Hello everybody!

So sorry this has taken so long to upload. I sent this chapter to my beta reader over a week ago but i haven't heard anything back from them since so I'm assuming they're still having troubles with their internet after Hurricane Matthew. So, when i eventually get a reply, if there are any changes I'll update this chapter with the changes.

There are no spoilers from the books and it continues on from Adventures in Babysitting Part One but it's not really essential to read it in order. I'm not sure whether this is my best, and i kind of finished it oddly in my opinion but let me know what you think.

Depending on how well my mood is, I might be able to upload a halloween special soon (might be after) mostly because of a small but insanely adorable headcannon I thought up whilst writing this chapter.

Please let me know what you think, I love hearing from you all. Also if you're old enough and like The Dark Artifices, please check out my story Why Lie? and let me know what you think of that.

Enjoy!

The Lightwood Bane Chronicles

Adventures in Babysitting Part Two

After the last time Alec and Magnus left the boys with members of Alec's family, they had come home to find their home in chaos. So it was understandable that they were nervous about going out again for a night and leaving the boys to the mercy of their babysitters. This time, to avoid coming home to find their home in a mess and Chairman Meow suffering with PTSD in a corner, they decided to take the boys to the Institute for the night to be looked after by Jace and Clary.

Magnus watched on patiently as he waited in the kitchen for Alec to finish talking to Clary about Max and Rafael's bedtime routine. He had been waiting for the past hour. "Now, you will call us if anything goes wrong won't you? Seriously, anything at all and you ring us straight away, no matter what time it is." Alec said anxiously.

"I promise that if anything bad happens – not that anything could after last time from what I've heard from Simon – we will call you. Won't we Jace?" Clary replied just as Jace walked into the room, carrying a paper bag of takeaway food from Taki's Diner.

"Of course we will. Look Alec, we aren't going to be playing any weird games with them and I've just got the food so they'll be fed. Just go out and enjoy yourselves, we've got this."

"And we've put an extra bed in your old room so that Max and Rafe can sleep in the same room." Clary added with a smile as she took out some plates from the kitchen cupboard and put them on the table.

"Come on Alec, it looks like they have everything in hand." Magnus said, walking up behind Alec and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Alec let out an anxious breath.

"Okay. Where are the boys? I want to say goodbye to them quickly before we go." Alec glanced over Magnus's shoulder searching for their sons with wide eyes.

"They are having fun in Clary's art studio. Let's just leave them to it. We'll see them in the morning. Come on." Magnus pressed a kiss to Alec's cheek and nudged him out of the kitchen, waving goodbye to Jace and Clary as they went. As soon as they were outside the Institute, Magnus pulled Alec close to his side and wrapped an arm around his waist. Alec shivered as a blustery chill tickled the back of his neck, tightening his scarf around his neck as he laid his head on Magnus's shoulder.

"Come on my darling." Magnus announced as they started walking down the street. "Tonight we can be just two regular guys, going out on a date with no responsibilities. We can do that can't we?"

There was a moment of quiet before Alec reluctantly nodded, letting out a slow breath. "Okay, we can do this. The Institute is the safest place in New York."

"Exactly. Plus, Max and Rafe know exactly what to do in an emergency. They'll be fine." Magnus said, rubbing his hand up and down Alec's arm in a calming gesture. Alec nodded and slowly started to relax. Surely nothing bad could happen this time, thought Alec as the descended into the underground train station.

Alec was starting to think he and Magnus were jinxed somehow.

The evening had been going well. Magnus had received a tip off that there was a two-for-one deal on drinks at Pandemonium from Bat, who was happy to vouch for their entry into the club as he was the DJ for the night. Alec hated clubbing, preferring instead to have a quiet evening at home with Magnus and their sons but he didn't want to disappoint him since he had been looking forward to go dancing for weeks. So they sipped their drinks and Magnus was steadily getting drunker throughout the night. The time for them to make their way home came at 4am when Magnus made his way over to Alec and tried to give him a lap dance, causing Alec's cheeks to flush in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Alec. I didn't mean to get this drunk." Magnus slurred as they entered their apartment. "Those drinks were a lot stronger than I expected. I've really got to stop drinking Tequila…it never ends well."

"It's fine Magnus. We managed to get home safe and I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Alec replied closing the door behind him and locking it before shrugging off his coat. Magnus swayed slightly as he leaned on the kitchen counter and summoned a glass of water.

"Did you enjoy yourself Alexander?" Magnus asked with a small furrow of his brow. "You didn't really dance much."

