#rostering's problem* when I said how it interferes with like three other clients

[avvocarlo]

holy shit I hate the rules and politics within the community services industry

[eversall]

prompt: simon's a kindergarten teacher and meets jace on the first day of school when he brings his daughter to the class and both of them flush and are really awkward and now Jace makes up excuses to see him (no really, I swear she left her bunny here, have you seen it?) because fuck this teacher guy is really cute

kid fic!!! yes!!!! i’m here for this Concept!!! title taken from sleep on the floor by the lumineers. 

decide on me, yeah, decide on us || jace/simon, kid!fic, 3k+ 

“Sonia, Sonia!”  Jace calls desperately, running as fast as he can to catch his menace of a daughter, who’s apparently decided that the first day of kindergarten is the time to figure out how to jump off the tall slide and learn how to fly. He turned his head for one second, one second to say hi to Alec and Magnus and Madzie, and now his feet are pounding down the pavement, heart hammering in his chest as he tries to get to her in time - 

“Woah, there.” a man’s voice calls out, and Sonia is landing safely in the arms of a man who’s name tag loudly proclaims him to be Mr. Lewis. “Easy, easy. We don’t fly until we’re a little bigger, hm?” 

“Okay!” Sonia chirps happily at the man, and Jace skids to a stop in front of him, his attention fixed on his child, who immediately squirms out of the man’s hold and jumps into Jace’s arms instead. Jace cradles her to his chest, sighing and pressing his nose into her thick black hair. 

“Sweetpea, no, you can’t jump off things taller than you are.” Jace scolds, his heart finally slowing to a normal rate as he takes in the sight of his beaming daughter clutching at his shirt with her tiny fingers. She’s getting so big, he thinks miserably, and she pats his cheek with childlike clumsiness at the slight sadness on his face. He clears his throat, pressing a kiss to her cheek and turning to her savior. “Thank you so much, Mr. Lewis - “

“Call me Simon.” The man says, grinning easily at Jace, and Jace blinks as he takes in the sight of Simon. He’s - he’s - 

Hotter than hell, fuck. 

He’s got lively brown eyes and a head of curls perfect for tugging at, cheeks flushed pink as he continues to smile at Jace. His button-up does nothing to hide the long, lean lines of his torso and his broad shoulders, and Jace swallows convulsively, his throat suddenly dry. 

“Hi.” Jace manages to get out, taking Simon’s outstretched hand and shaking it. “I’m Jace, I’m Sonia’s father, I - thank you so much, she’s really energetic - “

“I was the same way when I was her age.” Simon says, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “It’s no problem.” 

“You teach - kindergarten?” Jace asks blindly, still caught up in Simon’s eyes, and then immediately mentally slaps him, because what else would a teacher teach on the kindergarten welcome day? What the fuck else?

“Yeah.” Simon says, and he’s still beaming strangely at Jace, apparently not even noticing Jace’s lapse in mental capacity. It’s stupidly sweet, and Jace opens his mouth, about to say something, he’s not sure what, when - 

“Madzie!” Sonia shrieks, squirming her way out of Jace’s hold and jumping to the ground. “Madzie the man says we can fly next year! Fly!” 

Jace lets her go with practices ease, having been on the other end of her kicking, excitable feet one too many times. She stumbles over her sneakers as she runs to Madzie, who’s quietly sucking on her thumb and holding Alec’s hand, staring at Sonia with wide eyes. 

“Hi.” Alec huffs out, his eyes flicking between a still blushing Simon and a dumbstruck Jace. “Sonia okay?” 

“Yeah, Simon caught her.” Jace says, gesturing at Simon, who clears her throat and steps forward, his hand outstretched. 

“Simon Lewis, kindergarten teacher.” He says, smiling pleasantly, nodding at the two girls. “So if that’s Sonia and that’s Madzie…you must be the Lightwood-Banes and you must be a Lightwood?” He asks, looking at the three of them in confusion. “The girls names are on my roster, but I’m afraid I can’t really, ah, place who’s who?” 

“Madzie’s our daughter.” Magnus says, stepping forward and taking Alec’s hand, and they all hold their breath for a second as Simon stares between Alec, Magnus, and Madzie. “I hope that won’t be a problem.”

“Oh, no, of course not - I would never - I mean, it would be sort of pot, kettle if it was - ha, more like pan, kettle - “ Simon says rapidly, shaking his head with wild movements. Magnus is laughing gently now, his eyes welcoming as he reassures Simon, and Alec is looking marginally less homicidal, which is saying a lot, and Jace - 

Jace is staring at Simon, heart fluttering wildly in his chest with hope. 

