooking skills."
"You have cooking skills," I asked, making him huff. "You're lucky it's your birthday" he grumbled before walking out. I laughed slightly, shaking my head before frowning thinking about that. Today was my birthday. My fortieth birthday.
The thought of it made me feel ten times older than I was. I couldn't help but hate my birthday every year it came around. I used to love it, and the thought of getting older. When I turned eighteen was my favorite birthday because I was so excited to finally be considered an adult. Now, though… growing old just makes me feel lousy.
If my husband and son grew older with me then it might not be an issue but that's not the case. They are immortal which means they will stay frozen in a young state while I get old, wrinkly and I'll someday die. The thought of dying someday and leaving my family was something that bothered me every day but even more so on my birthday. Magnus thinks he's the only one who can't talk about my death but that's not true. I can't stand the thought of it either.
If I wasn't such a coward, I would just give up on my short life and become a vampire or something to be able to stay with them. I am a coward though and besides that, I made a vow to protect the world as a Shadowhunter till the day I die. If I willingly became a vampire, I would be going back on that vow and disgracing my family. Not to mention I would be leaving my siblings and friends alone to defend themselves. They would all end up dead without me there to watch out for them.
"Alexander, breakfast is getting cold" Magnus called from the kitchen. I sighed giving myself another second to wallow before I faked a smile and went to the dining room. The second I walked in I couldn't stop the smile from leaving my face. I don't know what was waiting for me on that table, but it wasn't breakfast.
One plate was holding what I assumed was pancakes. I said that because they were round like pancakes but were only half cooked. The batter was oozing out of them like a hideous slime demon. The bowl of eggs sitting next to them were pretty much still yokes. A small plate of toast was sitting by it and was burned to the point of turning to ash.
I bit my lip, wondering how I could get out of eating this meal without hurting my sons' feelings. "Sit and eat, father" Max said smiling up at me excitedly. Hesitantly, I sat in my chair skimming over the uncooked food before looking at Magnus. He only tilted his head, encouraging me to eat it, also knowing how sensitive Max could get to getting things wrong.
"Let me make you a plate," Max said, piling slimy pancakes and eggs onto a plate. The batter and yoke mashed together making me want to gag. He topped it off with some burnt toast before pushing the plate over to me smiling. I looked over my birthday breakfast wondering if I got food poisoning if that would make me be excused from any more celebrating.
I grabbed my fork before hesitantly scooping up some batter/yoke, and putting it in my mouth. I expected the combination together would be horrible and it wouldn't just be undercooked, it would be downright cold. Instead, it tasted like any normal meal and I would bet any money Magnus's magic was responsible for that.
Swallowing harshly, I forced a smile back onto my face. "This tastes great Max. Thanks for making it." He smiled before starting to eat his own food. I watched him before stealing an evil glare at Magnus, mad that he ruined my plans to get out of my birthday. His eyes caught mine and he shrugged slightly before smiling and eating his breakfast.
Sighing, I ate the rest of my food. I should have known better to think that Magnus would so easily let me get out of celebrating. My birthday may suck for me, but Magnus loved celebrating it. He says that my being born was the best thing that ever happened to him and he wanted to always celebrate that.
The thought of that made a blush spread on my cheeks. Magnus always says cheesy things like that but he always means it. How will he feel when it's my fiftieth birthday? My sixtieth? Seventieth? Will my birthday always be something he wants to celebrate? What about when I'm gone and there's nothing to celebrate? Will he still celebrate it anyway because there was a time when the man he loved was born and alive?
"You look lost in thought Alexander," Magnus said, bringing me out of my head. I looked at him before shaking my head. "Sorry, was thinking about work" I lied. Max smiled "no work today. We have a whole day planned for you and it's going to be great."
I smiled at him not able to help myself. Max was always so enthusiastic about birthdays. He must have picked that up from Magnus because angel knows I don't go out of my way to celebrate things. "What things do you have planned," I asked curiously.
