Since their staff had been working so hard lately, Alec and Raph decided they deserved a night to just relax, have fun, and get to know one another better. And what better way to do that then throwing them a party? Alec was just kicking himself in the ass for not setting up something like this before now. As everyone's boss, it fell to him to keep up moral, and he'd basically forgotten all about it.

When Alec and Raphael first discussed the party, Alec wanted it to be semi-formal at the very least, but Raphael's idea of it being a casual event seemed more appropriate. Then they got into the planning part. First they considered having it at the bistro, but that idea was quickly squashed when they remembered that the restaurant's plumbing wasn't hooked up yet. So instead, Alec volunteered to host it at his loft, which meant crossing decorations from their list of things to get, since Alec's house was decorated for Christmas anyway.

The debate on food came next. Alec was fully prepared to serve a full course meal, but again, Raphael thought it would be too much. He suggested finger foods to keep up with the casualness of the affair, which Alec had to admit made sense. Alec suggested they make it an 'Ugly Sweater' theme and even have a contest where the person with the 'ugliest' sweater would win a fifty dollar gift card, and this time Raph didn't spin his idea into something else so it went ahead. The whole shindig was scheduled on the twenty-third, just two days before Christmas, since it seemed to be the day that worked best for everyone.

Alec was just setting the last of the finger foods on his kitchen island when Raphael walked in with all the booze for the evening.

"Everything looks good," Raph said merily. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Nah, we'll just set up the drinks on the counter near the refrigerator," Alec replied.

Alec was nervous about his gift to Raphael. He'd worked tirelessly with the Fell's in order to get everything finalized, but Alec had no idea how Raph would react. Would he be upset, angry, happy?

"Before you set everything up, follow me into the living room," Alec suggested, trying to keep his hands from shaking. He'd rather give Raphael his gift now before everyone came over. Walking to the tree, Alec grabbed the flat, small wrapped package and handed it over. "Merry Christmas, Raph."

Alec anxiously watched his friend unwrap the documents, then pull them out of the legal folder. Raphael seemed to be taking forever to read it, and it wasn't helping Alec's nerves in the least.

"These are The articles of Limited Liability Corporation," Raphael said once he'd read through the document. "Why are you giving them to me to read?"

"W-well," Alec stuttered, nubbing the back of his neck. "The only signature required is your own..."

"Why?" Raphael asked, his brows knitted together.

"Because you've been with me, helping make every decision from the beginning, and we haven't done a single thing separately. So I thought that it was only fitting that you were an equal owner in the bistro," Alec explained. "If you agree to it, we'll go to the Fell's office on the twenty-sixth to have you sign, and have them witness it."

"¡Dios mío, loco! Este es el mejor regalo que alguien me ha dado," Raphael exclaimed, a smile so wide that Alec was sure Raph's face was going to hurt. Alec had no idea what Raphael said, but based on his facial expression Alec could only assume it was good. "Of course I'll be your partner! Are you sure about this, though? This has been your dream since always."

"Of course I'm sure!" Alec responded, just as happy as his friend. Alec didn't want Raphael to feel that he was, in any way, less than Alec. He really was Alec's equal, and just wanted to make it legal. "As I said, you've been helping me out from the very start. This restaurant is just as much yours as it is mine!"

"And your sweater is so wrong," Raphael scoffed. Alec furrowed his brows and looked down at what he was wearing only to chuckle. "You are not a 'mediocre gift giver.'"

Alec's ugly sweater was blue with white snowflakes all over it, with 'Mediocre Gift Giver' written on the front. When he saw it at the store he couldn't stop laughing for a solid ten minutes, and just had to buy it because he'd always felt that was an accurate representation of his gift giving skills.

"I'm going to put these in my apartment. I'll be right back," Raph said, his smile wide as he left the apartment without giving Alec a chance to respond. Alec just shook his head laughing, and pulled all of the alcohol out of the bags Raphael had brought in.

Soon enough, everyone arrived and the party started. Emma made a Yule log that looked exactly like a real log of wood, as well as other pastry sweets. Every time she made any type of cake, Alec was always amazed by the taste and presentation. He made sure to take pictures of her many creations before everyone dug into them so that way he could catalogue her work for business and her personal portfolio. Not only that, but such sweets weren't likely to last long as Cat had developed a major sweet tooth while pregnant.

