8 months later
I wake up and go get dressed. I decide on a grey shirt, denim jacket and leggings. I put on converse with it.
I finish getting ready and go downstairs to Braxton's room. Alice did a good job on it. It's got blue walls and animals on them. It looks like a baby boys room. When he gets too big for his crib in a couple of years I will redo his room to make it look a little older more toddlerish if he wants.
When I walk in he is sitting up in his crib. I pick him up. "Good morning baby" I say and pick him up. I look through his little closet. I grab a black and white shirt and black overalls to go overtop.
I change his dirty diaper and put his clothes on. I walk down to breakfast with baby Braxton.
I set him in his high chair and the servants bring me my food. They bring me a bowl of yogurt and a bottle of milk. He has been trying to feed himself now. I set his bottle of milk in his tray. Instead of grabbing the bottle of milk he reaches for the yogurt. I pull the yogurt further away from his tiny hands. He starts whining. "No braxton. Drink your milk then you can have some yogurt" I tell him. He hits his hands on the tray then reaches for the yogurt again. "No bud, drink your milk" I tell him. He starts crying. I just ignore him and eat my breakfast. I'm not going to give him his yogurt until he drinks his baby milk. I stoped breastfeeding him 2 months ago. I'm not going back to that with him.
He eventually gives up and quits crying and drinks his bottle of milk. After he drinks half of it he throws it on the floor. River licks up the drop that spelt on the floor. She makes a disgusted face and walks away from the bottle. She lays down. I pick up the bottle and wipe the top off. I set it back on his tray. He whines again. "Drink your milk or no yogurt" I tell him. He hits his little hands on the table. "No yogurt then" I say and move it across from me. He whines and makes grabby hands. "I said no Braxton. You wouldn't drink your milk so you lost your yogurt. You can try again at lunchtime" I tell him. He starts crying. I just eat my breakfast. I know I shouldn't ignore him but I'm not going to give in. If he's good he will get yogurt. He knows what he's doing.
He watches me eating and he eventually picks up his drink when I drink my coffee and he drinks his bottle. He's playing copy cat. I just finish my coffee in hopes that he will keep drinking his milk. He needs that. I pull my mug away and he pulls the bottle away. I see it's empty. "Good job Braxton. You want to go play with your toys" I ask. He lifts his arms like he wants me to pick him up. I guess I'm done with breakfast now.
I pick him up and take him to his room. I set him down in the middle of the floor. I bring some of his toys over for him to play with. He picks up one of his toy rings and plays with it. I sit on the floor with him.
When the servants finish eating their breakfast Charlotte comes in. "Can you watch him? I have some work to do and my mom is coming for a meeting" I ask her. "Yes ma'am. I can watch the little prince. You go take care of whatever you need to take care of" she says. "Thanks Charlotte" I say.
I walk down the hall to my office. I work on some papers.
After a couple of hours there is a knock on my door. "Come in" I say not looking up from my work. "Sorry to bother you ma'am. Your mother is here to see you. She said she has a meeting with you" I hear a mans voice say. I look up at him. "Send her in please" I say. "Yes ma'am" he says. He leaves the office and I clear a space off of my desk. I grab the Herondale designs file folder from the filing cabinet.
Mom walks in the door just as I'm going back to my desk. River walks in and lays on the floor. "Hey mom" I say smiling at her. "Hey clary" she says. I give her a hug and she sits on the sofa across from my desk.
I set the folder down on the desk and I sit behind my desk. "I've never seen you have a cleaner office. I've actually never seen your office here before. Does the maids clean in here or something" she asks. "No. I've actually picked up on some of Jaces habits. Only some. I've managed to keep this office clean for the most part since he's been gone" I tell her. "Good for you. I wish you'd caught those habits when you were still living at home" she says. I shrug.
"How's Carson" I ask. "He's fine. He spent the night at Jems last night and I left early to come here. It's 5 in the morning back home" she tells me. "Oh wow. I'm sorry. Did you at least eat" I ask. "I ate a little" she says. "I can have something brought for you" I offer. "Alright" she says. I walk outside the office and see a servant. "Have some food brought in please" I ask. "Yes ma'am" he says. He walks off. I go back in the office.
"Carson has really been missing Luke" mom tells me. "Has he sent you any letters" I ask. "I've gotten a few. I always read them to carson when I get them" she says. "I'm sure he likes that" I say. "He does" she says. "Have you gotten any" she asks me. "Not yet" I say disappointed. "I'm sure you will get one" she says. "I hope so" I say.
