Alec balanced the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he stirred the pot of macaroni and cheese on the stove. "Jace, can't you wait to bring in your essay to Professor Stark after you drop Rafael and Max off at the kindergarten and daycare?" he asked exasperated. He was late for his first day on the job because Jace flaked out on taking the kids to school, and he did not want that to happen again.
"He said that it's due at 7:45, Alec. If I turn in one more late assignment, I'm going to fail the class and lose my scholarship."
Alec quit stirring the macaroni and pinched the bridge of his nose, willing away a headache that was bound to come. He could hear Max and Rafael arguing in the other room, their voices approaching screams. "Fine. Do you think Iz can take them?" he asked, the oven timer going off. He grabbed an oven mitt, taking out the homemade chicken strips.
"I think she's got class at seven."
"God damnit," Alec said, not only because he needed someone to drive his kids to school, but also because he had burned his wrist on the pan that just came from the oven. Another timer rang, signalling that his steamed vegetables were ready. "Is Mom in town?" he asked desperately as he turned off the burner for the vegetables and turned his attention back to the macaroni. Max started making a noise between a screech and a sob in the other room that was followed by a loud thump. "Shit," he said, making sure all of the burners and the oven were off before walking into the living room. "I'll have to call you back, Max and Rafael are fighting." Without waiting for Jace to respond, Alec hung up the phone, tossing it onto the nearest table.
Rafael threw a toy car at his brother, yelling nonsense. Max started sobbing louder when the car hit him, his blue eyes turning red around the corners.
"Rafael," Alec said firmly, stepping between his sons. "You do not throw thing in this house under any circumstance. Especially not at your brother. Do you understand me?"
Rafael's cheeks flared a dark scarlet and he looked up indignantly. He was close to tears and his pout was a prominent Lightwood feature that he had passed on to him. "But he won't play with me." he crossed his arms glaring at his brother.
Alec turned to Max whose tears had subsided. "He hogs!" he said defensively, pointing a small finger at Rafael.
"You hogged all of them!" Rafael said back.
"Rafael, you have to share, and Max, if he's not sharing, ask nicely or come to me," Alec said, feeling only slightly guilty when Rafael looked like he was going to cry again. "Now, I want you two to hug and say you're sorry."
Both boys reluctantly hugged and apologized.
"Okay, both of you have five minutes in a corner and no one gets dessert tonight," he said, pointing them to their designated corners.
"But-" Rafael said. He was always the one to argue.
"No buts or you will have ten minutes."
He pouted but went to the corner anyway.
Alec went back into the kitchen to finish making dinner. He called Jace again as he was putting scoops of food onto plates.
"Hello?"
"I'm back," he said. "Anyway, is Mom in town?" He set the table, praying that his mother was in town.
"No. She's in Houston on business until Thursday."
Alec sighed heavily. "Is there really no way that you can take them?" he begged.
Jace hesitated, "If you can take them with you to the school, I can pick them up at eight after I drop off my paper."
"Okay," Alec said in relief. "Class starts at eight fifteen, so if you are there by eight that should work perfectly. Thank you so much, Jace."
"No problem. I know you have a lot of stress right now, so let me know if you need anything else."
"Will do," Alec said as he poured juice into three different cups. "See you tomorrow."
Alec barely heard Jace's goodbye. He had so much on his mind. By tomorrow morning, he needed to have all of his lesson plans for the week and send a copy of his student rosters to the administrative office. That, of course, was easier said than done.
"Max and Rafael, come get washed up for dinner!" he called, pulling the step stool in front of the sink with his foot as he washed his hands.
The boys quickly cleaned up and sat down in their chairs at the table.
"You're coming with me to work in the morning and Uncle Jace will take you to school from there," he informed them.
"Why can't we stay with you at work?" Rafael asked, his black hair falling into his eyes. Alec briefly thought that he needed to cut it.
"Because it's my job, and my boss wouldn't like it very much if I was distracted by two adorable little boys all day," he said, loving the cute face Rafael made.
"No adorbable! Brave!" Max said, holding up his fork like a cross bow. He had been watching Brave earlier that evening and had informed his father that he wanted to be just like Merida.
"Who says you can't be both?" Alec said, "Now be brave and eat your vegetables before they get cold."