"Having fun there?" Alec questioned, looking at her plate.

"Are you going to tell me not to go overboard?" Cat replied with a little bite to her tone.

"Not at all, I've just never seen you eat sweets before the pregnancy," Alec chuckled.

"Well, the little bean likes junk food," she shrugged. "Hopefully she won't have the same cravings when she's out of the womb."

"It's a girl!" Alec exclaimed happily, his smile wide as he hugged his friend. "Have you picked a name yet?"

"Crap," Cat groaned. "Don't tell anyone, Ragnor wanted to be surprised. He still doesn't know what we're having."

"Mums the word," Alec mimicked zipping his lips closed and winked. "Do you have any names picked out yet?"

"We're still working on that," Cat sighed, rolling her eyes in what Alec could only assume to be exasperation. "Ragnor and I can't seem to agree on any name choices."

"Good luck. I'm sure you guys will come up with a beautiful name for what I'm sure to be a beautiful baby-," Alec nearly slipped and said 'girl' at the end of that sentence when he noticed Ragnor walking towards them.

"Alec," Ragnor greeted with a 'bro hug'. "Raphael told us that you've decided to make him an owner. I don't think I've ever seen him this happy."

"I mean..." Alec felt heat rising in his cheeks. "You guys and Magnus did agree to it. I thought it would be appropriate to give the documents to him as a Christmas gift."

As investors, Alec needed everyone's 'permission' - so to speak - in order to add Raphael as an owner. He didn't want to upset one of his friends, and lenders, by not running his idea past them.

"And an excellent idea it was," Ragnor replied with a smile. "Now, have you seen that glowing wife of mine? She was here a moment ago, but just as I arrived she disappeared." Alec pointed towards the dessert trays. "Ah yes, should have guessed. Thanks." Alec couldn't suppress the slight giggle that escaped him.

In all the excitement of the evening Alec had almost forgotten to give appropriate attention to Magnus who had come here tonight to support him.

Alec scanned the room and found Magnus mingling with some of his staff. Alec smiled to himself as he headed over.

"Found you," Alec said as he wrapped one arm around Magnus's waist.

"I was unaware that I was missing," Magnus smiled back, leaning into Alec's side.

"Don't let me interrupt," Alec told the group at large. "You were in the middle of discussing...?"

"We were discussing what our favorite dishes are that we've learned so far," Kit nervously replied.

"Come now," Alec countered. "This is an off hours staff party. What's with the work talk?"

Everyone all looked awkward for a moment, and then Magnus spoke. "Darling, I'm sure you are a wonderful boss, but I do believe sometimes one must party with one's peers, not one's managers."

Alec sighed. "I guess being the cool boss is still the boss huh," he grumbled.

"The best boss," Emma giggled, smiling brightly at Alec.

"Now now, no long faces," Magnus said to Alec before turning to the group and bidding them farewell.

"You didn't have to go just cause they didn't want to gossip with me," Alec said once they'd moved out of earshot with the group of staff.

"I know," Magnus said smiling. Then he looked both ways as if crossing the street before moving in to kiss Alec gently on the lips. As he pulled away the smile on Magnus' face was almost blinding.

"Whatcha grinning for?" Alec asked, feeling slightly flirty.

"Nothing," Magnus replied, looking down as if he weren't sure of himself.

"Come now," Alec reminded him. "We agreed to full disclosure, remember?"

"It's just," Magnus began. "Well it feels like, I mean things are going so well, and you said you love me too and well... everything is back to normal now isn't it?"

Alec could see the hope in his eyes. The bright blazing hope that he hated to crush, but had to.

"Sorry, but it's not," Alec said softly. "It's better, yes, but it's not like we don't have a ways to go."

"I don't understand," Magnus replied, sounding so dejected that Alec was starting to feel horrible for crushing his spirits.

"Love and trust aren't the same thing," Alec gently explained. "I never stopped loving you even when we were fighting, but my trust, Magnus, that's what was shattered. It's the trust that needs mending, not the love."

