Hello everybody!

I am so sorry that I have taken so long to update. I've been having some personal issues this past month and I felt too depressed to write anything. But alas I am back!

Thank you so much for your reviews of the last chapter. I felt a little unsure about how people would react to the story (especially what happened to Leslie in particular) but I'm so happy that it was so well recieved. In response to JockoRivera's review, I do have an idea for Max and Rafe's first meeting but I'm just in the middle of planning it out. Hopefully it will be up soon.

Please excuse any mistakes that you find. My Beta Reader hasn't had a chance to look at this because of work deadlines but it should be fine anyway. There are only minor spoilers for City of Heavenly Fire but this is mostly a fun little chapter that I thought of. There are two or three more parts to come.

I look forward to hearing from you all. Enjoy!

The Lightwood Bane Chronicles

Adventures in Babysitting – Part One

"Come on Alec, we're going to be late!" Magnus called from the living room as he gathered his coat and his keys. He caught his reflection in the mirror one last time and smiled. He was dressed in his most elegantly sophisticated attire – dark slacks and the brightest, pinkest shirt he could find that was appropriate for a fancy restaurant – and his hair was styled and spiked to perfection. It had been a while since he and Alec had gone out for the night and so Magnus wanted to make an effort. Glancing at the watch on his wrist he sighed. "Alec, we're going to miss our dinner reservation!"

"Coming!" called Alec as he stumbled into the living room, fidgeting with the sleeves of his shirt, Isabelle following him with a knowing grin. He smiled nervously at Magnus before anxiously turning to his sister. "Are you sure Simon knows what he's doing? I mean he's never actually looked after the boys before tonight."

"I'll be here the whole time. Nothing bad will happen, brother. Go out and have fun." Isabelle laughed, reaching up and kissing his cheek. "Simon is just going to play some games with them, we'll have dinner and then bath time and bed."

"And you've got the takeaway menu right?"

Isabelle frowned. "I said I was cooking tonight Alec, don't you remember? I'm doing Carbonara."

Magnus stared at Isabelle in alarm. "I'm sure that your Carbonara would be lovely but we already told the boys that you were ordering takeout."

"But I worked so hard on it! The sauce didn't curdle the last time, I swear on the Angel." Isabelle protested just as Simon walked in with the boys, carrying blankets and pillows to make a fort in the living room. Rafael dropped his things and hurried over to Magnus, hugging him tightly around his waist. Max looked up at Alec with wide eyes, his little horns just starting to curl at the sides of his six-year-old head.

"Daddy, do you and Papa have to go?" Max asked quietly, clutching his favourite comfort blanket to his chest. Alec knelt down and gave Max a tight smile.

"Yes Max. Papa and I are only going out for a few hours so we'll be back soon." Alec said, rubbing Max's arm gently. "But hey, you have your Aunt Isabelle to play with and your Uncle Simon is here as well."

"Yeah, of course." Simon smiled at the young warlock. "I'm going to teach you and your brother how to play Dungeons and Dragons. It'll be fun."

"Dungeons and what?" Alec asked staring up at Simon in confusion.

"It's a role playing game Alec," Isabelle clarified. "Not that kind of role playing, but you use your imagination for it anyway."

Alec stared at his sister unsure whether to be creeped out or surprised at how she knew what Simon was talking about. He decided he didn't want to know. Pulling Max into a hug, he kissed his son goodnight and stood up. Magnus was trying his best to remove Rafael's arms from around his waist. "Rafe, it's time to let go of Papa. We promise we'll be back soon." Rafe shook his head and held on tighter. Magnus looked up at Alec and gave him a "help me quick" look.