.

“Sonia, Magnus will be here soon to pick you up, put on your shoes, please - “ Jace is calling, running around the kitchen like a madman as he packs Sonia’s lunch with one hand and tries to type out an email to their Los Angeles client with his other hand, frowning as he attempts to come up with a better response than you can’t do that because I said so, because it doesn’t even work on his five year old daughter. 

Speaking of - “Boots, Sonia, boots today!” Jace calls to her as he frantically searches through the fridge for a pudding cup. “It’s cold outside!” 

“Yes Daddy!” he hears her voice call out, and he sighs because she sounds way too innocent, and as he clicks her lunchbox shut he’s pretty sure she’s cheerfully putting on her little Tommy Hilfiger sandals, courtesy of Magnus, who can’t seem to stop trying to turn both his and Jace’s daughter into tiny heiresses with a wealth of luxurious items. 

Sure enough, as he rounds the corner he sees her grinning delightedly at her feet in her blue sandals, and he groans as he grabs her school bag and puts her lunchbox in it, zipping it up as he turns to gently scold her into changing - 

And then he stops, and very deliberately doesn’t look at his child’s feet as he hands her her backpack, gives her a kiss, and bundles her off into Magnus’ car to have a good day at school. He gets back in the apartment, shuts the door, leans against it, counts slowly to twenty, and then grabs her boots and his car keys, tugging on a jacket as he makes his way to his own car. 

He very purposefully doesn’t think about what he’s doing, but he gets a call when he’s halfway to Sonia’s school, and Jace sighs as he taps the touchscreen interface and patches Alec’s call through. 

“You sent Sonia to school in sandals, according to Magnus.” Alec says, amusement evident in his voice. “It’s freezing out.” 

“Did I?” Jace says breezily. “I told her to put on her boots, but she must not have listened. No problem, I’ll just bring them to school so she can change - “

“Or Magnus can give her Madzie’s spare boots - “

“No, that’s okay, I’ll just go to school so I can - “

“Flirt with Simon?” Alec asks, and Jace groans, rolling his eyes. 

“Get your big fat nose out of my business.” He says, and Alec laughs at him over the phone. 

“This is the the twelfth day in a row you let Sonia ‘forget’ something.” Alec chides him. “When are you going to ask Simon out like a normal person?” 

“I’m not going to - I can’t just. Do that.” Jace insists, turning into the school parking lot. He can see Simon through the chain link fence, avidly listening to every child clamoring for his attention before the school bell rings, and his heart aches suddenly as he sees Sonia jump up and down and Simon absentmindedly reach out a hand to steady her, keeping her usual clumsiness from toppling her. 

“Sure you can.” Alec says dismissively, and then there’s a sigh from the other end of the line. “You’re both adults, and he’s - I hate to admit it - a fantastic teacher who wouldn’t let anything interfere with his students. You can make it work, and God knows he seems to lose all semblance of having his life under control when you get within ten feet of him.” 

“It’s complicated.” Jace argues churlishly. He and Simon have been talking every day now, idling before school starts or after it ends, and Simon’s funny, intelligent and quick-witted, and so, so kind. He’s got such a big heart, and he challenges Jace when Jace makes a snarky comment, and it’s perfect but. Simon is Sonia’s teacher, and he hasn’t seen anyone since Sonia’s useless mother abandoned them, and - 

And a small part of him is nervous beyond belief, unsure of whether to pursue this. 

“It’s not.” Alec says. “Alright, see you at work.”

“See you.” Jace says absently, and hangs up, locking the car and making his way to the school’s front gate. The kindergarten yard is just to the right, and Jace turns, leaning for a moment against the fence as he takes in Simon absorbed in his work. Simon looks up a moment later, his eyes widening and a breathtaking grin overtaking his face as he shoots to his feet. 

“Jace!” He calls out, and then he blinks rapidly around him, speaking quietly to another teacher and getting them to watch the children before he sweeps Sonia up in his arms and walks over to Jace. Jace smiles at him, his eyes trained on Sonia, who’s innocently smiling at him. 

“Sweetpea, did we forget something today?” Jace asks, dangling her boots and a pair of socks in her face. She blinks at them, and then looks slyly at Jace, and shakes her head. 

