ONE MONTH LATER
CLARY POV
I wasn't expecting to find Jace next to me, in bed, when I woke up, and I didn't. But I also didn't expect to find myself hunched over the toilet puking my guts out, but I did. It didn't take me being a genius to set off little alarms in my head. For the past week little things here and there had made me suspicious, and each time I had the thought I pushed it away. But my throwing up was the last straw. I would have thought that it was a sign of some rare demon disease if it hadn't been for the fact that I already knew that I had missed a pill.
I immediately got out of my pajamas, got dressed, grabbed some money, my cell phone, my keys, and headed to the portal. I wasn't wasting any time. I was pretty sure that I was right, but if I wasn't I wanted to know as soon a possible. It only took me a split second to decide where I should portal to.
In an instant I was in a London alley. I pulled out my cell phone as I entered the busy streets of the city. What was better than buying a pregnancy test in a country where no one knew you? These little things only made me love portaling more. The only downside was that I got multiple calls from my very confused cell phone company asking how I could make a phone call from New York, and then make another phone call from say Australia a mere twenty minutes later. I had to simply laugh and tell them that they must have made a mistake.
Isabelle picked up on the second ring.
"Hey," she said
"Hey, can I meet you at your place in say ten minutes?" I asked.
"Sure," she told me," Where are you?"
"London."
"London? What are you doing there?" Isabelle inquired.
"I'll explain when I get there," I said," Oh, wait, Simon is still training with Jace right?"
"Yeah, Isabelle answered.
"Good, I'll see you in a few minutes."
I hung up, and shoved the phone into my pocket. It took me a few minutes to find a store. When I did it took me a little while to find what I was looking for. There were so many different kinds of tests. Blue ones, pink ones, ones that promised accuracy, ones that were so expensive that not even the queen could afford them, and ones that were so inexpensive that it seem a little bit risky to let it tell you what your future held. I ended up buying a few that were a little pricy, but it was worth it. The last thing I needed was to tell Jace things that weren't true.
"Did you find everything alright?" the check out lady asked.
"Yeah," I said, avoiding eye contact.
"Your total will be £42.67."
I pulled out my money and set it on the counter.
"Honey, I can't accept this," the woman told me.
"What do you mean?" I asked, looking up at her.
"It's American money."
"Oh, I'm sorry," I sighed.
I pulled my wallet out on my pocket, and took out my credit card.
"Will this work?"
"It should, " she smiled, taking the card.
Thankfully she wasn't one of those chatty cashiers. I don't think I could have handled another moment awkwardly standing at the counter. When she handed me the bag I got out of there as quickly as I could. I was in such a hurry that I didn't see the person in front of me. The force of the impact knocked me to the ground.
"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed.
"It's alright," said a familiar sounding voice.
I looked up. It was Tessa.
"Tessa," I breathed.
She laughed, and extended her hand out to me. I took it, and she pulled me up.
"What are you doing in London?" I asked.
"I could ask you the same thing," she smiled.
"True," I said, contemplating whether or not I should tell her.
"I'm here because the Institute requested that I pick up my stuff. Apparently Shadowhunters secretly hoard. They've been keeping all of my old stuff in their basement. They've been keeping a bunch of my old dresses all these years," she laughed.
"Well, that's, um interesting," I said.
"Are you alright, Clary?" she asked, with a concerned look on her face.
"Not exactly," I sighed.
"Do you want to talk about it? I'm staying in a little flat, at a hotel not too far away."
"I'd love to," I admitted.
"Life doesn't have a straight path, that's for sure," Tessa sighed, from across the table.
"What would you do?" I asked.
"Well, that's hard for me to say. You see I have this theory that our whole lives have already happened, but in the future. And while that's a given, it's more of a hopeful idea. An example could be me telling you this. I'm saying it in the present, but it's also the past, because five seconds from now is the future, and now is already gone, but ten seconds from now the future turns into the past."
"I've never thought of it that way."
"It's something I've just thought over the years. It reminds me that in dark times there's a future, and even if you aren't going to be there it's because that's what was supposed to happen," she elaborated.
"Is that in sense your version of god?" I wondered, aloud.
