The rest of the week is spent the same. Every morning, Magnus makes Madzie’s lunch then he takes Madzie to school and spends the rest of his day looking and thinking about meals she might enjoy. He picks her up from school, helps her with her homework and spends the evening trying to get to know her.

“What’s your favourite colour?” Magnus asks one night,

“Red,”

“Red is a great colour. Do you have a favourite animal?”

But much too soon the week is over, and Magnus has to go back to work. Despite Madzie’s protests, Magnus hires a babysitter for the night. He’d gone through an agency that Clary recommended to him, claiming she’d never had a problem with any of the sitters. 

“I told you, I don’t need a babysitter. I’m not a baby anymore.” Madzie protests when Magnus hugs her goodbye.

“I can’t leave you here alone, Madzie,” He sighs

“Why not? I’m perfectly fine.”

“Madzie, you barricaded the door last week when you alone and heard sirens, remember?” He puts his arms around her shoulder and squeezes it. “I just want you to be safe, okay sweetpea?

“I charge from when I get her, you know”

Magnus glares at the sitter, interrupting their discussion “Yeah, okay” He kisses Madzie’s forehead, whispering at her to behave herself, and he’s out the door. “I’ll see you tonight, okay”

“Okay. Have fun at work”

Magnus arrives while lunch service is in full swing, he’s late but Raphael has Alec in the kitchen now so it shouldn’t be a big deal and he definitely doesn’t deserve the stern glare he gets from Raphael while he’s on the phone taking a booking.

“I know, I know,” he says, bristling past the man.

Magnus ignores the chorus of ‘Hi chefs’ and completely avoids contact with Alec, who he can feel staring into his back. He takes his time changing into his chef’s whites and finally ties his apron around his waist, looking at himself in the mirror.

“You need this job, Magnus,” He tells his reflection. “It’s not just you anymore, you have Madzie to take care of.” Magnus takes a few calming breaths, looks into the sink, then looks back at his reflection. “Alexander isn’t worth the prison time and you wouldn’t do well in prison.”

Another deep breath and Magnus leaves the bathroom, walking down the hall with his head held high as he steps into his kitchen. The very first thing he does is turn off the opera, coming from Alec’s phone.

“You don’t like music?” Alec asks

Magnus can feel Alec’s eyes on him, but he keeps his eyes on the plate in front of him. “It’s distracting my staff, and put your phone away. The last thing I need is for it to fall in my saffron sauce.”

Thankfully, for the rest of the lunch service, Magnus manages to stay away from the other chef. He works on his own, adding the finishing garnishes and and makes sure every dish that leave the kitchen is up to his standards. But unfortunately at staff lunch it’s impossible to avoid Alec. Every day between lunch and dinner service, the staff would have a potluck lunch, a chance to eat, but also a chance to ask questions and go over the menu for the evening. Per usual, Magnus sits at the far end of the table, phone in hand. He’d never joined in on the meal. Eating in the afternoon always made the chef feel tired, sluggish and in need of a nap. Plates of food get passed to him, but he keeps passing them down to his left without looking up from his device. He hears the other chefs and servers praising the various dishes, especially Alec’s pasta dish.

“Chef?” 

Magnus looks up at the plate of pasta being offered to him, “Oh, no, thank you.”

“Only a full cook can judge food. When you’re hungry, everything tastes better than it really is.” Alec points out the other chefs around him nod in agreement.

“I never eat in the afternoon.” Magnus says firmly, hoping Alec will drop the subject.With his coworkers looking at him, Magnus feels put on the spot and he hates it. He’s about to accept a plate to get Alec off his back but doesn’t get the chance.

Alec, who is seated at the other end of the table, stands and despite working with him, it’s only now that he notices how tall the chef is. He walks from his end of the table all the way over to Magnus and leans down, putting himself into Magnus’s space. He can smell his spicy cologne and the spices he’d been cooking with earlier invade Magnus’s nostrils. He can feel Alec’s warm body against his. Alec is firm with muscles and Magnus hates himself for how he stares at Alec’s biceps, his shirt stretching over the muscles. 

“My grandmother whispered this recipe into my ear on her deathbed. She brought it over from the Old Country,” he pauses to directly at Magnus, “And I made it especially for you today.”

Magnus shoves a forkful of pasta of the dish in his mouth, feeling the pressure with all the eyes on him. Of course, it’s delicious. Magnus hates how much he’s enjoy the one bite he’s taken. The pasta is a perfect al dente, the tomato sauce is made with chunky blistered cherry tomatoes, it’s sweet and rich with basil and garlic. The parmesan adds a needed salty element balancing the sweet tomatoes and much as he’d love to take another bite; he puts his fork down, not wanting to Alec the satisfaction.