“Nope.” She announces, popping the ‘p’. “Didn’t forget anything, Daddy.” 

“Your feet are going to be cold, Sonia.” Jace insists, and Sonia hops out of a laughing Simon’s arms and stubbornly plants her feet on the ground, looking for all the world like her mother did, in the brief time that Jace knew her. 

“No I’m not.” She insists. “I don’t want to wear them.” 

“Sonia.” Jace sighs, crouching down to her level, and Sonia stares back at him, wide brown eyes unrepentant. “Do you want your feet to fall off?” 

“No!” She gasps. “They will?” Jace nods solemnly, making eye contact with Simon, who begins to nod as well. 

“Oh yeah!” Simon says. “I’ve seen it happen before. Your feet gets too cold, so it falls right off and walks itself to warmer shoes.” 

“Oh!” Sonia immediately plops down on the asphalt and grabs her boots from Jace’s hands, worriedly patting her feet as if to check that they’re still there. “Okay, stay there, feet.” They both watch for a minute as Sonia puts her socks and boots on, and then she stands, chirps out a happy thank you daddy, and then runs off to go play. 

“That was well done.” Simon says, his eyes crinkling as he smiles. “Feet falling off, huh? I guess your feet are just ready to leave - “ Jace looks down to see that in his rush, he’s just worn sandals as well, and he groans even as Simon smirks. 

“Shut up, she’s five. I pay taxes so I can get my feet cold.” Jace snipes, and Simon holds his hands up in mock surrender. 

“Alright, I get it, your daughter has you so wrapped around her little finger you’re frazzled - “

“She does.” Jace looks at her, playing in the sandbox without a care in the world. “I’m just lucky, she doesn’t ask about her mother too much, and if that means I cater to her every whim - yeah, gladly.” He says quietly, and out of the corner of his eye he can see Simon looking at him intently. 

“What did…“ SImon begins, but trails off, and Jace shrugs. 

“Her mother? She left us, pretty soon after she gave birth. We were never really together, but - I don’t know. I don’t know why she didn’t want to be Sonia’s mom.” 

“Yeah.” Simon stares at Sonia happily chattering to Madzie, his hands stuffed in his pocket. “I don’t know why either. But you’re a great father, Jace, she’s amazing.” Jace ducks his head, smiling, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks. 

“Thanks.” He mutters, looking at Simon, who bites his lip and looks briefly indecisive before he suddenly soldiers on. 

“Just like her dad.” He says determinedly, and as Jace looks at Simon in astonishment the bell rings, loud and jarring. 

“Simon - “ Jace begins, but Simon scrambles backwards. 

“Gotta go bye!” He calls out, his face flaming red as he runs towards his students, and Jace can’t help the giddy smile that rises to his face. 

.

“Do you like Simon?” Sonia asks him one evening as they make their way to a coffee shop to meet Izzy and her new girlfriend. Apparently the girlfriend’s bringing a friend to meet Izzy, so Izzy texted Alec and Jace to bring their children and, in Alec’s case, Magnus. 

“Call him Mr. Lewis, Sonia. And sure, I like him.” Jace says, squeezing her hand as she skips alongside him, tugging every so often at the pom-pom attached to her beanie. 

“No, like Uncle Alec likes Uncle Magnus.” Sonia says self-righteously. “Like you wanna make him my other Dad.” As Jace coughs loudly and suddenly, choking on absolutely nothing at all, she blithely continues. “And he said I could call him Simon if it’s not school, and Madzie said he’s super nice, and I think so too - “

“Slow down, sweetpea.” Jace says, alarmed as his daughter rattles off a paragraph’s worth of words without taking a breath. “And - he’s not going to - that’s - he’s your teacher, Sonia.” He protests weakly. She looks at him, frowning. 

“So what?” She asks. “He makes you smile so much, and you make him smile so much too. Isn’t that good?”

“You make me smile so much.” Jace says instead, smiling at her and tweaking her nose, and she beams back at him, five years old and unashamed to love her father, and he’s briefly melancholy again as he thinks that she’s growing up faster than he ever thought possible. “And, well, it’s complicated.” 

“I like him.” Sonia says confidently, tugging at her pom-pom again. Jace rescues her beanie and tugs it down more securely over her ears before she can pull it off, as she continues, “I think you like him too, Daddy, in the different way.”

“No, I - “ Jace begins, amused, and she frowns up at him. 

“You do.” She insists, and he holds his other hand up in surrender. 

