"I think I prefer the pink over the green," Magnus chattered happily as he wandered down the street, hand in hand with Em. "There's no point choosing anything coloured until we know if it's a boy or a girl, though - not that a boy can't look fabulous in pink," he added. "I wish Cat could do a proper ultrasound. Maybe I can ask her to sneak us into the hospital? Or we could just go neutral for now, white, grey, black. Although that whole minimalist monochrome look can be a bit-"
He broke off, noticing the glazed look on his girlfriend's face.
"Hey," He said, slowing to a stop in front of a little French café. The sunshine seemed to have bought the whole of Brooklyn out today and the small tiled outdoor seating area was heaving with couples enjoying coffee and pastries.
Em looked up at him, surprised they'd suddenly come to a halt on the busy sidewalk.
"Are you tired – because we can go home now if you need to rest?"
"No, I'm fine" She shook her head.
"Oh really? What was I just talking about?"
Em smiled at him. "Something to do with nursery colours?" she guessed.
"Mmmhm," he hummed. She was right, but he'd spent at least 80 percent of their shopping trip debating what colour they should change the nursery to, so that wasn't exactly definitive proof. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Fine," she huffed, realising he wasn't going to drop the subject. "I was just thinking about that thing Catarina said. About the baby being... unusual."
"Ah," his face cleared. "You're still worried about that?" She nodded at him and bit down on her bottom lip. Magnus sighed, "Well we both know warlock-Shadowhunter babies aren't exactly common. Shadowhunter blood is normally dominant but I don't know, he – or she, might get some of my powers too. We just need to watch out for anything out of the ordinary."
"I know all that," said Em. He looked at her curiously. "I just assumed that with Tessa being as well-known as she is, everyone would be a bit more… accepting. I didn't realise it was still such an issue."
Magnus nodded. He was going to kill Catarina. He knew the twenty-minute lecture she'd delivered during their appointment this morning had scared Em.
"Cat's just a bit of a drama queen. She hasn't had the best of luck with the Clave and children, and some of her views are a bit archaic. It's not unusual for Shadowhunters to have more unorthodox relationships now, some even date Downworlders openly." Em nodded again. "They always considered Tessa one of their own - maybe because she didn't look like the rest of us," his yellow eyes flashed in the sunlight as if punctuating his statement, "or maybe because they're racist pricks who can't possibly imagine their precious Shadowhunter blood being tainted, but she was half Shadowhunter, half demon. Our baby is different - half human, and the rest, demon and angel. Just slightly more of the demon part than the angel one. We can't expect the baby to be the same as Tessa, or to be accepted in the same way."
Em looked sad. He slipped his index finger under her chin and lifted her face towards him.
"It doesn't matter Em, none of it does. Neither of us is running off to tell the Clave about this, and the Downworlders couldn't care less. Whether the baby has my birthmark or your birthright or is totally and utterly mundane, it doesn't matter because it'll have parents who love it unconditionally – right?"
Em's cheeks flushed a little as she smiled up at him. "Right."
She tilted up on her tiptoes, leaning in to kiss him, but before their lips could meet she jerked back in surprise, frowning. Her mouth popped open in a perfect 'o' shape.
"Em-?" Magnus asked.
"Ow! The baby kicked me."
He chuckled at her indignant expression and raised his hand to her stomach, letting Em guide his palm until he could feel the insistent prodding just above her navel.
"Wow," he breathed, looking down at his hand in fascination. Even after everything that had happened over the last few weeks, he couldn't get used to the idea that there was a child in there. His child.
"I think that's baby for 'stop standing around and go buy me a stroller'."
Em laughed. "I don't know about that," she grumbled, "maybe we should be looking for a soccer kit instead."
Magnus smiled and linked his fingers with hers before pulling her down the street.
Em's eyes lit up when she saw the stroller Magnus had been talking about. It was standing in the centre of the window display of Hush a Bye, the trendy upmarket baby boutique a few blocks from their apartment.
The stylish retro design reminded Magnus of the strollers he'd seen new mothers use in the 1960s, the type with large chrome wheels and a basket-shaped cradle on top. Although a few key elements had been updated, the material was a deep rose rather than black and there was a handy lever on the side which looked like it might do something fancy.
"Shall we go and inspect it?" He asked, grinning when Em answered with an excited nod.
They entered the shop with a welcoming trill from the bell above the door and Magnus made a beeline for the nearest sales assistant, an expensively dressed woman in her thirties with a trim figure and a sleek blonde bob, before asking for a closer look at the stroller. Apparently, this required an extra member of staff to remove it from the window, so the woman went in search of her colleague, promising to 'be back soon'.
While they waited, they browsed the rest of the store. Hush a Bye was quite large as baby shops went. Designer gadgets, cute clothes and chic baby shower gifts were artfully arranged into sections with wide, pushchair-friendly aisles. The theme of the store was strangely at odds with the spotless white walls and soft classical music humming over the P.A. system, which spoke more to the high-end nature of the up-and-coming neighbourhood. Magnus had a sneaking suspicion anyone who was unfortunate enough to visit with a sticky-fingered toddler would not be made particularly welcome.
He gravitated towards a colourful display of miniature clothes set out in a rainbow-coded fan on a nearby marble table and was deep in thought, wondering whether he could convince Em to buy a set in each colour so they could dress the baby in a different hue each day of the week, when someone bumped into him from behind, pushing him into the display and sending a stack of tiny lilac leggings crashing onto the floor.
Magnus cursed under his breath and ducked down to pick up the clothes. His assailant had the same idea, scrambling to reach the leggings at the same time. Unfortunately for Magnus, there wasn't much space under the table and the combination of the intruder's bulk and the panicked force they moved with tilted him off balance again.
"Shit, sorry – I didn't mean to do that." A deep baritone rumbled from above. A tanned hand reached into Magnus' view and pulled him to his feet.
Magnus took a moment to brush the lint from the sleeves of his jacket before looking up. The man in front of him was a few inches shorter than Magnus himself, although he carried himself taller. He was also considerably broader than Magnus, though his faded grey jeans and almost identical sweater did nothing to accentuate his stature. Magnus smirked, mundanes could be so well, mundane with their fashion choices. When his eyes travelled up to the man's face, which was admittedly beautiful, with smooth skin, dark hair and ocean blue eyes his smirk died.
Ah, he thought, taking in the black runes curling upwards from the stranger's neckline.
Not a mundane. A Shadowhunter.
A cute Shadowhunter.
This wasn't good.
A/N - I wanted to make this a bit longer but with the next scene it'd be ridiculously long, so you get a cliffhanger instead (kind of).
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