This only caused more excitement to appear on his face. "You and dad are going to spend the day together. Consider it a date." This caused me to blink in confusion. "A date? We always do things together as a family on our birthdays." "I have some things to take care of today, so it's just you and dad. We'll spend time together tonight, though."
I watched him before looking over at Magnus. He shrugged before standing up "you should go get dressed. We have a long day ahead of us." I sighed, not liking the sound of that. "Don't go too crazy" I mumbled, getting out of my chair and going to our room to get dressed.
"I will never understand how you can wear sweaters in the summertime" Magnus sighed, walking down the stairs of our flat with me. This just caused me to roll my eyes at him. "It's not like it's eighty degrees outside. It's September so that means fall is just around the corner."
"You should wear light clothes while you still can. That outfit is for Fall and New York winters that are as ugly as that sweater." I looked down at the sweater that I was wearing. It used to be green once upon a time, but now it was faded to black. "I like this sweater" I shrugged.
"You like all your sweaters" Magnus pointed out, holding the front door open for me once we got off the stairs. I walked through it, looking back at him smiling. "Hey, you love my sweaters. You just don't want to admit it." Magnus smiled at that "you can't prove that unless you get me to write it down or record me saying it. Neither of those things will ever happen."
I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Not even for my birthday gift?" Magnus smiled sexily at me, "I have much better things I could give you Alexander. Much more pleasurable things."
That caused a shiver to go up my spine. If there was one thing I loved about my birthday, it was always the mind-blowing sex Magnus gave me at the end of the night. That's something I can always look forward to at the end of a long, painful day.
"That must wait though," he said teasingly, making me pout slightly. He laughed at my pouting face and put his arm around my waist. "So, I have a romantic walk through Central Park planned and then a picnic. After that, we can do anything you want to do… well besides the sex" he said, winking at me.
I could feel myself blush again but ignored it. "So, in other words, you're distracting me until Max gets whatever he has planned done. If I had to make a guess, I would say a 'surprise party' right?"
"Nothing gets passed you Alexander" Magnus sighed smiling. "At least pretend to be surprised though okay? Max has worked really hard planning this party." "I'm honored but his efforts are wasted on me. You know better than anyone that I don't do parties. Especially on my birthday."
Magnus frowned looking up at me. He used to be taller than me but I hit a random growth spurt when I turned twenty-one so now he was up to my chin. "Alec, you should be happy on your birthday. Not being happy on your birthday is like not being happy you were born."
"That's not the case Magnus, I swear. I just don't like my birthday and I thought you understood that." He sighed, laying his head on my shoulder as we walked through the park entrance. "I do understand Alec, really I do. I just also think that you make this day worse for yourself than it needs to be."
I sighed, knowing that he was right. Everyone always tried hard to make my birthday a fun day for me but my sour mood always ruins it somehow. I need to stop wallowing in self-pity and try to be happy with my family. "you're right" I said, putting my arm around Magnus. "I'm looking forward to this picnic."
I really was. Magnus used to plan romantic picnics for me all the time but those stopped over the years. It's not that he didn't care to plan them. With how busy we have both been the time to go on little dates like those just slip away from us. It's nice to have a day where we can just sit and relax with each other.
He smiled moving my arm from around his neck and entwining our fingers making us walk hand in hand. I smiled not able to help it, and kissed our entwined hands. "Is the picnic my only birthday present from you or is there more to come?" Magnus gasped dramatically, "Alexander? Are you curious about your present? You?"
I rolled my eyes smiling "is it so surprising that I'm curious? You're Magnus freaking Bane, the king of gift giving. I know who I married and I know to be worried."
This caused him to also roll his eyes. "Magnus Lightwood-bane remember? As for your gift, you're just going to have to be patient and wait. You'll get it when the time is right."
