"Come on we should probably get her to the silent city to get Grace's protection spell," Tessa says. "I come with clary," Logan says. I give a small smile and squat down so I'm at eye level with him. "You need to stay here with your daddy. I won't be gone long. I promise. Take a nap and I will be back soon okay" I say. "Okay clary," he says. He throws his arms around me. I give a small laugh and hug him back. When he lets me go I stand up and walk with Tessa out of the institute.
I get in the driver's seat of my car. Jace has already put Grace in her car seat in the back. Tessa sits next to her in the back. I pull out of the institute driveway.
"Thanks for doing this Tessa," I say. "Of course," she says. When we stop at a red light, I look in my rearview window and look at them. Grace is staring at Tessa. I continue to drive to the silent city when the light turns green.
A while later we reach the silent city. Jace gets Grace out of her car seat. A silent brother comes to the gate. The sight of him sends a shiver down my spine. Silent brothers have always given me a weird feeling. "We are ready for the child," he says in my head. Grace is sleeping soundly in jaces arms. Tessa goes first following the silent brother. Me and Jace exchange a glance at each other. Neither of us particularly like coming here. But we do if we have to. Right now, unfortunately, we have to. We both walk in.
We finally reach where he leads us. It's a big open room. With just Tessa, me, grace, the silent brother, and Jace. "The queen must be holding the child during the protection spell. It makes it stronger in a way" he says. Jace passes Grace to me. She wakes up at her being passed on to someone else. She looks around her not knowing where she is. "You ready" Tessa asks. I nod.
They both start the many spells to protect her from demons and other things.
It takes a long time but they finally finish. We are here for 2 hours. Grace started crying during it and I had to calm her down. That's why it took so long. She also had a dirty diaper so I had to fix that too.
"Thank you," I say to the silent brother. "My pleasure queen clary," he says. I walk to the car and strap Grace in her seat as Tessa gets in next to her. I go around the car and get in. Jace is the last to get in. "Let's get out of here this place gives me the creeps," Jace says. I roll my eyes and pull out of the cemetery.
When we get to the institute I take Grace up to our room for her nap. It's quiet in the institute. I guess that means we are all having an easy day. I change into some workout clothes.
I go down to the training room and see Alec and Izzy down here. I decide to practice my flips. I go over to one of the beams. I stand up and take a deep breath. I jump doing a front flip. I land in my feet.
"Where's Jace" Izzy asks. She and Alec are sparing. "I have no idea," I say and I go back to the beam to flip again. I do a backflip and almost loose balance but regain it quickly and stand strong on my feet.
Alice walks in. She looks ready to train. "Alice you know how to fight," I ask. "Yeah" she answers. That gives me an idea. "You want to spar with me," I ask. "Your kidding right," she says like she can't believe I just asked her that. "No. Come spar with me. It would be good practice for both of us" I say. She shrugs like 'why not'. We both pick a spot on the mat. How bad can she be? She goes first and tries to do a roundhouse kick. I dodge it.
I was wrong. She is a lot better than I thought. She does not go easy on me and I didn't go easy on her. We both end up on the floor. We are both on our backs out of breath. I stand up and help her up. She stands up. I look up from helping her up I see more people have come down here. I see mom, Jace, Alec, and Izzy are standing watching us.
"That was awesome. I wish Jon was here to see that" Izzy says. "Where is he," I ask. "I don't know. He or Luke hasn't shown up yet" mom says. "That's weird," Alice says. "Well, I've got to go shower," I say. "Me too. Let us know if they get here" Alice says. We both walk through the doors and go up to our bedrooms.
"You know that used to be my old bedroom," I say. "Really? I can move if you want me to" she says. "Nah. Don't worry about it. I've got jaces old room anyway. I will see you later. I really need to shower" I say. She goes into her room and I go down a few doors to my room.
I see Grace fast asleep. I am really quiet as I grab some clothes to change into and go into the bathroom. I don't want to wake her up. I get in the shower and the hot water feels so good. I use the new body wash I have that smells like apples. I scrub myself down good and shave my legs.
I feel good and clean when I get out of the shower. I change into some clean clothes and ring out my hair. When I leave the bathroom I see Grace is awake. She is busy playing with her feet. I can't help but smile and pick her up. "Hello, my princess" I coo.
I leave the room with her and find the others all being lazy in the library. I see Logan sitting on Jems lap playing with his giraffe. Grace sees Alec and reaches for him. "Alec, someone wants you," I say. He reaches his arms out and I pass Grace to him. "It's like she's attached to you," I say. She grabs on to his thumb. "She is," he says.