"No," she stated," I don't have anything against religion, in fact I was raised to believe in god, but I don't believe that there is a god. When you're like me it's hard to believe those things. I've been on the other side of the known, and none of it has ever been mentioned. However, I still can't come up with a better idea about angels, other than that they were created by god, so really it's a conundrum."
"That's amazing," I murmured.
"It's nothing more than time," Tessa told me, taking my hand," If everyone had as much time as I have I'm certain that they too would work out some of life's mysteries, to where it made sense for them."
"I think you've done what should be done with life," I smiled.
"I've made so many mistakes," Tessa laughed.
"But they've been the right ones, and if what you said is true they couldn't have been avoided," I said.
"Can I ask you something, Clary?"
"Anything."
"If you do turn out to be pregnant, and I hope it's not to much to ask this, but do you think that I could be a part of your child's life?" she asked.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"I can't look," I squeaked, handing Isabelle the pregnancy test.
"You are such a wimp," she muttered, taking it.
"What does it say?" I asked, hopeful.
"It's negative," she told me.
"Really?" I sighed in relief.
"No, I'm just messing with you," she said," You're pregnant."
"Shit," I said, pulling my knees to my chest," What am I going to tell Jace?"
I thought back to Tessa. She had seemed so eager for me to be pregnant. She was so confident that Jace would come around in the end.
"The Angel works in mysterious ways?" she suggested.
"Haha, very funny Isabelle. I'm serious."
"Look," she said," I'm sure that this will all turn out fine."
"He wasn't kidding when he said that he didn't want kids," I choked.
"Well maybe you could put the baby up for adoption," she told me.
"And who would adopt a Shadowhunter baby?" I asked, shocked by her suggestion.
"Well, not to name names, but there's a certain black haired Shadowhunter that I know who would love to take your baby," she answered.
"I'm not giving you my baby, Izzy."
"Damn it!" she exclaimed.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, before Isabelle announced something inexplicably horrifying.
"If you won't give me your baby I can kidnap you, and drug you, and then steal your baby, and then I can leave you in the desert," she smirked.
"What the hell, Isabelle."
"I saw it on tv," she smiled.
"What have you been watching?" I asked, scooting away from her.
"The Lifetime channel," she stated simply," I love how they explain the way the inner workings of mundane society. It doesn't cease to amaze me how okay mundanes are with that sort of stuff."
"Isabelle, none of that stuff ever happens,"
"Oh, really?" she squinted.
"Okay, maybe it does. I don't know." I huffed, giving up.
"Haha, I win," she laughed.
"This may shock you, but I have an even better idea than stealing my baby," I told her.
"You do?" Isabelle asked.
"Yeah, having your own."
"No," she said," I'm fine with stealing yours."
"You're so difficult," I groaned.
"I know. And you're about to think I'm even more difficult."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"Please put that down," I told Isabelle.
"But it's so cute!"
She was holding up a little pink onesie. She had drug me to some large children's store, to look at baby stuff. I had laterally know that I was pregnant for less than two hours, and I was already baby shopping. We had decided that I should probably tell the people closest to me (minus Jace, and Simon) first. We were planning on meeting them at my mom's, and Luke's.
"And why is it pink anyways?" I asked," Maybe I'll have a boy."
"I'm having a girl," she explained.
"No, Izzy. Not this again," I groaned.
"Look," she said," You have a problem, and I'm fixing it."
"No, just no."
She rolled her eyes, and turned around. She slowly walked around the displays, looking at more baby clothes.
"Oh, my god!" she gasped, suddenly, rushing away.
"Ugh, Isabelle," I moaned," Where are you going?!"
She was already gone. I ran after her, almost hitting a few people.
"Isabelle?" I called," Isabelle!"
After a couple of minutes searching for her I gave up. I eventually wandered to the front of the store to wait. I was about to leave, when something caught my eye.
"Can you help me?" I asked, as I approached customer service," I've lost someone."
"Oh?" said the man, behind the desk," How old is your child?"
"How old is my child?" I repeated back, not understanding.
I couldn't see how being a month pregnant had anything to do with this.
"Yes," he yawned," We can't help you if your child is over the age of twelve."
"She's eleven," I lied.
He looked at me skeptically. Yeah, I'll admit that it was a little bit far fetched, but whatever. For all he knew I could be a mother with an eleven year old. However unlikely that was, it didn't make it impossible.
