*Morning- the time when Alec and Catarina left for New York*
"Alec, we should leave now. It's time." Catarina said knowing that the soon they'll get this done, the better.
Alec nodded in response as Catarina opened the portal for them. Alec gave Magnus a quick goodbye kiss before stepping through the portal, then vanished into it.
As soon as the swirling vortex closed a depressed look crept over Magnus' face, Alec wasn't even gone for a second, and he was missing his husband already. It's the first time after that incident that Alec left Idris, that too for days. He didn't know how he'll manage to go through these three dreadful long nights without his husband. The days were fine, his work will keep him occupied, but nights...
A tugging at his jacket broke him out of his thoughts. "Maagnus? What happened? You look sad. Are we not going to party?" Madzie asked innocently.
Magnus bent down and took her in his arms. 'How can I be an idiot! How can I forget about my favorite warlock staying with me.' he cursed in his mind.
"Oh, sweet pea, yes, obviously we're going to party. It's just that I'm missing Alec, nothing more."
"I miss him too." She said with a sad tone.
"Okay, come on now, what do you want to do?" He asked her to light up both of their moods.
"Party! Party party party," she kept screaming.
"Stop it, sweet pea, I got that. We'll party in the evening, it's only afternoon. What else you want to do apart from partying, young lady?"
"Teach me new magic, potions, I want to learn how to brew potions, mom doesn't let me. And, and cooking I want to learn cooking, no baking, choco chip cookies, yes, teach me how to bake cookies. I want cookies. Teach me, teach me, teach me. Pleeeease." She said excitedly, showing him her best puppy eyes.
"Oh, hush, you bundle of energy. One at a time. Let's teach you some new magic first." He put her on the floor then took her to his study room, or his workroom to be specific, where he keeps all the stuff.
Madzie might be a kid, but she was really powerful at her age. And a quick learner too. Magnus always suspected that she's going to be the most powerful one in the upcoming generation of warlocks. He taught her some new things and made her practice more what she already knew. Taught her some new spells and little Chthonian.
If he'll be honest with himself, he did teach her things Cat would never approve of, she was still a child, but a powerful warlock in Magnus' opinion, so he wasn't able to help himself. But he was sure that if his best friend would find out she'll ban him from meeting Madzie for a month or worse put a body swap spell on him or maybe a gender change spell, he shivered from the thought of it, Catarina Loss could become unpredictable when she's angry. He didn't want to think about the consequences right now.
"Magnus, Magnus, look! I did it. Yay, I did it."
Magnus looked at the miniature silver projection of a man or a prince charming as Madzie called it, riding a horse visiting the small town, having a women's crystal heel poking out of his leather bag clinging at him. He stopped in front of a house, dismounted himself from the horse, and started walking towards the door.
"Good job, sweet pea, now focus on the story, the next scene of the story, use your mind, and focus on your magic, let your mind guard your magic. Focus on the events and details, concentrate." He softly whispered.
After a few efforts, Madzie was able to project the whole story with every detail, and now she was exhausted.
"Yay! I did it. Magnus, I'm tired and hungry, cookies, let's bake cookies now."
"No, not cookies, they are snacks, not lunch. We'll eat lunch now then you'll rest because you're exhausted then we'll bake cookies. Understood?"
"But-"
"No, but, young lady, lunch now." He said sternly looking at her.
"Okay, but can I do the summoning? Pleeeease?" She looked at him innocently with her best puppy eyes.
"Do you even have energy left in you for the summoning, Madzie?" He asked her with concern.
"Yes, I do. Please let me do it, please Magnus." She pleaded.
Magnus sighed, he can never win any arguments with her, he was never able to resist his favorite warlock.
"Okay, fine, sweet pea. Let's head to the dining area first."
They both walked towards the dining area and sat opposite each other.
"Okay, sweet pea, now what do you want to eat? Think about it and concentrate."
"Okay." She said sweetly and closed her eyes, then waved her tiny fingers in the airs.
After a few seconds, two plates full of spaghetti with meatballs, two strawberry ice creams, and a glass of orange juice appeared on the table. Magnus sighed but smiled at her, then put the ice creams in the fridge for later. After eating their lunch including the deserts, he noticed her tiny eyelids getting heavy.
"Maagnus, let's play something, come to my room."
"Isn't someone tired, young lady?"
"No, I'm not *yawn* tired." She said softly.
