Happy thanksgiving!! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
One month later
Tessa POV
I pack the rest of my stuff in my suitcase. I walk over to Emily and Logan's room and make sure jem packed all of their stuff too. He is in Emily's room packing up the rest of her stuff that is coming with us to London. I text Magnus and ask him to come over.
I see kit come out of his room with his blue suitcase. "Are you ready?" I ask him. My phone goes off. It's Magnus telling me he is on his way over. "Yes," kit says. "Magnus is on his way. He is going to open the portal since I don't want to risk anything with this baby on the way soon" I say. "That's probably a good idea," kit says. I set mine and Jems bags on the floor by the front door and I sit on the couch. Nacho canes up to me and lies on the couch beside me while I watch tv and wait for Magnus.
A little while later there is a knock on the door and Jem opens it and lets Magnus in. "Let's get you 5 to London shall we," Magnus says. I push myself off the couch and we go outside where the portal will be. I grab mine and jems suitcase. "I got it, Tess," he says and takes them from me. I smile at him and kit helps take Emily's bag from her. Magnus opens a portal and the five of us including church and nacho go through.
We arrive in front of the London institute. It's as beautiful as it was a little over hundred years ago.
I smile at jem and we go through the gates, across the courtyard, and into the big institute. "We will show you three where the bedrooms are and you can pick one," Jem says. We go up and over to all of the rooms and jem and I pick his one from when we were growing up. The room is still set up the same. "I will go check on Emily and Logan," Jem says. "I'll go check on kit," I say and let nacho off his leash.
I go find kit in Will's old room. "Is this the room you picked?" I ask kit. "Yeah, I like this one," he says. "This is Will's old room. It still looks the same as it did a hundred years ago" I say and smile. This place brings back memories, both good and bad.
I leave kit and go in the hallway and hear a gasp in a room. I go in it and find Emily looking at an old dollhouse on a shelf up high. Emily is gazing up at it. It's jessamines old dollhouse. I can't believe some of our old stuff is still here. Although I don't think Jessie would let anything happen to her dollhouse. "Mommy look. It's so pretty. Can I play with it" Emily asks? "I don't think Jessie would like that Emily. Let's just leave the dollhouse alone for right now" I tell her. "But it's so pretty" she whines. "I know it is," I say. I leave Jessie's old room that I guess Emily likes and wants to stay in.
I leave jessamine and Emily's room and walk down to the hallway and see Logan putting his stuff away. "When you are done, go help your sister out her stuff away okay lo," I tell Logan. "Okay mommy," he says. Jem comes out of our room and we talk a walk through the halls of the institute. I've missed this place. When we get closer to the dining room we hear singing. We both exchange a look and go into the kitchen and see Bridget Daly our old cook. "Bridget," I ask. She turns around. "Oh ms. Tessa. It's been so long. Queen Clarissa told me you would be coming by to take over as a temporary head. Who is this" she asks looking at jem? "You remember jem," I tell her. "Oh, that boy. You have changed so much master Jem. I'm glad to see you back and healthy as well" she says. "Me too" I agree and squeeze his hand.
"Oh, are you two hungry," she asks. "Sure Bridget, you should meet the kids," I tell her. "Kids," she asks. "Yes, we have a little boy and a girl. Logan and Emily. And we adopted a Herondale too but he is older than Logan and Emily" Jem tells her. "We have one more on the way too," I tell Bridget. "If only Mrs. Charlotte were here to see you now. Go get them and I will prepare something for lunch" she says. "Can you make something breakfast like too. We left a little after 7 in the morning and came here" I ask. "Of course Mrs. Tessa. I can make something for all of you" she says. "Thank you, Bridget" I thank her and jem and I both go upstairs.
I find Emily in her room coloring. "Emily," I say and she looks up at me. "Are you hungry baby?" I ask. "Yes, mommy," she says. "I asked the cook to make us something. Come with me" I tell her. She gets up and holds my hand. I go to kits room next. Kit is putting his stuff away. "Kit, are you hungry," I ask. "Yeah," he says. "I asked the cook, Bridget, to make us something. I am taking Emily down to the dining room. Want to come with us" I ask. "Yeah, I'll come," he says. The three of us go down to the dining room and Jem and Logan come in too.
"You said there is a cook" kit asks. "Yeah, her name is Bridget. She is also a maid" Jem says. "But other institutes don't have a cook. Why does this one" kit asks? "It has since the 1800s. Bridget has been here for years. I guess she will continue to be here until she passes" I say.
Bridget comes in with a mixture of foods. "Thank you, Bridget" I thank her. "Of course Mrs. Tessa," she says. "Bridget, these are our two kids we were telling you about Logan and Emily. And this is kit herondale" Jem introduces. "One of Williams descendants," she asks. "No, different line. Will does have one descendant and he had a boy of his own so Will's line will continue" Jem says. "With prince Braxton," she asks. "Yeah, hopefully, one day Braxton will continue the line," I say.