"And how old are you?"
"I don't see how that's important, when my daughter is missing," I snapped back.
"Whatever," he rolled his eyes," What is her height, hair color, eye color, and what is she wearing?"
"She is 5"8, her hair is black, her eyes a very dark brown, and she is wearing black stiletto boots, a pair of jeans, and a black leather jacket," I told him.
"You don't say."
"Oh, and her name is Isabelle," I added, giving him a small smile.
He pulled out his walky-talky, and pressed the call button.
"We have a code three. Please locate the child, and bring her to customer service. Her name is Isabelle, she is wearing black high heeled boot, jeans, and a black jacket. She has dark hair, and dark eyes," he announced in a monotone voice.
Clearly he wasn't the slightest bit amused.
"There, will that suffice?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you very much."
Half an hour later another employee came to customer service, holding Isabelle by her elbow. She doesn't look happy, but what reasons did she have to be?
"I found her in the gift registry," said the employee," This is the eleven year old, right?"
"Yes, that is her," I smiled.
"And you're her mother?" they asked, staring at me intently.
"Uh huh," I nodded, motioning for Isabelle to come to me.
"Coming, mother," she glared.
She walked over to my side. I gave the employees another little smile, thanked them for their help with finding my "daughter", and then left the store with Isabelle.
"Well that was a complete bitch move," she muttered, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"You would have done the same thing," I told her.
"Alright, that's true. I forgive you."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"Would you stop fidgeting!" Isabelle hissed at me, from the other end of the couch.
"I'm about to tell some of the most important people in my life that I'm pregnant, Isabelle."
"Gee thanks. That says how much I mean to you," she pouted.
"Cause it isn't like I told you first," I rolled my eyes.
"Same difference."
"You are so over dramatic," I told her.
"I'm going to take that as a compliment."
There was a knock at the door, signaling that Mom, and Luke had arrived. Suddenly it became difficult for me to breath. How was I going to do this?
"I'll get it," she said, standing up.
I watched as she disappeared around the corner. My heart began to beat faster, and my palms started to sweat.
"Well, isn't it a lovely day?" Magnus smiled, plopping down beside me suddenly.
I jumped, and let out a small cry.
"Did I scare you?" he asked.
"A little bit," I admitted.
"Sorry," he apologized," I probably should have portaled to the front door. However I wanted to get my favorite spot on the couch."
"It's alright," I told him," I was just a little startled."
I turned my head towards the doorway when I heard the sound of foot steps coming. Isabelle entered the room, with Mom, and Luke in tow.
"You took my spot, Magnus!" Izzy whined.
"If you value any of your pairs of black boots you'll just deal with it," Magnus threatened.
That shut her up about that. She wasn't willing to put her shoes in danger. For all Isabelle knew he would turn them into ferrates.
My mom rolled her eyes, and stepped around Isabelle, who was still blocking the doorway. She gave me a hug, and then sat down in a chair opposite to me. Luke smiled, then went to sit in the chair next to her.
"Where's Henry?" I asked my mom.
"With Mayrse," she told me.
Off course. Why wouldn't he be? That's when I realized that Isabelle's urges to steal other people's children may have been inherited, and not developed as I had previously thought.
"Is there any particular reason you decided to have us over for coffee?" Mom asked.
"Crap! The coffee!' Isabelle cried, as her eyes widened in terror.
She ran out of the room, presumably towards the kitchen. Moments later my suspicions were proved to be correct, when the smoke detector went off, and smoke slowly began to appear in the hall.
"There is actually," I sighed, preparing myself.
"I thought so," she smiled weakly," I just want to tell you that I'm okay with whatever you decide to do."
"Huh?"
"It's alright, sweetie. I already knew that you probably would want to do more than just rebuild Fairchild Manor, and modernize it. And while I think that brown suits the house, I think that you should be able to paint it is you want," she went on.
"Mom, this isn't about singing Fairchild Manor," I laughed.
"It isn't? That's what Isabelle told us," Mom said.
I took another deep breath.
"No, I'm pregnant."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
It finally happened! Clary's having a baby! I can't figure out who's the bigger problem, Isabelle or Jace.
Anyways, please comment and tell me what you think! I'm hard at work on the next chapter, which is even bigger than this one.
~Lillie