#AND PEEKABOO JEM AND WILL

[wikitpowers]

LOOK AT HER! LOOK AT HOW HAPPY SHE LOOKS! I LOVE HER SO MUCH, WHAT A CUTIE :’))

AND IM OBSESSED WITH THE JOURNAL HOLY-

[unicornswithbowties]

Jem [playing peekaboo with Mina]: Have I ceased to exist?

Mina: ??

Jem [revealing himself]: Deception! I have not!

[cristinablackthornkingson]

Shadowhunters Short Story #15

Magnus quietly and slowly opens the door to the loft and steps inside, carefully shutting the door and making as little noise as possible. It was close to midnight and he had been with a client since 8:00 p.m. He hated leaving Alec and the boys, he would spend all day everyday with them and no one else if he could.  Taking off his coat and shoes, Magnus heads to his and Alec’s room, where he finds Alec on his back in the middle of the bed with Max and Rafe on either side of him, all three of them fast asleep. Max is clutching onto Alec’s shirt tightly with one hand and the other resting beside his little head full of messy dark blue hair. The poor little mite must have had another nightmare, both boys were prone to bad dreams, especially Rafe, after what he went through in Buenos Aries. Rafael was curled into Alec’s other side, his head resting on Alec’s chest and his arms wrapped around Alec’s waist. Poor little Rafe was still so terrified of being abandoned and left to fend for himself again, it had broken Magnus’ heart earlier that evening when Rafe had clung to him, crying and begging him not to go. He hated that he had to explain to his 5 year old son that he would never be alone again and that he wasn’t going to be abandoned again, Magnus had half a mind to bring Sebastian back to life just so he could kill him again for starting the dark war that left Rafe orphaned, but then again if the dark war never happened and Rafe’s birth parents hadn’t died, then Magnus and Alec would never have found him and gained him as a son. 

Magnus carefully gathers Max into his arms so he can lie beside Alec and Rafe. Just as Magnus lifts Max, the little boy starts to stir.  “Papa.” Max quietly says, his voice thick with sleep. Magnus kisses Max’s forehead and softly says 

“Shh it’s alright Max, go back to sleep.” Max leans his head against his father’s shoulder and says 

“Missed you papa.” Magnus smiles as he lowers himself onto the bed, laying Max beside him. 

“I missed you too my little blueberry.” Magnus gently says. Running his hand through Max’s dark hair, he adds “Now, go back to sleep, we have a busy day tomorrow.” Tomorrow was Max’s third birthday, and Magnus was of course going to throw his son the most magnificent birthday party. Alec thought they should just have a small celebration with the three of them, and maybe Jace, Izzy, Maryse and Robert, like they had for Max’s first and second birthday, but Magnus insisted on having a proper party this year. Max would love all the attention he would get, and Rafe would be over the moon to see Catarina, or as the boys call her ‘Aunty Cat’. Catarina loved Rafe and Max, and they loved her, Max adored that she had blue skin like him and thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, he was a little charmer like his Uncle Jace, already. Rafe loved hearing Catarina’s stories, especially when they involved Magnus or Ragnor, who the boys know as Uncle Ragnor, who was very important to their papa and aunty Cat. 

Max soon falls back asleep, his head resting on Magnus’ chest and one hand clutching onto Magnus’ top. Gazing down at his beautiful little boy, it doesn’t take long for Magnus to relax and fall into a peaceful sleep, either. 

The next morning, Magnus is awoken to the sound of Rafe’s voice and either Max or Rafe jumping on him.

“Papa!” Rafe exclaims, as Magnus opens his eyes and sees his eldest son sitting beside him, while Alec has Max sitting on his chest, playing peekaboo with him.  

“Good morning mijo.” Magnus softly says, pulling Rafe into an embrace. 

“Miss you papa.” Rafe quietly says, snuggling into his father. 

“I missed you too mi cielito.” Magnus says, pulling his son closer and kissing the top of his head. 

