Twinkle Twinkle Little Star   von Bibs
                    (My version of 'Born to Endless Night')
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                                  Kapitel 3: 
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“You want to do what?” Robert had gone very  white and was staring at his
son in barely concealed horror. Alec took a deep  breath and counted silently to
three before answering. His father took the news  worse than he had hoped and
yet better than he had feared. So far he had not  shouted at him nor thrown him
out of his Inquisitor’s office.
“We are going to adopt Henry”, he repeated slow  and clear, “Please do not
mistake me, I’m not here for your approval. Magnus  and I debated it and the
decision is set. All I’m asking is if you know how we  have to proceed now. If
you don’t, just say so and I won’t bother you again.”
Alec hated to see the disbelief in his father’s  face and how he struggled for
words, resented how it still affected himself.  His stomach felt like he had
swallowed rocks. He had come to Robert for legal  advice on how he could get
Henry acknowledged as part of his family, as his  child. This was not about
making him a Shadowhunter, which was impossible due  to his warlock nature
anyway, but there were social laws that were meant to  ensure a living for
orphaned children of Shadowhunters. If the past had taught  Alec anything, it
was how fragile life was. Not only his own but also Magnus’s  seemingly
immortal one.
“We are taking responsibility for him and this  includes that we need to make
certain preparations. In the worst case we may  leave him an orphan before he is
old enough to take care of himself. All I want  is to make sure he has access to
what was mine. You know there are rights the  orphans of Shadowhunters have, if
their parent dies on duty. All I ask for is  safety for my son.” It had only
been a few weeks but it felt thoroughly natural  to Alec to call the warlock
baby his son. “Will you say something or just  continue to stare at me”, he
demanded now and seemed to pull his father out of  his shock.
Alec saw his father look down at his hands as  if studying the lines, calluses
and scars. He had a feeling it was more to  avoid looking at him than a sudden
interest in manicure. “Alexander would you  explain to me why you want to do
this? Why take responsibility for this warlock  boy? The Dark War left so many
of our own orphaned”, Robert asked quietly and  still without looking up.
Alec took a slow breath and tried his best to  remain rational and calm. “I
know father. But most of them still have relatives  and even if they don’t,
they are welcome to the Institutes and other  Shadowhunter families. They will
find homes just like Jace found his home with  us. Who is going to welcome Henry
like this?” He refused to call him anything  other than his name in front of
his father, trying to state as clear as  possible that he saw the boy as a
person, a soul worth loving and protecting.  “Besides it simply feels right.
It feels right to hold him, care for him, sing  him to sleep, see him smile.
Seeing Magnus with him…” Alec stopped and bit down  on his lip to stop the
emotions dwelling up to high.
“So this is really about him? Did he…”
Alec’s hand shot up, palm flat in his father’s  direction. “Stop it. This
is nothing Magnus talked me into or persuaded me to  do, he never did. Magnus is
the one who gives me balance and confidence to be  myself. If you can’t
understand that I love him and Henry unconditionally,  without the need for
reason or explanation, there is nothing more I can say.” Robert  looked as if
he had slapped him but Alec did not care and held his gaze till  the older man
inclined his head towards him.
“Alexander, I’m afraid there is nothing I can do  to help you. Not right
now. Your case is unique, unprecedented as far as I  know”, he started and
Alec filed that under ‘not no’ with a short nod.
“Does that mean you will need time to read up  on it or that I should search
for assistance elsewhere?” Alec knew he was  cornering his father but he felt
he had not much other options, except going to  the Silent Brothers.
The large man behind the desk shoved some  papers from left to right and looked
his son up and down. “I will see what I  can find. It may be possible to draw
some analogies from other incidents.”
Alec pressed his lips together upon the last  word, cleared his throat and stood
up. “Thank you for your time and effort. How  long do you think it will
take?”
Robert stood up as well and made his way to the  door to show Alec out. “Give
me a week at least. I will contact you when I was  able to form an opinion that
could be presented to Clave and Council”, he  promised and reached out to
haltingly place a broad hand on Alec’s shoulder, as  he was about to leave.
“Does your mother know?”