My smile widened at the mention of our married name. Before we got married, I told Magnus that he should keep his last name since that's what his clients knew him as. It was bad enough that Max originally had the last name Lightwood. I didn't want Magnus to have to take on the name as well. There was a moment of doubt where he thought I didn't want him to have my name but that couldn't have been further from the truth.
I wanted nothing more than for Magnus to share my last name. Magnus Lightwood sent chills up my spine and made my toes curl. The thought of it made me giggle like a teenage girl but I didn't think it was fair to just let him give up his name. I highly doubt his customers would trust someone with the last name Lightwood. Though Downworlders seem to trust me fine so, who knows.
After weeks of arguing about it, we finally settled on Lightwood-bane. I honestly liked it ten times more than just Lightwood. I would have been happy being Alexander Bane but with being a Shadowhunter, that wasn't an option. Lightwood-bane was the best compromise. It's still special to Magnus yet it doesn't repel the other Downworlders. The name stuck with Max as well because he randomly decided one day that he wanted to take on the name too.
I thought us having a joint name solved all our problems, but it seemed it just added more to our problems in the beginning. Members of the council refused to let Magnus have anything to do with the Lightwood name even if it was hyphenated. It was no surprise that the one who brought all this up in the first place was Gabriel Rosewood. Even before Max burned Darius, Gabriel has had it out for me. My life choices always seemed to rub him the wrong way.
We stopped by a big oak tree by the pond and I was surprised that no one else was around. Such a beautiful spot was usually flooding with people. I glanced over at Magnus crossing my arms, eyebrow raised accusingly. He held up his hands smiling, "I swear, I have nothing to do with the lack of people."
I looked at his face for a sign of lying but it seemed he was telling the truth. "Lucky us then," I said looking out at the lake. Magnus smiled, snapping his fingers and making a blanket appear by the tree. An assortment of fruits was laid out along with some sandwiches and two glasses of wine. I sat on the blanket, immediately reaching for the glass of wine. Magnus was always the best at picking out wine and we rarely ever had the same kind twice.
"I got your favorite" Magnus gushed, digging into the picnic basket and pulling out a golden box with French writing on it. I gasped not able to believe it. "Are those what I think they are?" He nodded pulling off the top of the box and revealing big, juicy, chocolate covered strawberries.
"Those chocolate covered strawberries you loved so much when we visited Paris all those years ago," Magnus said smiling. A true, genuine smile appeared on my face. It truly has been a long time since we had these. Twenty-two years to be precise. I was eighteen at the time and it was when Magnus and I first traveled the world together.
Magnus put the box down, picking up a strawberry and putting it to my lips. I bit into it without hesitation, feeling the heavenly juices and sweetness of the chocolate hit my tongue. Magnus smiled when a pleasurable moan escaped passed my lips. "I take it you still love them?"
I nodded leaning against him while he fed me another one. "hmm, I didn't know what I was missing until now." This made Magnus smile and kiss my temple. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we eat these together late at night, after we made love for the first time?"
My face flooded in heat as I thought about what Magnus was talking about. While in Paris, Magnus and I took that next step and finally slept together. I lost my virginity that night and it is still one of the most amazing nights of my life. Thinking back on that night, I could see us lying in bed together feeding each other chocolate covered strawberries. We were both tired from what went on between us, but we were both so happy that we couldn't fall asleep.
Swallowing the remainder of the strawberry in my mouth, I looked away from Magnus blushing, not wanting him to see how much the memory flustered me. "Yeah I think we did." He smirked at me, putting his index finger under my chin and turning my face to look at him. "I love the confidence you have gained over the years Alexander, but I can't help but love that blush of yours. I miss it sometimes, so when that nowadays rare blush graces your cheeks, don't be afraid to show it to me okay?"
This only made me blush more as I nodded shyly. It's amazing after so many years together, Magnus can still make me feel like an inexperienced child. I may look the oldest but Magnus was more mature than me… when he wanted to be.
