Author's note: Honestly, this started out as a Jace-convincing-Clary-to-have-a-kid fic but it wasn't working and now it's a little angsty and I'm sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own TMI/Shadowhunters or the characters.

Clary followed Jace up the steps to Magnus and Alec's loft while trying to figure out how many stamina runes Alec needed to carry the boys up and down these stairs. Clary took the next couple steps a little faster to catch up with Jace. She hooked her arm through his as they made their way up the last flight. "How do you think Rafael's going to be?" They hadn't babysat since Magnus and Alec had brought home Rafael. The couple times they had needed something since then it was Clary and Jace's turn to patrol.

Jace shrugged and knocked on the door. "Izzy said that he's kind of hyper," Izzy and Simon had been the only members of the family so far to watch both boys at once, "Maybe he'll tire himself out fast."

Magnus opened the door, looking a little too stressed for a date night. He slid into the hallway and pulled the door closed behind him. "We're having a little problem," He confessed, "Do you know how Alexander got hurt on a hunt over the weekend? Well apparently when he went into our bedroom to apply some iratzes Rafael peeked through the door and saw the injury. Now he's afraid to let Alexander leave without him."

"Oh, good luck with that," Despite his attempt at sarcasm Clary could hear the sympathetic edge to Jace's voice. Whether it was for Rafael or his parents, she didn't know.

Magnus rolled his eyes and led them inside. "Hey, Rafael, look who's hear to see you," He tried to sound as upbeat as possible, but didn't get a reaction.

Alec gave them a silent wave from the couch when they walked in. Little Raphael was clutching Alec's shirt and had his face buried in his father's side. "Buddy, your Aunt Clary and Uncle Jace are here. Don't you want to say hi to them?" Clary saw Rafael's head move as he let out a muffled "no."

Something tugged at Clary's jeans. When she looked down Max was using her to keep his balance until she noticed him. Clary's heart swelled when she saw the little boy's bright smile. He held his hands up and made a grabbing motion with his hands. "Up!" He declared as he started bouncing on his feet.

She bent down and scooped him up in her arms. "Hi my little blueberry," She kissed the tip of his nose and earned a giggle, "Did you miss me?" Her nephew gave her a kiss on the cheek and buried his face in her red curls.

Jace smirked and sat on the arm of a chair across from Alec and Rafael. Anytime they babysat Max he used it in his argument to have a kid. He knew Clary had a soft spot for the little blue warlock. Getting married before she was twenty was big enough for Clary, kids this early was an entirely different issue. There were some parts of her mundane life that she had been able to shake but certain social norms stuck.

Alec peeled Rafael off him much to the little boy's protest just to set him in his lap again. Rafael's face was red and streaked with tears. "Rafael, I'm not going hunting tonight, okay? Papa and I are going out for a nice dinner. We'll be back while you're in bed, fast asleep. I can come in and wake you up when we come home if you'd like, that way you know that we got home okay. Would you like that?" Rafael nodded and stretched up to hug his father. Alec pulled him into a tight hug and kissed his dark hair. "I love you, so much. Can you be good for Uncle Jace and Aunt Clary?"

Rafael pulled away reluctantly and nodded. He scrubbed his tears away with the back of his hand a sniffed. "Hey Rafael," Magnus knelt down in front of his husband and his son, "Why don't you get your new friend to show them?"

Rafael gave Alec one last hug and mumbled an, "I love you, Daddy," and slid off Alec's lap. He gave Magnus a tight hug and a peck on the cheek. "I love you, Papa."

Magnus ruffled the little boy's hair. "I love you too." Rafael ran off down the hall to his bedroom and both his fathers stood up. "They both had dinner already. Little one will be ready for bed in the next hour or so. Rafael's bed time is eight thirty and he's going to need a bath."

"Little rugrat will be out soon. Less little rugrat needs a bath and tucked in by eight thirty. Got it. Anything else?" Jace ticked the tasks of on his fingers.

Clary rubbed circles on Max's back. He seemed sleepy to her already. One of his tiny hands clutched at the hairs at the nape of her neck and the other rested on her collar bone. He rested his head against Clary's cheek and watched the adults talk without making the slightest peep. "Does he still get his P—A-C—I or are have you guys started trying to break him of it?" She asked.

