Magnus and Alec were led in bed together, their arms wrapped around each other. Alec was wide awake, listening to his sleeping boyfriend's gentle heartbeat. He'd woken up several hours before their alarm was due to go off, but he just couldn't sleep. In his mind he could picture young children, running around at the park, playing games and just being children. He wanted a child. So badly, but he knew that it was impossible for him and Magnus. Sighing quietly, Alec snuggled into Magnus' chest. Magnus stirred slightly.
"Alec?" He asked groggily.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I was just trying to get comfortable." Alec replied. Not lying because he was uncomfortable at first. Magnus opened his catlike eyes slightly. Studying Alec he could see the frustration on his face.
"Something's wrong. What's up?" Alec buried his head into Magnus' chest. Their room was dark; the sun had not yet started to rise. "Alec?" Magnus asked, worry in his voice.
"It's nothing. I promise. Let's just go back to sleep." Alec told him. They'd only been living together for a month and he didn't feel like it was fair to dump something like a child on Magnus. They'd never discussed it, and he didn't know if they ever would.
"Alec, you know you can talk to me. About absolutely anything. You don't have to keep things from me." Magnus told him with complete confidence. Alec shook his head.
"We can talk about it later. I know what you're like when you're tired." Alec looked up from Magnus' warm chest and kissed his forehead. "You get a bit grouchy." Magnus sighed and closed his eyes.
"Don't think you'll be able to get out of it later Alexander. You know I'll remember that we need to talk about whatever is bothering you." He said before settling back down to sleep. Alec shuddered slightly; he knew that when Magnus called him by his full name, he was deadly serious. Magnus never forgot anything, nothing important anyway, and to Magnus something bothering Alec was very important. Alec studied Magnus whilst he slept for a few minutes and then turned onto his other side, shuffled back a little against Magnus and closed his eyes, forcing himself to go back to sleep. Magnus put his arm around him, and within five minutes Alec was sound asleep.
At precisely 8am their alarm went off. Magnus sprung out of bed as normal, but Alec stayed curled up under the covers. No matter how much Magnus wanted Alec to talk to him about what was on his mind, he knew he couldn't wake him up. He just looked too cute when he was sleeping. Smiling, Magnus kissed Alec's cheek and then went to the kitchen, where Chairman Meow was waiting eagerly to be fed. After putting some food together for Chairman Meow, who had never so much as smelled cat food, Magnus went to see what programmes were on TV. He was rarely impressed by the type of shows he saw, but there was an occasional programme that he enjoyed. After about half an hour of flicking through boring programmes, Alec emerged from their bedroom. His hair messy and his shirt crumpled. A smile spread across Magnus' face.
"You look well rested." Magnus said, patting the spot on the couch beside him. Alec sat beside him and rubbed his eyes. "Now, what were you worrying about earlier?" Alec looked at him and sighed.
"Magnus I just woke up. Can it wait? Please?" Alec complained. Magnus knew he was trying to avoid the conversation.
"No, it can't. I want to know, and I want you to stop avoiding the question." Magnus said sternly. Alec looked down for a moment and then back up Magnus. He knew he'd have to tell him sooner or later, and he didn't want what happened the last time he didn't tell Magnus something, to happen again. Magnus raised his hand and involuntarily Alec flinched.
"I'm not going to do anything Alec. Not unless you tell me." Magnus then placed his hand on Alec's shoulder.
"I..." He started, not knowing how Magnus would react. "I want a child..." Alec looked at the tv screen, keeping his eye contact away from Magnus. After a few minutes of awkward silence between the two of them, Alec looked at Magnus who appeared deep in thought. "You don't want one. Do you?" Alec asked sadly.
"Answer me this truthfully Alexander," Magnus said, running his fingers through Alec's hair. "How much do you want a child, and why do you want a child?" He asked. Alec looked dumbfounded.
"I... I..." Alec had no words. Magnus smiled.
"When you come up with an answer, you let me know." He said teasingly.
