Em blinked and looked at him blankly. "Expecting what?"

The Doctor smiled at her again. "A baby", he pointed to the paper in front of him as if that was an explanation in itself. "You're about three and a half months in. The flu symptoms you were experiencing were actually just symptoms of morning sickness, it's an easy mistake to make. You seem to have gotten it a bit later than usual but it's all completely normal, just make sure you drink plenty of water. It should stop in a few weeks."

Em stared at him "I can't be pregnant". She blinked again, stupidly. It felt like time was slowing down. Was it hot in here? Did the surgery have air con?

The Doctor's pearly smile faltered. "Ah, but you are", he let out an uneasy chuckle. "Is it… unexpected?" he said the last word hesitantly.

Em had the bizarre impulse to laugh. Seeing as her boyfriend was a warlock and warlocks couldn't have children, like never, ever, have children, unexpected was an understatement. Her heart was thumping, pounding in her ears so loudly she wouldn't be surprised if it beat right out of her chest and on to the desk in front of her. She wondered mindlessly if Magnus could repair an injury like that. The thought of him brought her crashing back to reality.

She forced a small smile. "Um, a little." She said weakly.

"Maybe some information would help?" The Doctor said rummaging in his draw, all traces of a smile gone. Em had the feeling that telling unprepared women that they were unexpectedly pregnant was not how he liked to spend his evenings. He was probably regretting taking those extra night shifts. Em shook her head. Suddenly all she wanted to do was get out of here.

"I'm ok thanks", she said, forcing her smile a little wider. She wondered if it looked as fake as it felt. "I was just a little surprised, but it's fine. I've got to get back to work," she lied "I'll book another appointment with the receptionist on the way out. Thanks for seeing me". She forced the last bit out in a rush and hastily made her way out of the office, leaving the Doctor with a confused expression and a handful of pamphlets.

Deftly bypassing the receptionist, who offered a hearty "Bye dear" in her direction, Em exited the surgery and walked to the closest place she could think of. When she finally arrived she sat down heavily and pulled out her phone.

This bench was one of the first places Magnus had taken her when they'd arrived in Brooklyn. It was close to their apartment, on a bridge overlooking a river where some of the mermaids hung out. Em, who had very rarely seen mermaids during her days in London had spent hours here eating gelato from the Italian place around the corner while watching sunlight glint off of brightly coloured scales down below. It was still one of their favourite activities on hot summer days. Now the street was empty, the water dark and given that it was the middle of the night (or very early in the morning, depending on how you looked at it) the Italian place was closed.

Mind racing, Em switched on her phone and thumbed through her contacts until she found what she was looking for. She clicked the call button, listening to the distant ring a few times before she shook her head and pressed 'end'. She took a deep breath, thumb hovering over the contact, then turned off the screen and pocketed her phone. There was no use in panicking and calling London, she needed to talk to Magnus first.

Once again the thought of the warlock made the knot in her stomach squeeze even tighter. Em realised she had absolutely no idea how he'd react. Usually, she could count on him to be calm, collected, even mature when the situation called for it. He'd once explained to her that when you'd lived as long as he had, you'd seen almost everything at least once and though many things could still delight you, very little could shock you. But this was something neither of them was prepared for.

They'd talked at length about not having children, about how, as a warlock, a family in that sense was something he could never have and Em could never have with him. They'd discussed it over and over and over, and then again, every time one of them had brought up the whole immortal-dating-a-mortal issue. But they'd never once talked about having children. Of course, why would they, when warlocks couldn't have children. Except, apparently they could.

Em sighed loudly. She had to talk to Magnus.

. . .

Magnus sighed loudly as he looked around his loft. The party was in full swing now, guests had been arriving in a steady stream since Em left and so far it was as successful as he'd hoped. Over by the drinks table the head of the werewolf pack was currently exchanging jokes with the vampire clan's second in command, a couple of pixies had enchanted the flowers Magnus had artfully placed around the room to play beautiful, lilting music with a strangely hypnotic beat and although it had taken a little encouragement, couples were finally making their way onto the makeshift dance floor he'd set up on the balcony.

The warlock should be enjoying himself, but he couldn't, not when he knew Em was currently slaving away making drinks and deflecting pick-up lines from drunk Downworlders who hadn't been cool enough to receive an invite to his party. He'd been really worried about her over the past week, he knew flu was common among mundanes, but seeing the person you love in pain, or even just minor discomfort, was always difficult.