Bridget leaves the dining room. "Can I go walk around London" kit asks. "Did you get everything unpacked?" Jem asks. "Mostly," kit says. "I guess you can go out when you finish putting everything away. Just be careful" Jem tells him. "When am I not careful" kit asks. "I know when," Emily says smiling.
"Will we be here when school starts?" Logan asks. "I don't know. It all depends on if clary and Jace are able to find someone to be the head now" Jem says. "How long will that take," Logan asks. "There's no telling. They had a hard time finding someone fit to run the New York one after Maryse left that one. It took them almost a year" I say. "No! I don't want to miss school. I'm going to be in 5th grade" Logan whines. "If we are here by the time school starts back in August you can go stay with Luke, Jocelyn, and Carson," Jem says. "Okay," Logan says. I'm glad he likes going to school. It was either that or Jem homeschool him.
"Logan, did you help unpack all of Emily's things," I ask. "Yes," Logan says. "No," Emily says. "Can't Bridget do it" Logan whines. "No Logan. You need to do it and help your four-year-old sister" Jem says. "Do you want me to do it?" kit asks. "No, Logan needs to help his little sister. Thank you though kit" I turn him down.
After we all eat, jem and I continue to walk around the institute. Suddenly a ghost we have not seen in a long time appears. "Hello, Jessamine," Jem says. "Hello Jem, Tessa" she greets us smiling. "Hello, Jessie" I greet. "What are you two doing here," she asks us curiously. "We are here to be the temporary head of the institute," Jem tells her. "I see. Well, I'm glad it's you two, even if it is just temporary. I trust that you two won't ruin this place as the last one did" she says. "We will do our best not to let that happen," I say. "Good. I know you will" she says.
"Do you show yourself a lot, Jessie?" Jem asks. "No. I knew I wanted to see and talk to you though. That's why I showed myself to you. The other head of the institute hated ghosts and things that are different than her. She would yell and scream when she saw me just to make me go away from her sight" Jessie tells us. "We still like you, Jessie," Jem says. She smiles.
"I want to show you both something," she says. "What," I ask. "Follow me," she says and we both follow her up a flight of stairs to the attic. "Why are we in the attic" Jem asks. "Look over there," she says. We go to where she points us to. Its all of our old stuff from when we all lived here, clothes and all. "Why is all of our old stuff here," I ask. "It never got thrown out, just put up here. James and lucy's baby stuff too and all the different generations" Jessamine explains. "The baby stuff will come in handy in a month" I comment. "I never knew what had happened to all of our stuff," Jem says and looks at a pile of his old things. "Everything was moved up here eventually. Well, all except the violin, that's in the library still" Jessie says. Jem smiles at the memory of his violin. "Do you know what the baby will be yet?" she asks us. "Not yet, we have never known until the baby comes," I tell her. "I should go. I will be watching over this place always" Jessie says and disappears.
"She's a lot nicer now," I say. "I am sure being a ghost can be lonely," Jem says. "Probably," I agree.
Jem starts looking through his old things. "Here it is," he says. "What," I ask. "The Carstairs family ring. I need to hold on to it for Logan in the future if he wants to become a shadowhunter" he says. I start walking out of the attic and he follows me out. "Do you think Logan would ever want to be a shadowhunter?" I ask. "I hope so. I know he has the potential to be a great one" Jem says. "I know he does too" I agree. Logan is smart and could make a good shadowhunter one day.
We go our separate ways and I walk to the hallway with all of the heads of the institute. The painting of charlotte and henry together. Under the picture are their names and the years they were head of the institute. Charlotte is beautiful as always in the picture. Henry would love Clary. Beside it is the picture of Will and I. I miss him so much. I touch the picture. "I miss you Will" I mumble. He was perfect even with all of his imperfections. He could be a jerk sometimes but he will always be my William.
I go around the institute reliving old memories. This was my old home and I am back again. "Momma," Logan says as he walks up to me. "What Logan," I ask. "I can't find Kit," he says. "He is probably around London like he said he was going to" I remind Logan. "I want to go too," Logan says. "Did you unpack Emily's things?" I ask. "Yes momma," he says. "I will call kit then and see if he will come to get you and take you around with him," I tell Logan and dial Kits number. "Hi, Tessa" Kit says. "Hey, how far away are you," I ask. "A few miles. Why" he tells me. "Logan wants to go out with you for some reason," I tell him "I can come back and get him. It may take me a little while but I can come to get him" Kit says. "I can walk with him somewhere. I need to unpack the rest of our stuff too. Where are you" I ask. He names off a place he is near and I tell him I will walk Logan there. "Come on Lo, I will walk you to Kit," I tell him.