"Clubs aren't really my thing. But I'm happy that you enjoyed yourself. I know how much you were looking forward to tonight." Alec shrugged, gliding over to Magnus and enveloping his arms around his waist. Alec pressed a chaste kiss to Magnus's mouth, crinkling his nose at the smell of booze on Magnus's breath. "Come on, let's get to bed. You need to sober up a lot before we go and pick up the boys tomorrow."

"I feel hungry. Do you feel hungry?"

Suddenly, Alec felt his phone buzz in his pocket so he slipped it out of his pocket and answered it in one sweep as he helped Magnus to their bedroom. "Hello?"

"Alec, its Clary."

Alec stopped dead in his tracks causing Magnus to stare up at him in confusion. "Clary, what's wrong? Are the boys okay?"

"Yes the boys are okay, but you'll need to come and pick them up. Jace, grab him quickly! No Rafael that's not for throwing!" Alec bit his lip anxiously as he heard Clary sigh on the other end of the phone. "Alec, just come quickly. We'll explain when you get here."

Clary hung up on the phone leaving Alec with a feeling of panic. "Something's happened to the boys. Clary didn't say what but it didn't sound good. You stay here and sober up and I'll go and get them." Alec commanded heading to the door and shrugging on his coat and picking up his bow and quiver.

"I'm coming with you. No, I'll be fine, just give me a minute." Magnus replied despite Alec's protests as he hurriedly rummaged through his kitchen cupboards before leaping over the counter and ran into his study.

"What are you looking for? We need to go!" Alec called just as Magnus reappeared with a grimace and holding a bottle of something that was green and looked like it had something crawling in it. "What the hell is that?"

"It's essentially a hangover cure. It takes a few minutes to take effect but it's a lot quicker than the mundane alternative." Magnus sighed before he popped the lid and drank the whole bottle with a shudder. When he had finished it, Magnus chucked the empty bottle over his shoulder and grimaced. "I am never drinking one of those again."

"I am never kissing your mouth again." Alec added feeling suddenly ill.

Magnus gasped at Alec offended. "Hey, you wanted me sober, you got me sober. Now stop complaining and let's go."

Alec rolled his eyes as Magnus opened the door and hurried down the stairs. "Alright just make sure you brush your teeth before you kiss me again okay?" Alec didn't need to see Magnus to know that he was rolling his eyes.

Alec and Magnus arrived shortly at the Institute expecting the worst possible situation to have happened. They weren't far off the truth.

"I swear on the Angel Alec, I did not buy them!" Jace exclaimed as soon as they entered the kitchen, his blonde hair in a tangled sweaty mess and sporting dark circles of stress under his eyes. Alec gasped in shock as his eyes fell upon Rafael and Max, splattered in paint and spaced out one of the benches. Two large beige antlers were growing out of Rafael's head but it didn't seem like they were hurting him. Clary was bustling around them both, trying her best to get them to drink some water but they took no notice of her. Magnus hurried over to them worriedly, snapping his fingers in front of their faces in a bid to grab their attention.

Alec narrowed his eyes and tried to remain calm. "Tell me they haven't eaten what I think they've eaten, Jace. Tell me that they didn't eat faerie scones."

Jace paled as Magnus looked between them in shock. "Faerie scones..?"

"It's a long story." Clary murmured to Magnus. He nodded as his fingers lit up with blue flames. He waved his hands in front of each of his sons faces and watched in relief when they started following his hands with awestruck expressions.

"I didn't buy them intentionally. You remember what happened last time. I've completely sworn off them." Jace explained as Alec started pacing worriedly. "One of the other customers must have slipped them in my bag when I wasn't looking."

Alec scoffed and stared at his parabatai in exasperation. "How is that possible? You're always on alert whenever you leave the Institute, even if you are just walking to the front gates."

"I was hungry! You know a guy can't focus on anything with an empty stomach." Jace replied affronted.

Clary suddenly huffed and stood up facing the two arguing friends and fixed them with an annoyed stare. "Okay, you two arguing isn't going to solve anything. Jace, why don't you go and clear up the mess the boys made in my studio? There's a mop and bucket in the cupboard on the second floor."

Jace sighed and nodded his head, turning to face Alec one last time. "I swear I didn't mean for this to happen. If I had known they were in my bag I would have thrown them out straight away."

Alec nodded and clapped his hands on Jace's shoulders. "Okay, I believe you. I just don't want them to get hurt."

