A/N: Hello guys! I'm so so so sorry that I haven't updated in so long, and I promise that the wait was worth it! Thank you for following and plzzzzzzz review.
I apologize for all the grammar and spelling mistakes.
Anyway, you've been waiting long enough so ENJOY!
*disclaimer* I do not own any of these characters :(
It has been 5 days since that Rafael arrived in New York and he was finally ready to meet the rest of the family. Both Alec and Magnus knew that Rafael would need some time to adjust, and they were happy to see that their soon to be son was making so much progress. Yes, he still sleeps in Alec and Magnus' bed, and Yes, he still wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. But Rafael had gained some weight, his English improved A LOT, he was starting to be more talkative during the day, and his nightmares are getting less worse. That's why Alec felt so proud when Rafael was ready to take the next step and said that he wanted to meet his new family. Alec secretly also felt relieved because Izzy, Simon, Clary and Jace knew that Alec and Magnus were up to something and (especially Jace) were bugging the hell out of him.
So on the 6th day of Rafael's arrival, it was finally time to introduce Rafael to the family. It was 8.30 in the morning and Alec and Magnus were trying to get the boys ready to go, which was quite difficult since that Rafael and Max decided that they didn't want to cooperate.
"Oh, well," Magnus said dramatically and plopped into the armchair. "I guess that we should just stay here and don't go to Taki's for breakfast."
Max jerked his head towards Magnus. "Taki's?"
"Yeah," Magnus said with a fake sigh. "We thought it would be nice to show Rafael around first, before heading towards the institute, right, Alexander?"
Alec nodded. "But if you guys don't want to…."
"WE DO!" Max shouted. He ran over to Rafe and tried to pull him along, but Rafe didn't move.
"What's Taki's?" Rafael asked.
"Ownly the place where they hawe the BEST pancwakes in the WORLD!" Max told his brother. "Now come ooon, Rafe! Hurry." This time, Rafael allowed his little brother to drag him along to their rooms. Alec and Magnus looked each other in the eye and burst out laughing.
Magnus stood up as the laughter died down. "I'd better go check on those two," said Magnus. "I'd rather not have my sons go out looking like total fashion disasters."
Alec smiled as he watched Magnus walking down the corridor. He then pulled out his phone and texted Jace to say that they would be at the institute at ten.
"whous dis stoooo ghohohd!" Rafael said with his mouth full of pancake. Max giggled
"Swallow before you talk, Rafe," Magnus scolded.
Rafael took a sip of his orange juice and swallowed. "This is so good!" Rafael repeated.
"I twold you so!" Max said.
"You're right, little brother," Rafe said and he ruffled through Max's hair, which made Max puff his chest proudly.
Alec's heart melted at the sight of his two children, and when he looked at Magnus, Alec could see that he was felt the same way.
The four of them headed towards the park after they had finished their breakfast, where the two Lightwood-Bane boys were playing in the playground while Alec and Magnus were sitting on a bench nearby. Even though Alec had done this a hundred times with Max, he was still feeling a bit anxious. Alec didn't like to walk around in the mundane world without being glamoured, it made him feel vulnerable. Which is absolutely ridiculous since that he's a trained shadowhunter, but the fact that the mundanes were able to see him, made him feel exposed and self-conscious. And the annoying little voice inside his head wasn't really helping either. What if the mundanes see Max? What will they think of a little blue warlock playing with their children? What will they say? What will they do? Some wounds heal, but some memories stay with you forever…. Alec tried to shake those thought out of his head. Magnus, who felt that something's bothering Alec, placed his hand on top of Alec's and rested his head against Alec's shoulder. "They're just playing, Alexander," Magnus said. "You shouldn't worry too much, you'll get wrinkles." Alec smiled and allowed himself to relax a bit.
"Do you remember our first date?" Magnus asked while his eyes were still fixed on their kids.
Alec nodded.
"You were so nervous," Magnus said. "You judo-flipped a Mundie and he actually thought you were a ninja." The two of them chuckled and Alec suddenly felt much more at ease. Magnus must have noticed this because he continued to point out everything that was either funny or embarrassing about their first few dates.
Around 9.45, Alec decided that it was time to head towards the institute. He and Magnus stood up and called their kids. While the four of them walked towards the institute, Alec held Rafael's hand while Magnus carried Max because Max complained that he was tired. And Magnus, the soft-hearted warlock that he was, couldn't say no to his youngest son.
"You're spoiling him," Alec said.
"No, I'm not," argued Magnus. "I'm simply taking care of my son, Alexander. Besides, you wouldn't want him to whine the entire way to the institute now, do you?"
"You're too soft, Mag," Alec said and sighed in defeat while Magnus and Max smiled at each other. Rafael pulled at Alec's hand.
"Pick me up?" Rafe said with his puppy dog eyes. Alec tried to say no, but he couldn't resist the charms of his son, so he sighed and picked Rafe up.
"Look who's soft now," Magnus teased.
"Shut up," Alec responded.