“Happy”

“Very happy.” Alec says with a smirk on his face and walks back to his seat at the other end of the table.

“I thought your grandmother lived in Miami.” Raphael mentions

Magnus fumes in his seat while Alec stutters, trying to explain himself.

“Well, we all thought she wasn’t gonna make it. It was like a miracle.”

Magnus pushes himself from the chair and decides he’s better off in the kitchen before he says something he’ll regret. He’s fuming, angry at Alec for lying to him, angry for being put on the spot by his coworkers and embarrassed he fell for it.

“It was a miracle!” Alec calls after him.

A miracle? It’ll be a miracle if Magnus lets Alec survive the dinner service.

Dinner prep goes by, thankfully without incident. They stay on either side of the kitchen working on their own task, Magnus realizes how well this work for them and quickly makes a plan for dinner service. Magnus calls Alec over to the office. He takes the menu pinned to the corkboard and rips the piece of paper in half, handing one half to Alec, who leans against the door frame.

“You take care of those dishes and I’ll take care of these. We’ll stay on different sides of the kitchen.” He stands and goes to leave the office, “Then we won’t get in each other’s way.”

“Wait, yours is bigger than mine!”

Magnus huffs a laugh “Let’s not go there, Alexander” He stops beside Alec, clapping him on the shoulder, leaning into his space much like the other chef had at lunch, “It doesn’t matter how big the list is, Alexander. What matters is what you do with it.”

Alec chokes and his cheeks turn pink at the innuendo. Magnus, pleased with himself, continues into his kitchen, eventually hearing Alec’s feet following behind him.

“Okay,” Magnus claps, “Showtime, folks! Let’s have a good service.”

They do have a good service with the menu split in half, Magnus on one side of the kitchen and Alec on the other. Dishes fly from the kitchen and it pains Magnus to admit that Alec does fit into the kitchen. On his side, the chefs listen attentively to his orders. He dresses his plates beautifully despite Magnus looking for any flaws to pick at. 

Fifteen, two terrines, one Dover sole, two lambs.

Seven carpaccios.

“I’m still waiting on the carpaccio!” Magnus barks, “How long does a raw meat dish take!” 

Magnus wanders past his half of the kitchen, checking on the other chefs, ignoring Alec’s eyes as they land on him. When their eyes do meet Magnus sees the pot he’s stirring, he immediately recognizes the curry sauce that pairs with the sea bass.

“Have you seasoned that right?” Magnus asks, already grabbing a teaspoon 

“Yes, chef.”

He ignores the spoon Alec takes for him and dips his own spoon in the sauce. Magnus swirls the sauce in his mouth and fuck, of course, it’s perf.ect. The perfect amount of heat, the perfect amount of acid, but of course he won’t tell Alec

“It’s okay.” Magnus lies, refusing to admit just how perfect the sauce is. His voice a pitch higher than normal with a shrug then spins on his heels going back to his side of the kitchen. 

“Okay, carpaccio, now and where’s my lamb?”

Magnus spends the rest of dinner on his own side of the kitchen, but he finds his eyes wandering to the other side of the kitchen. Watching as Alec effortlessly laughs with the other chefs, cracking jokes, putting smiles on all the staff’s face, but his heart pinches the most when he sees how he makes Clary laugh. Magnus tries to ignore the laughter and continues on with the service. He takes the first four desserts of the night, two millefeuille with vanilla bean pastry cream topped with berries and chocolate raspberry tarts with a raspberry sorbet. Magnus is leaned over on the metal table using kitchen tweezers to top each piece of pastry with an even number of berries with focus. Magnus is so focused on the berries and not cracking the very delicate pastry, he doesn’t notice Alec scoot in the space behind him to grab dessert plates of his own. So when he stands up, Magnus is chest to chest with Alec, their bodies so close they’re nearly pressed together.

“Sorry,” Magnus says in a breathy voice.

Magnus moves to the right so Alec can squeeze past, but Alec also moves right so they’re still chest to chest. Then they both move left and they both laugh nervously, a blush rising on Alec’s cheeks. Alec puts his plates down and puts his hands on Magnus’s biceps and physically turns them around fixing their problem. Magnus shakes his head, collecting himself with a deep breath to get back to desserts.

“Pardon me.” Alec says, reaching over Magnus to grab the bottle of raspberry coulee.

“I need that.” Magnus groans.

“And you’ll get it right back.”

Magnus sighs and takes the bottles of chocolate ganache instead, dotting it on the chocolate raspberry tarts, then taking the raspberry coulee from Alec when he’s finally with it. For a bit, they’re quiet as they plate the dessert. It’s not awkward, but actually comfortable, and Magnus is okay with it.

“Can I ask you something?” Alec asks, breaking the silence.