"Okay," Max saluted, stabbing a piece of broccoli and shoving it in his mouth.
Dinner ended not long after, and Alec began their nightly routine. He washed the dishes while the boys went to their room. It only took a few minutes to finish cleaning the kitchen before he joined his kids.
"Rafael, go brush your teeth while Max puts on his pajamas," he instructed as he found a red set of pajamas for Max and a green set for Rafael in the dresser. Rafael went down the hallway to the bathroom, his feet pattering the whole way.
Alec sat down on the edge of Max's bed and helped him into his pajamas, "Are you excited for another day of daycare?" he asked when Max ran to put his dirty clothes into the hamper.
"No," Max said, his large blue eyes turning suddenly dark.
"Why not?" Alec asked, turning on the color changing tiger night light.
Max looked angry, "Rafe's not there," he said begrudgingly.
"No, but you can still have fun. Aren't there lots of other boys you can play with?"
"They color. I want cars."
Alec picked Max up, putting him on his lap, "No one plays cars?"
Max shook his head sadly.
"You should ask one of the boys to play cars with you."
"Okay, Daddy," Max said as Rafael came back into the room.
"Okay," Alec said, planting a kiss on the top of his head and putting him back on the ground, "your turn to brush your teeth." Max's little legs carried him out of the room at a surprisingly fast pace.
Alec followed him, making sure he brushed his teeth thoroughly while Rafael got dress in their bedroom. Alec and Max returned a minute later, Rafael already lying in his bed.
"Story?" Max asked as Alec tucked them both in.
"Sure," Alec said, looking through the books on the shelf. "Do we want Hop on Pop or Green Eggs and Ham?"
"Hop on Pop!" Max said. That was his favorite story. Rafael also like it, so he paid attention.
Alec read the story, kissing the boys once more before going into his office to get his work done.
By ten o'clock, his rosters were sent and three quarters of his lesson plans were made. It wasn't mandatory that he have his lesson plans done, but the rest of his week was going to be full of setting up lab equipment after school while his kids sat in his classroom so he wanted to have as much done as possible. By midnight, he had the next three weeks planned and ready to go. Feeling accomplished, Alec went to bed and set his alarm for five o'clock in the morning.
When the alarm rang the next morning, Alec groaned, hitting the snooze button and rolling over for five more minutes of sleep. Though he hated to admit it, he was not at all a morning person. Before the next alarm could go off, Max crawled onto his bed and began jumping up and down.
"Get up! Get up! Get up!" he yelled, his feet nearly landing on Alec's forehead.
Rafael crawled onto the bed a moment later, joining the fun and jumping up and down as well.
"I'm up! I'm up! I'm up!" Alec said, turning off his alarm before it sounded again and sitting up as his sons kept jumping next to him.
"Daddy, hurry!" Max yelled, his thick unruly hair bouncing as he jumped.
"What's the rush?" Alec asked, extracting himself from the bed.
"We wanna play at work!" Rafael said, landing on his butt on the bed and hopping off to run to Alec's closet.
Alec followed his son to the closet, sifting through his various discount shirts and five year old pants. He settled on a pair of black slacks and a long sleeved maroon shirt. He set them down on the bed, before picking up both of his sons.
"You can't play at work!" Alec said jokingly, watching both of his boys' faces turn to worried looks.
"Why?" Max asked.
"Well, because it wouldn't be work anymore, it would be play," Alec said as he made his way to the bathroom to start their baths. "Now, get undressed so we can get you all clean for day care." Alec turned on the water to a nice temperature, and left the boys in the bathroom while he went to the kitchen to start breakfast. Because he really didn't feel like cooking, he opted for canned cinnamon rolls. By the time he had returned to the bathroom, Rafael was in the tub with a large mountain of bubbles. Max on the other hand still had his pajamas on, and he was sitting on the closed lid of the toilet.
"Max, I told you to get undressed," Alec scolded as he turned off the water and handed Rafael a washcloth with soap on it.
"No bath!" Max yelled, with a pout.
"Well, why not?" Alec asked, sitting down on the step stool between the tub and the toilet.
"I want germs."
"No, you don't. Germs are bad for you. They make you sick. Now get undressed, and get cleaned up."
