I had never spent a Christmas Eve without my siblings before. That was the single most prominent thought in my mind, even as I opened my eyes in the morning. Beside me, Magnus was sleeping soundly under festive red sheets. I knew from the night before that his briefs were covered in little candycanes. The holidays were most definitely here, no matter who I happened to be spending them with.
I leaned over and kissed Magnus. It was nice that I could do that just because I wanted to. His lips curled up into a slight smile underneath mine but he squeezed his eyes shut as if fighting the idea of actually waking up.
"I'm warning you, Darling..." His voice was quiet where he wasn't quite alert yet. "I am going to be incredibly hyperactive today."
"That's fine." I told him, playing with his hair while it was still un-styled. Magnus started chuckling knowingly underneath me.
"Ah, but the earlier you wake me the longer you have to stand it." He reminded me, actually lifting one eyelid to peak and my reaction.
I gave him a look which I hoped said I wasn't even a little fazed.
"This time last year, my siblings were jumping on my bed until I got up." I rolled my eyes. No matter how childish Magnus could act, a fully grown man in his thirties would have nothing on Izzy and Max when it came to full-blown Christmas-time-mode.
"If I'm going to risk breaking my bed." Magnus yawned and started to stretch out. Which was admitting defeat, really. "It won't be because I'm using it as a trampoline."
I groaned and swung my legs out from under the covers. I had things to do, and getting a mattress replaced was not something I wanted to add to my list. Then again, I thought as I stood and headed towards the bathroom, just how much of what I needed to do were tasks I only did with Izzy and Max?
The two of them would be at home right now, making gingerbread that Isabelle would inevitably burn and constructing it into something which would vaguely resemble a house. Max would be checking avidly for snowfall and Izzy would be attempting to torture the cat with some kind of festive accessory. And I wasn't going to be with them for any of it.
I wondered if things would be different without me at all. Maybe there were things which had less to do with all of us being home and more to do with growing up. Somehow I couldn't imagine my brother exited to hang a stocking anymore. That thought was so disheartening that I sighed aloud.
"Darling?" Magnus enquired.
I was sure that behind me he'd look concerned, but I didn't turn around. I promised that I was okay and then slipped into the bathroom so that I could at least get the day off to a clean start.
As soon as I opened the door, releasing steam from the bathroom like clouds of mist which disappeared before my eyes, I was hit with the smell of burning. It wasn't the burning cinnamon scent of the candles Magnus had picked up, either. It was the charred scent of something which definitely was not intended to catch fire. I had grown up in a house with Isabelle. I knew perfectly well what all manner of kitchen disasters smelled like. This was one of them.
"Magnus?" I called out cautiously. "Are you alright out there?"
"Perfectly fine, Darling!" Magnus replied in the frantic tones of somebody who was decidedly not-fine.
I shrugged on a pair of jeans quickly and padded out to see what was going on. As predicted, Magnus was in the kitchen. He had thrown on lazy-day clothes and was staring horrified at whatever mess he'd created in the frying pan.
"Please do not destroy the kitchen." I pleaded as I approached. I had a lot of cooking to be doing.
I pushed my hair back off my face, it was still soaking through and dripping everywhere. Magnus looked from me, to the blackened lump of... Something... He'd been trying to prepare, then back at me again. I had to roll my eyes at him.
Magnus had not actually started a fire, thank the Angels. Knowing him, he would have thrown water on it and made the whole thing explode. Not wanting to take any chances, I leant forward and turned the heat off before we could reach that stage.
"I was trying to cook." Magnus said. That much had been obvious.
"But you can't cook." I sighed.
"I cannot." Magnus agreed. In view of the evidence I don't think he could have argued, really.
He lifted the pan carefully from the hob and deposited its contents into the bin. I winced, because I would have let it cool a little first, but nothing disastrous resulted. I mean, the bin didn't melt or anything. I took the kitchen utensil from Magnus before he could cause any damage.
"I would have thought you'd at least have the basics down." I muttered, about to squeeze washing up liquid into the sink. Before I could run any water Magnus took the pan - still much too hot to be doing anything with - and deposited it into the dishwasher.
"Yes, basics." He said. "I can work the microwave, I can put things into an oven."
"Though you don't always remember to take them out." I reminded him.
All this sounded very reminiscent of conversations with my little sister. I couldn't help but think that I might as well have been at home- Of course; I then remembered that I was home. Back when I lived with Kyle and Simon I hadn't even unpacked all my stuff, I'd never really been settled anywhere but my Mother's house before. Here, I was settling. Magnus made sure of that.
I glanced over to the new table stood in gleaming polished wood in the space we'd cleared for it. It was dumb, but it was the first thing which was ours, rather than 'his' or 'mine', and it made me really happy. Even if Chairman Meow was already napping on it. I tried to visualize my family sat there. As I mentally invented place-settings for everybody, I noticed something odd.
"Magnus, there are eight chairs." I observed. I didn't remember us having that many and it seemed like an excessive amount for our place, too. The table was looking crowded.
"That's right." Magnus nodded, not seeming surprised.
"Why are there eight chairs?" I asked to make my point more clear. It wasn't as if Chairman Meow had super-strength and gone out to stock up on spare furniture. "There were six before."