Magnus sighs. “Do I have a choice?”

“Where did you learn to cook so well?”

 “My mother.” He says placing a quenelle of raspberry sorbet on the tart. “She taught me everything I know.”

“Seriously? I thought you were gonna say you studied under Ragnor Fell at Ravenscar Manor or something.”

“Oh, I did.” Magnus laughs “But my mom was better, and she didn’t throw plates at me.” He pauses plating and looks at Alec as he remembers his mother. “She had me in the kitchen with her from a young age. She’s the reason I fell in love with food and cooking”

The finishing touch is on the raspberry tart is a sugar cage which covers the entire tart made of spun sugar. Magnus takes a deep breath and leans over the plate, focusing to the point of holding his breath as he places the cage. Out of the corner of his eyes, he notices Alec watching him. He stands, giving the other chef a look he’s hoping says ‘back off’ and leans back over the plate. Magnus feels Alec’s warm body leaning back over near his own and really tries his best to ignore it, but when he feels Alec’s warm breath against his neck Magnus loses focus and the sugar cage shatters in his hand, breaking all over the plate.

“Shit”

Magnus cleans the sugar shards off the plate and gently grabs another one, putting it on an empty plate.

“God, I need more space.” Magnus exclaims, taking his plates to the other side of the metal table, which he thinks is a good idea so the chef can’t come up behind him until he realizes they’re almost face to face.

“Why are you so mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you, Alexander,” he says decisively. He turns putting his desserts on the pass for the server waiting, “Raspberry tarts for table 4”

“You’re very mad,” Alec insists once the server leaves

“Look.” Magnus places his hands on the metal table and looks Alec in the eyes, ignoring the bright smile on the man’s face. “ Alec, this is my kitchen. I’ve worked really hard to get here and I’m not gonna let you take it away from me.”

“What makes you think I want to take it away?”

Magnus rolls his eyes at the chef and glares. “What else could you possibly want?”

Magnus leaves the table before Alec can reply.. He goes to his safe space, the walk in to cool off, kicking out a waitress practicing lines for an audition so he can be alone. He leans his back against the cool shelf and takes a few deep breaths, imagining himself smacking the smirk off Alec’s face like he really wishes he could do in real life. But someone would definitely fire Magnus. The walk in opens again and Magnus groans when he sees that it’s Alec. 

Alec walks in, letting the door slam shut behind him and immediately walks right into Magnus’s space. As he walks closer, Magnus stands up straighter against the shelf he’s leaning on.

“Look, I don’t need this job.I can work wherever I want. I’d like to work here because it’s an honour to cook with you, but I’d rather work somewhere I’m welcome. So if you want me to go, you just say the word.”

The walk in opens for a third time and it’s Raphael. “Want to tell me what’s going on in here?”

“Well?” 

Alec looks at Magnus for an answer, but Magnus is silent. He can admit the kitchen has run smoothly with him there, but Magnus doesn’t trust him. No one had ever thought it would be an honour to cook with him. Most people ran at the thought with his high standards and the strict way he ran his kitchen, but Alec, Alec insisted on being here.

Alec unties his apron and Raphael’s eyes widen in shock. “Wait a minute. Where are you going?”

“I’m sorry, you’ll have to find someone else,” He says handing the apron to Raphael then leaves the walk in.

“Magnus, what have you done?”

Magnus rolls his eyes, then pulls two more tarts from a cart in the fridge. “I didn’t do anything.”

Raphael follows Magnus out of the walk in. While Magnus goes back to his station to fix up desserts, Raphael continues after Alec. “Alec, please. We need you.”

Magnus rolls his eyes. They didn’t need him. They were more than okay before he showed up messing with his kitchen.

“Well, I’ll have to hear that from him.” Alec says, packing up his things from around the kitchen.

“It’s my restaurant!”

“It may be your restaurant, Raphael, but it’s his kitchen. Without Magnus, all this would just be a pile of hot metal and dirty dishes.” Alec stands with his arms crossed and looks at Magnus. “So, he decides.”

“Magnus.”

Magnus turns around and looks between Alec and his boss. From behind Alec he makes eye contact with a very pregnant Clary, with tongs in one hand and her hand on her stomach. She looks at him and makes ‘come on’ gesture at him and he sighs, knowing the redhead is right.

“Seems you’ve left me no choice.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Alec says, a smile appears on his face.

“Didn’t I just say that?” He bites

“I didn’t hear those words.”

Alec put Magnus in a corner and judging by the now smirk that covers the other chef’s face, he’s fully aware of it. The kitchen is silent and everyone has their eyes on him making Magnus feel small and embarrassed. A blush covers his cheek from the situation but also how Alec looks at him and he only hopes the heat of the kitchen covers it up or Clary won’t let him hear the end of it. Magnus wants to turn around and ignore him, go back into the walk in or even leave the kitchen altogether but he knows there’s no way around this so he sighs and looks Alec in the eyes.