“Yes and so does Isabelle. We told them the day  after we made our final
decision”, Alec answered and looked him square in the  eyes, am much darker
version of his own. There had been at time when he had  almost been afraid of
his father, had craved his approval and acceptance but no  longer. As he had
said, he had found his balance with Magnus and mostly come to  terms with
Robert’s deeply rooted homophobia and animosity towards Downworlders.  “If
you are interested in meeting Henry, let me know.”
Robert let his hand sink to his side and after  a moment’s hesitation, nodded.
“Thank you. Get home safely.”
 
Magnus had waited for him outside the building,  Henry in their new baby sling
instead of the borrowed one, just the way Alec  had first seen him with the
baby. And just like then, Magnus looked just slightly  anxious when Alec came
over to them. “How’d it go? Did you give him a heart  attack?”
Alec took a second to adjust the rainbow  coloured hat Henry was wearing against
the autumn chill, a gift from Clary  after he had confined Jace into their
decision. “Not exactly but it seemed like  it for a moment. Before he went
white as a vampire and looked at me like I  betrayed the glorious name of
Lightwood.”
Alec tried to sound calm so that he would not  disturb Henry, who was very
sensitive to the moods around him. That was the  main reason Alec had asked
Magnus to not come with him to the Inquisitor,  besides that Robert was still
visibly uncomfortable when confronted with his  sons partnership. He made an
effort to act neutral, Alec had to grant him that  but it was not quite enough.
“But he will see what he can find to support us,  should we bring our request
to Clave and Council. He asked for a week to do  research on our case.”
Magnus nodded and reached for Alec’s hand to  give it a quick reassuring
press, a warm contrast to the chilly air. “Your  family name is used to shame
and betrayal, it will endure. Adopting a baby  can’t be worse than turning
into a giant demonic worm”, he was sure and smiled  affectionately. “I think
we can give the Inquisitor one week. In the meantime  we can finish the work on
Henry’s room and try to convince Maia’s pack that we  don’t need a baby
shower.”
Alec looked at him, brows furrowed in  confusion. “Why would we need a special
shower for him”, he wanted to know and  when he saw the flash of amusement in
Magnus’s eyes immediately turned red in  the cheeks. “Another mundane figure
of speech”, he assumed and his boyfriend’s  face broke into a grin. Alec
sighed and shook his head, all these silly rituals  still confused him.
“Exactly. The girls in the pack, first of all  Marcy, came up with the idea
and they say it’s their gift to me as a close  friend to their alpha. It’s a
party which friends normally throw for the  expecting mother, decorating baby
jumpers and giving presents and guessing the  baby’s gender and names and so
on”, Magnus explained and in contrast to  claiming that they did not need
this, Alec saw his eyes sparkle with pleasant  anticipation. He tried to supress
his own grin and knew he did not quite  succeed.
“Sounds like an awful lot of glitter, sequins,  drinks and music. And they
would need to decorate the apartment, right?”
“Most likely. Horrible, isn’t it? They might  even bring some of the
pups.” Magnus was a much better actor than Alec and  managed to sound almost
disgusted but again, his eyes gave him away. At least  to Alec who liked to
think he had become quite well at reading Magnus, spotting  the small gestures
and hints.
“And you totally want to have a party, even  more since it would be a party
for Henry”, Alec concluded and Magnus face lit  up like only his could, white
teeth flashing and yellow-green eyes sparking in  the autumn sun. Alec loved how
it lend a golden shimmer to his dark skin.
“You think so? Well, you may be right but I see  it as an obligation to our
Downworld friends to celebrate the arrival of the  future High Warlock of
Brooklyn”, he claimed in an important tone and with a  rather pompous gesture
around Henry, much too impressive to be serious.
Alec could not help it any longer and broke out  laughing. “Okay okay, I give
up. We will let the pack throw a party for Henry”,  he agreed and laughed
again at the plain display of triumph on Magnus’s face.  Even if he did not
know how the werewolf pack had got the news so fast, it felt  good that they
considered Magnus a close friend and therefore wanted to welcome  Henry in the
Downworld community of New York. It felt even better because his  own community
was everything but supportive, sister and close friends aside.