"Magnus I'm serious. I want a child, and I want to raise them with you." Alec said. Magnus could tell that he was serious.
"Give me some time to think about it." Was the last thing that Magnus said before getting up and leaving the room. Alec sighed heavily; his dreams of having a child were looking less and less likely.
For the rest of the day, Alec was distracted. He went down to the institute to train with Jace but when the two of them were fighting, Jace could tell that his heart wasn't in it.
"What's wrong?" Jace asked mid strike. Alec easily deflected to blow but made no attempt at a counter attack, even though Jace had left himself wide open.
"You're leaving yourself open again. That could get you killed." Alec said, dodging the question. It was easier to dodge questions from Jace than it was from Magnus. Jace altered his stance and attacked again. This time Alec struck back, knocking Jace off his feet. "I've had enough training for today." Alec said, putting his sword away. Behind him, Jace had gotten back to his feet.
"You should know better than to turn your back on me." Jace said, going for one last attack whilst Alec's back was turned. Sidestepping at the last moment caused Jace to go flailing past. It was one of his less graceful movements but Alec didn't so much as smile. Instead he left the training room. Checking his phone, he saw that he had six missed calls from Magnus. Alec sighed.
"I guess I owe it to you to call back..." He muttered quietly, punching Magnus' number into his phone. He picked up on the second ring.
"Alexander, where are you? You left without saying a word." Magnus shouted down the phone, his voice filled with worry.
"I'm at the institute." Alec replied simply. He wasn't up for a long conversation. Down the phone, Alec could hear a relieved sigh.
"Next time, please tell me when you're leaving. You've had me and Chairman Meow worried sick." Going into the library, Alec saw that is was empty. He climbed swiftly up to his favourite window seat.
"Sorry, I didn't think you wanted to be disturbed."
"I didn't, but you could have left a note. Anyway, I've been thinking about our talk earlier. I have a question. Would you want a boy or a girl? And would they be human or a Downworlder like me or a Shadowhunter like you?" Magnus asked.
"That's two questions."
"Stop avoiding them. You said you wanted a child. I'm considering all the possibilities."
"I... I want a girl..." Alec said quietly down the phone. He wanted to make sure that no-one overheard the conversation.
"Okay, a girl." Alec could hear Magnus scribbling it down on some paper.
"And Magnus, if this does happen, I don't want to see them covered in glitter every day."
"Aww, but that takes the fun out of it." Magnus whined. Despite his mood, Alec smiled.
"We'll compromise. One day a week, you can dress her up in whatever you want. And I won't complain at all."
"Three days." Magnus' reply came instantly.
"Two, but you can dress her up for parties and things like that." A pause. Magnus was thinking hard.
"Deal." Alec could tell that he was smiling. "So a girl. Next question. Do you want a human, Downworlder or Shadowhunter?" This time is was Alec's turn to hesitate.
"I don't want a human... I don't have anything against them, it's just I want a baby who can relate in some way to us."
"Okay. I agree. How about a Downworlder? Warlock, vampire, werewolf, faerie?"
"I wish you wouldn't categorise yourself as a Downworlder."
"That's a discussion for another time." Alec nodded. He knew it wasn't the time to be discussing that but he also knew that Magnus was avoiding the conversation. Ever since Alec had first brought up the fact that he didn't like Magnus calling himself a Downworlder, Magnus had shrugged it off and changed the subject. It was only recently that he had started to notice. Alec thought hard about what he wanted.
"Well, there aren't any vampire babies. A werewolf is far too unpredictable. A faerie... Not a faerie. But I wouldn't mind a warlock as long as the physical differences aren't too noticeable." Magnus knew he was right. Magnus' physical differences were minor compared to some others and his were easy to conceal with the right shaped contact lenses. "And a shadow..." Alec stopped. "Magnus I have to go, we'll talk about it when I get back okay?" Magnus started to protest, but Alec hung up. He'd been talking quietly through the entire conversation, but he had a feeling that he was being watched.