“I want you to stay.”

“Love to. Thought you’d never ask.” He says with a wink. Alec takes back his apron that Raphael hands back to him and ties it around his waist. “By the way, you have ganache on your cheek”

Magnus quickly wipes his cheek and sighs when his hand comes back with a streak of ganache. He doesn’t want to think about how the ganache had been there or why not a person mention it to him figuring, it would only upset him more than he already was. 

Magnus arrives at his apartment much later than he means to. The babysitter from the agency is nowhere to be found, which means they had left Madzie alone for who knows how long now. Tomorrow he’d give the agency a piece of his mind, but for now, he had a niece to find.

“Madzie” He calls out.

Magnus finds his niece in her bedroom but instead of on her bed under the covers, sleeping, he finds her underneath her bed with Chairman curled at her side, purring. 

“Well, don’t you both look cozy under here?”

“It’s a fort Magnus!”

“I see that,” He says, noticing all the blankets and pillows she’d shoved underneath the bed. “Why don’t we get into the bed to sleep?”

Magnus helps Madzie out from underneath the bed and pulls his fluffy cat from underneath the bed. At first he protests with a meow but calms down, curling up beside Madzie on the bed again. “He’s really taken to you,” Magnus says with a small smile.

“I like cats, “ She says with a shrug. “I always wanted one but mom was allergic”

Magnus nods, remembering all the extra cleaning he’d have to do whenever Catarina was coming over.  

“Let’s get you to sleep,” he says with a kiss on her forehead. “You have school tomorrow”

Madzie nods with a yawn. “Will I have another babysitter tomorrow?”

After tonight, Magnus is going to cancel for tomorrow. “Actually, I thought you could come to the restaurant tomorrow instead of a sitter. How does that sound?” He asks “You can see the restaurant and see what I do so late into the night. Maybe have a nicer dinner”

Madzie nods slowly, her eyes closing from exhaustion. “That sounds nice”

Magnus tucks her in one more time and pats Chairman on the head before heading to his own bedroom.

The next day Magnus leaves during dinner prep, leaving Alec in his place despite Raphael’s protests.

“You can’t just leave, Magnus”

“I won’t be gone long,” He says continuing to the door, “Besides you have Alec, what does it matter if I’m gone for half an hour?” 

He lets the door slam behind him and walks to his car. Magnus picks his niece up from school, waiting at the entrance, squinting his eyes, looking for her face in the crowds of children piling out of the building. It’s Madzie who finds him, taking his hand in hers with a tired smile on her face. The moment she walks through the restaurant door, her eyes widen, taking the grand dining room in. 

“Wow” Magnus hears her gasp.

Magnus bends down to her level. “You like it?”

The girl nods “The lights look like crystals”

Madzie points to the large chandelier in the middle of the dining room. She wasn’t wrong; it was made of crystals and was quite the centrepiece of the restaurant, but according to the staff, but was a bitch to clean. He’d been told numerous times how you had to nearly take apart the light fixture, unhooking each individual strand of crystal to clean them properly before putting them all back on. It was tedious and Raphael would accept nothing less than perfection, forcing you to redo it until it was right. 

“And there’s plants on the wall”

Magnus follows his niece as she goes to the wall to get a closer look. The plant wall is a section of the black painted wall filled with greenery and multiple colourful plants, one of the few parts of the dining room that had any colour other than black. There’s moss, snake plants, and even some flowers growing out of it. When Raphael had it put in, he claimed it ‘purified the air’ along with some other benefits Magnus didn’t believe, but it was beautiful not that he’d ever tell his boss that.

“But Magnus, In my science class we learned that plants need sunlight to grow, but it’s dark in here, so how are they alive?”

“You see those three lights that shine on the wall?” He gestures towards the ceiling. Madzie’s eyes follow Magnus’s arm and she nods as she spots them. “They’re a special lightbulb that mimics the sun’s rays. Think of them like pretend suns, sweetpea”

Madzie nods, and Magnus hopes he’s eased her curiosity.

“But why is the restaurant so dark, Magnus? Do you not want people to see what’s right in front of them?

Another great question, he didn’t understand the dark colour scheme either.

“I don’t know, sweetpea, I only work here. I didn’t design it.” He stands, hoping to end the conversation. “Now come on, I have to get in the kitchen”

Magnus sets Madzie up in the far corner of the kitchen where they can still see one another, but she’s out of the way of any staff and not in dangerous of getting anything spilled on herself. She sits at the table with one of the extra dining chairs Magnus pulls from Raphael’s office and starts on her homework. She keeps to herself, but she does make sure to greet every person who walks by her and if they introduce themselves, so does she.