Magnus laughed at her innocence. "Okay, sweet pea, let's head to your room."
He knew she was exhausted, but she wasn't ready to rest at all. It took him a hell of a time to win over the arguments with her, some convincing, but she eventually fell asleep, and he went back to continue his work.
___________________________
*After few hours*
"Maaagnus, where are you?" Madzie yelled while running towards the living room after checking Magnus' bedroom and finding that he wasn't there.
"In the study, sweet pea!" Came his reply.
Madzie ran towards the study and peeked her head inside from the slightly ajar door.
"Maagnus?"
Magnus stopped whatever he was doing and looked at her peeking face then sighed.
"Now what can I do for you, your highness?" He said playfully.
Madzie giggled then ran towards him, he caught her by arms and swung her in circles then held her in arms. They both were laughing by the end.
"Cookies, I want cookies, teach me how to bake them, after that we'll paaaaarty."
"Okay, okay, my lady. Go to the kitchen and wait for me, I'll be there in five minutes. And no use of magic."
"Okay." He put her down on the floor and kissed her cheeks then she ran out of his office.
After five minutes when he reached the kitchen, he saw the slab filled with a flour packet, baking soda jar, salt jar, melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar packets, a vanilla extract box, some eggs, a packet of choco chips and the measuring tools. He looked around and found Madzie sitting on the floor waiting for him. He sighed and shook his head.
"I think I said no magic, Madzie!"
"Oopsie!" She said innocently trying to hide her giggles.
"Someone's really impatient. Now come here." He conjured a chair for her, so she can be at a proper height.
"First, we are going to measure everything. Listen carefully, two cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, 1 cup of brown sugar,
1/2 cup of white sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. We need 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, and 2 cups of chocolate chips." While she was on it, he put the oven to preheat at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then explained to her what he did, and helped her with the eggs.
"Good, now in one bowl we put the measured flour, baking soda, salt, and mix them well." He said and guided her wherever needed. He noticed that her tongue was slightly out and there was a slight frown on her forehead because of the concentration and a light smile formed on his lips.
"Now?" She asked excitedly.
"Now, we're going to take a large bowl, then put the melted butter in it, and beat it to a certain amount of consistency." He showed her how to do it. "Now, we'll add the brown sugar and white sugar in it and mix it well. After that, we're going to add the vanilla extract and mix it again." He guided her throughout, the smile never leaving his face.
"Yay! It's looking good. Now what, Magnus?"
"Now we'll add eggs in it and mix it again."
"Done!" She exclaimed.
"Now add all the flour mixture and chocolate chips in it and mix them all together. The dough should be soft."
"Done, is it good?"
He poked his finger over the dough to test the texture, it was smooth and soft. "Perfect!" He smiled at her.
"Yay! What's next, Magnus?" She said while clapping her hands.
"Now," he bent down, and from the lower cabinet he took out a large sheet and a huge plate. "This is called a cookie sheet, and this one is the baking tray." He kept the tray on the table and spread the sheet evenly on the tray with the help of Madzie.
"Now, we'll take a spoon and scoop up ball-sized pieces of dough, and then carefully place them on the cookie sheet, at an equal distance." He handed her a spoon and watched her doing her stuff.
"Done!"
"Now, after five minutes we're going to put this in the oven for 10-15 minutes."
"Okay!"
They put the tray in the oven and waited for the buzzer to went off. In the meantime, Madzie told him all the stories and gossip she got to know from her classes held in New York.
That was something Magnus liked, not the gossip, but the new system of classes held for warlock children, more like a school, led by powerful warlocks to help them control and teach the right way to use their magic, which was starting to spread all across the globe. It wasn't just a school consisting of classes but also an orphanage for those poor warlock kids whom those terrified mundanes thinking they bore a monster, left them to rot in the streets. He was really grateful for the warlocks who led this orphanage/school and partially proud because this was the idea of his husband, and he did everything he could to make sure it happens. His chain of thoughts suddenly broke by a loud buzzing sound.
"Is it ready?" Madzie asked excitedly.
"Yes, sweet pea." He shut the oven, wore the baking gloves, took out the tray, and kept it on the slab.
"Yay, cookies! Cookies!" She went forward to take one when Magnus slapped away her hand gently.
"It's too hot right now, sweet pea, you'll burn your mouth. Let it cool down a little."
"Okay." She said in a fake upset voice.
When Magnus went to keep the gloves away, she waved her fingers over the tray and cooled it down a little in an instant.
