Shadow Hunters: Parabati

Simon meets Rafe

Magnus and Alec were in the process of adopting their second child, a little boy named Rafael. He was a shadow hunter child whose parents were killed in the dark war. Alec had gone on a trip to Buenos Aires and brought the 5 year old home to New York. There was some disagreement from the clave as to if a gay shadow hunter and his warlock boyfriend should be allowed to raise a child of the angel. Eventually, the inquisitor, Alec's dad, was able to persuade the clave it was an honor to have 2 war heroes raise another strong child. The adoption process was taking a long time, though. There were many trips back and forth to Buenos Aires. Magnus and Alec had left to talk to someone in charge down in Buenos Aires and then needed to go to Idris. This meant that the safest place for their sons to be was New York. Alec's family had been taking turns babysitting while his parents were away. Jace was currently babysitting the boys at Alec and Magnus' loft in Brooklyn. Clary and Simon were going to meet him there to help with dinner. While Magnus was gone, it has been a little difficult to communicate with Rafe. Jace was the only one of Alec's family that could speak Spanish fluently. For the most part, Rafe was willing to follow Max's lead on things, which was good and bad. Max was only 3, so he could be a troublemaker. With Jace, there was at least a person of authority that Rafe would listen to and talk with.
When Clary and Simon arrived, Jace made quick introductions and then whisked Clary off to the kitchen to try and prepare something for the kids to eat. Simon was awkward with kids, but he sat down with Max on the floor and began playing with him. Rafe sat on the couch studying the adult and child playing with cars. Rafe said something, and Simon was able to catch some of the meaning. Simon had taken Spanish in high school, so he knew enough to get by. Simon responded in careful broken Spanish. He repeated himself in English to get his point across to both kids. Rafe was happy to have another person who could understand him. He got down on the floor and started to play with his adopted brother and Simon. Clary could hear all 3 talking and playing from the kitchen. Jace was surprised by the fact that Simon knew Spanish. Clary knew that Simon had taken a year or two of high school Spanish, but he must have continued after coming back from the demon realm, too. When food was done and deemed edible by Jace, Clary called for Simon to bring the kids to the kitchen table. Jace took over translating because he was fluent in Spanish along with at least 3 other languages. Jace poked fun at Simon, joked with Clary, and played games with Rafe and Max for the rest of the evening. After telling 3 bedtime stories to the boys, mostly about demon hunting because it's Jace, the boys were tucked into bed. Jace and Clary were leaving Simon at the loft with the kids overnight. They were less concerned now that they knew Simon could understand Rafe if he got up during the night. Izzy was going to meet Simon after patrol, so Simon would wait up for her. Simon lay down on the couch, getting comfortable and playing on his phone.