"Daddy," Rafael said, "I'm clean all by myself!" he said proudly.
"That's great, Rafael. Because you did so good this morning, you get a cinnamon roll with extra frosting."
Rafael clapped his hands excitedly, then climbed out of the tub. Alec grabbed a towel from the linen closet on the other side of the tub and handed it to Rafael.
Max sat stubbornly on the toilet seat. "I want frosting," he said somberly.
"You have to be clean to get extra frosting," Alec said, helping Rafael dry his hair with the towel.
"But Daddy!" Max whined.
"No buts. It is not debatable," Alec said, walking with Rafael back into the bedroom to get dressed.
"Daddy, what does not debdable mean?" he asked.
Alec grabbed an outfit out of Rafael's drawer, handing it to him. "It means you can't argue about it. It is set in stone."
In the distance, Alec heard the kitchen timer go off. "Will you get dressed and help Max bathe?"
"Yes!" Rafael said, excitedly.
"Good, I'm going to frost your cinnamon roll." As Alec walked down the hall, he saw Max still sitting on the toilet. "Max, if you don't get clean, you will be eating brussel sprouts for breakfast."
Max still didn't move, but Alec didn't want their breakfast to burn, so he went to the kitchen. A quick glance at the clock told him that it was only six fifteen, so he still had time to shower and get ready.
He pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the oven, quickly frosting them before they cooled down. He made sure to put a little extra frosting on Rafael's before leaving them to cool down.
Rafael ran into the kitchen, already dressed for the day, "Max won't listen to me."
"Okay, just sit at the table and I'll get you breakfast," Alec said, putting the cinnamon rolls on plates.
Max walked into the kitchen, still in his pajamas. He sat down at the table, waiting for his own breakfast.
Alec quickly sliced an orange and poured two glasses of milk. He gave Rafael the fruit, and the cinnamon roll with a glass of milk, but he pulled fresh brussel sprouts out of the fridge and gave them to Max with a glass of water. When Rafael saw this, he began to laugh.
"Rafael, be nice," Alec warned.
"Sorry, Daddy," he said, taking a huge bite out of his breakfast.
Max on the other hand found no amusement in this; he burst into tears.
"Max, you'll still get a cinnamon roll if you get in the bath in the next five minutes," Alec said. He quickly ate his own breakfast, before going to the cabinet and getting out the vitamins.
Max refused to move, tears staining his face. Alec gave the gummy vitamins to both of his sons, but Max refused it.
"Four minutes," Alec said. Max finally caved, stomping away to the bathroom. Alec followed, telling Rafael to put his dish in the sink and wash his hands when he was done with breakfast.
Alec sat on the step stool again, watching to make sure Max got clean. "Ears," he instructed when Max tried to get out. He huffed and cleaned his ears with a frown on his face.
"I hate baths."
"You have to be clean though," Alec said. "Feet," he commanded before Max could try to get out again. Finally, his son was completely clean and dry. He led him into the bedroom and helped him get dressed before letting him have breakfast.
"Daddy, can I watch cartoons?" Rafael asked, cupping his hands together in a plead.
"Sure, but only a half hour. After that, we have to go to Daddy's work. Max, wash your hands and put up your dish when you are done with breakfast."
Alec quickly gathered his outfit for work and showered in the only bathroom in the apartment. The moment he looked in the mirror, he noticed how shaggy his hair had become and how desperate he was for a shave. Time would not permit a shave, however, seeing as he only had ten minutes to dry his hair and gather his things. Sighing, Alec resigned to the idea that he would have to wait another day. He hurried to dry his hair, and put on his cologne, but as he glanced at the clock in the hall, he noticed he was running a little late.
"Let's hurry up and put on our shoes!" he called to his children as he pulled on his own Doc Martens. Max and Rafael scuttled to the shoe rack by the door, pulling on matching pairs of sandals.
"What about our lunches?" Rafael asked.
"Shit," Alec said under his breath so they wouldn't hear. "Daddy forgot to pack lunches. Have Uncle Jace buy you lunch before he takes you to school. Tell him Daddy will pay him back at the end of the month."