“Your niece is adorable Magnus, how old is Madzie again?” asks Clary 

One thing Magnus hadn’t prepared for was the bombardment of questions staff would have about her or the amount that would come into the kitchen specifically to meet her.

“She’s eight, and everyone in this restaurant thinks she’s adorable.” He says with a sigh as he chops carrots, “Maybe I shouldn’t have brought her. What if everyone is distracted?”

“So River’s age.” She says with a smile, “No, it’ll be fine when dinner starts. How is she adjusting? Have you gotten her to eat anything yet?”

Magnus pauses his chopping and looks at the redhead, launching into his attempts at making her eat the fishsticks, which she did enjoy a then meal after meal of food she’d either pick at or simply not want to eat. 

“I’ve tried everything. No matter what I make, she doesn’t eat it.”

“Why not try giving her some regular kid food?” Clary suggests, “She probably misses her mother’s cooking and I doubt Catarina cooked crab cakes with katsu curry sauce or a cod fillet with a poached egg and jersey royals.”

Magnus raises an eyebrow at her. “Have you been talking to my therapist?”

It’s Clary’s turn to roll her eyes at Magnus. “I’m just saying you’re overthinking it. Madzie wasn’t raised with this kind of food, so of course she won’t eat it.” She stirs the pot of sauce in front of her, thinking for a moment. “What about French dip sandwiches? I’m assuming you can make an incredible roast beef. Cook it rare, caramelize some onions, melt gruyere cheese on some buns and she can dip in the au jus. Kids love dipping things.”

French dip sandwiches. He could try that. What did he have to lose at this point?

Dinner prep goes by smoothly, Alec walks in and Magnus is sure to ignore him and continue with his work. Madzie finishes her homework, then busies herself with watching the chefs prep things and asking them many questions.

“What that?”“What does it go in?”“Does it taste good?”

“Madzie,” Magnus interrupts at one point. “I know you’re curious but Viola has a lot of work to get through”

“It’s okay, chef,” Viola says, looking at Magnus. “Hey Madzie, do you want to see something gross?”

Madzie nods excitedly, and the chef takes Madzie by the hand, pulling her into the freezer. It’s only moments later before he hears Madzie’s giggles and shrieks of delight from that direction. Madzie comes out of the freezer with a smile still on her face. She goes back to the table Magnus had set up for her earlier, but sits on top of it instead and watches the chefs with curiosity for the rest of their prep time.

When dinner service begins, Madzie only watches more intently. When Magnus brought her in tonight, he hadn’t anticipated her becoming so interested. Magnus takes note and wonders if maybe, like his mother had, he should bring Madzie into the kitchen. Perhaps helping to make and prepare a meal would excite her enough to eat.

“All right, two foie gras, one tartare, two bisque, and a goat cheese.”

Throughout dinner prep and now into service, Alec had notices Madzie watching with interest as the dishes come together. He thought she was the sweetest thing, asking so many questions, showing such a high level of interest in food at her age and given the chance, Alec would answer every question she could think of, even if it took them all day. Alec had heard all about Madzie, the death of her mother, adjusting to this new city and new life. It was more than anyone her age should have to go through, and he truly felt for her. He notices when it’s nearing seven o’clock that the young girl still hadn’t had something to eat, so without asking Magnus so he wouldn’t get told no. He makes dinner. 

Alec crosses the kitchen to the other steel table Madzie had moved to at one point to get a better look at the kitchen during service. He nods and smiles at her in greeting, going to the shelves behind and picking up a metal bowl which he sets beside Madzie and a bunch of basil. Alec begins picking the leaves off them and putting them in the metal bowl. When he notices he’s caught Madzie’s attention, he brings the bunch closer to her face.

“Breathe in.”

And she does, taking a deep inhale of the basil plant.

“It’s basilico, one of my favourite herbs”

Alec tears off a few stems and hands them to Madzie, and together they tear off the leaves in silence, placing them in the bowl. At one point, he notices Magnus watching them. Alec can’t read the chef’s expression, but that’s nothing unusual with him. Alec was never sure if Magnus was angry and ready to stab him or simply focusing on his job. When Magnus doesn’t immediately stomp over to them, he assumes that they’re alright. He continues handing Madzie more stems of basil until all the leaves are in the bowl.

“You know what we’re going to do with these?” Alec asks Madzie, holding up the stems.

“Throw them out?”

“You could, most people do. But these young basil stems actually taste like the leaves we picked. So we’re going to save them and add them to pestos, salads and sauces.”

“Are you making a pesto now?” She asks, her eyes wide with wonder.

