Flufftober2020

Rafael and Max were walking home, holding hands. Rafa attended primary school, where he had proven to be a smart and determined child, getting brilliant scores in almost any subject, thanks to the stubbornness inherited from his shadowhunter father, applying in order to get the best results. Max, on the other hand, was attending kindergarten. 

And this was kind of a mess:

Rafael was serious and mature, while Max was lively and unable to take into account the consequences of his actions - care to admit here how much he looked like their papa?

He was certainly able to control his newly blossomed magic, as his warlock dad had taught him, but he was easily distracted like a puppy, wandering with his imagination until he used to lose that painstakingly obtained control, risking to be getting caught by mundanes.

Yes, because Magnus and Alec had decided to let their children attend a mundane school at least for a while, both in order to make them better understand that world they were anyway destined to interact with, and since they wished to postpone as much as possible their approach to the harsh discipline and training that awaited them, being a shadowhunter and a warlock and more also being sons of two high authorities of their world.

So, that day they were on their way home. Rafael had very seriously taken his job as an older brother and was holding Max's hand in a convulsive grip, terrified that his little brother would escape him and put himself in danger. Of course, Max wriggled out of that grip, and the more he wriggled the tighter Rafael squeezed until Max began to moan.

“Rafa, you’re hurting me! Why are you holding me so tight? " "Because you are impossible, and I know you want to walk on your own, but I don't want our fathers to skin me if something happens to you!" "But if something happens, I'll tell them it was my fault!"

Rafael rolled his eyes - how much he looked like Alec now, when he did this Max found him insufferable! - and gave him a yank, while Max was being dragged along the road.

"Come on, we're already late, you know they’re going to be worried sick!”. Max’s eyes were blinking with tears, and he was about to moan in anger when his attention was drawn to something moving under the stairs of a townhouse they were passing by.

“Rafa, stop, stop! There's something down over there! " "Come on, there's nothing" "But I tell you there is, let me go and have a look". Rafael rolled his eyes once more. "Okay, just a minute, then we run home, okay?"

It was enough for Max, and he bent down under the stairs to see what was going on down there. This turned out to be a kitten. Small, almost haggard, its fur so dirty and disheveled you couldn’t even pinpoint its color. And it was pitifully meowing.

"Rafaaaa, help me, we have to pick it up and take it home!" "Are you nuts? What are dads going to say? "

Max looked at him intently. "If it doesn't come, I won't come either!" he replied, arms crossed.

A hard nut to crack.

Rafael couldn’t get any break through this impasse, and with a deep sigh he too bent down to help Max pull out the frightened kitten.

With a bit of effort - and a few scratches from the animal that was trying to be threatening hissing frantically - they managed to catch it; Max hugged it to his chest, caressing it, whispering sweet nothings and scratching it between its ears, and the cat started to purr - whether from pleasure or from anxiety, no one could understand.

**

They arrived home a little out of breath, being late, and were greeted by a worried-looking Magnus, hands on his hips and sporting a threatening demeanor. “May I know why you’re so late?” he asked them frowning.

“Papa, papa, look what we found! We had to save it, we couldn't leave it out there. Look how cute it is " Max exclaimed enthusiastically.

Magnus stared puzzled at the dirty wad in his son's lap. “But Max, what if it belongs to someone? Maybe they're looking for it " " No, no, papa, no way, look how dirty and thin it is, it belongs to no one! " "Oh yes, I do see how dirty and thin it is - said Magnus wrinkling his nose - Okay, let's clean it up and feed it, then we'll see. Have you also thought that Chairman is going to think there’s an intruder in its house? " "I'll introduce it to Chairman!” Max exclaimed proudly, and Rafael groaned.

The little guest was cleaned and fed. Now that the dirt was gone, the kitten turned out to be a beautiful streaked golden brown one, closely resembling Magnus' eye color when he put on the glamour, with a pair of bright forest green eyes flecked with gold and brown - some would say resembling Alec's eyes - and most of all it turned out ... to be a female kitten, maybe a couple of months old, who finally seemed to be in good health, apart from malnutrition.

“May I give her a name, papa?" Max asked excitedly. "Max, we don't even know if we will be able to keep her, giving her a name is…useless?” Max's eyes filled with tears. “But… but… we can’t get her back on the road! What if a bad guy comes and hurts her? ”.

Magnus sighed again. At that moment Chairman arrived, whose nap had been bothered by the commotion, and who therefore decided to come and see what the hell was going on. Max decided to introduce their guest to him. "Chairman, this is Maya" - he had decided to call her that - and placed the kitten on the floor in front of him.

Chairman approached cautiously, tail straight, ears forward and nose quivering. Then his tail swelled and he blew hissing towards the intruder, trying to hit her with his paw. Max was quick to snatch Maya from danger; he frowned and started to scold Chairman. “You don't have to be rude, do you understand? She will be… yes, your little sister. She’s going to stay with us forever! ”. Then he saw his father watching him intently. "I mean, if dad and papa are ok with this ..." and he lowered his gaze.

Magnus leaned in front of him. “Honey, we need to remember that this is Chairman's home. Maybe he's not happy that someone is invading his territory " " But can't we explain this to him, papa? That she is nice and she’s a puppy and puppies need a home? ”. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Even Rafa and I, before being your children, were lost just like this kitten”.

Magnus felt his heart clench at those words.

"Okay, we'll make them stay together a bit at a time, so Chairman will understand that she won't steal anything from him, neither his food nor his place on the sofa".

And so it was. A few weeks passed and, either because of Chairman’s goodwill, or because of Maya's kind mood, or because of the commitment of the whole Lightwood-Bane family, the little girl became part of the family too.

Alec got up early one morning and, after turning the coffee machine on, went to feed the cats. He found them sleeping together, curled up on each other while snoring peacefully. He decided that this deserved everyone's appreciation, so he woke up both his husband and the children telling them to come and enjoy that sight, the crowning of everyone's efforts.

Only a couple of weeks later they could get the reason why. Not the family love had brought them together, but a much more primitive and powerful instinct. Magnus and Alec looked at each other with concern, and within less than two months, Chairman found himself becoming a dad. But finally, everyone was happy: after all, theirs was a whole family of strays.