“Excellent. I will let Maia know as soon as we  get home.”
 
Three days later Alec was looking around their  apartment, Henry on his lap and
feeling quite out of place. He leaned over to  Magnus. “Please tell me again
why I agreed to this”, he whispered under his  breath and eyed the tray with
baby bottles that had been set down in front of  them suspiciously. Marcy was
explaining that they had to take sips out of each  bottle of multi-coloured
liquid and guess its contents. It was supposed to be  the first in a series of
games for two teams, one headed by Magnus and one by  Alec.
“Because it’s Henry’s welcome party and is  going to be fun”, Magnus
answered and shot him a radiant smile. He was clearly  enjoying himself already,
even if this party was going to be rather tame  compared to those normally
taking place in their apartment, less alcohol and  just a fraction of guests.
Alec vented a sigh and gave in, smiling away  his apprehension of coming
embarrassments. “And because you love it. Okay,  let’s get this going. Marcy
who should start?”
“Always the one asking. Here you go”, declared  Magnus before the werewolf
girl could answer and snatched one of the bottles  off the tray to place it in
Alec’s hand. The ruby coloured liquid in it looked  harmless enough, some
fruit juice or tea maybe.
Alec saw Jace hide his grin in Clary’s wild red  curls as he lifted the bottle
with its rubber nipple to his lips. Everyone  seemed pretty amused so he closed
his eyes to block out their grinning faces  and took a careful swig. “Whoa,
that’s sour”, he proclaimed and shook his head,  making a face that caused
his friends to chuckle and giggle. “Lime or lemon  juice? With food
colouring?”
“Lime. That’s the first point for team Alec”,  confirmed Marcy and put a
sparkling golden paper star on one side of an equally  sparkling violet board
under the cheers of his team, which included Clary,  Simon and Maryse whereas
Jace, Izzy and Maia had been put into Magnus’s crew. His  mother looked a bit
constrained but went along with the fun just fine. “Magnus,  you’re next.”
Marcy handed the warlock a bottle with acid  green opaque contents, which he
eyed with a raised eyebrow. “You’re not trying  to poison me, right”, he
asked before looking at Alec and, with a wink that  made the younger man blush,
started suckling. His second brow joined her raised  counterpart and he drained
half the bottle before setting it down. “I’ll keep  this, it’s
delicious.” He smacked his lips. “Coconut milk, without a doubt”, he 
announced and thus earned the first point for his team.
“Congratulations”, Alec told him with a smirk  and leaned to the side when
Magnus put his arm around him, the bottle still in  his hand. Their teammates
were taking turns now and when he was watched Jace  trying a dark blue drink and
almost immediately gagging, he could not help but  join the laughter.
Jace shot Clary an accusing glance before  guessing. “You told them to give me
Earl Grey tea, didn’t you?” Clary just  smirked and grabbed his collar to
pull him down for a quick kiss.
That seemed to appease Jace. “Fair enough.”
Alec watched their friends and family immerse  themselves in the game, snuggled
up to Magnus and letting Henry play with his  fingers. His mother seemed to
enjoy the party, even though she got grapefruit  juice to try and had to endure
her daughters mocking for not guessing it right.
In the end of the first game the score was nine  to eleven to the benefit of
Magnus’s team but during ‘Bobbing for Nibbles’,  baby photo guessing and a
rather disturbing round of ‘Name that Poo’ they were  able to catch up
thanks to Simon, who seemed to know every existing chocolate  bar. Alec had to
admit that he enjoyed the party but was still happy to skip  decorating onesies
with the glitter and sequins he had expected, to take care  of some poo that was
not made of melted chocolate.
 
“It’s a nice party, don’t you think?” He had  found Henry liked to be
talked or sung to when changing, it seemed to soothe  him. “They all came to
welcome you and Marcy organized it all. You know, I met  her on the first date I
had with your ayah”,  Alec told the small boy and sniggered at the memory of
this first embarrassing  evening.
At a small rustling sound he turned his head,  startled to see Maryse standing
in the door. She looked around the brightly  decorated room, her hands
interlinked in front of her. “Mom, is everything ok?”