"Did she wake up during the night?" Maryse asks me. "Once," I say. "Well good. Maybe she will be a good sleeper" she says. "I don't know. I hope so" I say.
Tessa walks in with a box and Jace gets up and goes over to her. He talks quietly with her for a minute before coming back to me still holding the box.
Luke and Jonathan come in a few minutes later. "What took you guys so long to get here," Alice asks. "This" Luke says lifting a big box in his hands a little. "What's in the box," I ask. "A present for you, Grace, and Jace. I know Grace won't be able to use them yet but the present is for all of you" Luke says. He hands me the big cardboard box. I set it on my lap. "Well open it," Izzy says anxiously. I take the lid off the box and gasp.
"What's in the box," she asks. I see two puppies. I take the black one out first. It has two things on its ears and a short little tail. I set him on the floor. I pull out the second puppy. It is black and white. It's so cute. This one is absolutely huge.
"Luke! I told you they don't need another puppy. You thought about getting one and you got two" mom says. I can tell she isn't happy. The two puppies start walking around taking in everything and everyone around them. "But look at her Jocelyn" Luke says as he picks up the white one with black spots and patches.
"It's a girl," I ask. "The Great Dane is a girl and the Doberman is a boy," Luke says. "How do you know which one's which," Jace asks. "The Great Dane is the one I'm holding that's white and black. The Doberman is the black one right there" Luke answers. The Doberman is in front of Jem and Logan. He barks and it's a small bark and it's so cute. "Puppy," Logan says excitedly. He jumps down from his dad's lap leaving his toy on the chair. He starts walking towards the puppy.
"These are the cutest puppies ever," Izzy says. She takes the girl from Luke. "You are so stinking cute," she says to the puppy. She licks Izzy's face. "How old are they," Jace asks. "The Great Dane is 8 months and the Doberman is 4 months old," Luke says. "This is the biggest 8-Month-old puppy I have ever seen," I say. Izzy sets her down and she walks over to me. She sniffs me and I pet her. "She already knows not to bite or nip but the Doberman is harder to teach. He's stubborn" Luke says. "This is awesome. Thanks, Luke" I say. Jace pets her too. She looks at him curiously.
"What's up with his ears," Jace asks. "It's cropping them. So they will stand up" Luke says. "So why doesn't it have a tail," I ask. "He has one its just small. It was cut when it was a newborn" he says.
We all end up on the floor playing with the puppies. "So what was in your box," I ask Jace. "Just a present I got for you but you can open that later," he says and plays with the small Doberman.
"I'm making dinner tonight" I announce. "Whatcha making," Tessa asks. "I was planning on taco pockets. How does that sound" I ask. "Cool. What's in it" Izzy asks. "I will tell you later," I tell her.
I get up and go into the kitchen. "So what's in it," she asks. Apparently, she followed me in here. "It's got chicken, vegetables, salsa, and a few other things. I wouldn't say out there since Jace will not eat vegetables" I say. "Oh, I know. Mom could never get him to eat them" she says. "Tell me about it. He tells me it's against the man code to eat vegetables" I say. "So how are you going to make it to where he doesn't know about them," she asks. "I have no idea. I will have to hide them in his taco behind the chicken or something. Anything so he doesn't know about them" I say. "So basically you are making him break his man code" she teases. "Oh please... we all know he can eat vegetables along with every other man in the world who eats vegetables of some kind," I say.
I turn on the stovetop and pull out 2 frying pans. Get the chicken out of the freezer and set it out so it can defrost. I get the vegetables out like onions, lettuce, and tomatoes. I put all the vegetables together on the stove to fry. I look through the fridge then all the cabinets and the pantry and find out there are no flour tortillas or salsa. "Crap" I mumble. "What's wrong," Izzy asks me. "We don't have flour tortillas or salsa. And we need that for the tacos" I say. "I can go get you some," she says. "Please. That would be great" I say. She nods and leaves. I cook the vegetables so they are all fried up and cooked for when she comes back.