I walk Logan two miles to where Kit is. "What do you think Kit," I ask. "I like London from what I have seen so far," he says. "I thought you might," I say. "I can take care of Logan, we won't be out much longer I don't think," Kit says. "Alright. You two stay together. I'm going to head back" I tell them and head back to the institute.
I find Emily staring up at the dollhouse in want. I know she desperately wants to play with the dollhouse but she shouldn't without jessamines permission. I sigh and walk back to the room I'm staying in. Emily loves playing with dolls and the dollhouse would be her favorite thing to have to play with them. I unpack some of my stuff.
My phone rings and I answer it without looking at who it is. "Hello, this is Tessa" I answer. "Tessa" I hear Jocelyn say. "Hey, Jocelyn. What's up" I ask. "I had an idea," she says. "Okay, let's hear it," I say. "You know how we still have those wedding dresses clary made. Well, what if we do an online auction for them. Or a private thing where one night we close up early, take the clothes out and off the walls and put the dresses out instead for select winners to come by and see them and see if we can sell them. We'd have to get the idea approved from clary first of course and see what she wants to price them as" Jocelyn says telling me her ideas. "I like the idea of the private showing. We could ask clary how much she wants for them and have them out in front of the store. We would need clary one board with it too. I like the idea, I do. I'm on board. Maybe call the castle and tell clary and see what she thinks" I say. "Alright and I will text you what she says," Jocelyn tells me. "Alright, just let me know. Bye Jocelyn" I say. "I will, bye Tessa," she says and I hang up.
I unpack the rest of our things then I go down to the library. This always has been my favorite room. I pull out a book and read for a while. I hear a loud crash and I shoot up from my spot in the chair and hurry up to where the sound came from. I see Jem come too along the way and we find Emily on the floor a chair tipped over. Emily starts crying. I walk over and bend down by her. "What happened Emily," I ask. I rub her back trying to comfort her. "I was trying to reach the dollhouse on the shelf. Since its so high I had to use that chair. I fell when I was trying to reach it and I hurt myself" Emily sniffles out. I check over her and make sure she did not hurt herself badly. I press on her leg trying to check for injuries and she yelps in pain. "Ow, mommy!" I look and where I pressed and find a splinter. "It's just a splinter baby. Let me go see if Bridget has anything and I will get it out" I tell her.
I leave her room and go down to find Bridget. "Bridget do you have something to remove a splinter? Emily hurt herself" I ask. "Yes, Mrs. Tessa," she says and looks through a cabinet, "Here you go. Do you need any help" she asks me? She hands me some tweezers. "I don't think so. Just please watch for Kit and Logan. They should be back sometime soon hopefully" I tell her.
I go upstairs and see Emily still in her room. "Go sit on the bed Emily. I will get it out" I instruct her. She sits on the bed and lies her head on Jems shoulder. I eventually get the splinter out. "See that wasn't so bad. Let me put a cold washcloth on it to help too" I tell her. I throw the splinter away and wet a washcloth with cold water and bring it back to her. "Just put this on the spot and it will help. Try and rest Emily" I tell her. "Daddy stays with me," she says. I leave Emily's room. I take the tweezers back to Bridget and go back to the library and continue reading.
I read until Bridget comes to get me for dinner. When I get there Everyone else is in the dining room already.
"I'm not used to getting here later than everyone else," I say. "Well you are here now," Jem says and I sit down. "Did you two have fun wandering around London" I ask kit and Logan. "Yeah" they both say in unison.
I see kit starting in the corner of the room. "who are you" he asks. No answer since nobody there. "How do you know who I am," he asks this time. Again, no answer since nobody is there. "Kits losing it," Logan says. "What are you" kit asks this time. "I've never talked to a ghost before," kit says. "That makes more sense" Jem mutters. "Jessamine, show yourself. We know you are here" I say. "She says she won't since Logan and Emily are here," Kit says. "Whatever Jessie. Logan and Emily won't do anything. Leave kit alone" I tell her. It's quiet until kit chuckles and says "she says it's not her fault Herondales can see ghosts. I like her." "Jessamine has a certain way about her" Jem says. "How do you know who she is," kit asks. "Jessamine lived here when we did. She was killed in the front courtyard as well. That's one reason she is here" Jem explains. "Is she still there?" I ask. I may not be able to see her now but Herondales can see ghosts all the time if they choose to be in the same room or somewhere visible. Will talked to Jessie some. She didn't come around much when the two of us were here but she was in the institute. "Yes but she's just watching us" kit answers.
We all eat and Emily yawns. "Alright little girl. Time to give you a bath and get you ready for bed" I tell her. Bridget starts picking things up from dinner. "Bridget can you run Emily a bath when you get finished cleaning up after dinner. I can help give her one" I ask. "Yes, Mrs. Tessa," she says.