Now rushing, Alec went to grab his briefcase with his lesson plans and rosters while turning off all of the lights in the apartment, turning off the television, and double checking to make sure there were no faucets or electrical appliances on. He couldn't afford to go over on his monthly bills again.
"Grab your backpacks and hurry. Daddy's going to be late again," he sighed, trying to find his keys and cell phone.
Max and Rafael didn't even try to resist his instructions, knowing his tone of voice was serious. No matter what, Alec could never get anywhere on time. It was something he was always trying to correct, but never fixing.
At long last, Alec made it out the door with his two boys. They all got buckled into Alec's 1998 Honda Civic, and made their way to the school. Despite telling Jace to be there at eight, Alec barely got into his classroom by eight ten.
"Daddy, where are the students?" Rafael asked as Alec finally relaxed and began writing the day's lesson on the board.
"They are outside getting ready for class. It doesn't start for another five minutes." Alec explained as he drew a diagram of a plant cell.
"Can I draw on the board, Daddy?" Rafael asked with puppy dog eyes.
"Me too! Me too!" Max said, running up to the board.
"Okay, but you have to stay inside of this box," Alec said, drawing a large box off to the left side of the board. "Promise?" he asked, sliding the boxes of textbooks over so they could stand on them and reach the board.
"We promise," they said in unison. Alec handed them each a marker as the first bell rang. He expected Jace would be late, but he didn't expect class to start while his kids were still with him. He definitely did not want them around high schoolers.
Just as the thought passed through his head, the door opened, and his students started flowing in. All of them immediately saw the children, and sat down cautiously.
Alec picked up his phone and dialed Jace.
"Hello?"
"Jace, where are you? Class is starting, and Rafael has been late to kindergarten the first two days of class.""
"I'm still at the university. I barely turned in my paper on time, and now I'm running back to my car. I had to park in the middle of nowhere because apparently today is freshman move in day. Fucking freshies are everywhere, man. I can't get past them."
"When are you going to be here? I can't teach class and watch them," Alec said, exasperated. "You know I need this job. I can't get fired on my second day."
"Relax, man. I'm almost to my car. Once I make it out of the parking lot, I'm only twenty minutes away. Fifteen if there is no traffic."
"Just… Hurry, please."
"Okay, see you in a few."
The late bell rang, and Alec moved to close the door. "Sorry for the random children," he said, addressing the class. "My brother should be by in a few moments to take them."
Seeming to notice the others in the class, Rafael put down his marker and moved to stand behind his father. Max, on the other hand, did not appear to notice or care about the others.
"These are my sons Max and Rafael. Say hello, boys."
Max turned around waved sporadically with a big smile while Rafael just hid behind Alec's desk.
"Okay, let me just take roll and we will get started." Alec ran through the list as quickly as possible, smiling when Magnus raised his hand. There was something about that boy that made Alec want to talk to him. He was just so honest, but reserved. A quality that wasn't common in a lot of people. Not to mention his mysterious eyes. They held such intensities of color. "For each class, I have chosen a student to help me prepare for all of our labs and eventually roll taking. For this class, I chose Magnus." At the sound of his name, said teen shrunk down in his chair and looked down at his fingers. Alec's heart swelled a little at how modest he was being. "Next week, we will perform our first lab over cellular respiration with a follow up lab the next week on photosynthesis. When the time comes, I will assign partners and lab stations. For right now, we will start our briefing over the topics." Alec moved to the board where he wrote the two equations. "Can someone tell me which equation is for cellular respiration, and which is for photosynthesis?"
No one answered for a moment, and Alec began to doubt the advancement of this advanced biology class. However, a single honey tanned palm raised in the air and restore hope in him.
"Yes, Magnus."
"Uh. The first one is c-cellular respiration, and the other is photosynthesis," he said quietly.
"Excellent, and can you tell me how you knew that?" Alec asked, unconsciously licking his lips when Magnus bit his.
Magnus hesitantly explained, "The first equation yields oxygen, and the second yields carbon dioxide."
"You are absolutely correct. Very well done," Alec affirmed. As he was titling the equations, Max began to scribble outside of his box. "Max," Alec said quietly, "You promised you would stay in your box. Do you want a timeout?"
"Sorry, Daddy," he said with a pout.
Alec addressed the class again, "Can anyone tell me the relationship between these two processes?"