A little while later my phone rings. "Hey," I say. I have no idea who is calling but I have a guess. "Hey, clary, how many flour tortillas do I need to get" I hear Izzy ask. "Hold on let me go into the library to see how many everyone will eat," I say. I walk down the hall and into the library. "How many taco pockets will you guys eat," I ask. Jem says 2, Logan says just one, Jace and Alec say 4 each, Magnus says 2, mom says 2, Luke says 3, Maryse says 2, Tessa says 3, and I will probably eat only one. I go back to the kitchen. "How many in the package," I ask. "Six," she says. "How many are you going to eat," I ask. "I'm pretty hungry so like five," she says. I do the math in my head slowly. "Okay get 5 packages of tortillas," I say. It goes quiet but I know she hasn't hung up. I work on cooking the chicken. "What kind of salsa," she asks. "It says mild salsa so get that kind," I say. "Well there's like a thousand cans of mild sauce here so you're going to have to be a little more specific there Clary," she says. "It doesn't matter which one just pick one and hurry up I'm almost done," I say. "Yes ma'am," she says. I roll my eyes and hang up.
The chicken takes a while to cook but by the time she gets here, it's done. She sets the bags on the counter. "These better be good tacos since I had to take a trip to the grocery store for them. The guy there started flirting with me too" she says. I open the cabinet and pull out 11 plates. I half the tortillas since that's what it says to do and I put the chicken, salsa, and vegetables all on top and fold the top. "That looks good," Izzy says. "Well, I hope so," I say. I start putting them on the plate by what everybody wants. "Take this to Logan and Jem," I ask her handing her two plates. She leaves the room and I prepare the next two plates. I make sure to hide the vegetables in jaces four taco pockets. "Give this to Jace and Alec. Make sure Jace gets the plate in your left hand since that's the one I hid the vegetables" I say. She nods and leaves. I make mom and Magnus' next. "Mom and Magnus," I tell her. I make Luke and Maryse's next. "Luke and Maryse. Luke gets the 3 and Maryse gets the 2" I say and she leaves with the plates. I make Izzy's 5 tacos, My one taco, Tessa's 3. "This is the last. That's yours, I will take Tessa's to her" I say.
We all walk in the library. I hand Tessa hers. "These are good," mom says. "There are vegetables in here," Jace says. "Yes, I'm sorry about the stupid man code but you need to grow up and eat em," I say. I sit down. "What," Jem asks. "According to Jace it is against the man code to eat vegetables," I say. Alec shrugs since he's heard that before. "Well then apparently Bridget and Agatha never knew that," Jem says and takes another bite of his taco pocket. "Who's Bridget and Agatha," I ask. "They were the London institutes cooks. Bridget used to drive us all crazy. Will the most" Tessa says. "How," I ask. "She would always sing the worst songs mostly about death and heartbreak. And it wasn't a pretty sound either, her singing" Jem answers.
"How did you know I put them in there Jace," I ask. "I saw them," he says. "Dang it" I mumble. I didn't hide them good enough. I roll my eyes. I eat my taco.
I stand up. I take the plates. I pick up the black puppy up and walk to the kitchen with him. The other one followed me. I set the boy down on the floor and the girl starts walking and sniffing around. She gets into the pantry and pulls out a small package of cookies and tries to get into them. "No, you can't have those," I say as I take the bag of cookies from her mouth. I get some of the leftover pieces of chicken and put them in bowls for the dogs along with a bowl of water. I start washing the dishes. When I'm done I put them in the dishwasher and make a bottle for Grace. I take the bottle to Alec. "Can you feed her. I should probably take the puppies out" I say. He nods and takes the bottle.
I go back to the kitchen and wait for my dogs to eat. When they finish I pick up the boy and take him down to the backyard. Well, it's not a backyard really but a bunch of grass and a few trees. I set him down and he wanders around and the girl does too. They start playing. I sit in the grass watching my new dogs play. It's quiet out here which is rare for Manhattan. I close my eyes enjoying the peace and quiet.
When I open them I don't see the boy puppy. Oh no. I scramble to get up. "Where's your partner in crime huh," I ask the one who stayed like a good girl. The sun is going down which means I don't have much time left of sunlight. I walk around and call random boy names. I see a flash of something before it disappears. I follow the direction it went in. I call out more names again and I hear a bark. I follow the small bark and see the puppy staring up a tree. "Come on buddy let's get you back inside before you get lost," I say picking him up. When I get to the back door the other dog is waiting for me. "I really need to figure out names for you two," I say. Well, this little boy answered to the name bear when I called it so I guess that's his new name.
"Okay, so this little man has got a new name we just need to name her," I say going in the library. "What's his name," Alec asks. "He answers to the name bear," I say. I set him down. "Bear," Logan says smiling. Bear walks over to Logan and jumps on his lap. Logan giggles and plays with the little puppy. I sit beside Jace. "Where did Luke, Jonathan, and mom go," I ask. "They left to go back to their house a few minutes ago," Izzy says. I nod my head. It figures since the sun is going down.