"I get that," Magnus sighed, and Alec wrapped his arms around him, trying to give comfort to his boyfriend. He so wished that he could forgive Magnus completely now, but Alec just wasn't programmed that way.

"But we're well on our way to getting to that point," Alec was quick to reassure his boyfriend. "Just keep being the same, sweet, loving Magnus that I know and we'll be fine."

Magnus nodded, then leaned down and gave Alec the sweetest kiss he'd ever received. "Are you still planning to go with me to my parents house tomorrow?" Alec asked once they pulled away.

"Of course, darling. I wouldn't want to spend my Christmas with anyone else," Magnus smiled, seemingly in a better mood. Alec let out a sigh of relief.

After many reassurances that Magnus was okay, the rest of the party went off without a hitch. There was Holiday karaoke, where Alec found out that a lot of his staff were pretty talented singers. Magnus and Cat kept jokingly trying to recruit them for record deals, but some of his staff rivaled Izzy with their terrible singing. All in all, the birsto's holiday party was a success.

After getting the help from Raphael, Magnus, Eronte and Lindsay the apartment was cleaned up in no time. Alec sighed as his head hit the pillow, knowing he was going to have a long couple of days ahead of him.

~oOo~

Alec was in his kitchen bright and early the following morning to prepare all of the desserts he was taking to his parents house for their big family dinner. He was going to make a Maple-Pear Tarte Tatin, a Chocolate Gingerbread Cake with Christmas trees that Emma made for him in fondant, a Chocolate Ganache Tart, a cream cheese pie, a chocolate chess pie, and Gingerbread Wands for people to dip in his mothers famous gingerbread lattes. It was going to be a full day of baking, and Alec was looking forward to it. He was also planning on making his breakfast casserole for Christmas morning. It was a tradition Alec started many years ago when he expressed an interest in cooking, and it was easy to reheat. Of course, his mom taught him how to make it, and it was the only thing Maryse would approve of him doing during the holidays.

While preparing his coffee and breakfast, Alec thought of what was to come in the upcoming days. Alec's mother, in Maryse Lightwood fashion, went ahead and invited Magnus to spend Christmas eve and day with the family. They were set to arrive at their house later that afternoon, have New England Bean & Bog Cassoulet prepared by Alec for Christmas eve, then spend the night. The Cassoulet was a tradition that his father had from his own family, and Maryse - then later, Alec - would continue to keep some of Robert's childhood traditions alive. The Lightwood's would always exchange one gift to everyone in the family on Christmas eve, but the rest would be opened Christmas morning. Maryse made sure to also keep that tradition for Robert since they'd been married.

Alec was a bit of a nervous wreck about sleeping next to Magnus again after not doing it for so long, but Maryse wouldn't have it any other way. Magnus accepted the invatation, but before Alec could even broach the subject of sex, Magnus promised Alec that he would behave due to their prior 'no sex' agreement. Alec felt so relieved hearing that because he was not going to have sex in his childhood bedroom. No way, no how! He didn't even want to consider having sex while living under the same roof as his parents!

Christmas Day was also going to be a full day. As per Lightwood family tradition, all the kids would wake up and open up their 'Santa' gifts, then spend the day hanging out with their significant others and extended family. Their grandparents - on his mother's side of course - would come over to exchange gifts with them, and their uncle Max, who lived in California, would always make the trip home as well. Then later in the day the friends of the family would arrive, everyone from Luke and Jocelyn, to Elane and Rebecca, as well as Charlotte and Henry Bronwell and Lydia would stay for dinner. This year the Lightwood's also invited Gideon and Sophie, as well as Ragnor, Catarina, and Raphael to come, all of whom enthusiastically agreed.

A knock on the door pulled Alec away from his thoughts. Wondering who in their right mind would willingly visit at five o'clock in the morning. He assumed it would be Raph since his doorman would've called if it were an outside guest.

Opening the door, Alec was surprised to find Magnus on the other side.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he questioned. Magnus leaned down to kiss his cheek.

"I'm here to be your assistant," Magnus said with a flourish. "I know you have a lot to do before we go to your parents house, so I want to help in any way I can."