Once again, no one raised their hand but Magnus. Alec nodded to Magnus, motioning for him to answer. "Photosynthesis produces a sugar which is then used in c-cellular respiration in order to make ATP. The s-sugar is then broken down into carbon dioxide which is used again in, uhm, photosynthesis."
"Very well put. Each process is reliant on the other in most cases. In this first chapter, we will discuss both aerobic and anaerobic processes in plant cells. What are some examples of anaerobic processes?" Alec asked. He was mainly asking to gage how much his class knew, but deep down, he was also asking in hopes of hearing Magnus speak again. He was quite intelligent, and there was just something enticing about him.
Magnus hesitated before raising his hand again.
Rafael tugged on Alec's pant leg. He had been watching from under the desk, and had decided now was a good time to interrupt. "Daddy," he said quietly.
Alec crouched down, "What is it Rafael?"
"You should give the shiny boy extra frosting on his cinnamon roll. He's smart."
Alec couldn't help the laugh that erupted. "Yes, I should," he agreed before standing up again. He wasn't sure if his class heard his son or not, so he chose not to mention it. "Go ahead, Magnus."
"Cellular respiration and alcoholic fermentation," he said without making eye contact. He bit his lip after speaking, drawing all of Alec's attention to his plump lips once again.
"Great examples." Before he could speak any more, the intercom came on.
"Mr. Lightwood, you have a visitor. Is he clear to come to your room?" the secretary asked.
"Yes, thank you." Finally Jace was here, Alec thought, relieved.
"For today, I planned on lecturing, but it seems to me that you all need to write the definitions for this chapter." A collective groan rose from the students. "I will resume my lecture tomorrow, we will do our lesson on Thursday, and Friday we will review the terms and take a vocabulary quiz. Magnus, will you help me pass out textbooks?" Alec asked, lifting Max off the box and putting him in his tall desk chair.
Without answering, Magnus slowly moved to the front of the class. Alec instructed him to write the book number next to the student's name on his roll sheet. As soon as his instructions were finished, there was a knock at the door. Alec crossed the room, relieved to see Jace standing there.
"Finally," Alec chided.
"Sorry. I'm here now. Where are the kids?" Jace asked, pushing his way into Alec's classroom. "Whoa, you have a class?"
Alec pinched the bridge of his nose, "What do you think I meant when I said 'class starts at eight fifteen'?"
Max and Rafael spotted Jace and ran up to him. Both boys were very fond of their uncle despite how much he irritated Alec.
"Hey, chipmunks. Learning anything?" Jace said, picking both of them up.
"No way!" Max said.
"That's okay. I never learned anything in school either," Jace teased. "Let's get you to school so you can have fun."
Alec grabbed the boys' backpacks and Jace put them back on the ground. "Behave yourselves." Alec handed helped them put on the bags before addressing Jace again. "I forgot to pack their lunches. Can you stop and get them something?"
"Alec…" Jace began.
"Mr. Lightwood?" one of the girls in the back requested.
"Yes?"
"What page is the vocabulary on?"
Alec went to his desk and quickly found the page number in his lesson plans. He had written it down next to the vocabulary quiz day. "Page one ninety six." Knowing that not everyone was paying attention, he scribbled it on the board.
He noticed that Magnus had already passed out all of the books and was back in his seat. Alec had to give him credit; he was very diligent in his work.
Alec returned to his brother. "I'll pay you back at the end of the month. I know I owe you a lot," he said in nearly a whisper. Over the past few months, Alec had been working at a convenience store until he got the job as a teacher. Though he got plenty of hours, it was not enough to pay his bills and take care of his kids. He had to borrow the money Jace got back from his scholarships just to pay his rent. Luckily, his mother had taken the summer off from work and volunteered to watch the boys everyday. Now, though, she had returned to work, Jace had gone back to his classes, and Isabelle started her freshman year of college. Not only did he have to pay his bills, but now he also had to pay for the daycare for Max.
"I'll stop. Don't worry about it. Just pay me back when you can."
"Thanks, Jace."
"Alright, chipmunks," Jace said, getting the attention of the two boys running around them. "Give your dad a kiss and let's get going."