"Have you been busy" I ask. "Very. Between managing Herondale designs and managing the book store I've been busy" she says. "I'm sure. I really appreciate you helping with this" I say. "No problem. I'm glad to be able to do something. Even if it's as big of a job as managing a big company" she says.
A servant comes in the room and sets a tray of food on the end of my desk and leaves the room. "Take the tray and eat as much as you want. I'm not hungry" I tell her. She grabs the tray and eats the food off of it. When she finishes she sets the empty tray on the floor.
"So what do you have prepared" I ask. She opens her binder and passes me a paper. "This is one of the requests we have had. I have a bunch of other requests too. This is for a girls quinceniera. She wants a pink big poofy dress" she tells me. "Okay. I will just put the other requests in this folder and get to working on designing them" I tell her. She pulls out the papers and hands them to me. I paperclip them and put them in my folder.
"Also, I think in small town stores we should lower the prices of some of our stuff. The people might not be able to afford it" she suggests. "By how much" I ask. "Depends on the type of clothing. I think some of the shirts could be marked down by 10 percent and dresses can be marked down by 20 to 25 percent in some states like Georgia and Mississippi" she says. "What about the mens department" I ask. "They have been doing just fine actually" she tells me. "Well good. I guess we can drop some of the prices in those states and smaller towns like you suggested. How has the sales been" I ask her. "They have been good. The only one that hasn't been doing good is the store in Louisiana" she tells me. She turns in her binder to a different tab and hands me the binder. "This is whats been going on" she tells me. I look over the paper. "Okay so what about a sale. All stores. Don't cut down the prices in those state stores just yet. Start a sale. Lets say 20 percent off of select shirts and girls rompers. Put some boys shirts on sale too" I tell her. She writes all of this down. "How long should the sale go on" she asks me. Its March 12th now. "Lets say from April 15th to June 1st. That way it will give people time to take advantage of it" I tell her. "Okay. We will probably be really busy during that time" she says. "Most likely" I agree.
"Anything else" I ask. "I think those were the only things I can think of to bring up right now" she says. "Okay, that's fine. If you think of anything just call me" I say. "Will do. Can you write your phone number down so I just have it in here just incase" she asks. "Yeah" I say. I grab a piece of paper and write down the phone number for in here. "Here you go" I say and hand her the paper. She puts it in her folder. "Thanks" she says.
"Go take a nap mom. You need it" I tell her. "Okay. Thanks clary" she says. "Of course. You still have your other room you usually stay in when you're here" I tell her. "Okay" she says. We leave the office a servant takes the tray from me and mom goes to her room.
I still have a few hours until lunch. I can do some more of my work later. River follows me outside to the barn. She plays in the grass and I go see autumn. I brush her coat for a while and pet on her.
When it's time for lunch I go to the castle. I see mom walking around. "Hey clary, I remember when the others left Jace mentioned you were pregnant. What happened" she asks. "The baby made it. Alice and I made sure" I tell her. "Yay. Is it a boy or a little girl" she asks. "I had a little boy. Do you want to meet him" I ask her. "Yes please" she says. "Okay. Go on to lunch. I will go get him and bring him to lunch" I tell her. "Okay" she says.
I go to Braxtons room. He is sitting on the floor playing with his blocks. I smile down at my baby. He looks at me. He smiles and I sit on the floor with him. "Is Charlotte letting you play with you blocks" I ask him. He picks up a yellow block and hands it to me. "Thank you. Where do you want it" I ask. He grabs my wrist and leads it to the side of his tower. I set the block down. "Hey Braxton are you hungry? Its lunch time" I ask him. He smiles at me. I stand up and pick him up. "Thank you for watching him Charlotte. After lunch I am going to put him down for his nap so that should give you some time to do other thigs" I tell her. "My pleasure. He's quite entertaining actually. I love getting to be with him" she tells me. "That he is" I agree. I walk out of his room and go to the dining room.
I set him in his high chair. "He's so cute" mom says looking at him. "Yeah" I say. "What's his name" she asks. "Braxton James Herondale" I tell her. "Awe" she says looking lovingly at my baby. "He has your eyes clary" she says. "Yeah, and he has Jaces blond hair" I tell her. He is starting to have little blonde tufts of hair.
The servants bring out the lunch an I set Braxtons bottle on his tray. They bring over a cup of yogurt for him too. He reaches for the yogurt. "No Braxton. Drink your milk or no yogurt. Remember what happened this morning" I remind him. He just sits there looking at the bottle of milk. "He can't understand you" mom says. "He can. He can understand the important stuff like no yogurt if you don't drink your milk. He's a smart little 8 month old" I tell her. "Oh" she says. Braxton picks up his bottle and starts drinking his milk.