“I’m afraid not Madzie,” Alec takes the bowl of basil leaves from the table “And I’m afraid that ends our food lesson for the day, I must get back to work before your uncle yells at me” Alec says it jokingly to Madzie but silently he doesn’t want to be yelled at or be on Magnus’s bad side.

“Bye Alec”

Alec heads back behind the line as Magnus leaves the kitchen to greet his biggest fans. As he watches the duck cook skin side down, he begins dinner. He grabs tomatoes, dicing them with garlic and the basil from earlier and grabbing the nice olive oil. About half an hour later, when the tomatoes have cooked down, he blends it using a hand blender until smooth and then adds the basil leaves, adding salt and peppers as he goes. Finally, he adds in his pasta, stirring it in the sauce and adding a generous amount of parmesan before pouring it into a bowl.

“Clary, finish the duck on table five? I gotta take a break.” 

“Yeah, sure.”

Alec walks around and sits on the steel table beside Madzie, twirling a forkful of the pasta and eating it. 

“Mmm, good.” He says to himself before taking another forkful of pasta. 

Alec notices Madzie looking between him and the bowl of pasta and he knows his plan is working, but he pretends not to notice her and looks straight ahead.

“Table 12’s getting a little antsy. Will it be up soon?”

Oh table 12, earlier they’d been passed a note from one customer saying they intended on proposing to their partner that night and wanted something special done with the dessert. Alec had completely forgotten. He puts the bowl of pasta in Madzie’s lap.

 “Hold this.”

Alec leaps back into the kitchen, taking the squeeze bottle filled with chocolate ganache and attempts to right ‘Will you marry me?’ as neatly as possible on their plate with a chocolate pistachio dome. Alec watches Madzie from the other side of his station as he works, and then, when she thinks Alec isn’t watching, she takes a small forkful of pasta into her mouth. And then a much larger second bite, slurping up the noodles, and spreading tomato sauce all over her face.

“Save some for me,” He smiles

Madzie smiles as she eats the pasta and Alec knows Madzie won’t save him a bite.

“You know,” Alec says as he jumps back into cooking, “In ancient Rome guys used to chew basil before the prom to get rid of bad breath.”

Madzie looks at Alec in wonder, continuing to shovel pasta into her mouth.  

“It’s true.”

It’s at that moment Magnus walks back through the kitchen doors. He grabs his apron he’d tossed aside before leaving and reties it around his waist. He looks up and notices with shock that Madzie is eating; he looks to Clary who shakes her head that it wasn’t her. Instead, she points her tongs at Alec’s back. For the first time, warmth fills Magnus’s chest when it comes to Alec. As if he knew someone was talking about him, Alec turns around and smiles a soft smile when he makes eye contact with Magnus. Magnus smiles a warm smile back at the chef, surprising Clary, who looks between them but also at himself. He mouths a thank you to Alec and he nods in response.

“They didn’t have proms in ancient Rome!”

“They didn’t? Are you sure? I thought they did.”

It’s late when Magnus finishes and all the chefs start head home. After the pasta was long gone and she got tired of watching, Madzie fell asleep on a couch in one of the back offices. Magnus picks up her bag, shoving her coat and mittens inside, then picks Madzie up from the couch, carrying her on his side. He turns around and pushes the kitchen door open with his back when he notices Alec standing there putting his own coat on. Magnus once again smiles at the man and whispers a goodnight to him.

“Goodnight, Magnus”

His tone is soft, and it warms Magnus’s chest, then his heart thuds in his chest as the man walks closer to him. He stops and pets Madzie’s head, whispering a goodnight to her as well before leaving through the other door, leaving Magnus standing alone, his heart beating in his ears.

The drive home is silent, leaving Magnus alone with his thoughts, and for the first time Magnus thinks maybe, just maybe, he and Alec could work together. 

Perhaps they’d make a good team.

Magnus’s alarm clock goes off disgusting early that morning. Originally he’d given the fish monger and produce merchant job to someone else, but with Madzie seeming to adjust Magnus decided he wanted that duty back. He showers, and dresses quickly and quietly so he doesn’t wake Madzie in hopes she’ll sleep in after her long night at the restaurant. But all Magnus’s hopes are shattered as he puts his coat and boots on.

“Where are you going?”

Madzie peers around the door frame, teddy bear in one hand and Chairman at her ankles.

“The pier,” He replies. “I order fish to the restaurant from the mongers down there and produce from the farmer’s market. Go back to sleep Madzie, it’s early”

“Can I come?” She asks 

Magnus agrees, of course, and together they go to the pier. Normally Magnus wouldn’t wander but with it being Madzie’s first time seeing anything like this, he slows his pace and watches as his niece’s eyes widen at the produce and all the fish. Magnus buys her breakfast from one farmer, a probably overpriced fruit salad and a muffin the farmer said his wife makes. While Madzie eats on a nearby bench, Magnus bargains with the fishmongers.“What you got, Steve?”

