Alec had no idea why he was so nervous. He'd fought demons, he'd been to hell and back. He'd literally done things that his younger self had had nightmares about. And yet here he was, nervous over a simple conversation. But for some reason, he'd come to realize that anything concerning his new family made him so undeniably nervous that he could hardly stand it. In the end, Alec had just assumed that this was what it felt like to actually have a family he was completely and totally responsible for now.

The problem was that he had no idea of what he was really doing. Alec knew what he had to do, that was certain. But he was going by feeling and instinct. Not to mention the fact that he had no idea how to actually go about what he knew he needed to do.

He was currently curled up in his and Magnus's room, trying, and failing, to rehearse the little speech he had prepared for when Magnus and Lena got home. He knew it was useless, he knew he would just end up going off script and most likely failing to make any sense at all, but he figured that he could try anyway.

Eventually, Alec realized that he'd entirely abandoned his attempt to practice what he wanted to say, and he registered the fact that he had gotten out an old photo album. He had no idea when he had gotten up to get the album, but he knew now that looking at the pictures of Max was the last thing he needed to do in order to keep himself calm. Lately, he'd become entirely too sentimental to the point that Magnus was beginning to notice it as well. The fact that he had reached for the album made it that much more apparent to Alec that he was beginning to reach for absolutely any remnants of Max that he could find.

Just as he began to close the album, Alec heard the front door open, and he knew it was time to try to calm his nerves enough to do what he needed to do. Walking into the living room, he wasn't at all surprised to see that Lena was in Magnus's arms, smiling from ear to ear. What he was surprised to realize was that just the sight of Lena's smile automatically relaxed him. He looked up to see that Magnus was staring at him, most likely reading the look on his face and realizing that Alec was thinking about Lena.

As Magnus began to open his mouth to say something, Alec spoke up to keep him from doing so, knowing that if he didn't dive into what he wanted to say that he would back out of it. "I want to talk to you two about something very important," he said, motioning for Magnus to take a seat. "I've been thinking about this all day, and I need to get it out before I explode."

Magnus gave him a questioning look, but simply sat down on the couch, placing Lena on his lap. Alec had to resist the urge to laugh at the fact that Lena and Magnus had almost identical looks of confusion on their faces. "I have a question to ask you," he said, sitting down across from them and looking straight at Lena.

Alec forced himself to keep from looking at Magnus, knowing by the way Magnus's grip on Lena changed that he knew exactly where Alec was going with this. Alec knew that if he looked at Magnus, his will would break and that he would not be able to continue. Lena nodded enthusiastically, only causing Alec's heart to skip a couple of beats.

"I was wondering," Alec said, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "If you would like to start calling me 'Daddy.'" It was only then that Alec allowed himself to look at Magnus. It was then that Alec realized that nothing in the world could have made him happier at the moment than the smiles that were on Magnus and Lena's faces. Lena was looking up at him with awe, as though he had just made her biggest dream come true, and the thought of that almost broke his heart.

Lena quickly looked up at Magnus, obviously wanting to check and see whether or not he was okay with this. When Lena looked back at Alec, however, he was startled to see that her smile had diminished far more than he would have thought it could have. "You don't actually want that," she said, her tone so utterly final that it tore at Alec's heart.

Magnus looked down at her in confusion, obviously just as startled as Alec. "No Shadowhunter wants a warlock as a child. That's just how it is," she finished explaining. When Alec couldn't figure out what to say, Lena turned into Magnus, burying her face in his chest. The only thing that Magnus could seem to do was wrap his arms tighter around her, and it was then that Alec began working on auto pilot. He moved over to sit beside of them.

"Lena," he said, his voice much softer than he wanted it to be. "I know that this is scary. It scares me, too. But to think that I would ever think any less of you or your dad because you are warlocks hurts me. I love you both so much, and I would fight to the ends of the earth for either of you. But what's more, I would never ask you for something I didn't want. I would never lie to you about that, Lena. This is something I want with all my heart. But if you don't want it, then that's okay. I'm a patient man; I can wait until you're ready."

While Alec was speaking, Lena slowly began to turn back toward him and away from Magnus. The look on her face told Alec that he'd said the right things, but more than anything else, he just wanted to see the smile on her face again. When she began to speak, however, she surprised Alec more than he had ever imagined she could. "I love you, too, Daddy," was all she said, but it was all Alec needed to hear for his heart to both shatter and be lifted up at once.

Lifting Lena out of Magnus's arms, Alec knew without a doubt that he had never been so ecstatically happy. When Magnus reached over to wrap his arms around the both of them, Alec leaned in, savoring the feeling, but unable to think about the fact that the whole in his heart that Max had left was beginning to feel ever so slightly smaller. He knew it would never heal completely, and he didn't want it to. But he knew something was happening, so he smiled into Lena's hair, knowing that it was all due to his new family.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Lena said, the smile on her face growing with every second. "You're going to keep him? I'm going to be a big sister?" The joy in her voice was so apparent that it was all Alec could do to contain his own joy. All he could do was nod, knowing that if he looked at Magnus he would see their joy mirrored on his face as well.

When they'd visited the Academy, they had never imagined that they would end up with another child in their arms. The moment they had looked at each other and Alec had realized that Magnus was thinking exactly what he was thinking had likely been the scariest part of the day. Suddenly, they had two children, and there was no turning back.

"Can I hold him?" was Lena's next question, and Alec let Magnus take care of that one. The only thing Alec could do was sit and smile as Magnus went to pick Max up out of his crib and bring him to Lena. Looking back and forth between them, Alec's heart began to break once more, his emotions becoming so muddled that he couldn't even begin to make sense of them at all.

When Magnus sat down and allowed Lena to climb into his lap and hold Max, Alec had to get up and walk around a bit. He knew that if he turned around, he would see Magnus giving him a look of confusion, but he couldn't allow himself to do that until his mind began to clear. He had no idea how someone could feel so happy and so broken all at once, but what he did know was that looking at his son Max and thinking about his brother Max was far too painful for him to do for very long.

Alec turned around when he heard Lena begin to talk to her brother. "You're going to be my little blueberry," she said, the smile on her face all too evident in her voice. "And I'm going to take care of you because that's what big sisters do. And trust me, Max, you're going to love this family just as much as I do."

It was then that Alec allowed himself to meet Magnus's eye, only to see that Magnus's expression mirrored how he was feeling. Somehow, they'd both lost so much, and yet here they were, happier than they had ever imagined they could be. Alec walked back over to sit beside of them once again, wrapping his arms around all three of them. "My little blueberry, my little princess, and my high warlock," he said, his voice soft with content. "What more could I ever need?"

There is going to be more to this story, I just don't exactly know how much there will be yet!

But let me know your thoughts on it!