Alec shrugged his coat on with a wince. Clary had seen Alec's wound when he came to the institute to get some medicine and she understood why Rafael was so upset. "We're trying to start, he's still allowed to have it at bedtime though." Alec checked his pockets for his keys and for his phone. "Oh and if Maia or Lily call tell them we're busy and shouldn't be bothered unless people are literally being beheaded."

Jace scoffed, "Kind of extreme, don't you think." Alec's eyes widened and he shook his head. Clary knew that Alec liked Maia and Lily and loved what he did strengthening downworlder alliances but he had told her on more than one occasion that it had gotten a lot harder to keep up socially since Max.

Magnus looked down the hall for signs of Rafael and darted back over to the others. He spoke in a low voice when he reached them. "If Rafael asks if he can stay up and wait with you guys until we come home, let him. Put up a little bit of a fight but give in easy. I don't want him to think he can break his bed time whenever he wants, but he is really upset after the other night. If it will make him feel better, let him stay up with you guys. He'll actually probably fall asleep faster if you do."

The moment that Magnus finished Rafael came back in carrying a stuffed panda. He walked right up to Jace and held out his new toy to show off. "This is Dominic," He said matter-of-factly. "He's my best friend and we're gonna be para-tie like you and Daddy one day."

Jace grinned proudly at Alec and Alec returned the smile. "Well, I hope he's as good of a parabatai as your Daddy is. Where did you meet Dominic?" Jace moved down to sit on the cushion of the chair so he could talk to him better.

"I got him at the zoo," Rafael boosted himself up into the chair next to Jace and set the toy on his lap.

"Oh?" Jace added extra enthusiasm to his voice. "What animals did you see at the zoo?" Rafael started naming off animals, pausing to tell Jace anecdotes about some of his favorites.

Magnus step towards Clary and kissed Max on the top of his head. "Good night, Blueberry. Good night, Biscuit." He gave Clary a kiss on the cheek and stepped aside so Alec could say good bye to their youngest son. Magnus went to give Jace a few more guidelines for the evening.

"I know I said that we shouldn't be bothered," Alec said in a low voice and looked at Jace and Rafael out of the corner of his eye, "But if he wants to call us he can."

Clary was shaking her head before he was done. "Rafael will be fine. It's a normal reaction to seeing something like that." She nodded towards Alec's upper arm. "If you're really that worried about it you could do what my mom did when I saw something upsetting." She flashed Alec a brilliant smile that he returned with a glare.

"I am not having my husband erase our child's memories," He promised her. "You understand what it's like to have parents that don't tell you anything, I don't want the boys to think they can't talk to me—us. This is something that upset him and I'm going to support him. The only reason we're still going out is because he tenses up every time I walk near the front door. This is the best way for me to go out without him and let him know I'm not in any danger just because he can't see me. If it weren't for the fact this is the best way to ease his chronic terror of me leaving we would be staying home."

Clary liked to think she knew Alec well enough by now that she could get a good read on him and there was something he definitely wasn't admitting. "He's not the one you expected to be worried about your mortality is it? Or is it that this conversation is happening sooner than you expected?"

Alec faltered for a moment but recovered quickly. He brushed his fingers along Max's cheek and looked at his sleepy son with adoring and sad eyes. "Little bit of both. I'm also genuinely worried about the trauma seeing the wound caused him. Even for a shadowhunter, that's too young to see blood."

Alec leaned down and kissed Max on the forehead again. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't quite figure out how to say it. "We knew Jace wouldn't object," He said softly, "But I wanted to ask you before we made a final decision. We've been thinking about who would take the boys if something happened to us—kind of a weird thing to worry about when one of us is immortal, I know, but immortal doesn't mean invincible—and you and Jace are naturally in the running. You're both amazing shadowhunters so I know Rafael would get good training. Max adores you. You're close by so they won't have to go someplace unfamiliar. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with possibly taking on the boys. I didn't want to get Jace's hopes up."

Clary took a deep breath and blew it out in a rush. It was a major "what-if" but it was one that put a lot of responsibility on the two of them. The boys they could handle for the day but raising them? That was a completely different minefield. Clary's mouth spoke before her brain could finish thinking it through, "Absolutely, I'd be honored if you asked us." It took her a moment to feel the truth of her words but it was there, warm and comforting like Max in her arms. She gave him a small smile. "But don't spend your date night discussing it okay?"