I eat some of my lunch. "How was your nap" I ask. "I feel a little better now" she says. "Good. Braxton has to take his nap after this" I tell her. He takes his bottle out and looks at me. "Oh he knows what that means" mom says. "Yeah he does. He's not a big fan of having to take naps like Grace was, but he will have to take one" I tell her. "You were like that too. Both of your brothers would sleep without question but not you" mom tells me. Braxton starts drinking the rest of his milk.
When mom and I have finished eating Braxton has finished with his bottle. He looks at me. "Good job Braxton. You can have your yogurt now" I tell him. "What flavor yogurt does he like" mom asks. "All kinds. He doesn't like the mixed berry one though. This is blueberry" I tell her. I open the yogurt cup and scoop up a spoonful of the yogurt. He opens his tiny mouth and I feed him some yogurt. "I can send you over some of Carsons old clothes" she says. "Okay. I can use them for him" I tell her. "Okay I will box them up and send them over when I get a minute back home" she says. "Okay" I say.
I keep feeding Braxton his yogurt. "Where's Alice? Is she here today" mom asks. "She is but I'm not sure where in the castle she is. She usually gets here at 9:00 and leaves at 7:30" I tell mom. "Oh" she says. "Yeah so she's here somewhere but I'm not sure where" I say. "Wheres Chrissie? I haven't seen her around here either" mom asks. "Chrissie passed about a month ago. We buried her in the backyard of the castle" I tell mom. "Oh clary I'm sorry. I know how much you loved that dog" mom says. "I did, I still do. Having a dog has been one of the best thing I could have ever done. Cookie loves Grace and Chrissie loved Braxton. River still loves him too" I tell her. "Red loves Carson. Those two are unseparable" mom says. "That's good" I say.
"How did you get here mom" I ask her. "Catarina came and got me. She portaled me here" mom says. "Oh okay" I say. I finish feeding Braxton the blueberry yogurt and set it down. "Let me put him down for his nap and I will send you back" I tell her. "Okay" she says.
I stand up and pick Braxton up from his high chair and take him to his room. Charlotte is cleaning up his toys and putting them in his toy box. "How was lunch" she asks me smiling. "It was good. You can go on to lunch now Charlotte. I am going to just lay him down for his nap so you have a couple of hours to yourself" I tell her. She was put in charge of watching Grace when she was here and now Braxton. "Okay that's fine. I may go eat and then take a little 30 minute nap before he wakes up" she tells me. "That's a good idea" I say. "I'm going to go to lunch. Let me know if you need me for anything" she tells me. "Okay. Thank you charlotte" I say. She leaves the room and I lay him down in his crib. I turn the lights out and leave the room.
I walk out and find mom in the library. "I just put him down for his nap. Are you ready to head back to New York" I ask. "Yeah sure" she says. We go outside to the front yard of the castle. "I got Red fixed. Do you think that was a good thing to do? I didn't want all the risks of him getting another dog pregnant or something happening. Do you think that was a good move" she asks. "I think so. I got bear fixed. Jonathan was so mad at me. He wouldn't talk to me for a whole week" I say. "I guess I will just ask for forgiveness later. Its too late now" she says. "I guess so. Its what I did. I find its a good way to do things you want that you know you're husband wont want you to do. Jace wasn't too happy that I did it to bear either. He made me get river fixed. I didn't have a problem with it" I tell her. "I don't either but men do" she says.
I open a portal. "I'll miss you mom" I say. "I'll miss you too clary" she says. I give her one last hug and she goes through the portal. River tries to follow her but I grab her collar before she can follow mom. I close the portal and let river go.
I go back in my office and work on some stuff. I keep putting the most boring thing to be last. Budgets. There is a knock on my office door. I look up. "Come in" I say. A young boy comes in.