Alec glanced around the apartment, looking for the one thing that they had found would help Rafe calm down whenever he got worked up. At last he found what he was looking for. Hiding unsuccessfully on top of Magnus's bookshelf was Chairman Meow. Alec smiled as he reached up and picked up the cat, carefully bringing him down and with a scratch behind his ears. Chairman Meow purred happily as he was placed on his customised cushion on the sofa. "Rafael, why don't you come over and give the Chairman some cat treats? You know how much he likes that." Alec suggested stroking the little cat's head as his ears perked up with interest.

Rafe looked over at the Chairman and slowly let go of Magnus, disappearing into the kitchen and returning with a pot full of cat treats, holding one in his fingers and offering it to Chairman Meow. The little cat gratefully gobbled the cat treat up and looked up expectantly for more. Rafael smiled.

"There you go Rafe. We'll see you both tonight." Alec pressed a kiss to Rafael's head as he continued feeding Chairman Meow. Alec hugged his sister and added in a hushed voice. "If Rafael struggles to get to sleep tonight, just play the CD with the Spanish lullabies on it when he goes to bed. He'll go right off to sleep then." Isabelle nodded and shooed him out of the door, waving at Magnus with a smile before closing the door behind them.

Alec let out a nervous laugh and let Magnus lead him down the stairs. "They will be okay right?" Alec asked Magnus as the exited out on to the street and made their way to their date. Magnus nudged his side playfully.

"Of course they will. You just need to relax and take your mind off being a parent for a few hours." Magnus replied reassuringly. Alec let out a slow breath and nodded.

"Yeah, you're right." Alec pressed a kiss to Magnus's cheek and slowly felt himself relax as they walked. "What could possibly go wrong?"

Alec couldn't remember the last time he had ever had this much fun. Spending the evening with Magnus alone, without any children or responsibilities to worry over, had felt like a breath of fresh air. They had laughed and smiled, drank cocktails and even had a drunkenly awkward dance together before they decided to call it a night (despite it already being the early hours of the morning) and head home for a nightcap – and to relieve Simon and Isabelle of their babysitting duties for the night, of course.

"We should do this more often!" Magnus cheered into Alec's ear as they stumbled their way down the street to their apartment. "We're too young to be all stuffy and in bed before midnight! Don't you think my darling?"

"Speak for yourself." Alec chuckled, pausing for a moment to regain his bearings as the world tilted around him. He groaned as he suddenly felt his stomach lurch uncomfortably. "I think it'll be a while before I can drink that much again. My body is just not used to that level of alcohol."

Magnus scoffed and tugged Alec around to face him. He stared blearily at him with a pout. "Perhaps we should just skip the nightcap and go straight to bed." Magnus raised one of his eyebrows and gave Alec a slow suggestive smile, sliding his arms up Alec's biceps. Alec could feel his heart steadily pounding in his chest as Magnus leaned close and whispered in his ear. "You looked so handsome tonight."

"You always say that Magnus."

Magnus gasped in mock offence. "I say that because it's true." Alec felt one of Magnus's hands slide down his left arm until he touched his scarred skin. "Have I ever mentioned before how much I love your marks?"

Alec gave Magnus a bemused look. "My Runes you mean? I didn't know you liked the runes of the Nephilim so much."

"No, I meant just your marks." Magnus said slowly leading them both down the street again. "The things you can do with your runes. Your Strength rune, your Agility rune…your Stamina rune…" Magnus glanced at Alec from the corner of his eye as they rounded a corner on to their street.

"Magnus."

"I mean the possibilities are endless. Just imagine what you could do with them when you, say for example, weren't in a life and death situation…" Magnus continued.

"Magnus."

"I'm just saying it's a possibility. You don't have to if you don't want to -"

"Magnus!" Alec interrupted in a serious tone. Magnus blinked at him in surprise wondering where this particular mood had come from. Alec pointed up at their apartment building ahead of them, his eyes wide in horror. "Magnus, I'm hoping this is just from the alcohol but please tell me that isn't a dragon I'm seeing sitting on our windowsill…"

Magnus looked up at where Alec was pointing and felt his jaw drop in shock. Sitting on a windowsill of their apartment, snorting out puffs of lilac smoke from its nostrils was a short, fat emerald green dragon the size of a piglet, complete with leathery wings and scaly tail.

