The first time Magnus Bane had met Alec was a memorable one. At the time, of course, he didn't realize this baby was going to grow up to be the man he'd eventually fall in love with. In fact, he couldn't stand Alec at all. He had no idea that the baby on his doorstep would grow up to be the gorgeous and strong six foot three Shadowhunter with a head of messy black hair and terrible sense of fashion.

"Magnus, please. We need you to watch him. Valentine has lost his mind. He's hunting down those who turned their backs on him and we can't let him get his hands on Alec."

Magnus let his eyes fall to the bundle of blankets in Maryse's arms. It shifted a little, revealing a baby boy with a shock of black hair and beautiful hazel eyes. He stared at Magnus curiously, quietly sucking his thumb, his eyes crossing when a snowflake landed on his tiny nose.

"I'm not a babysitter. Especially not for Shadowhunters. Find someone else," Magnus began to shut his door when Robert, Maryse's husband, slammed his palm against the wood, preventing Magnus from fully closing it.

"Please. It's only for a couple of hours while we negotiate for sanctuary at the institute in New York. I'm begging you. Please protect my son."

Magnus sighed heavily and looked back down at the baby boy. Alec seemed fascinated by the wind chimes dangling from the roof of the porch, reaching up to try and touch them but his tiny arm was too small.

"Fine," Magnus said rather hastily. "Bring him in. Set him down on the floor. And make sure he doesn't touch the cat. Prince of Purrsia doesn't like being touched by strangers."

The two Shadowhunters rushed inside. Magnus watched as they looked around the room carefully as if they expected Valentine to jump out at any second, but they eventually settled down once the realized the place was secure. Maryse set the blankets down on the floor near the fireplace. Alec gurgled and grabbed his toes. He was so tiny. Even Purrsia was bigger than him.

"How old is he?" Magnus asked.

"He's a year old. Almost two," Robert crouched down and let Alec hold his finger, smiling affectionately at his son.

Magnus nodded. "So I take it Valentine's plan failed? His group rebelled against him?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes. You're correct," Maryse gently ran a hand through Alec's black curls. "We escaped just in the nick of time. The Downworlders rushed into the room and began to kill everyone. Robert and I barely escaped."

Robert nodded. "Alec was in our room crying. The noise and screams probably frightened him half to death. So we gathered as many belongings as we could and came straight here, hoping you'd help us."

Magnus chuckled. "And here you are." He looked down at Alec. The baby Shadowhunter was cooing at the cat, reaching out a hand for it. Purrsia's fur was sticking straight up in the air, a paw raised and ready to swat if he needed to. "What's in it for me?"

"We'll pay you nicely for your services. My family has money," Robert nodded.

"Well, my services doesn't include babysitting but I'll make an exception this one time. Do you have the child's....necessities?"

Maryse placed a bag on the couch. "His diapers and bottles and everything else you need are in this bag. If he dozes off, he likes to cuddle with his stuffed animal. Other than that, he's a quiet boy. You'll get along just fine with him."

"I'm sure I will. I can't contain my excitement," Magnus rolled his eyes. "Now out you go. The longer you're here, the more I require for this babysitting service. I might even charge you interest."

Robert gripped Magnus' hand and gave him a small smile. "Thank you so much, Magnus. I owe you one."

Magnus looked down at their hands. "Of course. I'll call on you when I need a favour." He opened the door, allowing Robert and Maryse to leave. It had begun to snow outside. The flakes were now bigger than a quarter as it began to cover the neighbouring apartments and buildings with a white fluffy blanket.

Alec was sitting quietly on the floor when Magnus turned back to look at him. The little Shadowhunter had big hazel eyes that looked up at him as the warlock closed the door, causing a cold draft to come into the house. The baby shivered in response.

"So.....Alec, right? Short for Alexander? That's a good strong name for a Shadowhunter. Why am I talking to you like you can answer me back?" He sighed and sat down on the armchair next to the fireplace. "You're so small. Even my cat is bigger than you."

Alec said nothing. His attention was diverted back to the cat as Purrsia circled him, sniffing at him and growling quietly.

"Get lost, Purrsia. The Lightwoods aren't paying me to let you eat their son alive. Go on. Get!" Magnus pushed the cat away from Alec, only to earn him a hiss and a bite on the hand. "Bite me again and I'll turn you into a nice pair of mittens and I won't even so much as blink an eye."

Alec watched as Magnus chased the cat out of the room. His short attention span was now focused on the bag on the couch. When Magnus came back into the room, he crawled towards it and cooed.

"What's wrong? What do you want?" Magnus watched Alec pull the bag down and everything fell out of the bag. "Your mother didn't mention that you're messy. Or a busybody."

"Mum mum," Alec gurgled. "Bop!"

"I have no idea what you mean by that...." Magnus took Alec by the back of his pants and pulled him away from the mess on the floor. "You better not be making messes like this all night. I won't tolerate it. Find what you want out of this bag and shoo."

Alec reached over and picked up his bottle of milk. "Bop! Bop!"

Magnus rolled his eyes. "Oh. That's what you meant by bop. Can you say bottle? Say bottle."

Alec paused for a moment, looking at Magnus in deep concentration. "Bop!"

Magnus sighed heavily. "Close enough. Now stay here while I warm up your milk. Stay. Good Alexander. Stay."

