Chasing Reality.

27 - Find My Way.

The night was cool as Clary sat on her window seat with Snow cuddled by Mirabella who was sprawled on her thighs. It was the last after-dinner session Natasha had left, for the next day she would travel back to the US, and Clary was trying to soak in the wisdom Natasha was giving– that's if you want to call it wisdom. She had been going on and on about the adventures she had with Pietro's daughter, Valentina.

"And so I said, in the US, boys aren't nearly as romantic and he said, he knew. And in the back of my mind, i wished my husband could see me busting my moves." She continued after taking a long sip of her grape juice– at this point, Clary was doubting if it was grape juice.

"Don't go around flirting with Florence boys, Natasha." Giovanni's accent rang through the family room. He appeared not a moment later with Matteo on his hips, pacifier in between his plump lips. "They're all the same. All they are looking for are summer flings and tourists, that's why you'll find them at all the popular spots, pretending to be deep thinkers."

"Hey! Isn't that how i met you?" Irene's eyes shimmered with glee.

"Hey, what can I say. They are exceptions and I was one of them. Besides, you looked too heavenly standing by the bridge; with your flowing red mane and your angelic white dress, i was bewitched. Even Venus, herself, couldn't contend with you at that point." He reached down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, tactfully dropping Matteo in her lap.

"Sneaky, sneaky." Irene beamed as she registered what just transpired.

"As I said, Florence boys are not to be trusted." Giovanni thinking he had succeeded walked away from his wife, taking his bulky shadow along with him and the pacifier that was attached to his belt hoops, popped right out of Matteo's mouth, causing a wail to ensue.

"What was it you were saying about Florence boys again?" Irene said with a lot of fake sweetness in her voice. She and Natasha started giggling like a bunch of high school girls as Giovanni had to release the pacifier from its secured location and hand it over to his son.

Mirabella, hearing the cry of her brother, suddenly released Snow and called for Matteo. She was only two and a half years old and couldn't articulate Matteo's name properly, so she kept screaming "Matt".

And every time, Clary heard that name, she felt another ton of bricks add to the ones already sitting in her stomach. Due to her Heaven-orchestrated acceptable that involved her breaking down on someone's foyer, she knew she had to make that call. Now that Mirabella was off somewhere and the adults occupied, it looked like the perfect time to make some calls.

"I think I'm going to head to bed." She reached for her cane with a lazy yawn playing on her lips.

"Goodnight honey, sleep right!" Natasha said. Irene gave her a kiss good night and Giovanni gave her a hug. She left the warmth of the family room and trod upstairs towards her room, Snow padding alongside her feet.

Immediately, she closed the door behind her, she called for Arthur."Good Evening, Clary. What can I do for you?"

"Good evening to you too. What do you have for me?" This was her normal routine before bed for Arthur to read her notifications for her as she got ready. Today, she got a voice text from her parents telling her how proud they were of her and that they'd come to visit any chance they got because it would be really stressful for her to travel to just visit her.

A text for Ronnie with a dozen love emojis and a text from Sam telling her to learn all she could and make a painting just for him to buy and place in his kitchen where he would admire it every day. Lastly, two missed video calls from Eden. She made a mental note to call them after her talk with Matt.