"Open the box clary," Tessa says. Jace hands me the box and I take the lid off. "One of my sketches," I ask. That's the first thing I see on top of a bunch of tissue paper. "Look under the sketch," Tessa says. I pick up the sketch and set it beside me on the couch. I lift the tissue paper. I feel my eyes get big. I know what this is. "How did this happen," I ask. "I looked through your sketchbook and picked out something I liked for you and I tore it out and sent it to Tessa," Jace says. "And then I got it and sent it to get it made," Tessa says. "I was just drawing these. I never thought they would actually get made" I say. "Well take it out," Izzy says. She keeps staring at the box. I take out the white and light pink dress. It's even more beautiful now that it's real.
"That's so pretty" she squeals. "Why does it have a Sherri hill tag," I ask. "I got them to make it. They were the only ones I could find to make it" Tessa says. This is so pretty now that it's actually real and made. "Go try it on," Isabelle says practically bouncing in her seat. "Now," I ask. She and Tessa nod fast.
I stand up and take the dress out of the room. I go to my room and change into it. I love it. I kick off my shoes and leave the room. I'm guessing they want to see the dress since they wanted me to put it on. I quietly and slowly walk to the library. I hesitate outside the door.
I slowly walk in. Logan and Jace are both staring at me. "Oh it looks so pretty on you," Tessa says excitedly. I just notice Jem isn't here. "Not to change the subject or anything, but where's Jem," I ask. "He went home to take care of church," Tessa says. I silently hope he is not bringing the cat here. That cat is evil. He never had a big problem with me because I did not live here with him that long but for Jace, Izzy, and Alec's sake I hope Church doesn't come. "So what do you guys think," I ask. "It needs your crown," Logan says. "It will the next time I wear it," I say. "Biscuit you look amazing in that" Magnus says. Magnus has been quiet lately. Alice looks at me "biscuit" she mouths. "Just go with it" I mouth back. She nods. "Thank you, Magnus," I say.
"Alright, Logan, bedtime" Tessa says. "Awh momma" Logan whines. "You got to stay up later than last night so now it's bedtime," she says. "I need to put Grace to bed too so if you go get your pajamas on I can tuck you in. How about that" I offer. "Yes please" he says. I smile and take Grace from Alec. My daughter yawns. "Come on Logan," I say. He gets off the floor and follows me out of the room.
"Alright you go change and get ready for bed and I will go put Grace in the bed. I will be right back" I say. "Okay clary," he says. He goes into his bedroom and I go into mine. I change Grace and I change into something soft and comfy. I change Graces diaper set her in the small white bassinet for her to fall asleep in. I finish getting myself ready for bed in order to let Logan have a few more minutes.
When I go into the next bedroom over I see Logan sitting on the still made bed. I pull the covers back for him and he gets under. "Goodnight little Logan," I say. "You looked really pretty in that dress," he says. "Thank you, Logan. Now go to bed and I will see you in the morning" I say. "I am not tired," he says. "I can sit with you until you fall asleep," I say. He nods.
"Can you tell me a story?" he asks. "What kind of story," I ask. "I don't know," he says. I think for a minute. I guess I can make up one. "Once there was a boy" I start. "This boy was loved by everyone. His smile and laugh look like it can light up the entire world. One day as he was coming home from school he saw a little girl. This little girl had long pretty blond hair. He saw her playing in a rain puddle that hadn't dried up yet. He went up and talked to the little girl and found out her name was Jordyn." That's a name I have always liked for a girl. "But that's a boy's name," Logan says. "Just listen to the story," I say. "This little boy became friends with the little girl. Jordyn had a secret though. One day when she was playing over at the little boys' house she told him her secret. She told him she was a princess and had a beautiful castle. She took the little boy to the castle and she played with him. The little boy grew up and one day promised to protect Jordyn. The little boy went away for a long time without seeing Jordyn. She was sad to see him go but hoped one day she would see him again. One day she got the news that he had been badly hurt and also gone missing. Jordyn was very sad to hear this news. Over time she missed him but still lived on. And then one day a prince from a different country came and liked Jordyn. He wanted to marry her" I day. "Eww" Logan laughs. I give a light laugh then continue, "But then Jordyn was walking through the streets when she got kidnapped. She was taken to an island and someone found and saved her. This, someone, was hiding behind a mask so she did not know who it was. She got scared and pushed him down a hill. It was the boy she grew up with. She felt bad and went down after him. She was so happy to have him back. When they both got back the prince who wanted Jordyn got mad because there was another boy with her. So he got rid of the boy and took Jordyn with him to his castle. She thought she would never see her friend again. She loved him very much. The prince and Jordyn got married sorta. She was sent up to her bedroom right after. She was upset because she would never get to see her best friend again. She decided if she wanted to be with her best friend again she would never live with this prince who she just married. She found a knife. Just before she was able to do anything she heard a voice. Not just any voice... but the voice of her best friend. The one she really loved. Jordyn turned around and saw him sitting on the bed. She was so happy to see him. They both got out of the castle and left. They both lived happily ever after" I say.