Maryse smiled and gave a short nod. “Yes, sure.  I just wanted to thank you
for the invitation”, she answered and came over to  the changing table. Alec
observed with some confusion how her face changed when  she looked at Henry. The
hard lines he so often saw around her lips and eyes seemed  to vanish and turn
into a small smile. “I didn’t see you with him yet, not in  everyday
situations.”
Alec pushed a strand of his hair back behind  his ear and smirked, not really
sure what to say. “We take turns looking after  him. Magnus takes care when
I’m at the Institute or out hunting and I do the  same when he has
assignments”, he explained, feeling a bit tense because his  mother watched
his every move around the baby. He was used to it during  training but right now
it was kind of unnerving. Promptly Henry started  stirring and waving his arms
while Alec tried to get his jumper back on,  putting him at a loss in front of
his mother. “Henry, please.”
“May I”, Maryse asked and held out her hand for  the jumper and Alec gave it
to her reluctantly, moving to the side so she could  stand in front of Henry.
“You were also kind of wriggly at his age. To take you  up usually worked but
it’s more difficult to get the shirt on with one hand.”
“It does not look difficult when you do it”,  Alec had to admit after
watching her dressing Henry completely. She reached up  to smooth the boys hair
gently and close the small buttons on his collar. “Thank  you.”
Maryse, still holding the baby and allowing him  to pull at the front of her
blouse, smiled once more. “You are doing great,  Alexander. Both of you, from
what I saw. If you ever need my help let me know.”
Slowly Alec returned the smile, moved by this  compliment, and held one hand out
to her when she gave Henry back to him.  “Thank you, mom.  I know this is
not exactly what you expected  about having your first grandchild.”
She took his hand for a second and her words  were just as warm as her fingers
on his. “It doesn’t really matter what I  expected, Alec. I see how happy
you are and I’m proud of you.”
Alec had to swallow dry and could do nothing  but nod, his throat tied with
overwhelming relief.
Maryse carefully squeezed his hand before she  let go and turned to the door.
“I’ll go and see if there is still an onesie  left to decorate.”
 
After all the guests had finally headed home  and Henry was snuggled up in his
usual nest, Magnus and Alec started unpacking  the presents their friends had
left. The pile of freshly decorated onesies,  mostly glittering in various
colours, was already spread out on the low table.
“I guess this is from Jace.” Magnus held up a  small wooden sword that had a
stuffed dragon impaled on it, a slightly confused  expression on his face.
“Why does it say ‘Not extinct enough’ on the tag?”
Alec took the toy from him and grinned. “We had  an encounter with a dragon
demon a few years ago after Jace claimed they were  mostly extinct. We agreed
that ‘mostly extinct’ was not extinct enough”, he  explained and opened a
square package, wrapped in silky paper. It was a book  about childhood illnesses
and had a card on top. “This is nice. ‘Do not call me  every time he
sneezes. Call me if it is serious. Love, Catarina’”, he read out  and
chuckled. “Something practical.”
Magnus made an amused noise and grabbed an  envelope. “I may have pissed her
off last week when he had this fever because  his first tooth came through”,
he assumed and ripped the envelope open with a  glitter crusted finger, remains
of the decoration session, which had resulted  in a black playsuit with
multi-coloured stars on it. “This is from Izzy and  Simon. Looks like vouchers
for free babysitting.”
“Babysitting, sure. More like them making out  on our sofa while Henry
sleeps”, Alec commented but smiled, taking another  small, flat package from
the table. He recognized the neat handwriting on the  label and traced the
delicate letters with a finger. Inside he found a CD with  French lullabies.
“This is from my mum. I know some of these songs.”
“I saw her following you to Henry’s room  earlier”, Magnus said in a soft
voice and moved closer to Alec. “Did something  happen? You looked a bit
baffled when you came back.”
Alec looked at the CD and smiled, remembering  how she used to sing him to sleep
after nightmares. “She told me she’s proud of  me. And I think she grows
fond of Henry. It semed…I don’t know…too good to be  real?” He felt
Magnus’s hand light and warm on his cheek and like always, he turned  his head
to enhance the contact.