“You gone long time.” Rafe softly says. His English was coming along so well, considering he’d only been home almost a year, he still struggled with a lot of words and sentence structure, but he was a very bright little boy and with all the help he was getting, he would have no problems with it soon. 

“I know Rafe, I’m sorry but I had to work, but I will always come back to you, you know that don’t you?” Magnus gently says. Rafe nods and soflty says 

“Te quiero, papa.” Magnus grins and says 

“I love you too Rafe, more than you could ever imagine.” 

Almost an hour later, Magnus and Alec start getting the boys and themselves ready to go to the institute for Max’s party, since the loft was too small for all the guests they had invited. Magnus had trusted Isabelle and Simon to decorate the ballroom for Max’s party, if he and Alec tried to do it and arrive at the institute hours before the party, the boys would get bored and cranky before the day had even properly started. 

“So who all did you invite again?” Alec asks Magnus as he feeds Max his breakfast. 

“Well lets see, all the Blackthorns from LA, Cristina, Diana, Tessa, Jem, Catarina, Jocelyn, Luke, Clary, Jace, Izzy, Lily, Maia, your parents and Simon.” Magnus says, helping Rafe to button his shirt. 

“I can’t believe you put my pregnant sister in charge of decoration.” Alec says. Isabelle and Simon had married almost a year ago, and now Isabelle was 6 months pregnant, which made Alec even more protective of her, even though Isabelle was well able to handle herself, even while heavily pregnant, but Alec couldn’t help but worry about her. 

“I did not, she volunteered and wouldn’t take no for an answer, you know your sister when she has her mind set on something nothing will stop her from doing it.” Magnus replies. 

“Love aunty Izzy.” Max suddenly says. Catarina was Rafe’s favorite aunty, but Izzy was Max’s, and she was his hero and idle, along with Alec. Max thought Izzy and Alec were the most amazing people in the world and that they saved the world everyday when they went out to hunt demons. Isabelle was wonderful with the boys too, she was extremely patient and affectionate with them and loved helping them with their training, but she also loved playing with them and cuddling with them, she would be a wonderful mother. 

When they arrive at the institute almost everyone is there and Isabelle and Simon have done a wonderful job with the decorations. Hung on the walls are pirate themed banners, the table cloths are green -Max’s favorite color- and there are balloons of various colors scattered all around the room. 

“What do you think Max? Did aunty Izzy and uncle Simon do a good job?” Alec asks. Max nods enthusiastically and says 

“Yeah!! They do really good job!” It’s then that Max spots Robert and squirms to get down, yelling “Grandpa! Grandpa!” Alec sets him down and Max darts to the other side of the room where Robert is talking with Simon, and Rafe is not long behind his little brother. Robert’s face lights up when he sees the boys, he hugs them both tightly when they reach him and listens intently when Max starts babbling on on about something, most likely pirates or how cool it is when his daddy uses his bow and arrow or when his papa uses his magic. 

“Your boys are getting so big, Magnus.” a soft, familiar voice says from behind Magnus. He turns around to see Tessa standing arm in arm with Jem, in a beautiful green dress that shows off the curve of her stomach. 

“Tessa, are you...?” Magnus trails off, looking from her stomach to her face which is lit up with joy. Tessa nods and says 

“We’ve been keeping it a secret for a while now, just in case something happened, but we went to the Silent Brothers this morning and Brother Enoch said everything looks healthy and there’s every chance I’ll have a normal, healthy pregnancy.”  

“Oh congratulations!” Magnus says, pulling her into an embrace. He knew Tessa and Jem wanted to have children someday and soon, but Tessa was very worried that something might happen, since it had been so long she was last pregnant, and even then, according to her letters, her pregnancy with Lucie hadn’t been very easy. 

“Thank you.” Tessa says, beaming brightly, her hand resting on her swollen stomach. 

“Max and Rafe are going to loose their minds, they’re already so excited to meet Izzy’s baby, now there’s another baby on the way, they won’t know what to think!” Alec says. 

Max spends the rest of the day clinging to Tessa and Jem, while Rafe refuses to leave Catarina’s side. Magnus was so glad his children were so happy and comfortable with his friends. 