"I like that story," he says. He yawns. "Good, now go to sleep and I will see you in the morning," I say. "Tell me the story again," he says. "Not right now. You need to go to sleep now" I say. "Okay, Goodnight clary," he says. "Goodnight Logan," I say. I turn off the lights and leave the room.
I go into the kitchen and grab a snack. People are all walking around and are starting to wind down for bed. Jace and Alec walk in. "He's back," Alec says. "Who's back," I ask as I lean against the counter eating my apple. "That devil cat," Izzy says as she walks in. "Oh" I say and take another bite. "Easy for you to say. You didn't have to live with him" Jace says. I feel a little bad for them. Church isn't the nicest and warmest of pets. He only likes a very certain few and that being Jem 99.9% of the time. "And where is he now," I ask. "With Jem. I hope he stays with Jem too" Jace says. "Just ignore church," I say simply. "Easier said than done. That cat shows up out of nowhere and can scare the crap out of you" Izzy says. "Isn't that kinda what all cats do?" I ask. They shrug.
Bear and the girl puppy run in the kitchen playing and wrestling. "What are you going to name them," Alec asks. "Well, his name is bear we just have to figure out what to name her," Jace says. We all watch the puppies wrestle and play on the kitchen floor for a few minutes before they wear themselves out. I set some water on the floor for them and they drink it. "Has church seen them yet?" I ask. "He saw a bear in the library and hissed at him. Bear barked back" Jace says. "Good, maybe church has some competition now," I say. I take another bite.
The Great Dane gets in the pantry again. When she takes her head out she has the bag of cookies in her mouth again. I take the cookies from her. "That should be her name, cookie," Izzy says. "I guess so," I say. "What do you think, you like that name," I ask the puppy. She wags her tail.
Clary, tomorrow can you drop me off at your parents' house so I can get my car?" Jace asks. "Yeah, I have to get stuff for Grace and puppy food for these too," I say. "I can just take you there on the way" I add. "Can I come with you tomorrow?" Izzy asks me. "Yeah sure," I say. "I need something to do," Alec says. "Figure something out," Jace says. "Target trip," Izzy says excitedly. The puppies look up at her. I finish my apple and we all go upstairs.
"I'm stealing your puppy," Izzy says as she picks up bear. She takes him into her room. "Well okay then," I say. Me and Jace go into our room. "Well I'm going to take a shower," I say. I go over to the bathroom and close the door behind me. I get in and take a quick shower. I put the soft comfy clothes back on. I French braid my hair and come back out. I call cookie on the bed and she gets up here and lays between me and Jace. Jace groans. He doesn't like that cookie had to get in between us.
"Why did you put your hair in a braid," he asks me. "You're just now noticing it's braided. I put it in a French braid because I want it wavy and to look okay tomorrow" I say. "It's always wavy," he says. "Let me rephrase that then, I don't want it to look like a giant red frizz ball when I wake up," I say. It's true. If I don't blow dry my hair after I shower my hair gets poofy and frizzy. "No it won't," he says. "Wanna bet. I take my hair out of he braid now, sleep in it, in the morning when I wake up it will be frizzy and I will never be able to leave this room" I say. "It can't be that bad," he says. "Oh it can and it is" I retort.
He tries to move cookie out from in between us. He only goes a little way. "Oh well, we are still right next to each other and we both have a beautiful daughter sleeping on the other side of me in her little bed," I say. He leans down and kisses my forehead. "Have I ever told you I love you?" he says. "You may have mentioned it once or twice," I say. "Well, I love you, Clarissa Adele. Thank you for being mine" he says. He gives me a small kiss. I smile. "I love you too Jace Herondale," I say. I lay my head down on the pillow. "Go to sleep love," he says. I do. Within a minute I'm out like a light.
This is a picture of bear just he doesn't have a collar yet. This is also a picture of my Doberman puppy at 4 months old.
This is a picture of cookie and she doesn't have a collar either