metanoia | alec lightwood

56

A FEW YEARS LATER

"Alright, kid." I whispered to the six year old crouched in front of me. He was hiding behind a bush with me, with his messy hair peaking out of his beanie, and his nose red from the cold. He was all bundled up in a puffer jacket, snow boots and big mittens for his hands. I reached over and readjusted his scarf neatly. "It's you and me. They can't beat us— we're the best team, right?"

"We're the best." He smiled widely at me, reaching down into the snow and shaping a snowball in his small hands. "Can we have hot cocoa after we win?"

"Of course, Reid." I balled a snowball into my hands. "But— we have to beat your dad and your sister first."

"Dad always wins." Reid looked at me.

I pointed at him. "Not today."

"Not today." Reid repeated and nodded.

Then— a ball of snow hit the back of my coat.

"Found you!" Margo's squeal filled the air when another snowball flew past my head and landed against Reid's chest. Reid and I stared at each other with panicked eyes.

"Sweetheart," Alec began as I slowly turned my head to look at him and our seven year old daughter— she was going to be eight very soon. "What part of "Dad always wins" did you not understand?"

I slowly looked back at Reid. "Run."

Reid let out a shriek when he and I were attacked with snowballs, the both of us making a run for it. Margo chased her brother, squealing while she threw the deformed clumps of snow from her fists at him. Alec tackled me into the snow before I could rescue Reid from being attacked.

"You brute!" I gasped and grabbed a fist full of snow, pushing it into my husbands face. "She's a menace— she's going to kill him!"

"That's no way to treat your husband— is it, Lightwood?" Alec grabbed my wrists and pinned them into the snow. "Surrender."

"Never!" I lifted my face so it was closer to his. "I would kick your ass if it weren't for—"

"Mom said a bad word!" I heard Margo's gasp.

I paused and slowly looked tilted my head back as far as it would go, looking at our children upside down. "No, I didn't."

"She did." Alec flatly smiled up at them with a shrug. "She deserves to be punished— she's been a very bad girl."

My jaw dropped and my head snapped back towards Alec. "You dirty bastard—"

My words ended in a gasp when I felt snow hit the top of my head. Then, the squeals of our children as they began attacking me— and Alec, because he was on top of me— with snowballs.

"I said punish her, not me!" Alec shouted in a panic and collapsed next to me, hugging me into his chest while our children bombarded us with snow.

Reid and Margo were laughing wildly and Alec and I traded a look. Then— we grabbed handfuls of snow in unison, and threw them at Reid and Margo. Their laughter only intensified and mixed with screams and squeals of delight when we tackled them into the snow gently.

I pointed my snow coated glove at Reid's face. "You betrayed me."

"You said a bad word!" Reid countered and then hugged himself. "Can we have hot cocoa now?"

"Yes, we can have hot cocoa now." I stood up and dusted my hands off, before reaching for his hand. Reid's small hand grabbed mine and I looked at Alec, who had picked up Margo. She snuggled into his shoulder— her teeth chattering. "Alec, there's marshmallows at the Institute right? I could portal home really quick and pick some up—"