“Alright.” He agrees. “I like him.” 

He says it mostly to humor her, but as soon as the words are out it feels like a weight’s been lifted from his chest, something new and hopeful replacing it. Sonia looks satisfied and lets it go, but as he opens the door of the shop he can’t help but feel like it means something. 

Then he lays eyes on Simon sitting at a table with his bemused siblings, and he frowns because he’s sure it didn’t mean that much. His feelings can’t have possibly summoned Simon here. 

“Jace!” Izzy calls, waving him over. Sonia shrieks with delight when she spots Madzie and tears her hand out of Jace’s grasp, running across the cafe to the other girl and excitedly hopping into the booth next to her, chatting a mile a minute. 

“What is happening?” Jace asks as he draws closer at a more sedate pace, and Simon grins at him, gesturing to the petite redhead seated between him and Izzy. 

“This is Clary! She’s my best friend, and apparently your sister’s girlfriend?” He says, and Jace sees a smirking Izzy and immediately connects the dots. Yeah, she definitely knew this was the Simon Jace has been talking about. 

“Real smooth, Iz.” He mutters to her as he passes by to take the empty chair by Simon. She winks at him, before Clary sticks her hand out to Jace. 

“Clary.” She introduces herself. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” 

“Yeah, Izzy’s told us about you too - “ Jace begins, before she smirks, eerily similar to Izzy all of a sudden. 

“Oh, no, not Izzy.” She says, sounding delighted. “I meant Simon’s told me a lot about you, obviously.” Simon splutters next to her, turning bright red, loudly slamming his coffee cup on the table. 

“In a really normal, appropriate, teacher-parent way.” Simon insists, which just makes it worse, and Jace stares at him with an eyebrow arched, his heart beginning to pound faster in his chest. 

“Mr. Simon!” Sonia shouts, apparently only just realizing her teacher is here. She hops out of the booth and runs to Simon’s chair, waving excitedly. “Hi!” 

“Hi Sonia!” Simon says, holding out a hand for a high-five that she enthusiastically gives. “How are you? Just Simon is okay when we’re not at school, though we need to remember to use our inside voices.”

“Okay.” Sonia says, marginally quieter. “I’m happy! Daddy likes you!”

“I like him too.” Simon says, smiling at Sonia, and Jace is suddenly petrified because he knows exactly what his child is going to say. 

“No, Sonia - “ he begins, horrified, but she says right over him “No, like the way Uncle Alec likes Uncle Magnus! Daddy told me so.” 

He feels his heart drop, his mouth open on a soundless curse, and Simon looks up at him, astonished, his eyes suddenly, beautifully hopeful, and he breathes out “Really?” in a thick, emotional voice, and something in Jace breaks at that. 

“Yeah.” Jace manages to get out hoarsely, slowly extending his hand to Simon, palm up. Simon looks at his hand, and then looks back at Jace, a smile as bright as the sun breaking out over his face. Dimly he’s aware of his siblings cooing, and Clary aiming her phone at them, but he only has eyes for his beaming daughter and Simon, who reaches over and takes Jace’s hand, lacing their finger together and bringing Jace’s hand up to his lips to brush a soft kiss across Jace’s knuckles, a line of brief warmth left in the wake of his touch. Jace feels giddy and light, like he’s floating on a cloud, fondness overwhelming him. 

“Do you. Do you want to go to dinner with me on Friday?” Simon asks softly, and Jace is nodding before he even finishes, saying “Yes” over Sonia’s happy cheering, her bubbly voice chanting yay yay yay even as she lays her smaller hands over their clasped ones, holding tight and smiling at both of them. 

.

After dinner on Friday, as Sonia has a sleep-over at Madzie’s, Jace presses Simon up against the front door and kisses him slowly, sweetly, curling his fingers into Simon’s shirt and greedily drinking down the moans that Simon lets out. Simon tugs at Jace’s bottom lip with his teeth, scrapes his nails down Jace’s back, and breathlessly tells him “I’m gonna remember this kiss forever.” Jace has to kiss him again for that. 

Three and a half years later, when Sonia carefully hands him a silver ring to slide onto Simon’s finger and Simon looks at the two of them like his entire universe revolves around Jace and their daughter, Jace can’t help but giddily press a kiss to Simon’s lips - ahead of schedule, if Magnus’ indignant spluttering as he officiates is any indication - and think that this is the kiss he’ll remember, forever.