"We should eat some actual lunch" I mumbled, grabbing a ham salad sandwich and biting into it. Magnus just laid on the blanket smiling, propping his head up on his elbow and watching me eat. "Aren't you going to eat?" I asked passed a mouth full of sandwich.
He shrugged, not moving to grab any food. "I'm enjoying the quiet." I watched him thinking and the sound of quaking pulled me out of my thoughts. Turning to see what made the noise, I was surprised to see two yellow ducks standing close by, eyeing my sandwich.
Magnus laughed, watching them as they twitched their little tail feathers. "They must be used to people. Looks like they want a bite of your sandwich." I looked down at my sandwich thinking before pulling off a piece of crust and tossing it to them. It landed in between them, making them both race for it. They both got to it at the same time and it looked like a battle for the bread was about to ensue.
To avoid a duck bloodbath, I quickly pulled off another piece of crust and threw it to the second duck. They both looked back and forth between the two crusts before each going for separate food. "Always the peacekeeper, Alexander," Magnus said, shaking his head smiling. "I rather not be responsible for a duck war," I said shrugging.
This caused Magnus to bust out laughing and I smiled giddily, taking this time to admire how much I loved his laugh. There were so many things I loved about Magnus. I couldn't possibly name them all.
Magnus wiped a tear from his eye before looking back at the ducks. "Can we take them to the institute? I want to put them in Jace's room." Rolling my eyes, I grabbed a grape and threw it at him, making it hit him in the forehead. "Jace would die of a heart attack."
He smirked at my grape throwing before sitting up, stretching his arms in the air. "I swear, Herondale's and ducks. I don't understand what's so horrible about them." I shrugged, tearing off two more pieces of crust and throwing it to the ducks again. "I once told Jace that I liked ducks and he ignored me for a whole week. He said it was a betrayal of our Parabatai bond and that I was a traitor. The joke was on him though because I spent that week he wouldn't talk to me actually getting work done."
Magnus busted out laughing again, this time hugging his stomach. "I can just see him sulking in a corner because his attempts at ignoring you were so easily ignored." I shrugged looking up at the sky. "It was right around when we first got the bond put on us so it was all still pretty new."
Magnus's head landed on my lap as he closed his eyes, still laughing slightly. "God Alexander, no one makes me laugh the way you do." I smiled at him, setting my sandwich down and running my fingers through his hair. "Well, no one makes me as happy as you do."
He finally stopped laughing and opened his eyes, looking up in mine with so much love, it made my heart swell. Smiling, I leaned down and kissing his lips tenderly. His smile widened against my lips before he kissed me back, slow and loving. I closed my eyes, kissing him more and letting his love fill me with fuzzy delight.
The sound of a loud squawk made us both jump in surprise and look toward the ducks again. It seems that while we were distracted, one of the ducks were trying to make off with my sandwich but was tackled by the other duck. Now they both had the sandwich between their bills and were playing tug-a-war with it.
Magnus and I looked back at each other for a silent moment before we both busted out laughing, not able to help ourselves. I moved my lap from under Magnus's head and I laid on the blanket with him as we laughed our heads off. We laughed so hard that when we were finally done, we were both gasping for air.
Magnus recovered before I did and he turned on his side, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me against his chest. Once I finally stopped laughing, I laid my head on his chest, closing my eyes and enjoying the closeness. He ran his fingers through my hair before pressing his lips to the top of my head, just letting them rest there.
"This is turning out to be a pretty nice birthday" I whispered softly, snuggling into his chest. "I'm glad to hear that. I wanted this day to be perfect for you." I opened my eyes, looking up at him and meeting his eyes. "I'm sorry I make this day so difficult for everyone."
He shook his head, still running his fingers through my hair. "Don't mention it darling. We all know this day is hard on you. It's hard on me too, but I try to ignore it. Celebrating the birth of the one I love above all else should be a happy thing."