"Madzie!" Magnus exclaimed when he saw what she did. "I said no magic, miss. You're way too impatient, huh!" He went towards her and started tickling her all over. Soon the whole kitchen was filled with her laughter.
"Ma... hehe... Mag... hehehe... Maaagnus... stop!"
"Fine, young lady!" He said when he himself was exhausted.
He then picked up a few cookies from the tray, took her towards the living room, sat on the couch with Madzie on his lap, and gave a few cookies to her. He took a large bite of his own cookie savoring its delicious taste, it was baked perfectly.
"It's yummy! I'll try making it at home!" She said with a mouthful of her own.
"You can, but with your mom, you won't step in the kitchen alone. Understood?"
"Okay." She said sweetly. "Maagnus? Can we party now?"
Magnus sighed. "Yes, sweet pea, we can."
"Yaaaay! Party! Party!" She started jumping in her place, making him uncomfortable.
"Calm down, you bundle of energy! What do want to have at this party?"
"Can I summon the party decorations?" She asked innocently with her puppy eyes.
"Okay, sweet pea." He said defeated.
Within a minute the whole loft was decorated with pink and white balloons, the floor was filled with light blue balloons, the table in front of them was covered with different kinds of chips, popcorn, and soft drinks, and some party music was playing on high volume.
"Oh my, sweet pea." He clicked his fingers and lowered the volume of the music. But what caught him off guard was the sudden pouring down of rainbow-colored glitters in the whole apartment. He looked at Madzie in disbelief.
"Yay! Yay! Glitter rain!" She started bouncing on the couch with laughter.
"Madzie!" Magnus exclaimed. "You know Alec will punish me if he'll find out about this, right?"
"But you love glitter, Magnus!" She said trying to hide her giggles but failing miserably.
"You did this on purpose, didn't you, you naughty girl." He caught her and started tickling her all over again. Suddenly his doorbell rang making both of them stop with what they were doing.
'Weird! There shouldn't be any client at this time.' he thought then clicked his fingers and vanished all the glitter from the apartment and from both of their bodies. As much as he loved glitter this was actually too much.
He went to open the door and found a woman standing there, with long black hairs wearing a deep blue colored formal dress. What caught his eyes were her pointed ears, dog ears to be specific. A warlock mark.
"Yes?" He asked firmly.
"You must be Magnus Lightwood Bane, I'm Aurelia Rose, Madzie's teacher. Catarina told me she's staying here."
"Yeah, she is, come in!" He said while shaking hands with her. "Sweet pea, it's your... Madzie! Again!" By the time they reached the living room, she started a glitter rain again.
"Miss Rose!" She said excitedly and ran towards her, putting Magnus in trouble completely forgotten.
"Hey, bumblebee!" She bent down and hugged her tightly. "Looks like you both were having a party!"
"Yeah, she was excited about a party since morning. What brings you here, Aurelia?" Magnus asked, confused, and curious.
"Our New York school is hosting a world tour for all the children including the orphan warlocks so that they can explore the world, meet more warlocks around the world, and interact with them. Learn new things as much as they can. I came to pick her up. If that's what you want, bumblebee!"
"Yay! A trip! A trip! Magnus, I'm going on a trip!"
Magnus smiled fondly at her excitement then looked at Aurelia. "When she has to leave?"
"In an hour if possible. All the kids will be at the school in an hour, we've created a permanent portal room at the school so that they can travel easily."
"Oh, okay, there are a few of her stuff is here, but the rest is at Catarina's. I'll talk to her." A wave of disappointment crept over Magnus, but he hid it with a smile.
After talking to Catarina and preparing Madzie for the trip, who was head over heels for the trip the whole time, he waved her goodbye then came back to his apartment.
As soon as he stepped out the portal into his apartment, a wave of sadness and disappointment washed down on him. He looked around the room which was still decorated with balloons, he suddenly felt really empty. He clicked his fingers and cleaned the whole apartment, then sat on the couch, a feeling of loneliness crept over him. The house felt too empty and suffocating to him. He wanted to leave the house as soon as possible. He got up and created a portal and stepped into it.
When he stepped out of the portal, he found himself standing outside a bar of Germany. After taking a deep breath stepped in and ordered a Dry Martini, eager to clear his head filled with disappointment and loneliness. He kept ordering a refill of his drink, completely oblivious to a pair of eyes watching his every move.