The Clave was in an absolute uproar, not that it took much to accomplish that these days. They were utterly convinced that Magnus could never have come back to life without help from some form of black magic. Alec was not about to be the one to tell them that they weren't far off. He was currently sitting with both of the twins on his lap, and they were watching Magnus's interrogation.

Magnus had decided to stick to the story that his father had randomly decided to bring him back to life without an explanation. The Clave, however, wasn't buying that. Alec couldn't blame them for that. What he could blame them for was the fact that they thought Asmodeus had brought Magnus back because Magnus was doing some sort of demon work for his father. It was the most insane thing the Clave had ever said that Alec could hardly contain his anger.

What was helping him contain his anger was the fact that he had never been so happy in his life. Even looking at Magnus from across the room was filling him with joy. For the first time in weeks, he could finally catch his breath again, he was finally able to smile again.

He and Magnus had considered the fact that the twins would lose both of them, but in the end, they decided that giving the twins both of their parents for as long as possible was the best option for everyone. Alec had to admit that he had very selfishly wanted Magnus back, but that was beside the point.

Alec jerked out of his thoughts as he heard someone begin to yell. "And how do we know that you aren't back to kill all the Shadowhunters where we stand?" At that, Alec began to get angry all over again. Then he heard Magnus laugh in a most peculiar way.

"My husband is a Shadowhunter." Magnus's voice was scarily calm. "I'm actually insulted that you would even suggest the idea that I would destroy my family."

A Clave member Alec had never met spoke up next. "You're one of the most powerful warlocks in the world. What are we supposed to think when you rise from the dead?"

"You're all idiots," Magnus responded. "I've told you already that I am as mundane as I could possibly be now. I couldn't use magic to destroy you if I wanted to. Not that I've not had plenty of hand-to-hand combat training, but even I couldn't single handedly take down all the Shadowhunters in the world without a bit of magical help."

"That is where your father comes in," was the response Magnus was given, and Alec could tell that Magnus was visibly angered by that.

"I would never work with my father." He put extra emphasis on the word "never". Alec watched as he took a deep breath and then continued speaking. "My father has tried to kill me more times than I can count. He was the most abusive parent any of you could ever imagine. The very idea that anyone could think I would work with him toward any goal makes me sick."

When Magnus had finished speaking, the room filled with silence for the first time since they had entered the room. It was filled with the sense that half of the people were feeling sorry for Magnus while the other half was still trying to work out whether or not they believed Magnus.

Finally, another member stepped forward saying, "We need someone to vouch for him before we can let him go. We have to be safe about this. We need a Shadowhunter to take the blame if anything goes wrong."

Silence filled the room again as everyone seemed to want to avoid taking that sort of responsibility. Alec knew that his word would never mean anything to the Clave in this situation, so he didn't even begin to open his mouth.

"I will take that responsibility." Alec whirled around as he heard his own father speak up this time. He couldn't tell who was more shocked, himself or the rest of the Clave. "Magnus is my son, and I trust that he is back simply because of his love for his family. So," Robert began to look around the room as though daring anyone to say anything against him. "I think we can all agree to kindly let Magnus go now." He nodded his head toward Magnus and began smiling when Magnus was reunited with his husband and children. "Now I think it is time to move on to more important matters than this."

The air was cold as Maggie and Max walked along the path they knew all too well. They had walked this path more times than they could count. Max often said that they could reach their destination in their sleep.

Even though the pathway there was terribly familiar, Maggie knew that it would never become any easier to walk this path. It had been 50 years since they had lost their parents, and she and Max had made a pact that they would visit their fathers' graves once a month. They had silently agreed to keep fresh flowers on their graves as well. Blue for Magnus and green for Alec because they knew their fathers had always loved anything that matched the eye color of the other.

Maggie felt Max wrap his arm around her as they got closer to the graves. He had always protected her, and he had protected her even more so since they had lost Magnus and Alec. Alec had died first; he had been hurt in a fight with a demon and had been unable to recover properly. Magnus had followed soon after. His official cause of death had been natural causes, but Maggie and Max had always said that he had died of a broken heart.

As they came up to the graves, Maggie lingered back a moment, suddenly overcome with grief. Their dads had once asked them to never grieve for them; they said that being together would be the best gift for them, so they wanted their children to simply keep their memory alive.

When Maggie stepped up beside Max, he turned to smile at her. "You want to say anything to them this time?"

Maggie was about to shake her head when she thought better of it. "Just two things." She took a deep breath before turning to face the graves again. "Just that their grandkids miss them. And also, happy anniversary, dads."

Haley again! Thanks so much for sticking with me through this crazy story! This has to be one of my favorite stories I've written, and it makes me so happy that so many people enjoy it as well! Let me know what you think of it, or just message me about anything, I love hearing what people have to say about my work! Thanks again from both me and Magnus and Alec for being so faithful! 3