“Fresh bluefin.” He says, pointing to the fish, “Just came in like five minutes ago.”

Magnus shakes his head. He’d had bluefin on the menu too recently.

“I got baby mollusks over there.”

He shakes his head again. “What’s behind you there?”

“Swordfish.”

Swordfish, Magnus can’t remember the last time he’d put that on the menu. He thinks about the black garlic he knew was coming today. Garlic and ginger rubbed swordfish…and a fruit salsa on top, maybe a mango salsa?

“Yeah, I’m gonna take some of those. Have them delivered by noon.”

When the pair arrive back at Magnus’s apartment, he decides a nap would be good for them both as they still had a few hours before Madzie needed to be at school. But Magnus should’ve known better or at least set an alarm on his phone because the moment he closes his eyes, he falls into a deep sleep dreaming of hazel eyes and spicy cologne, only woken up by the ding of a text message. The moment Magnus realizes it’s 9 am, he’s suddenly awake and panicked.

“Madzie” Magnus shakes her shoulder, “Madzie, come on, we overslept. You’re gonna be late for school.” Unlike Magnus’s hurried pace, Madzie slowly stands up and stumbles to the front door. “Here are your boots, sweetpea.” Once Madzie is finally dressed with all her things, he opens the front doors and shoos her out, leading her down the stairs. “Come on. Let’s go, let’s go.”

Magnus easily breaks multiple traffic laws as he drives Madzie to school, but thanks to his somewhat reckless driving, she’s only half an hour late.

“Tell them it was my fault, okay?” He says as Madzie climbs out of the car, “Have a good day sweetpea,”

He waits until Madzie walks through the front door of the school before he speeds off again, this time to the restaurant. Running late with Madzie should have been a warning to Magnus that today wasn’t going to be a stellar day. Every delivery that was scheduled for that day was late, throwing Magnus’s schedule off. The wrong fish gets brought to the restaurant.

“I told you I wanted swordfish this morning, so why is it that I’ve just been given salmons!”

Then when their truffle guy, who Magnus thinks is super sketchy, comes by to sell them white truffles for $2200 a pound. Clary’s water decides it’s the perfect moment to break and his best friend is suddenly in labour. The salesperson suddenly panics at a coworker’s suggestion to call an ambulance heightening Magnus’s suspicion of the man, but Magnus declines and instead says he’ll bring her himself, leaving Alec in charge. The drive to the hospital is thankfully fast, with Magnus only breaking a few minor traffic laws despite Clary’s squawks of displeasure from the passenger seat.

“The doctor warned me she’d be early, I should have listened” Clary laughs “River was late, so I didn’t believe him,” She suddenly turns to Magnus with wide eyes “Jace, we have to call Jace! Magnus, give me your phone!”

“Let’s focus on getting you to the hospital biscuit and I’ll call him,”  Magnus squeezes his friend’s thigh in a comforting gesture, “I love you, but if you give birth in my car, I will never forgive you.”

Clary had met her husband, Jace, at the restaurant. Jace worked as a farmer, and his farm was one farm they got their produce from. Clary was new at the time, only working there for a month the first time she set her eyes on the blonde man. 

“It was love at first sight,” she’d say, which always made Magnus roll his eyes at her.

While Magnus didn’t believe in love at first sight, he did agree they were immediately attracted to one another. Clary suddenly wanted to help bring in deliveries, especially the produce deliveries, and Magnus often caught them speaking and flirting nervously with one another. After months and months of terrible flirting, Clary giggling at Jace’s terrible jokes and hopelessly pining Jace finally asked for Clary’s number and on a date, which of course Clary quickly agreed to. Their romance was a whirlwind marrying only eight months late.

“When you know, you know Magnus,” she’s said to him at a bridal boutique as they look at dresses. “Someday someone will come along who will tear down those walls you’ve built around your heart. And when that love comes back to you, you’ll do everything in your power to fight for it, because you’ll finally understand what I feel with Jace.”

Of course, Magnus didn’t believe her then, but a small part of him did secretly long for what they had. Jace was a good man who worshiped the ground his wife walked on, and Magnus knew he would do anything to make Clary happy. Magnus wanted that. He wanted someone to look at him the way Jace would look at Clary when she wasn’t paying attention. He wanted someone who loved him as is and wouldn’t try to mould him or change him into someone he wasn’t. He wanted someone to love and care for, cook their favourite meals and see the smile on their face when the plate was set in front of them. But he wasn’t sure if that was ever going to be in the cards for him.

As promised, after Magnus walks Clary into the hospital and he wheels her into her room where a nurse helps her into the bed, he goes outside for a moment and calls Jace.