"Hm," Alec tapped his chin with his pointer finger jokingly. "I guess I could have you stand in the corner and look pretty." Alec winked and motioned for Magnus to come in. "Would you like some coffee?" Alec asked as he made his way to the kitchen.

"Yes, please," Magnus sniggered. "I was thinking that I could hand you whatever you need. I'm not just a pretty face, you know." Magnus' tone let Alec know that he was playing along.

"I'm sure I can give you something to do." Alec agreed after he doctored Magnus' coffee. "Now, get that sexy ass over here and wait for instruction."

"Yes, chef!" Magnus shouted with a mock solute. Alec threw his head back in laughter.

After they both washed their hands, Alec pulled everything out that he needed.

"If you want to chop, cut the pears in quarter inch slices, then rinse them in the sink," Alec suggested as he worked on the maple sauce for the Tarte Tatin. Magnus saluted him as if taking orders were his military duty. Alec tried to suppress his giggle.

For the next several hours Magnus did everything Alec asked of him in between stealing glances and kisses as they worked. Their baking was completed ahead of schedule allowing them to nap before they needed to leave.

~oOo~

Christmas day brought in a buzz of activity in the Lightwood Brownstone. After opening presents and having a sufficient amount of breakfast, came Jace whining about his leg, hoping to get Clary to cater to his every whim; Isabelle was trying - and failing - to play dress up with an agitated Max, and Magnus and Simon were watching football in the living room with Robert. Jace was kicked out by Robert because of his constant bitching and complaining, which had everyone chuckling. He stopped taking his pain medication because he didn't want to sleep throughout the festivities. Meanwhile, Alec was trying in vain to help his mother in the kitchen. The only thing Maryse would allow him to do was play waiter, carrying finger food on trays out to all the guests.

Now that their extended family and friends had arrived Magnus was engaged in a conversation with his uncle Max, while Alec and Raphael were talking to his grandpa.

"How's the bistro coming along, son?" Grandpa Trueblood asked.

"Well, we're fully staffed up and trained thanks to Lydia's help. The city codes kept us behind due to old plumbing and wiring in the building, so that's pushed us behind schedule," Alec paused to think, looking at Raph for help.

"We don't know if our scheduled opening date will be February first due to the setbacks," Raphael added.

"Oh," Luke turned, mid conversation with Robert. "You guys will start on your targeted date. I'll have my guys working overtime to make it happen." Luke then turned to resume whatever he was talking to Robert about.

"Well, there's that," Alec chuckled.

"We did throw our staff a holiday party a couple of days ago," Raph added, quietly laughing. "We really do have a good group of individuals working for us."

"That we do," Alec added fondly. "Oh! I have pictures but they're on my phone. Mom?" Alec addressed Maryse. "Can I break the no phone rule to show pictures of the holiday party?"

Alec felt like a high schooler again asking such a question. Maryse made a strict rule when they were all beginning high school that on holiday's, all phones were to be turned off and left in their rooms when the extended family was over.

"Oh yes dear! Pull them up on the tv so we all can see them," Maryse exclaimed.

Once Alec synced his phone to the smart tv he was able to start the slideshow.

The first photo was of the entire staff. Alec went through and told his family and friends all of the names, and what their positions were.

"What's the deal with the sweaters?" Max asked laughing.

"It was the theme of the party," Raphael explained. "We even had a contest and the winner won a fifty dollar gift card."

"Oooohhh," Jace perked up. "Who won? And who got to be the judge?"

"Well, Raph and I decided to 'not be the bad guys' to the rest of our staff, and had Ragnor, Catarina, and Magnus be the judges," Alec explained. "I think I had more fun watching them deliberate than I did watching my staff drunkenly try to model."

"That was so much fun! Poor Catarina had to deal with her overly tipsy husband, and I was just trying not to upset the overly hormonal pregnant woman," Magnus exclaimed, causing said woman to smack the back of his head. "But at least I agreed with her choices." Magnus glared at his friend, rubbing the back of his head. Alec leaned over to kiss it and make it better, earning 'aws' from everyone in the room.

