Work Text:
The day before Madzie's thirteenth birthday dawns bright but cold. An unexpected March snowstorm is slowly creeping up the coast and setting all the mundanes on edge. Madzie had wanted to see if she could redirect the storm away from the city, longing to test her hand at weather magic, but Magnus had cautioned her against it. Still, as much as she trusts Magnus's judgement, she can't help but stare a little wistfully as the first few flakes start to fall outside her window. It could've been fun.
She gets dressed slowly, unconsciously taking her time to avoid Magnus and Alec a little bit longer. She hates how much of a fuss they're making over her. But they'd been so horrified to learn they'd missed her last birthday (it came and went shortly after she'd first come to live with them last year), that she doesn't want to disappoint them again.
She finishes her outfit with her favorite green silk scarf Alec had bought her at a street fair last summer. Magnus has been helping her with what he calls subtle concentration magic - like the kind needed for a glamour to cover her mark - but she gets distracted easily and doesn't seem to have the patience for it. Besides, she prefers the scarves anyway. They're comforting.
She opens the door softly and quietly steals into the hall. Even after a year, she still takes care to make herself as quiet and unobtrusive as possible, part of her still waiting for the day that Alec or Magnus decides she's more trouble than she's worth. Every day it gets harder to imagine going back to her life from before, but that only increases her fear tenfold. She can't screw this up with them.
As she nears the den, she hears their voices and she pauses, still hidden in the hall. She doesn't want to interrupt if they're talking about something important.
"She understands," Alec is saying. He's trying to sound reassuring, but there's a hint of worry at the edge of each word. "I made sure she understands."
"I know Maryse is trying," Magnus replies. His voice is more openly worried. "But this is a big day for Madzie. For us as a family. I just don't want her to... inadvertently say something-"
"If you want me to uninvite her, I will," Alec interrupts, voice tight.
"No, of course not," Magnus says, soothing. Madzie leans forward towards the sound without thinking. Sometimes even just the sound of Magnus's voice can feel so much like a warm hug.
They're talking about Alec's mom, Madzie knows that much. She's a proud lady, covered in shadowhunter runes like everyone in Alec's family. Madzie doesn't like the way Alec's spine straightens whenever she's near, his aura muddying at the corners. But Maryse always smiles more brightly at Madzie than at anyone else in the room, the blue peeking out a little brighter under her own always blotchy aura. She's nice.
To Madzie, at least.
"I'll be back with Izzy by three," Alec is saying when she tunes back into the conversation. "Is there anything else I'm forgetting?"
"I can maybe think of one thing," Magnus says, voice playful and slightly dark the way it only ever is in these overheard conversations. It's how adults talk to each other when they're in love, she guesses. She imagines them kissing goodbye.
She waits until she hears the door click shut behind Alec before she steps out of the hall. She still manages to startle Magnus slightly, his shoulders twitching before he breaks out into a wide grin.
"There's the birthday girl," he says brightly.
Madzie shrugs.
"Not 'til tomorrow," she says.
"And a good thing too," Magnus replies easily, voice teasing. "Since someone still won't tell us what she wants as a gift."
"I don't need anything," she tells him again, playing with the fringe on her scarf. They've already given her so much, and she doesn't know how to ask for what she really wants anyway. It's not something you can wrap in a box.
"You seem quiet this morning, sweet pea," Magnus says, frowning slightly. He moves to sit on the nearby couch and motions for her to join him. "Is everything alright?"
She nods, moving to sit beside him. It's just all the extra attention, the idea of the party tomorrow. But she knows how important it is to them. It's only a day; she can give them that much.
"Are you nervous about the party?" he guesses. His mouth turns down and little grey streaks start to cut through his aura. "I guess I didn't even think about how overwhelming it might feel. Darling, if you don't want-"
"No, I do," Madzie cuts in quickly, hating those little grey streaks cracking through the usual warm orange that permeates Magnus's whole being. Even when she's careful, she always screws things up. "The party sounds great."
Magnus doesn't look convinced.
"Then what's bothering you?" he presses gently.
"Alec's aura gets muddy whenever his mom's around," she says without thinking, grasping for something to pull the focus away from her.
"Ah," Magnus says softly. "You overheard our conversation, I take it?"
Madzie looks away guiltily.
"Hey," Magnus says kindly, pulling her focus back. "Alec and his mother have always had a complicated relationship. It's nothing to do with you, petal."
"She doesn't love him the way she should," she says, searching Magnus's eyes, "but she's his mom."
Magnus smiles sadly.
"Sometimes, even when parents try to do what they think is best for their children," he tells her, reaching out to smooth the hem of her skirt as if without thought, "they miss the mark."