After first period ended, Alec's day went by smoothly. There were no major problems or fist fights, so he figured it was a pretty successful day. In the rest of his classes, no one knew the answers to any of his questions. It made him wish Magnus was still sitting in the front row. Disregarding the thought, Alec packed up his belongings and vocabulary papers to grade. He made his way out to his car, praying that his life would settle down soon. For the past five years, it's felt like one hectic day after another with no end in sight.
Alec drove five miles across town in the heavy traffic, knowing that he was already ten minutes late to pick up his kids. Luckily, the daycare center was right next to the kindergarten. Alec dropped in and got Max first, carrying him on his hip and walking quickly down to Rafael's classroom.
"Mr. Lightwood," Rafael's teacher, Ms. Aline said the second he walked in the door. She was a young woman, probably in her thirties with long brown hair and soft features. Her voice was very soothing, and Alec briefly thought she was perfect for a kindergarten teacher. Especially with her colorful skirt and ribboned shirt.
"I'm sorry I'm late. I just got off of work and drove here as fast as I could."
"Rafael has been late to class two days now. If we were further into the semester, it wouldn't be that big of a deal."
"I know," Alec said, seeing Rafael get up from his seat and walk over to his father. "I'm sorry, it won't be like this all the time. Things are just a little crazy right now." Rafael was now standing right next to him, looking tired. Alec's hand gently ran through his hair, pushing it out of his face.
"May I suggest that he ride the bus?"
"I really would do that if I could, but I have to leave for work before it goes by and I can't leave him alone," Alec explained, hoping that Jace could just help him out a little more.
"I have no right telling you how to raise your children, but bad habits are instilled in them at a very young age."
Alec, slightly offended at this comment, took Rafael's hand. "I promise you he won't be late again."
"Very well," Ms. Aline said.
Alec took his kids back out to his car, trying not to let them see how exhausted he was. Once everyone was buckled in, he was on his way back across town to his two bedroom apartment. "How was daycare, Max?"
"We played cars!" He said excitedly.
"Oh, that sounds like fun," Alec said, carefully merging into a different lane. Before he had kids, he drove like a maniac, but he had more to take care of now. "What about you, Rafe? How was class?"
"Ms. A took time out of my recess because I was late," he grumbled.
Alec felt super guilty. It was his fault Rafael didn't get to class in time. He shouldn't be punished. "I'm sorry, Rafe. You won't be late again. I promise." Alec pulled out his cell phone, dialing Jace's number.
"Alec," he said as a greeting.
"Jace, listen, can you take the boys to school tomorrow? I know you have class at nine, but if you could just do this for me one more day…"
"Alec, I'm sorry, but I can't tomorrow. I have a meeting with my advisor that is mandatory."
Alec bit his lip, merging again and turning down the street towards his apartment complex. "Do you know anyone that can take them? There is no way I can make it from their school to mine in time for class."
"Why don't you just bring them earlier?" Jace asked, clearly feeling a little guilty about letting his brother down.
"The doors to daycare don't open until eight." Alec tried to think of any other person he could ask, but came up short. Jace was too busy with class, Maryse was working, Robert hadn't talked to Alec in years, and Isabelle was… Well Isabelle he could understand. She didn't want to spend too much time with Max because he was her son. No by Alec's doing, of course. Izzy had gotten pregnant in eleventh grade after her boyfriend got her drunk and took advantage of her. She didn't have the heart to abort the baby, but she couldn't handle the responsibility or the reminder. Alec, though he was a freshman in college already held down by a two year old, adopted the child at his birth and named him after their youngest brother who'd died in a car wreck seven years before. So yeah, he didn't really blame her for not being around.
"Look, man, I'm sorry, but I just can't do it."
"It's okay, Jace," Alec said, finally parallel parking next to the tall apartment building. "I'll talk to you later."
Alec sat for a minute with his forehead on his steering wheel, wondering what the hell he was going to do.
"Daddy, are you okay?" Rafael asked.
"I'm alright," Alec said with a fake smile. "Let's just get inside before Daddy has a meltdown," he muttered the last part under his breath, hoping that something would get better soon.
So thanks for reading! Drop a review and tell me what you think! I couldn't resist Rafael and Max they're adorable! Hope you liked it!