Twinkle Twinkle Little Star   von Bibs
                    (My version of 'Born to Endless Night')
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                                  Kapitel 2: 
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When Alec came back later, Magnus had put the baby back to his nest in their bed
and was watching TV without really seeing the images flashing   across the large
flat screen. He was pulled out of his musing by the   sound of keys and
scrambled to his feet when the first thing he saw was   two large paper bags.
“Hey darling. Let me help you”, he offered and   took one of the bags in
exchange for a quick kiss. “Little one had   another two bottles of milk and a
mashed banana and is sleeping now.   What did you buy?”
“Food and pacifiers and some random stuff I thought might be helpful.  
Catarina went home?” Alec slipped out of his boots, a little smile on   his
lips, and went to the kitchen counter to unpack his shopping. Magnus   followed
and took a look into the bag he carried, finding a small soft   looking hair
brush, a toy rattle and what looked like a stuffed piglet.
“I guess I got the random stuff bag”, Magnus assumed and also started to  
empty the contents of the bag next to the more practical congregation   of milk
powder packages, bottles and pacifiers that emerged from Alec’s   bag. “You
even got some clothes?”
“Well, he doesn’t have anything besides the pyjamas, does he? If he’s  
going to stay for a few days he will need something to change. I just   hope
they fit”, Alec illustrated his point, eyes fixed on a package of   baby
porridge that was decorated with berries and apples. 
“Good of you to think about that”, Magnus said softly and put a hand on  
Alec’s lower back, stroking over the fabric gently with his fingertips.  
“Catarina said we could call her anytime if we need help. At the moment   he
sleeps like…well not exactly an angel that would be a weird thing to  
say….like a good little baby. Maybe we are lucky and he stays like this   all
night.” 
Alec looked over at the door of the bedroom and a shy little smile crept   to
his face. “Are you sure it is okay to have him sleep in our bed,   together
with us, I mean? We don’t have a crib and to get one just for a   few days is
pointless.” The words tumbled out of Alec and Magnus knew   him well enough by
now to sense there was more on his mind, things he   could not say yet. 
“I was advised to make sure he does not get too hot, which will be a  
challenge considering I will be present”, Magnus answered, his tone   light
and teasing Alec by poking him gingerly. He was rewarded with a   loving look
and a grin that still made his stomach flutter.
“I’m sure you can manage to cool down just enough to make sure he can  
sleep well. And we can keep a pillow between us and him so we don’t  
accidentally roll over him.” Magnus nodded and let Alec pull him toward   the
sofa, where the younger man slightly pushed him to make him lie down   so he
could come to rest next to him. “What do you think made his   parents leave
him like this? How did they even get to the Academy”, Alec   asked, his head
propped on the shoulder of the warlock. 
Magnus placed his hand lightly on Alec’s hip and slipped his nose into   his
soft black hair. “I don’t know how he got to the Academy and   honestly, I
don’t care overmuch. That’s the Inquisitor’s problem not   ours. And for
why they left him…could be any reason. Fear or hate or   both. Could be the
man left the mother when the baby that was supposed   to be his son turned out
to be the wrong colour? Or she was alone to   begin with and desperate…” His
voice trailed off, his chest tight and he   could feel Alec tense up beside him.
“I don’t care either. It does not   help him to know why they abandoned
him.” At least they did not try to   kill him, he thought and stared at the
ceiling till suddenly Alec filled   his vision.
He had rolled himself on top of Magnus, covering him with his body and   warmth.
“Sorry for bringing this up. He is alive. And so are you. That’s   all that
matters”, he whispered and Magnus knew he meant it and then   Alec’s lips
were on Magnus’s and his strong hand cupped the older ones   cheek. In turn
Magnus took hold of Alec’s shirt, pulled him closer and   opened up to the
kiss, letting him take the pressure from his heart. It   still amazed Magnus how
Alexander made him feel incredibly vulnerable   and absolutely safe at the same
time. 
“Thank you”, he whispered when they broke the contact and he was able to
look into those wonderful blue eyes again.
“What for”, Alec wanted to know and smiled meekly.
“Being who you are”, Magnus answered and buried his face at Alec’s  
shoulder. “Love you like crazy”, he muttered and just seconds later   lifted
his head to look at the bedroom door. “Did you hear something? I   think there
was a noise.”
“Let’s check.” Alec got up and held a hand out to Magnus, who took it  
and followed him to the bedroom. When they noiselessly pushed the door   open
they saw the baby in his cosy nest, Chairman Meow curled up next to   him and
softly nudging the boy’s cheek with his nose. The baby chuckled   and waved
his little hands, trailing tiny golden sparks from his   fingertips which
floated above them in swirls and plumes before   dissolving.