"Neither do I, brother." Jace replied casting a glance at Rafael and Max. "Let me know when the effects wear off."

"I might have some news on that actually." Magnus said not taking his eyes off of Rafael and Max. As Magnus moved his hands around, Alec noticed with relief that Max and Rafael slowly started blinking their eyes. The antlers coming out of Rafael's head were starting to fade away in front of them. "They seem to be responding to my magic, so that's good. Although, best not to let them have any more scones though."

"Thank the Angel," Jace murmured as Clary and Alec nodded in unison. Alec headed over to Magnus and placed a hand on Max's knee, just as the young warlock shook his head as if out of a trance.

Max blinked and stared up at Alec and Magnus in confusion. "Papa…Daddy…"

"We're here Blueberry, don't worry." Magnus replied just as Rafael shook himself out of his trance, antlers gone without a trace. There was a light green tinge to his face as he held his stomach tightly. Magnus summoned a bucket and passed it to Rafael who sat nursing it gingerly.

Max watched his brother with a frown before he turned to Magnus. "Papa, I think I had a weird dream."

Magnus chuckled quietly, reaching up and stroking Max's head affectionately. "You probably did but you'll be back to normal soon."

"Oh," Max replied disappointedly.

Alec looked at his son in surprise, sitting next to his son on the bench. "Oh?"

Max sighed. "I dreamt that Rafael had antlers coming out of his head. He would be just like me then wouldn't he?" Max pointed sadly to the two white horns on his forehead that were just starting to curl up into his hair.

Alec shared a quiet look with Magnus and wrapped a comforting arm around Max's shoulders. "Oh Max…"

The young warlock leaned into Alec's side just as Rafael vomited into the bucket in his lap. Alec caught Clary and Jace watching them quietly, unable to think of anything comforting to say to Max to cheer him up. Max knew the differences between warlocks and shadowhunters and knew that they would never change. They were just too different.

When Rafael had finished vomiting an hour later Magnus summoned a portal to take them home. Max was sleeping soundly in Alec's arms whilst Rafael trudged groggily through the portal, heading straight to the bathroom. Magnus followed behind them collapsing the portal with a wave of his hand whilst Alec walked quietly to Max and Rafe's room to put his son to bed. As Alec brought Max's blankets over him, he placed a kiss to his forehead and quietly left the room, ruffling Rafael's hair as they passed each other in the doorway.

Magnus was stood at the kitchen counter making himself a coffee when Alec came in and hung up his bow and quiver by the front door. "I doubt I'm going to get enough sleep before my first client comes tomorrow so I might as well pull an all-nighter. Want one?"

Alec shook his head and quietly pulled Magnus into a hug, resting his head against his shoulder and letting out a slow breath. Magnus could feel a slight tremble in Alec's shoulders as he held him close, rubbing soothing circles into his back and patiently waited until the trembling stopped. "I want to cheer Max up but I don't know how." Alec mumbled helplessly into Magnus's shoulder.

"I know."

"Isn't that what a parent is supposed to do? Make their child feel better?" Alec pulled away sadly and leaned back against the kitchen counter.

"We can't fix everything Alexander, no matter how much we want to." Magnus replied taking a sip of his coffee and shivered as the hot drink slipped down his throat. Alec fell quiet and stared at his hands. "On another note, we need some new babysitters."

Alec nodded in agreement. "Who have we got left?"

"Well, there is Maia and Lily…"

"No chance." Alec shook his head immediately. "I don't think they like kids anyway."

"There's your parents." Magnus suggested only for Alec to give him a look and shake his head. "Yeah, I suppose not. The only option we have left then is Catarina."

Alec considered the idea and shrugged his shoulders. "She does work with kids at the hospital so she'll know what to do if something bad happens."

"And I've yet to call in my favours for this decade." Magnus added as he took another sip of his coffee. "It honestly can't get any worse."

"You hope so. I've been thinking we've been jinxed lately. We've had so much bad luck with babysitters."

Magnus paused with a thoughtful look on his face. "I'll double-check the loft for foreign hex bags just in case."

Alec raised an eyebrow at Magnus. "Are you serious?"

Magnus shrugged his shoulders. "Magic can sometimes do strange things to a warlock's mind, especially if they're amateurs. I'll call Catarina in the morning and ask her when she's free. You go to bed, you look shattered darling."

"I'll see you in the morning." Alec kissed Magnus goodnight and left him to finish his coffee. Magnus threw himself on the couch and picked up his book just as a few sunrays trickled in through the curtains.