"Will it always be a happy thing for you" I whispered softly, finally letting out the fears I have been holding in for a while.
Magnus's eyes turned sad as he glanced away, thinking about how to answer me. I frowned rubbing his arm, mad at myself for killing the romantic mood. "I want it to be," he said softly. "I want to be able to celebrate your birthday for centuries and not feel pain over it."
"Do you think you'll be able to do that? Honestly" I asked frowning. Once again, he thought about his answer before he sat up wrapping his arms around his knees. "It will be hard at first I'm sure… but I would hope that someday I would be able to do it. I want to be able to look back and be happy about us."
I sat up frowning, watching him become deep in thought now. He had that look in his eyes again. Sad, glassy eyes that have seen centuries of death, and will see centuries more. Magnus always seemed so old to me when he had eyes like those.
Hating the heaviness of the air, I pulled out my leg and kicked Magnus over, making him tumble off the blanket and into the lake. Once in the water, he blinked before looking up at me with a look of confusion. He was soaking wet and water dripped from his hair.
Biting my lip, I tried not to laugh but it was useless. I burst out laughing, wrapping my arms tight around my stomach. "Oh, by the angel! You should see yourself! You look ridiculous!"
"Oh, I look ridiculous do I," he asked before I was hit with a splash of cold water. I gasped loudly as the chilling water touched my skin and drenched my sweater. "Magnus! You know I can't get these sweaters wet" I yelled, but couldn't help the laughter escaping passed it.
Magnus just smirked up at me before grabbing me by the wrist and pulling hard. Gasping, I fell face forward into the lake, making me become drenched head to toe. Magnus busted out laughing and once I came up from the water I smirked evilly at him before splashing him. "Take that" I called, splashing him again.
He screamed before laughing and splashing me back tenfold. I tried to avoid the splashes but most of them hit me, further soaking my sweater. "This is war" I called, using both my hands to splash even harder at him. He held up his hands in defense before smirking back at me "I think not Alexander!"
He held up his arms making the water magically move up with him to form a big wave. It reminded me of the water powers in that mundane cartoon Simon showed me once. What was it called again? The Last Air Freshener or something like that.
I would have thought that the magical wave was beautiful if it wasn't going to be thrown on top of me. Magnus flashily swiped his hands downward, causing the wave to come crashing down on top of me. I tensed up, preparing myself for the blow, and once I went through it I came out coughing.
"Looks like I won" Magnus cheered, crossing his arms, smirking at me. I held up my arms, looking at the damage of my leaking sweater before looking at him and tackled him into the water smiling. This caught him by surprise and he cried out as we plunged into the water together. I was the first to pop up and once he popped up he laughed, running his hand through his hair to push it out of his eyes. "I was wrong. Looks like you won Alexander."
We both laughed shaking our heads and the sound of quacking snapped us out of it. We both blinked and looked toward the grass, seeing the ducks both looking at us like we were crazy; the sandwich was forgotten between them. "We're being judged" Magnus laughed before climbing out of the lake. I nodded standing up, trying to shake the water out of my sweater sleeves. "We were acting like children," I said smiling.
Magnus smiled holding his hand out to me and winking. "There's nothing wrong with that darling." I smiled sweetly at him before grabbing his hand and letting him pull me out of the lake. Once we were on the grass again, we made our way to the blanket and Magnus snapped his fingers, making a towel appear in his arms.
He wrapped the towel around me smiling causing me to raise an eyebrow at him. "Couldn't you have just used magic to make us dry again?" He nodded smiling "yeah I could have, but then I wouldn't be able to do this." He wrapped his arms tight around me and pulled me close against him. Another blush graced my face before I hid it in Magnus's shoulder. "You're so weird" I mumbled.
"But you love me," he said hugging me tighter. I nodded against his shoulder before looking up at him smiling. "I do love you. I love you and I will never stop." Magnus smiled, kissing my temple before holding me close again. "I'll never stop either."
