Finding where I fit

Chapter 15: For the crown

Jace sat back proudly and stared up at the framed certificate that he had just hung up. Only grade eight to go now. He smiled.

Maryse called up from downstairs that the monopoly game would be starting as soon as Alec got the board. Jace climbed down the ladder and onto the landing. He walked past Alec's room and heard him giggling like a child, he didn't want to ask why.

He bounded down the stairs, Maryse always called him her baby elephant because he was so hard-footed when he went up or down. Max walked out to the bottom of the stairs and narrowed his eyes at Jace. They raced each other to the table, pushing and shoving to get to the race car game piece first. Izzy walked in with her hair in two little buns, she sipped her drink through a straw as she rolled her eyes at her brothers. "Guys, chill. Alec is still upstairs. What is taking him so long anyway? I'm going to see wha-" Jace interrupted her.

"No!" Izzy looked at him quizzically as he cleared his throat.

"No, its fine." Dear lord, Alec. Get down here now.

***

Jace sat at the table and raised his eyebrows in confusion as Magnus sauntered through the front door. Max cut in front of him with the race car piece in his hand and waved it in the air, Alec had brought the game down for them but apparently wasn't playing. He'd gone back upstairs in a hurry for some reason. Jace smiled and clipped Max's leg with his foot, making him fall onto his knees on the carpet. Maryse gasped and shouted at Jace to apologise but let it go when Max stood up and tackled Jace from the waist.

Jace tried to snatch the game piece from Max's hand as they wrestled on the living room carpet. Robert stepped over them casually and waved to Magnus who was at the bottom of the stairs. Max held the piece slightly out of the way of Jace's grasp and their eyes met, both of them knowing what Max was going to do. Since Max had been old enough to figure out where Jace hid his sweets, they had always ended up grappling on the carpet over them and it always ended with them both laughing like fools as Max tried to stuff as much into his mouth as he could.

Maryse shouted as Jace laughed. He tried to pull Max's jaw open as he pinned him down, he had tears rolling down his face from laughing.

Izzy walked in a second later, looking up from who she was texting. "So, who got the piece?"

Max put his hand over his mouth in panic as Maryse shouted. He put his hand in the air and bit into the side of his empty mouth. "I did..."

***

Jace threw himself down on the sofa and flicked on the TV. "How long do you think Izzy and Mom will be at the hospital with him for?"

Robert sighed as Magnus started helping him pack the game away. Alec had run downstairs without a shirt on for some reason and Robert had told him to go put one on.

"Not long. They'll just say to let nature deal with it. Your Mom was worried though so she wanted to take him, just to be sure."

"That's gross Dad. And hilarious."

"It's not hilarious Jace."

"Is for me. I'm not going to be the one who will have to-"

Robert cut him off as Alec came back into the room. "What are you boys going to do now?" Alec gestured to Jace and then to Magnus. "By 'boys', do you mean me and Magnus or us including Jace?" Robert finished picking up the game pieces and closed the lid of the box. Jace laughed internally and then cringed from the sofa as Robert replied. "How much difference does it make?" Jace slid down the sofa without making eye contact with anyone. "Quite a big difference Dad! We were thinking of going down to the swimming pool actu-" Jace held up his hand "Can I-" Alec cut him off before he could even ask.