"Let me show you the winner," Alec swiped through his photos to find Kit's 'winning' picture. "Grandma, grandpa, I'm sorry you have to see this." Alec blushed as he pulled up the picture.

Kit was standing with a plastic gold crown on his head, smiling brightly while holding the hem of his sweater.

"Oh my god!" Jace said between laughter. "That's the best sweater ever!"

Kit's sweater was blue with a picture of a naked Santa laying down with a gift box hiding a certain body part. The text read 'I HAVE A BIG PACKAGE FOR YOU.'

The entire room was filled with laughter, but Alec's poor grandma looked confused who had unfortunately grown a little senile over the years.

"I don't get it," she said, which caused more laughter to erupt in the living room.

"Mom," Maryse giggled. "The script is an innuendo... "

"It's referring to Santa Claus' penis, Marisa," grandpa explained, quite pointedly, which caused an exaggerated 'oh' coming from his grandma. Alec couldn't take it any longer, and hid his face in the crook of Magus' neck. He could feel the heat on his cheeks as he silently laughed.

"Moving on," Raphael quickly took Alec's phone from him and started explaining other photos. "This is a picture of the food we made, and these are the desserts that our pastry chef, Emma made."

"Maryse, dear. Is that the same person who made Max's graduation cake?" grandma asked.

"She is. She's also responsible for the decorations on the Chocolate Gingerbread Cake we had for dessert," Alec interjected with pride. "She has such talent. I'm working on a portfolio for her."

"Why would you do that?" Jace asked, his head tilted to the side looking like a confused puppy.

"Because she's young, and I can see her going places," Alec simply explained.

"But then you'd lose out on your pastry chef?" Jace still seemed confused.

"Alec would be a bad boss if he held an employee back just for the sake of losing them," Lydia spoke up. who'd quietly been conversing with Cat all night, spoke up. "For example, Emma started out as a pastry assistant to my pastry chef, but knowing that I wasn't utilizing her skills to their fullest potential, I referred her to Alec. Alec also sees that she's got amazing potential and wants to help her reach her goals."

"I get it," Jace smiled, nodding his head like a bobble head doll. "It's just like you did with me. When I was getting roles in the local theaters you told me how much you were proud of me, then you encouraged me to try my hand at movie rolls because you wanted me to succeed."

"Basically," Alec agreed. "I would be a fool to expect my staff to stay with me forever. The only thing I can do is teach them, watch them grow, and help them succeed. When my staff eventually moves on, I'll be around to train and teach the next batch, and so on."

"And I'll be around to help him," Raph said with a cheeky smile.

"Dude, your bromance with my brother is almost scary," Max said, earning a smack from Magnus. "What? It's true!" he exclaimed, turning and glaring at Magnus.

"Leave them alone. Raphael and your brother are perfectly fine," Magnus defended.

"Well, we're very proud of you, Alexander," grandpa said, breaking the bickering. "It sounds like you're doing everything you've set out to do. And you have a wonderful business partner."

"Thanks gramps!" Alec hugged his grandfather. "Who wants to see photos of the construction? Luke has been working so hard with everything."

After choruses of 'yes' Alec began showing the progress of the restaurant. Alec went through the photos, earning praises from family and friends. The rest of the night went by with each of the Lightwood/Lewis/Fray/Branwell children all trying to catch the older generations up on their lives. When all of their parents brought Alec's friends into the conversation he knew that Ragnor, Cat, Raphael, and Magnus were officially members of the family.

It was, by far, Alec's best Christmas ever.

~oOo~

Translation: I don't know if it's right because I don't speak Spanish. I got it off Google Translate.

(¡Dios mío, loco! Este es el mejor regalo que alguien me ha dado.) means (Good lord you crazy man! This is the best gift anyone's ever given me.)

~oOo~

Hey guys! I know it's been a while. I've suffered from writer's block like crazy. In fact, I've been doing a lot of my writing on my phone lately because I'm at work about 70 hours a week now. Due to the resorts closing, I'm working more because we've had to increase security to extend our patrols. It's been BORING!!! I do hope that every single one of you are staying safe during this time though. If your state/country is issuing a stay at home order, please do so. Please make sure you and your loved ones stay healthy, and follow the CDC guidelines.