“I can’t leave yet!” He panics into the phone. “Magnus, please stay with her until I get there. I don’t want her alone.”

And Magnus does. He stays by her side, helping her stand when she wants to walk around a bit and letting her squeeze his hand when she’s hit with a contraction. A few hours later, Jace rushes into the room, still in his work clothing, and leans over Clary’s bedside, giving her a gentle kiss.

“I’m Clary, I got here as fast as I could–”

Clary stops him with a finger to his lips. “You’re here now, that’s what counts…although I wouldn’t have minded if you’d changed from those dirt stained overalls.”

Jace blushes, looking at his dirty overalls. “You’re more important.”

Feeling awkward, Magnus quietly stands and attempts to leave the room without much noise. He shouldn’t be here, this is a special moment in the couple’s life. They didn’t need Magnus.”

“Magnus, where are you going?” Jace asks, noticing Magnus

“I should get back. I left Alexander in charge, so who knows what he’s up to? Besides, this is a private moment. I shouldn’t be here”

Clary reach her hand towards Magnus as if she could reach him from across the room. “I want you here, Magnus,” she looks at her husband, “We want you here to meet your goddaughter.”

God daughter?!

Magnus clears his throat, holding back the emotion in his chest and walks back into the room, taking back his original seat on the other side of Clary, taking her other hand in his.

“Well, let’s make a birthday biscuit.”

Clary does great. She squeezes the men’s hands throughout her contractions and apologizes to them and any nurse or doctor in the room when she curses. Many hours later, Jace and Clary’s daughter are born. They name her Rekha and she’s perfect. With all the excitement of the day, welcoming a new life into the world, holding his goddaughter Rekha and if that wasn’t enough, an exhausted Clary asks him something important.

“Magnus, Jace and I have been talking and we want to know if anything were to happen to us would you take care of Rekha and River?” Magnus’s eyes widen but Clary continues, “With Catarina’s death and Madzie it made us think..you don’t have to answer us now and I get it if you don’t want to you have Madzie—”

“Clary, of course I would.” He smiles down at his goddaughter as she yawns. “But nothing better happens to your mom and dad. I can’t lose another best friend.”

Magnus leaves the hospital that afternoon with a smile on his face, but it’s short-lived when he notices the time on the clock in his car. It’s 3:45 and Madzie’s school lets out a 3. With all everything going on, he’d completely lost track of time. Thankfully, the drive isn’t long and soon he’s turning the corner with the familiar school is in his view. Magnus quickly spots his niece sitting on the front steps of the school. He slams his car to a stop and throws open his door, not bothering to turn the vehicle off, and jogs towards her small figure.

“Oh, Madzie.” He coos, noticing her red cheeks from the cold, “I’m so sorry.”

“You forgot me.”

“It’s not what you think–”

“You forgot me!” Madzie yells again.

“Clary had her baby, I had to take her to the hospital–”

“But you still forgot me!”

 Magnus sighs in defeat. “Okay, I forgot you. And I’m sorry, come on let’s go home.”

Madzie says nothing, instead crossing her arms, looking away from Magnus.

“Madzie, come on, it’s freezing out here.” He says, losing his patience.

When Madzie still doesn’t move, Magnus crosses his own arms, “Madzie, move it!”

Madzie lets out a loud sigh but stands from the stairs with her arms crossed over her chest as she stomps towards Magnus’s car on the road. The car ride to Magnus’s apartment is silent and full of tension. Madzie had her body turn towards the window and stare out of it the entire ride. Up to the apartment, she walks ahead of him and waits impatiently at their door when she arrives first. The second the door opens, she kicks her shoes off, and throws her coat on the floor before stomping to her room and slamming the door shut with a bang.

“Madzie, I’m sorry. I totally blew it.” Magnus leans his forehead against her closed door. “I know I’m doing everything wrong, but I’m doing my best, okay?”

When Magnus hears nothing from the other side of the door, he decides to go in, regardless. Madzie is allowed to be upset with him. He did screw up, but there has to be a way he can make it up to her. He slowly opens the door and in front of him Madzie lays in her bed curled up with her back facing to the door and Chairman laying at her head on one of her pillows licking her head.

“Why don’t you think of something I can do to make it up to you, sweetpea?”

Madzie turns her head and to look at Magnus, “You mean like a wish?”

“Yeah.” Magnus sits on the edge of Madzie’s bed. “Yeah, you wish for something and I try to make it happen. And in return, you forgive me.”

“Can I save it for later?”

Magnus nods “Of course. I’m going to start dinner. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

Magnus pats her shoulder and stands from the bed to leave the room.

“Magnus,”

He stops, looking back to Madzie from the doorway.