When it comes time to open presents, Max is completely spoiled, receiving at least two presents from everyone, and the news that he’s going to have another little cousin shortly after Izzy’s baby is born. When Tessa and Jem told him about their baby, Max wrapped his arms around Tessa’s waist and started telling the baby stories about he and Rafael and babbled on about how he couldn’t wait to meet the baby.  

Later that night, after the party is over and everyone has gone home, as Max cuddles into Magnus’ chest while watching t.v. on the sofa, Magnus softly asks 

“Did you have a good day, my little blueberry?” Max nods and says 

“Yeah! Can we have a party again next year? It so much fun!” 

“Of course you can, you can  have a party every year if you like.” Magnus says. 

“Can I have party for my birthday?” Rafe quietly asks. 

“Of course mijo, you both can have birthday parties for the rest of your lives if that’s what you want.” Magnus says, putting his arm around Rafe and pulling him closer. 

“Magnus, that’s too much, they’ll be spoiled!” Alec says, although he would also agree to let each boy have a birthday party each year if that’s what made them happy. 

“Nothing’s too good for my little blueberry and mi cielito.” 

[blueboyluca]

FDSA rambles

I was hoping to get started on my homework yesterday but then I had some mild dogsitting duties to attend to and did not have time for Luca! But we are back at home and tomorrow I am definitely going to practise personal play, even if I can’t get it on video.

Anyway here are some questions from the Toy Play section:

Where do you need to start? I’ve already started toy play! I tried to start with a flirt pole, but I got zero attention from Luca with it. Not sure if it’s me or the pole, but I switched to just playing with a toy directly and I’ve got quite a few good sessions with Luca from that. I’m mostly focusing on the peekaboo style, which I took videos of during last week and posted already.

How are you going with release? Honestly I haven’t tried this very much. My issue with Luca is he gives up on his own within a minute or two, so I take what I can get with him.

Do you have any concerns? Yes, I am still not entirely sure why Luca disengages during play. He doesn’t move away or get scared or anything like that, he just... stops. If anyone saw it in my toy play videos and has some thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

The last toy play technique I need to try is to restrain Luca while enticing him with the toy, and hopefully creating excitement and drive, before releasing to catch it. I’ll try to give it a go in the next couple days.

Homework questions for Personal Play:

How does your dog approach you when happy? Strangers? When he hasn’t seen me for a moment (or more), he will become wiggly and flat-eared and jump up. When he is just approaching me for attention or play or food, he is alert and stares straight into my soul. For strangers, he usually ignores them but sometimes will give them some flat-ears and wiggle a bit.

What is your dog’s play style with other dogs? He has a variety of styles. His favourite thing is wrestling/fighting, followed by chasing/hiding. He prefers personal play with other dogs and doesn’t really play with toys. With Jem he likes to do a lot of biting and wrestling. Often he gets told off by Jem if he approaches him at the wrong time. I’m not convinced that it’s always Luca being rude, I think a lot of the time it’s just that Jem doesn’t want to play and he gets mixed messages. With Kiki Luca gets a bit more overwhelmed, so he prefers chasing and hiding. He likes to entice Kiki to run after him, then hide from her underneath things she can’t fit into. He will often wrestle with Kiki directly, often he is trying to appease her as she is bigger and pushier, but when it is equal they lay on the floor together and mouth at each other.

What indicators can you read in your dog’s body language that say he is having fun? He mostly keeps his ears perked when he is having fun and does some slight tail wiggles. He also gives play signals like jumping and a sort-of-bow. He also does a happy run/gallop sort of movement and he makes a sort of panting sound but it sounds excited to me.

What calming signals does your dog give when overwhelmed? How will you respond? He hunches over a lot, he does a lot of play sneezing with other dogs. He disengages and sort of takes a few paces away without directly retreating. I try to re-engage for a little bit, but maybe I should stop doing that and completely move away? Maybe I need to film some more sessions to make sure of what I need to do.