They watched them in amazement and Magnus felt their fingers interlink,   felt
the slight pressure and heard Alec take a deep breath. “Is   this….his
magic”, he breathed as if he was afraid to disturb the beauty   of the moment.

Magnus nodded, fascinated by the joy and quietness that surrounded the   two
tiny figures on their bed. The sparks cast a surreal light that made   the
baby’s hair look like feathery gold and the cat’s eyes shine like   tiny
stars. He felt Alec move slowly towards the bed and loosen the grip   on his
hand but Magnus followed him anyway and lay down on the other   side of the
nest.  The baby looked at them, smiled and suddenly the   magic seemed to
explode from his hands like tiny fireworks, filling the   room with sparkling
golden light. Magnus held out his own hand and when   he touched one of the
sparks, it sizzled quietly and vanished, leaving   just a slight prickling on
his skin.
He looked over to his boyfriend who was staring at the spectacle and the   baby
in turn, clearly marvelling at the sight. By chance he met   Magnus’s eye,
their glance locked before both of them looked at the baby   again who gave them
another toothless grin and squeaked in delight. The   sound made Magnus’s
heart skip another beat and he cursed himself   silently for being so soppy. At
least he seemed not alone in this. Alec   reached out one hand very slowly in
the boy’s direction, eyes fixed on   his dark navy blue ones and brushed his
cheek oh so lightly, as if   afraid the baby might dissolve under his touch. 
Still smiling, the boy stopped sending sparks up to the dark ceiling and   got
hold of Alec’s hand by grabbing the pinkie and index finger. Alec   gasped but
let him pull his hand close to his face, which looked even   smaller and more
fragile in contrast to Alec’s scarred and callused   fingers. Magnus could not
help but smile as he watched the little one   press his chubby cheek against
Alec’s palm, who made a stifled sound and   bit his lower lip. The last golden
sparks drifted down and died when   they touched anything solid, the only light
in the room now falling in   through the half open door.
“I guess he likes you”, whispered Magnus, looking now at Alec but not  
really able to tell what was going on behind his shining blue eyes that   seemed
to be stuck on the sight between them.
It took Alec some moments to frame an answer and when he spoke, his   voice was
strangely husky. “He shouldn’t too much…he’s not going to   stay…”
With a lot of caution he untangled his fingers from the boys   grip, caressed a
line from his forehead down his nose under which the   baby closed his eyes,
only opening them half way, apparently getting   sleepy. Alec kept on repeating
the soft gesture till the boy’s eyes   remained closed and he fell asleep
again. “He’s not going to stay”, Alec   whispered again, with a rough edge
to his voice that made Magnus   swallow hard. Before he could say anything Alec
had drawn back his hand,   rolled out of the bed in one fluid motion and was
heading for the door,   his hand closed in front of his belly.
Magnus frowned and followed slowly to find his boyfriend in the kitchen,  
picking at a bar code label on one of the baby bottles as if it had   personally
insulted him. His whole body was rigid and he had his lips   pressed together, a
sure sign that he was unwilling to be approached or   talked to right now. So
instead of disturbing him, Magnus crossed the   room to switch off the TV, fluff
up the cushions on the sofa and lock   the door to the landing prior to entering
the kitchen area.
Alec had run out of sticky labels to attack but seemed still not   inclined to
share his thoughts or feelings with Magnus, who kept a   little distance and
studied his profile. “What about we take a quick   shower together and go to
bed”, he suggested when he could not stand the   awkward silence any longer.
Hopefully a warm shower would help his   loved one relax. Blue eyes met his for
a second and Alec gave a short   nod, even took the hand Magnus offered but
remained silent. The warlock   pulled him close and placed a light kiss on his
hair. “Don’t worry, we   can talk tomorrow”, he whispered and felt another
nod combined with a   reassuring pressure on his hand, promising that they
would.

When Magnus woke up the next morning he rolled over to find the bed next   to
him empty, both Alec and the baby gone. He stared at the mass of   pillows for
some time, wondering why he felt slightly disappointed by   their absence. What
had he hoped for, two lovely smiling faces greeting   him? Magnus rubbed his
face to chase away the thoughts and the emotions   that came with them, a
stinging longing in his chest that did not solely   target Alexander, and got up
to look for them.
To his further frustration Magnus did not find them in the main room   whose
only inhabitant at the moment was Chairman Meow, happily munching   his
breakfast. “Good morning. Do you know where Alexander and our little   friend
vanished to?” The cat looked up at him when he spoke, blinked   slowly and
then indulged again in his food. “Thank you, very helpful”,   muttered
Magnus just to find his eyes drawn to a square piece of paper   on the kitchen
table, covered in Alec’s handwriting. 