"Th-this is for y-you ma'am" he stutters handing me an envelope. "Thank you. What's your name" I ask. "Ch-Christopher ma'am" he stutters. "Close the door and have a seat" I say. He does as I say. "D-did I do something wrong" he asks. "Not at all. I just want to talk to you. I haven't seen you before around here" I say. He seems to relax some. "How long have you been here Christopher" I ask. "I-its my second day ma'am" he says. That explains why I have never seen him around here. "You don't need to be scared of me. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I like to know some about the people who work here" I tell him. He gives me a small smile. I smile back at him. "Do you like being here so far" I ask. "Yes ma'am. I like it very much. Mrs. Morganstern is very nice" he says. "Yes she is. What is it you do here" I ask. "I am one of the servants. I do many things" he says. "I see. Does that sound like something you would want to do" I ask. "I'm not sure ma'am. I haven't been very good at it so far. It requires perfection and I'm not sure if my clumsy self would be very good at it" he says. "I see. Are you a mundane or a shadowhunter" I ask. "A mundane ma'am. I was raised in foster care" he says. Hm. What would be a good job for him? "What did you like doing in the mundane world? Did you have any jobs or hobbies" I ask. "I used to work at a daycare for 7 years but I got let go because they were having a problem with being able to pay their employees" he tells me. "Okay. Do you want to work with Charlotte? I think you might like it better than being a servant" I ask. "What does she do" he asks. "She takes care of my son. He is 8 months old. I figured you might like that better than being a servant" I suggest. "I'd like that very much, but Mrs. Morganstern-" he starts. "I can handle my sister in law . I can show you to Braxtons room where Charlotte is. Braxton should be awake from his nap" I say. I set the letter on the desk and leave the office. I will read the letter when I get back in here after showing Christopher to Braxton's room.
Christopher follows me. The tower is already open. I walk into Braxton's room where Charlotte is holding him. My baby looks at me and smiles. I smile back at him. He reaches for me. Charlotte hands him to me. "Charlotte this is Christopher. He is going to help you take care of Braxton" I tell Charlotte. "Okay" she says. "I need to get back to work. If either three of you need anything let me know" I say. I kiss Braxton's little head. I hand him to Charlotte and leave the nursery.
I find Oliver. "I need to talk to Alice. Where is she" I ask. "In the drawing room" he tells me. "Thank you" I say.
I go over to the drawing room and see her tidying up. "I moved someone to a different job" I tell her. "Okay who" she asks. "Christopher. It is his second day as a servant and he said he was struggling with it" I tell her. "Oh, you mean Christopher Elliot. That's fine. What's he doing now then" she asks. "He's going to be with Charlotte and help her with Braxton" I inform her. "Oh okay. That's fine" she says. "I think he was worried you would be mad or something" I say. "I'm not. That's perfectly fine. Just as long as he does his work" she says. "I know he will" I reassure her. "Me too. Thanks for letting me know" she says. "No problem" I say. "I will let you get back to work" she says. "You too" I say.
I leave the room and go back to my office. I open the letter and open it.
'Clary, I miss you so much. I'm sorry I wasn't able to send you anything until now. I can't stop thinking about you. I'm trying my best to come home to you. We are all alive for now. We all have cuts and bruises but nothing that won't heal. It feels like we aren't moving. We just keep fighting and not getting any farther with this war. But we will stay out here and keep trying until we can come home and bring Grace home.
I love you Clary. What happened with the baby? Did it make it? Are you okay and safe? I wish I could hear your voice but I know I can't. If you have time please write back. I'd love to hear back from you. I miss you so much. I can't wait to see you again after this is over. I'm sorry our last night together wasn't good. I wish I could make it up to you.
I hope to hear back from you. I love and miss you. -jace.
I can't believe I finally got a letter. Just one is enough. I'm just glad to hear from him and know he's okay. I get a piece of paper out and write him.
Dear jace, I'm so happy to finally get to hear from you. I'm so happy that you all are alive. I was starting to loose hope that you would never send me one. Alice told me Jonathan told her you all were alive but I still wanted to hear from you myself. I miss you so much. I'm trying to lead the shadow world the best I can, but it's harder to do without you. I can't stop thinking about you either. Just hang in there jace, the war will end one of these days, I promise. We will eventually get to bring our baby girl home. She's not much of a baby now though, but she's our baby.
I miss you so much too. The baby made it. Alice and I made sure. Our baby is beautiful jace. Our baby looks like a mixture between the two of us. I hope you will love him. Our baby has got so much personality jace. The baby loves yogurt. I can't wait for you to get to meet our little one. I am safe and happy, so is the baby. I don't want to tell you now what gender the baby is. I want it to be a surprise for when you get back.
I wish I could hear your voice too. I miss hearing your voice and seeing you. I can't wait until you all come home. I love you and miss you too. -Clary
I fold it and put it in an envelope. I know it didn't come through a fire message because that would have appeared right in front of me instead of Christopher bringing it to me. I walk out of my office and find Alice in one of the hallways talking to someone. I wait until she is done then I go up to her. "How do you mail this? Its to Jace" I ask her. "There is someone who gets it to them all. I can give it to him for you" she tells me. I hand her the sealed envelope. "Thank you" I say. "No problem" she says.