I give Emily a bath and get her ready for bed. By the time she is done with her bath and getting ready for bed, it is already 8:45. I tuck her in the bed and she says, "I want daddy." "You need to go to bed Emily. It's getting late" I tell her. "Not without daddy," she says. I sigh. "I'll see if I can get him. I love you baby" I say and kiss her head. I walk out of the room closing it behind me. I go down the hall and find jem. "Emily wants you. She said she won't go to bed unless you come in there" I tell him. "I will go see her," he says and goes to see Emily.
"There's nothing to do in this place" kit says. "Yes, there is you just haven't looked around. There's an actual training room that I'm sure you'd be interested in. Other than just using our backyard at home" I tell him. "Is it like the one in Los Angeles?" he asks. "Yes in the sense of its a training room. It's older but bigger and different in some ways. I learned to train in it and I think you would like it" I tell him. "When was that," he asks. "1878," I tell him. He looks shocked. "That's how old you are. So, is that when you were born" he asks. "No, I was sixteen in 1878. I was born in New York in 1862" I explain. "So you were telling the truth when you said you grew up in New York," he says. "Yes, I lived there until I was sixteen then I got on a boat and moved here to London," I tell him. "Interesting. I thought back then though it was the men that did everything big like the training, hunting" he asks. "They did for the most part. But while I was first living here the institute got attacked and it became a requirement that me and the other girl who was a maid named Sophie learn to fight and defend ourselves. Of course, the girl shadowhunters grew up training and learning to become a shadowhunter" I tell him. "I thought you are a shadowhunter," he asks. "I am, for the most part. But I didn't grow up knowing about them" I tell him. "Me neither," he says.
"Can I ask you a completely unrelated question?" he asks. "Sure," I say. "You knew my mother right," he asks. "I didn't really, no. Jem did though some. You could ask him about her if you want to know something about her. I do know her name was rosemary though" I tell him. He hums.
Logan comes into the room. "Momma, can you read to me before I go to sleep," He asks. Jem comes back in. "I finally got her to go to bed," he tells us. "Good," I say. "Momma come on," Logan says pulling my hand. I stand up. "Fine Logan. Go pick out a book on the shelf and I will read something to you.
He grabs a book from the shelf and we leave the room and go up to his room. "Go get your pajamas on and I will wait here for you," I tell him. He looks in the dresser and pulls out some pajamas and puts them on. Nacho comes trotting in the room and jumps on the bed. He sleeps with Logan every night ever since we got him. "What book did you pick out," I ask. He hands me the book. It's where the red fern grows. "This is a good book, Logan. I'll read you a chapter tonight and we will do it like that okay" I say. "Alright, momma" he replies. I open to the first page and read the first chapter to him.
"Has a doggy been here before?" he asks and I close the book and set it down. "No this isn't the first time. My first son, long before you, found his best friend a dog. The puppy would come here often with Matthew" I answer. "What was its name," he asks. "The dog or my son," I ask. "Doggie," he says "Oscar Wilde. He was a golden retriever. He was afraid of church like nacho is" I tell him. He was a sweet puppy. He would always obey and follow Matthew around. "Go to sleep Logan. I will see you in the morning" I tell him and kiss the top of his head and turn out the lights and leave the room.
I return to the library where Jem and kit are talking. "Can I ask you a question" kit asks. "Sure," I say. "Do you know why Jace has golden eyes? No one else has them" he asks. "That would be from me. You see, my oldest son long ago had golden eyes too. He looked so much like William in every other way" I explain. "The trait just happened to be passed down," he asks. "Yes for some reason. Although after Jamie, Herondales has blue eyes until Jace" I tell kit. "Jamie," he asks. "That's what Will and I always called him" I explain.
"Kit do you want to go to the shadowhunter academy," Jem asks. "No, I want to learn another way" kit says honestly. "That's okay. Just let us know if you change your mind and we can send you" he says. "I'm sure you would be fine being there. As long as you don't blow it up" I tease. "I don't know how to do that. Who blew it up" he asks. "Jamie did. Well, at least half of it. People were picking on him and then they said something mean to Matthew and he blew half of it up" I tell him. "I don't know how to do any of that stuff so you don't have to worry about that with me" kit reassures is. "Good to know," Jem says.
After a few more hours it gets late and the three of us head up to go to bed. "We still need to think of a name for our baby," I say and I lay down. "I don't know yet but I want him or her to have a Chinese name too like me," he says. "Alright. You think of that and we can come up with a name when he or she comes" I say. "Yeah" he agrees.
I snuggle up under the covers and close my eyes and go to sleep.
I love where the red fern grows by the way.
What do you guys think of them staying in London for a little while?
What do you think of Jessamine making an appearance?
Do you think kit should go to the shadowhunter academy?