Being in a relationship wasn't exactly new for Magnus, he'd been in plenty of relationships, some with men, some with women. He'd dated vampires, werewolves, Seelies, other warlocks and even a djinn or two. He'd dated mundanes too (if you could call it dating) sometimes multiple mundanes at a time, although mostly on a very short-term basis. He'd even had a few serious relationships with mundanes, but most of those ended when they grew older and realised they wanted things Magnus couldn't offer them, like a family or a companion to share their old age with. In over four hundred years, only two of his relationships had lasted until death and the experience of losing someone he loved fiercely was so intensely painful that he had vowed never to put himself in that position again.

And then he'd met Emmeline. For Magnus, it had been infatuation at first sight. He'd always admired Shadowhunters from afar, the fearsome, angelic creatures they were, but he'd never dated one before. At first, he thought she was beautiful and strong, in that delicate fragile way that mortals had always been to him. Then he saw her bravery in battle, how she flew like an avenging angel, burning with a bright, blinding intensity that seemed passed down from heaven itself. That was when he knew he was in love. When he'd asked her to come back to Brooklyn with him he'd been slightly nervous, a sensation he hadn't felt in a very long time, and when she'd agreed he was cautiously delighted, intent on enjoying their adventure together before the inevitable point where she realised everything she'd be giving up if she stayed with him, and returned home to find a nice Shadowhunter boy.

But then the months grew into years and it became more than just another relationship. He saw that past her beauty and bravery Em was also kind and sweet and funny and protective and intelligent and adventurous. Magnus didn't remember the exact moment when he realised that this was it for him, that all of the searching and longing and wandering had finally stopped, that she wasn't just one of his life's loves, but the love of his life. All he knew is that he had fallen deep, and there was no going back now.

. . .

Em stayed for another hour and a half, to watch the sun rise over the river, washing the water with a pale, yolky light. Then, deciding she couldn't put it off for any longer, she started the walk home. She had been due back over an hour ago anyway. Magnus might have assumed that she'd had some particularly resilient patrons at the bar, but his party would be finished by now and if she stayed out any later he'd start to worry.

It wasn't that she didn't want to see him, Em thought as she watched the other people who were out this early; commuters, joggers and those who were clearly making their way back from a night out, she just hadn't really managed to get her head around the situation yet. Their whole lifestyle revolved around being able to jet off to another country at the snap of a finger. The only real responsibility either of them had was their work, and even that had always been flexible at most. How were they going to change everything to revolve around a tiny new person, who needed school, friends, a family and stability? As much as Em could tell, Magnus had lived his whole life on the principle that if it wasn't fun, fabulous or exciting, it wasn't worth wasting time on. Were babies fun?

As she approached the apartment block the evidence of last night's party was everywhere. The ground was littered with large pink petals, which someone had obviously dumped off of the balcony while highly inebriated, a string of dimming fairy lights hung down from their kitchen window and a young werewolf couple were giggling deliriously as they tipsily tried to make it down the street without holding on to the wall.

"Shhhh, they're at it!" the girl said with a conspiratorial wink to Em, before breaking into laughter which she inexplicably tried to hide behind a large leopard print purse. Her boyfriend threw Em an apologetic glance and then promptly slipped on one of the petals, going down to his knees with a thud and whacking his head on the brick exterior of the apartment block. Em stopped for a moment to help him up and check for a concussion before sending them on their way and heading into the building.

The doorman smiled politely as he opened the door for her, it was a nice building. Usually, in these kinds of buildings, they'd get snippy if you invited guests over or had the kind of parties Magnus liked to throw, but he'd been a resident for a long time and always cleaned up after his guests. Em suspected the little magical favours he did for the owners of the building and the soundproofing charm they had on their apartment went a long way to helping the other residents turn a blind eye to the proceedings too.

She made a mental note to tell Magnus about the petals in the street as she rode the elevator up to their floor. There was a funny coppery smell in the hallway too which grew stronger as she neared their apartment, but no visible blood, so Em chalked it up to the presence of vampires and maybe the flower-shaped blood fondue which was no doubt starting to congeal by now. She took a deep breath, gagging slightly on the smell before she opened the front door and walked in.

The loft was hot, humid and shrouded in darkness. It had the unmistakable after scent of a party, sweet and salty, with a sickly floral edge contributed by the rapidly-wilting decorations. Em flicked on the light switch next to the door and froze.

On the sofa, sweat glistening across his bare shoulders, hands bunched passionately in golden hair was Magnus, kissing Jace Herondale.

A/N - Thanks for reading, reviews and comments are treasured!