I leave her and go back to my office. I manage to do the budgets for half of the institutes before dinner. I go to Braxtons room and see him playing with his shapes. I reach down and start to pick him up. He starts whining and leaning down to his toy. I see he has a square in his hands. I set him down and he tries to fit it in the circle. He starts getting frustrate and starts hitting the box with the square. He eventually tries the other holes and gets it in the square hole. He gets excited and squeals. I giggle at him. "Is it dinner time already" Charlotte asks me. "Yeah. I'm going to go take him to dinner. Has he been good" I ask. "Of course. He kept trying to escape and crawl out of here and into other parts of the castle. We had to shut the door so he wouldn't leave. Then he tried to crawl into the bathroom. We had to shut him out of there" Charlotte tells me. "You sure have to constantly watch him to keep him out of things" Christopher says. "That you do. He's a mess but a cute little mess. I guess at some point we ought to get him a little walker so he can roll around the castle" I say. "Yeah" Christopher agrees. "I think he'd like that, getting to go out of this room. We would have to follow him and watch him" Charlotte says. "Yeah that's true" I say. "You guys have a good night" I tell them. As I walk out I hear Christopher ask, "is that all we have to do? Just stay and take care of the baby all day and when they go to dinner we are done?" "Yep" Charlotte says.
I go over to dinner. Only one servant brings out my food. It's Grant. No one has had problems with him since he tried to get to Alice. He brings me my plate. It's grilled cheese and bean bacon soup. There's a baby spoon and a big spoon. "I'll be right back with your water and the princes milk" he says. He leaves the room and comes back. I always have a water with my dinner now since jace has left. I set Braxton's milk on his tray and he grabs the bottle. I guess he's anxious to try big boy foods. I eat my grilled cheese and half of my soup before he finishes his bottle. When he finishes he sets it on the tray and burps. He reaches his hands out for whatever comes next. "Hold on bud. I'll let you try some soup" I tell him. I take his small baby spoon and scoop up some soup. Most of its broth but there's two beans. He opens his mouth and I feed him. He makes a weird face at first then smiles. After the food dissolves I share the rest with him as I eat some too.
When my dinner is all gone Grant takes it from me. "Would you like anything else" he asks. "I think we are good. Thank you" I answer. He gives me a small smile and nods. He takes the plate out of the room. I guess he's going to come back for my water cup and Braxton's bottle next.
Braxton lifts his arms up. I pick him up and take him to his room. I sit in the chair in the corner of the room with him sitting in my lap. I tell him stories for an hour. A box appears in the middle of the floor in his room. I set him on the floor and I go sit on the floor by the box. I open it. There is a note. 'Clary, here is carsons old onesies and clothes from when he was little. I've been meaning to give them away but I figured it would be better to give them to you. Braxton could use them. Whatever doesn't fit I guess you can just give away when someone needs them. I hope you like them. I even put in some shoes in here too. -mom'. I see Braxton reach in the box and pull out a blue and white striped shirt in his left hand and a green onesie in the right hand. "Whatcha got there bud" I ask my curious 8 month old. I try to take the shirt from his left hand and he holds on tight and starts whining. I let go and he waves his hands on still holding the clothes tight. He hands me the green one. Its not just any green onesie. Its a ninja turtle one. Simon and I used to watch the ninja turtles when we were little. Its soft like pajamas. "Do you want to sleep in this tonight bud" I ask him. He smiles. I pick him up. "You are going to have to let go of that other shirt so I can put this on you" I tell him and the shirt falls to the floor. I lay him down on the changing table and I change his diaper. Then I change him into his pajamas. He looks so cute as a little ninja turtle. I look through the rest of the box. I leave a note on the top of it for in the morning for Christopher and Charlotte to hang up the clothes and pajamas and put them in his closet. When it gets to be Braxtons bedtime I lay him in his crib. I kiss his head. "Goodnight my little prince" I tell him. I turn the light out and leave his room.
I go up to my room. I get ready for bed. I draw in my sketchbook until I get really tired. I close it and I go to sleep.
Did you guys like the chapter?
How did you like 8 month old Braxton?
Do you guys have anything you want to happen in this book? Requests are open. Don't be shy I am open to anything. I will do my best to put them in the story if you let me know. I really don't want to end this story it's making me sad but thinking about it.