Paradise Regained

-4-

Clary did not want to wake up her daughter, so she grabbed Jace's hand and led him out of the nursery to the living room. When they were both sitting on one of the couches, they couldn't seem to be able to say anything. Eventually, Jace broke the silence.

"What happened, Clary? I need to know..." For some reason, he felt almost guilty asking her this.

She looked down, almost as if she was ashamed. She did not want to tell him. She was scared that once he knew the truth, he wouldn't be able to look at her the same again. But she couldn't lie to him... so she mustered up the courage to speak."Right before the explosion, Lilith managed to move the apartment to Siberia." She looked up at Jace and continued. "I woke up a few days later, with a stranger staring at me. But he was not a stranger, he was Jonathan. I was terrified. I tried to run away, several times. I never succeeded. Then, when I first got the chance, I tried to kill him and end it all. Only to find myself suffering the same. I then realized that the rune Lilith carved on me and Jonathan not only brought him back to life, it also bound us physically. When he would get hurt, I would and vice versa."

"How did he manage to keep you and himself hidden for so long?" Jace asked sadly.

"He kept on moving the apartment to different parts of the world. We never stayed long in one place. I could barely leave the place, and if I could, I had to be with him, and glamoured."  She explained, looking him in the eyes. "I know I could have run when I was out with him... last time I tried he told me something, and it made me lose hope. It made me stop trying."

"What did he tell you, Clary?"

She swallowed loudly and took a deep breath.

"He said that you were dead. That after your work as The Owl for Lilith was done you were killed by that demon." She was starting to cry silently. "It left me so broken. I gave up fighting." Now her soft whimpers turned into loud sobs, she was shaking and started to turn her eyes away from Jace's.

Jace grabbed her and pulled her into a warm embrace. He was whispering to Clary how much he loves her, he tried to soothe the crying bundle of nerves in his arms. He kissed her temple and rocked her gently. After a few minutes, she stopped her cries and continued her story.

"After a little bit more than two months, I started to get sick. I would get terrible headaches, I got tired quickly, and then I started to vomit. Almost every day. I was clueless for some time... I thought it was happening because we kept on changing time zones a lot, and I was just taking it badly."  She sniffed and cuddled into Jace's chest. "Then, one day Jonathan brought me a bag with a few pregnancy tests. At first, I thought I didn't need to take them. But he kept on insisting. So, I took all of them, and they all came out positive." She sighed and looked Jace in the eyes.

He was hesitant, but he asked anyway.

"Is she mine, Clary?"  He said, almost inaudibly.