  
Good morning Magnus,
I hope you slept well. I did not want to wake you up, so I took little one out 
for a walk. We’ll be back soon.
Love, Alexander
 
P.S.:  This Betty called. She will come around 3pm to see little one. Her number
is on  the back.  

Magnus gave a little sigh and turned the note over to find a cell phone   number
that seemed hastily scribbled, the last three digits crossed out   and replaced.
So Catarina had kept her word and already called her   social worker friend who
was meant to find parents for the baby boy.   Magnus shoved the note into the
pocket of his black jeans and helped   himself to some breakfast, since he had
nothing better to do while   waiting for Alec to return. He found himself
thinking about the magic   the little boy had shown last night, golden sparks
drifting through the   air like stardust and tried to remember the first time he
had used his   own magic. It had not been the tragic incident with his
step-father but   how old had he been when he had first played with the blue
flames and   sparks that marked his own native magic? It could not have been
much   earlier and certainly not in the crib, his mother would have noticed and 
 maybe have ended her life sooner. 
“I should have asked Catarina what the normal levels of development for  
warlock babies are”, he muttered and grabbed his cell phone to make up   for
his lack of concentration yesterday. 
|Hey Catarina. First night went well. Say, can you remember the first   time you
used magic? Or did your mother ever tell you? Just wondering.|
Magnus did not wait for an answer because he knew she was working and it   could
be hours before she took the time to look at her phone and even   longer for her
to reply, if she did not see his question as a priority.   To kill some time
until Alec came back, Magnus switched on his computer   and began browsing the
depths of the internet, the digital hive mind of   this era. To his slight
surprise he started searching pages about babies   and childcare and parenting,
curiously taking in what were the mundanes   latest views on all the topics.
When he heard the key turning in the   apartments lock, he closed the browser
hastily, flapped the laptop shut   and got up to greet Alec as he opened the
door.
“How has your walk been”, he inquired and smiled at him. 
Alec pulled a thin woollen hat from his own head, causing his hair to   stand
away in all directions, and smiled with shining eyes. “Pretty   nice. We went
to the small park a few blocks south and enjoyed the sun.   It’s getting
chilly but I put on an extra sweater, so he did not get   cold.” It seemed
that Alec had managed to fasten the baby to his chest   with the wraparound and
then had indeed put on one of his old, saggy   sweaters, the zipper only half
way up so the little blue face poked out.   “And I called Maryse on the way.
I’m off duty today to take care…to   help you take care of him.” 
Magnus smiled and closed the door behind his partner. “How very obliging   of
her. Do you like some coffee”, he offered and Alec followed him to   the
kitchen. The coffee machine had been one of Magnus’s first presents   for him,
just a little more than two years ago. 
“Sure, thank you. I did not have time earlier. Little one was a bit  
unsettled and I did not want you to wake up because he cried.“ Alec was  
still smiling and seemed very comfortable with the baby in the   wraparound,
even snatching a small kiss from Magnus when he handed him a   steaming mug of
coffee.
“Did he wake you up without me noticing?”
“No, Chairman Meow was hungry first and licked my ear again. Little one   was
playing with sparks when I came back, making them dance around his   fingers.”
The memory seemed to bring a bright light into Alec’s eyes and   Magnus
eyeballed him inquisitively.
“I’m sorry I missed that”, he said and raised a hand to gently stroke  
the little boys head and then placed it on Alec’s cheek. “Can we talk  
about last night? You seemed…troubled. I’d like to understand why.” He  
was sorry to see the joy that had lit up Alec’s face fade but they both   knew
they had to have this conversation, better now in private than   later when
Betty came to take the baby with her.
“I guess you’re right, we need to talk”, Alec agreed and turned to move  
to the sofa, taking off his sweater as he went but still carrying the   baby.
His left hand went to the baby’s back in a gesture Magnus was not   sure he
was aware of. He loved Alec for his protective nature and the   way he almost
automatically extended it onto the small warlock boy   chimed with Magnus’s
own sense of responsibility for him. 
He sat down next to Alec and slid one long arm around his back, his   voice very
calm when he spoke. “Why did you run away after he fell   asleep?” 
He felt Alec taking a deep breath and prepared for a jumble of words,   the way
his boyfriend often spoke when he was under an emotional strain.   But this time
Alec spoke slow and clear, choosing his words with care   as he went on.
“Because it hurt to realize that he is not going to stay   with us. I know
it’s silly to think it could be different. He needs   parents, someone who
knows what babies need and how to care for them. He   needs a family that
accepts him wholeheartedly for who he is, who love   him no matter what. And
even if it feels like cutting myself, I cannot   keep that chance from him just
because I loved him the moment I first   held him.” His eyes were fixed on his
hand on the boy’s back, not daring   to look at Magnus, afraid to see nothing
but sorrow and maybe pity in   his lovers face.