Without a moment to lose, Alec and Magnus sprinted to their building, leaping up the stairs and crashing the door open to find their loft in complete chaos. Chairman Meow was trembling up on top of Magnus's bookshelf, hissing and spitting at several onyx bats that swooped by him. Spaghetti Carbonara – or what looked like it – was coating the walls and floors. The rest of the floor was covered in a thick muddy marsh, complete with a stinking bog and a bubbling pit of lava. Max and Rafael cowered together on the sofa with their Aunt Isabelle who was cracking her whip at bats and chubby dragons whilst Simon tried his hardest to fight off a thick slimy tentacle sliding up from beneath their feet.

"This is the worst idea you've ever had Simon!" Isabelle snapped as she cracked her whip and sent another bat flying into the wall above Magnus's head.

"How was I supposed to know this would happen?" Simon replied squeakily, hacking at a tentacle sucker with a seraph blade. "I told them to imagine the swamp not actually create it!"

"WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON HERE?" Magnus bellowed his voice echoing around the room as bright blue sparks danced around his fingers. Simon and Isabelle froze in shock, staring at Magnus and Alec fuming at the front door. A small canary-yellow dragon flew straight into a wall with a loud thump and promptly fell to the floor unconscious. Max and Rafael leapt off the sofa and ran towards their parents, clutching hold of them tightly with shaking hands.

"Oh, you're back!" Simon blurted in surprise, glancing at Isabelle anxiously. "Izzy was meant to call you."

Isabelle glared at Simon with a scoff and swiftly elbowed him in the ribs. "I would have called them, if someone didn't knock my phone into the pit of boiling lava over there!"

"Enough! I don't want to hear it." Magnus snapped, glowering at the pair of them as he waved his hands and sent his magic around the room, scouring and scrubbing away the swamp and the sticky Carbonara coating the wooden floorboards. The dragons and bats disappeared in a series of quiet pops before Magnus looked down at Max, who was clutching his trouser leg fearfully. "Max, what did I say about doing magic without my supervision?"

"It was an accident Papa! I didn't mean to do it!" Max cried tearfully as Rafael nodded beside him, clutching hold of Alec's legs. "It just got out of control."

Alec stared around at the Carbonara slowly clearing away with a grimace, rubbing soothing circles on Rafael's back. "I thought we told you to order takeout."

Isabelle gaped at her brother and put a hand on her hip, stepping down from the sofa. "I hardly think that's the worst of the problems at the moment, brother. For your information, I was just about to when everything went to hell!"

Magnus sighed and held up his hands. "We are not having this argument now. Both of you get out of our home so we can put the boys to bed. I'll come by the Institute tomorrow with the bill for the damages and for the amount of therapy we'll have to put the Chairman through." Magnus pointed at the front door. Alec slowly shrugged apologetically at his sister as they slowly passed.

Just as they reached the door, Magnus threw his arm out and stopped Simon in his tracks. Simon gulped and looked at Magnus expectantly. Magnus fixed him with a cold stare, his yellow cat's eyes narrow and filled with fury. "If you ever think of teaching my sons Dungeons and Dragons again, you will regret the day I ever found you and jogged your memories. Do I make myself clear?"

Simon nodded and hastily hurried after Isabelle, feeling the door slam shut behind him. Magnus turned to Alec and let out a slow breath. "Right, let's get you two off to bed now shall we?" Magnus chirped, lifting Max up into his arms. "By the way darling, let's not let them look after the boys on their own again."

"Agreed." Alec nodded, lifting Rafael up in a hug as they carried them off to bed.

Neither of them noticed the little green dragon from the windowsill slink after them and curl up underneath Rafael's bed, falling fast asleep and sending little puffs of smoke into the air.