I closed my eyes, letting myself enjoy this moment with my husband. The moment didn't last long though because Magnus's cell phone sitting on the picnic basket started ringing. "I better get that," he said, kissing my lips softly and going to get the phone.
I pulled the towel tighter around me, sitting down on the picnic blanket watching him. He looked at a text message before turning to me smiling. "We better get you dry Alexander. Your party is ready."
"Is the blindfold really necessary? I already know what I'm walking into" I said, blindly following Magnus as he led me by my hands through the institute. We were fully dry now and the moment we walked in he tied a blindfold around my eyes so I couldn't see anything.
"Max doesn't know that you know about the party. Remember that you need to pretend to be surprised when everyone pops out and yells surprise." I rolled my eyes at this but he couldn't see it. "You blindfolding me kind of gives it away honestly."
"Just do it Alexander," Magnus said, trying to sound stern but there was laughter in his voice. I smiled just letting it go and letting him lead me. We stopped and the sound of two large doors opening came to my ears before Magnus grabbed my hands again and pulled me into the room.
We stopped in what I'm guess was the middle of the room before he pulled off the blindfold. All at once everyone I loved and cared for jumped out at once yelling "surprise!"
I gasped pretending to be surprised but I wasn't a very good liar so I don't know how convincing I was. "A party for me? Really?"
Isabelle crossed her arms over his chest glaring at me. "You already knew about it, didn't you?" I shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "It's hard not to figure it out." I looked over at Max smiling slightly. "Sorry, I ruined your surprise Blueberry."
He shrugged, "I figured you would figure it out. It's hard to keep secrets from you, believe me, I know." This just caused me to raise an eyebrow in question. "What secrets have you tried keeping from me?" I already knew the answer to that. What really happened with burning Darius, his secret party when he was sixteen, him going out with Quinton at night and meeting Andrew at a bar. I found out that last gem after interrogating Andrew non-stop for days.
He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Nothing at all father." "uh-hu," I said before looking around at everyone else. My two-year-old niece Jocey ran up to me with the biggest smile on her face as she hugged my leg. "Uncle Alec surprised," she asked happily.
Jocey Herondale was very different from her older, silent, reserved brother JJ. She was a ball of sunshine and was always smiling. Like JJ, Jocey has never cried. In fact, she's never frowned in her entire life. She's just all happy, all the time. It could get tiring if you didn't know how to deal with her.
Her brother JJ was standing a little way behind her, talking to Michael while also making sure his little sister stayed out of trouble. Though he didn't show it, he cared a lot for Jocey. He's always there to keep her from getting hurt. He recently turned ten and received his first mark, making him and Michael become one step closer to being Parabatai.
Speaking of Parabatai, mine walked up and peeled his daughter off my leg before holding her in his arms, smiling at me. "Happy birthday Alec. You enjoying your day?"
Jace knew better than anyone but Magnus how much I hated this day. He knew that I wanted it to just pass and be over. Normally I would be counting the minutes until it was over but that wasn't the case today.
I took a moment to look around at my family around me. Our family used to be so small. Just me, Isabelle, Jace, Max, mom and dad. Now there were so many people in the room and I loved every single one of them. My niece and nephews, my friends, my husband, and son who I never imagined I could even have.
Looking around, everything was just perfect and it seemed like it would be such a shame to waste time together like this, wishing it would just be over. It was my birthday. I was forty today. Still, that's something I can get over if it means I get to spend the day with all the people I love so much.
"Actually… today's been pretty amazing" I said before grabbing Max and pulling him into a tight hug. He seemed confused but happily hugged me back. I squeezed him tight before looking at Magnus smiling. I didn't think it would be possible but I was actually happy on my birthday.
I'm happy on my birthday.
It's all because of my family.
It's all because of Magnus.
Alec will get over his dislike for his birthday someday I'm sure. Hope you liked this chapter. Review and tell me your thoughts ;)