“You are not silly, Alexander, not a bit”, Magnus answered and leaned   over
to nuzzle his soft black hair, slipping his own dark hand over   Alec’s. “Or
maybe just a little bit. Why should he not find a loving   family with us?”
“You know my parents, don’t you? How do you think they would handle   having
a warlock grandchild?” Alec sighed and slumped against Magnus. 
“I do. And I know your sister and Simon, who both stood up against your  
father yesterday to make sure this little boy would not be sent to the   Silent
Brothers. And your parabatai may be a prig but he has a good   heart under all
that arrogance. I think they could make up for your   uptight father.” He
placed his fingers in the gaps between Alec’s so he   could also touch the
baby. “Families don’t need to be perfect.” He   lifted his head and softly
nudged Alec’s temple with his nose. “Will you   look at me, Alexander?”
When Alec turned his face to him Magnus smiled, even though he could see   the
mixed feelings his words were causing. “I understand how you feel   about him.
He is adorable. An innocent little bundle of joy and   possibilities. And I have
to admit that I’m scared when I think about   the responsibility taking care
of him poses. But I want to make a   difference for him, for his life. I don’t
want him to grow up and become   scared of what he can do or hate himself for
what he is.” There it was   again, the bright spark in Alec’s eyes that
Magnus had hoped for. “It   won’t be easy, we will need to learn so much and
Catarina promised a lot   of poop and burning curtains and tantrums but we have
faced worse,   don’t you think?”
A little smile played on Alec’s lips. “You mean like demon invasions,  
being stuck in Edom and blackmailed by a Prince of Hell? Yes, I think   that
sounds worse than poop and tantrums.” He returned Magnus’s look   steadier
now, assured that he was not alone with his feelings for the   child. “It will
mean a fundamental change for our lifestyle though. No   more parties or
round-the-world trips off the top of your head, at least   till we figured
everything out. No summoning demons until he is able to   understand what
you’re doing.  No sudden rescue missions while I’m out   in the park with
him. He’ll also eventually need a room for himself, at   least a…”
Magnus interjected, grinning from ear to ear and his cat-like eyes   sparkling.
“So we are in this together? Being…fathers?” He felt his   heartbeat speed
up as Alec looked down at the foundling who returned his   gaze with wide
wondrous eyes.
“Yes we are”, he confirmed and when he looked up at Magnus again, his  
whole face seemed to glow with a smile so happy Magnus could do nothing   but
return it.
“Another first time I could not have dreamed of without you.”
“I know. But now we’re allowed to pick a name, don’t you think?”
Magnus grinned. “I’m only good at cat names. As long as you don’t call him
Buford, the choice is yours.”
Alec looked vexed at the suggestion. “Who on earth would call their child
Buford?”
“Actually the very same man who first introduced me to the wonderful  
possibilities of glitter. You may say he had a crucial influence on my   life in
doing so.” This made Alec laugh, the light sound ringing trough   the high
room. 
“Okay, who do we owe the gratitude for this finishing touch on your
magnificent self to”, he wanted to know, genuinely curious.
“To the same genius who invented the first sensors and who established   the
basis for portal magic as we know it today, with my humble   assistance on the
latter. His name was Henry Branwell, although his   children went by his
wife’s maiden name, Fairchild.”
“Did you know him well?” Alec still smiled and caressed Magnus’s thumb  
with his own. “I think Henry is a nice name. And it goes well with both,  
Bane or Lightwood. Until he chooses his warlock last name.”
Magnus threw a musing look at the child. “He was an extraordinary man,   well
ahead of his time. Not the worst namesake you could wish for. But   are you
sure? I thought maybe Ma...”
“No”, Alec cut him off and slowly shook his head. “I don’t like this,  
you know, giving babies the names of recently deceased. It hurts those   left
behind and puts an unfair pressure on the child.  Or would you like   to call
him Ragnor or Raphael?”
Alec had a strong point, Magnus had to admit. “No, I don’t but mostly  
because both of them were pretentious know-it-alls and never had a sense   for
wonder or the everyday beauty that surrounds us”, he claimed with a   wry
smile. “So it’s Henry, then?”
Alec nodded and placed a very gentle kiss on the child’s forehead. “Hello
Henry. Welcome to our family.”
“Welcome, little Henry”, Magnus repeated and also breathed a kiss on the  
smooth skin. “I hope you like our choice. If not, you can always change   it,
once you learn to speak.”
“As long as it isn’t Buford”, Alec added with a chuckle.

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