Alec put Rafael down as they reached the institute door.
"Are you ready to go inside, Rafe?" Alec asked.
Rafael nodded.
"Okey then," said Alec as he opened the institute door. He held the door open for Magnus since that Magnus couldn't keep the door open with Max in his hands. "Thanks, dear" Magnus said.
The four of them stepped into the elevator, and Rafael had decided to hide behind Alec's legs when the elevator door opened again. They stepped out of the elevator into an empty foyer, and Alec thought that he heard a relieved sigh from Rafe. Alec looked at his son and placed a hand on ruffled through Rafe's hair, then he turned around and shouted, "JACE! IZZY!" Alec suspected that they were in the training room with their new trainees, so he had shouted extra loud to make sure they'd hear him.
"Two lowd, daddy!" Max complained.
"Sorry, Max," Alec apologized. Then they heard footsteps running towards them and Alec could feel Rafael's grip on his pants tighten. Alec could hear the familiar shouting of Jace before he even saw him.
"ALEC, I SWEAR. YOU BETTER TELL ME WHAT YOU AND MAGNUS HAVE BEEN HIDING FROM US, OR I SWEAR, I WILL-" Jace stopped dead in his track when he saw Rafael standing behind him. Izzy, Simon and Clary bumped right into him and both Clary and Simon fell on their butt. "By the Angle, Jace," Izzy snapped. "Why the hell did you sto-" Izzy's mouth hang wide open when she saw Rafael. Clary and Simon, who just stood up, both noticed Rafael at the same time and the irritated expression on their face was replaced by a shocked one.
"Guys," Alec said trying to hide his excitement. "This is Rafael Santiago Lightwood-Bane, our son."
That seemed to unfreeze the four shocked shadowhunters. Izzy leaped forward and tackled Alec in a hug. Luckily Alec was sort of expecting it, so he had placed his foot steadily or he would have fallen right on top of Rafe. "That was for adopting another absolute cutie," Izzy said. Then she slapped him in the face, hard. "And that was for not telling us."
Even though Alec's jaw hurt, he managed to chuckle. "Okey, Izzy. I love you too."
Izzy then knelt down to face Rafael, who was still hiding behind Alec's legs. "Hello Rafael, I'm Isabelle," Izzy said in a gentle voice. "I'm your aunt. But you can call me aunt Izzy." Rafael simply nodded.
"Oh my gosh, he's so shy and so cute!" Clary practically squeaked. Then knelt down beside Izzy.
"Hello," she said. "My name is Clary, nice to meet you." She held out a hand for Rafe to shake and Rafael hesitated before shaking it softly. Rafe also let go of his grip on Alec's pants. Rafe was still a bit shy, but he was starting to feel more confident.
Max, who was now tired of not being in the centre of attention, started to struggle in Magnus' arms. Magnus put Max down and Max started to draw attention to himself.
Alec was looking at his sons so he didn't realise that Jace had sneaked up on him until Jace had him in a headlock.
"You shitty parabatai," Jace said while ruffling through Alec's hair. "We were supposed to have no secrets for each other!" Jace slapped Alec on his head and Alec somehow managed to get out of the headlock and threw Jace over his shoulders. Alec did make sure that Jace didn't land too hard on his back because he's a caring parabatai like that. Alec then crossed his arms and sat on Jace' chest to prevent him from sitting up.
"You're not going to win this, Herondale," Alec said. "Give up."
Jace struggled and managed to push Alec of him. The two parabatai then continued to wrestle.
"Don't wowwy," Max said to his older brother, who was quite shocked at the sight of his father wrestling with a stranger. "They dwo that, a lowt."
Izzy and Clary giggled. "Guys, break it up," Clary said trying to sound serious. She failed. "You are such bad influences." Clary laughed and shook her head.
"So…" Simon said when Alec and Jace finally stopped wrestling. "Where does Rafael come from?"
"That's actually quite a long story," Alec said. "Why don't we head towards the kitchen? I can use a cup of coffee."
"Great idea," Clary said. And they all headed towards the kitchen.
"Why don't you go show Rafe around," Magnus said to Max as they arrived at the kitchen. "It'll be boring for the two of you to stay here."
Max nodded eagerly and dragged Rafe along with him.
"Beatriz and Julie are in the training room with some other kids if you're interested in meeting them," Simon Called after them.
"Okwey!" Max shouted as they left the kitchen.
After the boys left, Clary made coffee and Magnus conjured some biscuits. When they were all set, Alec started to tell them about his meeting with Rafael.
"By the Angel," gasped Izzy when Alec was done telling his story. "So Rafael has really been living on the streets for two years? That poor boy!"
"But that doesn't explain why you didn't tell us," said Clary. "Why did you guys keep this secret?"
"Well, because…" Alec started. Alec couldn't find the words to explain. He was thankful when Magnus took over.
"Because, Biscuit, Rafael is a shadowhunter." Magnus told Clary. "You all know how desperate the Clave is for newly trained shadowhunters after the war. We didn't know whether they would approve us to raise Rafael, you know, with the fact that I'm a downworlder and all."