"She doesn't like you," Madzie says, before wincing at her lack of tact. But Magnus just laughs, some of the sadness smoothing off of his features.
"No," he agrees, the laughter still there in his voice. "Nor I her, I'm afraid."
"Why does she like me then?" she asks, thinking of the last time she'd seen Maryse at the institute where Alec works. Maryse had stopped mid conversation when she'd seen Madzie, her smile blooming as she'd leaned down to hug her in greeting.
"This is my granddaughter," she'd told the man she was with. Granddaughter. Madzie's heart flutters.
"Who wouldn't like you?" Magnus counters, drawing her back out of her memories. "The most talented warlock and the smartest almost-thirteen-year-old I've ever met?"
Madzie rolls her eyes, but she's smiling, the warmth of Magnus's words wrapping around her shoulders like a blanket.
"I still can't do glamours," she murmurs, mostly just to have something to contradict him. He smiles, undeterred.
"You'll get there, dove," he says. Madzie's mouth twitches at the constant nicknames.
"I'm not a bird, I'm a fish," she reminds him with a mock scowl that she can't quite hold. "You keep forgetting in your old age."
"Old?" Magnus repeats, scandalized. "I'll show you old!"
Just like that, they're up and racing around the apartment. Madzie giggling as she sets up magical barriers behind her as she runs, Magnus easily dismantling them as he follows. It had taken awhile for her to get comfortable enough to play like this, to not worry that she'll cross an invisible line somewhere and ruin the game.
Well, she does still worry about that a little.
Magnus eventually catches her, scooping her up and carrying her back to the couch as she laughs, trying to squirm free.
"Take it back!" he commands, voice still light.
"Fine, fine!" she squeals, breathless. "You're not old."
Satisfied, Magnus tosses her onto the couch and she bounces back to a sitting position, as he sinks down next to her again. She suddenly realizes she's in a much better mood then she was when she woke up this morning.
It's enough to make her feel cautiously brave.
"I do want something," she says, feeling the heat crawl up towards her ears. "For my birthday, I mean. It's just not- I don't know how to explain it."
Magnus leans forward slightly, his expression open but curious.
"If it's in my power to give, it's yours," he tells her, and she swallows thickly.
She thinks of his words to Alec earlier - for Madzie... for us as a family.
A family.
Someone's granddaughter.
"What if I, sometimes-" She stares down at one of the many rings adorning Magnus's fingers. It's set with a green stone that seems to sparkle as she looks at it. "What if I called you 'dad'?"
She keeps looking at the ring to avoid seeing Magnus's face, her heart in her throat.
"I would love that," Magnus says after a moment, surprising her with the amount of emotion in his voice. When she finally looks up, it's to a pure burst of orange, not a streak of grey left in sight. It's beautiful.
"I know Alec would too," Magnus adds softly.
"Okay," she says, equally soft.
Her dad. Her dads. She tests it out in her mind the way she hasn't really allowed herself to until now. She smiles.
"Speaking of Alexander," Magnus says. His voice is bright but Madzie doesn't miss the hint of wetness in his eyes. "Shall we take advantage of his absence for an ice cream run?"
Madzie laughs.
"It's snowing outside!" she reminds him.
"Not in Mexico," he counters, raising an eyebrow in slight challenge. Madzie feels the excitement start to thrum under her skin. She loves this game.
"Race you?" She asks with a smirk, already drawing magic into her palms.
Magnus grasps her forearm.
"You remember the rules?" he asks. His voice is stern, but she knows it's mostly a formality at this point. They've played this game enough times now that she could repeat the rules back to him in her sleep.
Still, she sees her opportunity and she takes it.
"Yes, dad," she says pointedly, her smirk slowly morphing into a true grin despite herself. "I know the rules."
Magnus stares, wide-eyed at hearing the word from her lips for the first time, just like she knew he would. She squeezes his hand gently, but only feels momentarily bad about taking advantage of his surprise to portal away before he realizes what she's done.
By the time he catches up to her, she's spread her scarf out on the beach like a towel and is holding two ice cream cones, one in each hand. She offers one to him as he sits down beside her.
"That was a dirty trick," he says, but he's smiling, his aura practically glowing in the warm sun.
"But you still love me, right?" she asks, half joking. Half... not.
"I do," Magnus confirms immediately, reaching out to grasp her hand. "I love you so much, my darling."
"I love you too, dad," she says softly.
Her actual party may not be until tomorrow, Madzie thinks, licking her ice cream cone as she stares out across the water, but this is already the best birthday she's ever had.