“It’s real enough to me. I caught her watching  you a couple of times today.
Maryse was never easy to read but it’s clear she  likes to see you as a
daddy.”
His soft words made Alec feel all warm inside  and he leaned to him for a gentle
kiss. He had meant it to be a short one but soon  found himself clinging to
Magnus, unwilling to let their sweet play of lips  end. He still tasted faintly
of coconut and when he pulled Alec closer, glitter  scrubbed off his fingers
onto Alec’s skin. A little gasp escaped Magnus as Alec  leaned in further,
pressing him down to the cushions. He felt the warlock smile  against his lips
and was about to deepen their kiss, when a crackling, hissing  sound cut through
the quiet apartment.
“Oh gosh, not now”, Magnus protested and closed  his arms around Alec,
trying to preserve the contact.
“It’s a fire message, Magnus. If we ignore it,  it will burn the
floorboards. Again”, Alec whispered and stroked his cheek with  the tip of his
nose before getting up reluctantly.
The message, burning blue-green at the edges,  was floating near the TV. Alec
plucked it out of mid-air and blew gently at the  single piece of paper to douse
the flames so he could read it.
“So who’s bothering us at this hour”, Magnus  demanded still lying on his
back, only sitting up when Alec did not respond. He  was still staring at the
letter. “Alexander?”
“It’s from my father and Consul Penhallow”,  Alec answered, surprised how
thin his voice sounded. The tone of the letter was  brusque but his contents
seemed positive. “About Henry. They offer a special  agreement, since our case
seems not to be covered by the Law. They want to  discuss it tomorrow.” Within
seconds Magnus was at his side, gently turning his  hand so he could read the
message as well. Alec tried to read his expression  and failed, unable to
interpret Magnus’s frown. “What do you think?”
“I think they try to meet our request without  involving the whole Clave.
Perhaps with a kind of contract, only covering this  very specific incident.”
Magnus looked at him and smiled, his eyes lighting up  with a mischievous
pleasure. “The Inquisitor is bending the Law for you,  Alexander.”
Alec nodded startled and folded the paper  neatly in half to put it into the
pocket of his jeans. “I hope it doesn’t  backfire. Do you have time to come
along with me tomorrow to see the Consul and  father”, he asked, uneasy at the
thought of going alone, but relaxed when  Magnus simply pulled him into his arms
and kissed him again.
 
“He doesn’t stop crying, no matter what I do.”  Alec cradled Henry against
his shoulder while walking up and down the corridor  in front of the Consul’s
office, apprehension knotting his insides into a hard  ball. The cautious
optimism his father’s message had lent him yesterday had  evaporated like
morning mist when they had arrived at the Gard to find a  Council meeting in
progress. He felt Magnus’s eyes on him, following his  restless strides.
“Because you are tense as a wire, Alexander.  Please calm down. We don’t
even know yet if the meeting has anything to do with  us. It could be
anything”, he tried to soothe him and finally stepped in Alec’s  way to
place his slender hands firmly on his shoulders. His gold-green eyes  were fixed
on Alec and dark with concern. “Relax or let me take Henry, so I can  at least
comfort him since there seems to be nothing I can do to calm you.”
Henry started to struggle against his grip,  trying to turn to Magnus and Alec
gave in, carefully placing the weeping boy in  the other man’s arms. “I’m
sorry, I know you’re right. It’s just too remarkable  to me to be a
coincidence, don’t you think? I just don’t feel prepared to argue  with the
Council, not even a small one.” His words carried little enough weight  even
when he was speaking as the representative of the New York institute, he  could
only imagine it worse if he was supposed to present a request as personal  as
this.
Alec looked at Magnus, who was very softly  wiping away the tears from Henry’s
cheeks and kissing his ivory hair before  returning his desperate gaze. Their
son had stopped crying and just snuffled  faintly, clutching the neckline of
Magnus’s shirt with one tiny blue hand. “You  are not alone. We are in this
together, remember? I will stay by your side”, he  promised and took Alec’s
hand just as the sound of footsteps echoed down the  corridor, shortly followed
by the unlike figures of Inquisitor Lightwood and  Consul Penhallow.