Alec nodded gravely. "We didn't want you to get your hopes up if the Clave denied us to adopt Rafe."
"That's stupid," Simon argued. "They let you adopt Max."
"Yeah," Magnus said. "But Max is no shadowhunter."
There was a silence between them, and Alec knew that they were all thinking the same thing. Shadowhunters are racists. Even though a lot has changed in the past few years, you still can't change everyone. And in times like this, when the Clave is desperate for new recruits, you never know what they'll do. Alec was grateful that his family was different, it made is life a whole lot easier. But unfortunately, not every shadowhunter is as open minded as the shadowhunters of the New York institute.
"So is Rafael officially your son?" Clary asked softly.
Magnus shook his head. "Not yet, we still need the Consul's approval. But were positive that Jia Penhallow will agree."
Clary nodded. "I'm sure she'll agree." Reassured Clary.
"I do hope so, Biscuit," Magnus answered. Suddenly Alec heard footsteps rushing towards the kitchen. A few seconds later, Robert Lightwood burst into the kitchen with Maryse right behind him. Alec jumped to his feet.
"Dad? Mom?" Asked Alec. "What are you doing here?"
"Well," Robert said. "I was just congratulated by the Consul on a new grandson, who I didn't even know existed. So I called your mother to ask whether she knew something, and she didn't so we thought we'd-"
"Oof!" Alec heard. It was followed by a thud. Both Alec and Robert looked down and saw Rafael on the ground. Apparently he ran into Robert while running. Max ran into the kitchen a few seconds later.
"Nowt fair, Rafe! You're-" Max didn't finish his sentence. "Grandma! Grandpa!" Max exclaimed.
"Hello, buddy!" Robert said, and he picked Max up. "How are you doing?"
"Gwood!" Max said, then he looked around. "Where's Rafe?"
Rafael had taken his place behind Alec's legs again. Alec gently pushed Rafe in front of him and place his hands on Rafe's shoulders.
"Mom, dad," Alec said. "This is Rafael, our new son." Then he turned towards Rafael. "Rafe," said Alec. "They are your grandparents. Why don't you go say hi?"
Rafael looked down and shifted his feet, the shyness had taken over again. But after a minute, he took a few steps forward. "Hello, Rafael," Maryse greeted gently. She had knelt down in front of Rafe. "I'm your new grandmother, it's nice to meet you."
" -meet you," Rafe muttered.
"Come here," Maryse said, and she pulled in into a hug. Rafael stiffened but after a few beats, he relaxed and hugged her back. After a moment Maryse Released Rafe.
Robert put Max down so Maryse could give him a hug and turned towards Rafe. Robert picked the boy up to Rafael's surprise and held him up. "Let me see," Robert said. "A handsome young… Shadowhunter?" Robert turned to face Alec. Alec nodded. "A shadowhunter! You'll grow big and strong and will no doubt grow to become a skilled young man." Rafael giggled at the compliments.
"I will too!" Max pouted, annoyed that he wasn't at the center of attention.
"Of Course you will!" Robert said, and he placed Rafe next to Max. "The two of you will make everyone proud." The boys beamed at the compliments.
"Move aside, Robert," Jace said as he shoved Robert aside. "I want to meet my nephew." Then he picked Rafael up and held Rafe in front of him.
"Rafael," Jace said seriously. "One day I'm going to train you and teach you to be the best shadowhunter in the world. Well, second best. I can't have you out best me, now can I?" Rafael giggled. "And if you'd just remember that I'm your best uncle, then we could all have tons of fun. Just ask your brother." Jace turned to face Max. "Max?" Jace asked. "Who's the best uncle in the whole wide world?"
"You awe!" Max exclaimed happily.
Alec could hear Magnus sigh behind him. "What have you done to my poor son, Jace?" Everyone chuckled except for Jace, who ignored him and turned to face Rafael once again.
"So," Jace said. "If you'd just remembered that, then we could do lots of fun things together. Like playing piano, or go to the park."
Rafael's face lighted up at the mention of the park.
"Yes! We could go to the park and go feed the duckies!" Rafe exclaimed.
Jace froze at the mention of ducks. The face that he made was priceless, it was a combination between shock and horror. Quickly Alec pulled out his phone and took a picture of Jace' face, Alec was going to use this picture against Jace for sure. Alec tried to keep his laughter in, but when his met Clary's, he burst out laughing and everyone joined him. Except for Jace and Rafael. Rafael was frowning and didn't understand why everyone was laughing.
When the laughter finally died down, Jace said, "Remember Rafael. Never ever trust a duck. Ducks are evil bloodthirsty beasts!"
Rafael, who seemed to understand that Jace had a phobia for ducks, suddenly had a mischievous glint in his eyes. It was then that Alec knew that Rafael was going to be a hand full.
That was quite a read! I hope you liked it and Plzzzz review. There's one more chapter to go!
Next up: A glimpse of the future!
Author out ;)