Birthday boy
“Good morning, son”
Jonathan was awakened by an unusually kind Valentine. He slowly opened his eyes, amazed, wondering what time it was and the reason for such a serene wake up call. His days usually started at dawn, being roughly shaken, torn from the sweet warmth of his bed to slip, both in summer and winter, under a freezing shower, followed by grueling warm-up exercises and a day of hard training and intense study. Meals were limited to strictly necessary intake, consumed as quickly as possible, and even sleep was a luxury; he was not allowed to laze a little in bed, and leisure time was a non-existent word in his father's vocabulary. Jonathan knew that Valentine was as hard on himself as he was on his own son - but that didn't make the boy's regime any more bearable.
He often wondered what life was like for other kids his age. He did not remember his mother - another forbidden subject. He knew from some hint that she abandoned him when he was a toddler, but the reason why no one ever told him, and Jonathan had ended up thinking he was not worthy of her love. Why else would she have left him in the hands of such a severe father? And how did kids live in the world of mundanes, or even among other shadowhunters? Yes, he was sure they worked hard too, especially the Nephilim - not that he knew much about mundanes. But maybe there was someone who offered them a caress, a hug, some praise. Yes, Valentine did praise him, from time to time, about some successful task; but more often there were punishments, mostly painful, which left physical and mental markings.
But that day Jonathan had been gently awakened. A rough hand had caressed his hair, the window had not been thrown open in the cold morning, and indeed, the morning was quite late, judging by the light that leaked from the curtains. Valentine had let him sleep! He got up cautiously, puzzled, and afraid that everything could be an illusion, and when reality had taken over from it, he would have paid a high price.
But Valentine was in the kitchen, making breakfast; not the usual cold and poor breakfast, a real rich breakfast, bacon, eggs, pancakes, there was even some fruit, and syrup to put on pancakes!
Jonathan walked slowly towards the table already set.
“Come on, son, sit down and eat!"
“But… what…”
“Don't you remember? It's your birthday today. We need to celebrate it. So I decided to get you some kind of a gift. After breakfast you will have a free morning - he frowned for a moment - I expect, however, you to work even more in the afternoon to make up for this time”.
Jonathan gasped: he didn't know what to say, this was so unusual that his mind didn't know how to process this ...thing, so strangely close to a celebration.
He approached slowly, afraid of having misunderstood, afraid that everything he was seeing would suddenly disappear.
He sat down at the table. “Thanks, father. Am I allowed to, really? "
Valentine turned and stared at him. “My son, I know I'm hard on you. But we must fulfill our mission, we are Morgensterns, and the Angel expects us to free the world from the curse of the Downworlders. That's why I subject you to such intense study and training. You must become the best fighter, and together we will accomplish the divine mission ". He approached the boy and cupped his face into his hands. “I love you, son. You are my pride and my heir, but this must not instill any vanity or overconfidence in yourself. Never forget it".
He hugged him tightly and Jonathan realized that his father didn’t know how to show his affection. Jonathan never cried because this would earn him an additional punishment, but suddenly a stray tear ran down his cheek, a precious gem that he would keep forever.