In the kitchen, Magnus popped open the microwave and put the bottle inside, setting the time to two minutes. He heard Alec cooing and making weird gurgly noises in the living room and thought nothing of it. It was only when the timer hit zero was when Alec let out a howl. Quickly grabbing the bottle, Magnus rushed back into the living room.

Purrsia had a nail hooked into the baby's chin, and his tail was gripped tightly in Alec's hand. Alec was crying as he tried to break free of the cat's grip.

"Oh sweet Azazel, Purrsia! What are you doing?!" He set the milk ok the table and got to his knees to try and help Alec get the claw out from his chin. Once Purrsia and Alec were free of each other's grip, the warlock gathered a crying Alec in his arms, attempting to calm him down.

Alec wailed. Magnus felt oddly heartbroken as the tiny boy cried and trembled in his arms. "Here. Let me heal that for you, huh? I'll make it go away." He snapped his fingers and his finger glowed blue. Alec had stopped crying for a moment to watch the light coming from Magnus' finger, his tiny lips trembling.

Magnus touched the cut on the baby's chin and watched as it closed up and healed. A small white scar now replaced the open wound. "There. Much better, hmm? Unfortunately, I can't heal scars but it's better than bleeding out. And once again I'm talking to you like you understand me." Magnus laughed and looked at the baby in his arms. Alec gazed at him with such intelligent eyes that it made Magnus second guess himself. "You can't understand me. Can you?"

Alec reached up with a chubby hand. Magnus almost moved away when Alec's tiny fingers touched his face and gently held him in place. He was immobile under the little boy's touch. It was like he had cast a spell of his own and rendered Magnus completely useless. Alec stared at Magnus, taking in this strange new person carefully memorizing every detail.....

Before leaning in and putting Magnus' chin in his mouth, sucking gently.

"Uh....." Magnus mumbled.

"Mmmmm," Alec murmured with a mouthful of chin.

"This is getting weird. Here. Drink this. This is what you wanted earlier," Magnus moved his chin away and handed Alec the bottle of milk. It was cooled off somewhat but it was still warm to the touch.

Alec grabbed the bottle with a hunger Magnus only saw in Purrsia when he was hungry for a treat. Once the bottle hit Alec's lips, he sucked hungrily and slurped down his dinner.

Magnus felt a smile creep up on his lips. "This isn't so bad. You're easy to get along with, aren't you little guy?" He cupped Alec in his arms and sat down on the couch. Alec sucked away at his milk and watched Magnus. Once the milk was gone, Alec let out a satisfied burp.

"I hope you at least grow up with a bit of class....I wonder if you Shadowhunters even know what that is," Magnus mumbled. He plopped Alec up on his leg and looked him over. "You have a lot of hair for a baby. You're also very quiet. Not that I'm complaining. It's nice, actually. You're an okay kid."

Alec was neutral for a moment before giving Magnus the most heartwarming smile. The warlock practically felt his immortal heart explode as a dimple set in Alec's left cheek and his eyes crinkled around the edges.

"Oh god. Please stop smiling. Please. It's too cute....Alexander. Stop it," Magnus closed his eyes and hoped the boy would stop being cute, but it was no good. Alec still had a huge smile on his face when he reopened his eyes again. "Still smiling I see. Is there any way I can get you to stop?"

As if on cue, Alec moved and positioned himself so that he was curled up on Magnus' lap. He yawned and closed his eyes and within moments, he was fast asleep in the warlock's arms.

Magnus bit his lip to keep from smiling. He hadn't liked kids or babies until Alec came along and slowly changed his mind about them. Seeing the small bundle of chubbiness on his lap warmed his heart somehow. He wasn't expecting this to happen.

He also wasn't expecting for time to fly so quickly. The door suddenly opened and Robert and Maryse came inside, coats covered in snow.

Maryse was the first to see Alec asleep on the warlock's lap. "Everything went smoothly, I take it?"

Magnus looked down at the sleeping baby. "Somewhat. My cat clawed his chin open but I healed him. Just a small scar there now. What about yourselves? Did the Clave grant you sanctuary?"

Robert nodded. "For now, anyway. Inquisitor Herondale is visiting tomorrow to decide our fates. It's quite possible we'll be stripped of our marks and forced to live as mundanes. Alec will grow up-"

"Normal? Free of monsters that lurk in the dark? Is that such a bad life for your son?"

"You're never free from the monsters, Mr. Bane. Not really," Maryse gathered up both the blanket and her son into her arms. "Thank you again. Thank you so much for watching him while we were gone."

Magnus waved a dismissive hand, regardless of his sinking heart as the baby was taken out his arms. "Of course. I'll expect payment by the end of the week."

"You'll get payment. You have my word," Robert nodded. "Thank you, Magnus. You did us a great favour tonight. I'm sure Alec appreciates it too."

Alec yawned and rubbed his tired eyes before cuddling into the blanket against his mother's arms again.

"I'm sure he does. I hope to see him again soon. He seems like he's going to grow up big and strong and intelligent," Magnus nodded. "He's a smart kid."

Robert smiled. "We hope he will, anyway. Hopefully he steers clear of all the wrong decisions that we made."

The Lightwoods stepped out onto the porch of Magnus' home. Magnus was about to close the door when he looked up and saw Alec staring back at him as his parents walked down the pathway towards the gate. The little Lightwood raised a chubby hand and waved at Magnus, fingers flapping and a small smile on his face.

Hesitant, Magnus finally allowed himself to raise a hand and wave back, a smile set on his own face.

And that was the first time Magnus Bane ever laid eyes on Alec Lightwood.