I caught a flash of guilt on Magnus' face right before he looked from the bin to the dishwasher, lamenting his failed cooking attempt. That was never a good look. Unpleasant as it was Magnus wasn't naturally inclined to feel guilt. He was more likely to feel sorry somebody felt bad than regret being the cause; a subtle but distinct difference. So I knew he had to be thinking about more than just breakfast if he was bothering to be regretful.
"I may have invited Cammie." Magnus smiled sheepishly. "And Ralf Scott."
I laughed. That is to say, I laughed for about two seconds before I realised that he wasn't joking. Then I stopped dead.
"You invited your ex-wife and her new partner to Christmas with my family?" I yelled. Our building wasn't the kind where you could hear all the neighbors' business but I was fairly certain the people next door heard me. "And informed me on Christmas Eve?"
"Your Mother's ex is coming." Magnus countered defensively.
"My Mother's ex is my Father!" I screeched. Actually screeched.
Magnus had known perfectly well that this was going to be an issue. He'd deliberately put off telling me so we wouldn't have time to argue. I wanted to pull on his stupid bottle-black hair until I pulled out his stupid graying roots. Stupid Magnus.
"I've never spent Christmas without Camille." He said with folded arms.
The pang of sympathy I felt for him softened me ever so slightly, but I was still pissed at him. Just when things seemed to be going so well... If Magnus had really wanted her to be there I would never have forbidden it. I just wished he hadn't gone for the shock-factor.
"What about Woolsey?" I asked. "Shouldn't Ralf be with him?"
Magnus let out a laugh of his own then. Clearly I was ill-informed. I knew that the two Scott brothers fought - I'd overheard it myself - but I didn't think it was any kind of full-blown feud between them.
"Wow." I commented. "I didn't realise they hated each other that much."
Magnus pulled himself together to address me again. "It isn't so much that they hate each other. They just don't enjoy one another's company so don't bother with all this... bonding time."
I was going to make a comment about how that's probably a good reason they should attempt to bond. However, I stopped myself short. Tomorrow was going to be Christmas Day, and no matter what we bickered over, now I had two extra people to prepare for.
In fact, we had extra people to prepare for. I gave Magnus a very level look.
"I am going to finish getting dressed" I informed him. "And when I get back I am acquainting you with the concept of a chopping board."
"Sounds dangerous." Said Magnus.
"No." I told him on my way back to the bedroom. "Dangerous was just waiting for me to notice those two extra chairs."
After a long day of setting and re-setting the table while making sure Magnus didn't chop his hand off with a kitchen knife, my irritation had simmered down a little. Now I was just sleepy.
In the kitchen, Magnus had his hands in soapy water. I'd vetoed his beloved dishwasher. Served him right. It was around half past nine now, closer to ten really. I had no desire to do anything but lay in the living area listening through Magnus' collection of outdated music. The festive mix that we'd played in the morning had run its cycle through more than once and I just had to change it up.
But lying alone wasn't exactly how I'd wanted to spend the evening. So, with some reluctance, I got up to go lend my boyfriend a hand.
"Are you still mad with me?" Magnus asked sullenly when I got close enough.
"Furious." I nudged him and ducked my head to hide my smile. "What do you think this is? Some kind of family occasion?"
Magnus brightened and grinned at me, dumping the last of the dishes onto the drying rack. I took up a towel and started to put things away. He would have let things drain longer but I wanted it all taken care of before tomorrow.
"I know I'm an asshole." Magnus sighed, after just a couple moments watching me clear away. "I guess I was just worried you wouldn't want her here."
"I'm not the problem." I explained. "I've gotten used to our unit being a little... Unorthodox."
Magnus snorted. We were no nuclear-family that was for sure. Just like I couldn't accept Magnus' lifestyle before because I had my own values... Well, there were other people whose ideals we didn't fit quite fit into now. And I had a fairly strong feeling one of those people would be my Father; no matter how hypocritical it seemed.
"I just would have liked to let my parents get used to the idea." I continued. "I don't want people to be uncomfortable."
"Does it help that Isabelle already knows?" Asked Magnus.
I wanted to hit him. Yes, it did help a little, but he had gone the whole day without even mentioning that little tidbit of information. For a second I was also kind of mad at my sister because she hadn't mentioned it. I could only hope that it had come up in conversation at home; maybe Izzy had informed my Mother already.
"You told her before me?" I asked, still quite annoyed with him after all.
"Technically, Cammie told her before I told you." Magnus reasoned. "So I haven't actually told anybody about inviting her before telling you."
"How considerate." I grumbled, but Magnus smiled his winning smile and wrapped his arms around me.
I just couldn't bring myself to care about being mad. I should have been, but I wasn't, and making myself that way would have been pointless. What were the holidays without a little crisis, besides? This was just my luck.
"What's the worst that can happen?" I murmured into Magnus' chest, which rumbled in response with a slight chuckle.
"That's the kind of thinking I like." He said.
Many thanks for reading as always, you're all much appreciated. Hope everybody is faring well post CoHF. I don't know what I'm going to do with my life until we get more Shadowhunter books. Aside from learning to write things which don't take more than ninety chapters and over a year to resolve. That's on the to-do list.
That said, hope to update again soon. (In the meantime feel free to message me with any book feels. My parabatai isn't talking to me and I'm severely lacking people to fangirl with.)