First thing Alec noticed was that his father  looked strained as he usually did
when meeting him with Magnus. Second thing  was that Jia Penhallow had an
affectionate smile on her lips when she looked at  Henry, which was somehow more
irritating than Robert’s frown.
“Mr. Bane, Alec. I’m sorry we made you wait”,  she greeted them and opened
the door to her office, gesturing them inside. “The  meeting took longer than
expected but I think you will forgive us once you hear  what we can offer.”
Alec felt nonplussed and sat down in the chair  she indicated, shooting a quick
glance to Magnus who seemed a little puzzled  but curious. “So you debated our
request without our attendance? That seems  quite unfair”, the warlock
commented, tilting his head to one side and  carefully placing Henry on his lap.
Robert answered, standing next to the Consuls  high backed chair. “We did not
mean to but the topic was forced into the  discussion.”
“To what conclusion?” Alec kept his eyes fixed  on his father and managed to
place his hands flat on the arms of the chair  instead of clenching them into
fists. As much as he had feared to speak in  front of the Council, not even
getting the opportunity to defend his request  was worse.
Jia placed a slim leather file on the table and  slid it over to them, still
smiling. “We offer to meet your request, provided  you agree to two
conditions”, she started to explain when Alec reached for the  file and opened
it, revealing what looked like a contract, just as Magnus had  suspected. She
continued when he looked up again. “First, the baby will have no  claim to the
name of Lightwood, nor to any family heritage other than your  personal
possessions and fortune. Second, all support or orphan’s allowances he  may
receive are limited until he turns eighteen. After that he is considered an 
adult like any other Shadowhunter or Downworlder.”
Alec looked at her and his father in turn,  unable to read Robert’s guarded
expression. “But until he comes of age he will  not be treated any different
than Shadowhunter orphans”, he broached the  subject again and sank back into
his chair when the Consul nodded.
“Except for the first condition, due to the  fact that he has no blood
relation to you in any way”, she explained but Alec  was already nodding in
approval.
Relief washed over him like a warm wave and he  extended one hand to Magnus,
felt him take it and smiled. “I agree to the  terms, Consul Penhallow. All I
wanted was to make sure Henry is provided for in  the worst case.”
“He will be as soon as you sign the agreement  you are holding. The Inquisitor
just added the final terms before we came to  meet you. Our seal is already on
it.” She offered him an elegant pen and turned  to the last page of the file
when Alec set it down on her table. Next to her  curvy signature and the
insignia of the Clave, Alec put his own name. Jia then  took the file and placed
it on the side of her table, most likely to be stored  in the archive later.
“We will send a copy to the Institute.”
“I’m very grateful. Thank you, Consul.” Alec  looked at her and to his
surprise she waved his gratitude away.
“The credit does not belong to me. And as much  as I regret it, I have to
dismiss you now”, she stated not unkindly and got up  to show them out.
It took Alec a second to comply with this  sudden request to leave and so he was
the last one at the door, Magnus and  Robert a few steps ahead of him. “Your
father really swayed the Council”, he  heard Jia whisper when he turned to say
goodbye and she closed the door before  he could reply.
Blinking at the dark, carved wood it took him a  few moments until he understood
the whole meaning of her words. He turned and  saw Magnus with Henry waiting for
him at the stairs, his father already halfway  down the corridor behind him.
Alec exchanged a short glance with Magnus when he  passed him. “I’ll be
there in a minute”, he promised and hurried after Robert as  fast as he could
without actually running.
He caught up with his father just as he arrived  at his office, his hand
extended to open the door. “Dad, wait”, he asked and  saw the surprise in
Robert’s eyes when he turned around. “I…I just wanted to  thank you. Thank
you for convincing them. I know you went out of your way for  this. I really
appreciate it.”
Robert shrugged, apparently uncertain what to  answer. “I told you before,
Alec, you are a much better man than I ever was. I  don’t want to stand in
your way to have the family you choose to have. The  heart has its reasons that
reason does not understand.” He fell silent and Alec  met his eyes, smiling
wholeheartedly.
“Thank you”, he said again and turned around to  hurry back to Magnus and
their son, so they could make their way home.

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