Summary: Clary and Jace take care of their son Jon while he has the flu.
Disclaimer: I do not own TMI/Shadowhunters.
Clary would take temper tantrums and tripping over toys over listening to her son's pitiful coughs any day. She and Jace had handed over the institute to Alec for a couple of days while they took time off to take care of Jon. Alec had understood completely when they asked him to help out. With two little ones of his own, he knew that taking care of one while they were sick was an all hands on deck situation.
Jon sat in the middle of Jace and Clary's bed with a blanket covering his shoulders and the top of his head like a hood while Jace set up their T.V. with a movie for him to watch. He played halfheartedly with his stuffed bear. Clary couldn't help but think about how small her son looked as she laid behind him. He was only two but somehow the blanket made him seem even smaller.
She propped her head up on her hand and reached out and brushed her finger over one of his little hands. He sniffed and looked over at her. Blond curls poked out from under the blanket and his green eyes were wide and shiny. His skin was flush from the fever and his lips were stuck in a heartbreaking pout.
She missed her smiling giggling little boy that he had been a couple days before. "Are you sleepy?" He shook his head and crawled across the blankets to get closer to her. He settled down and leaned his back against her stomach and tried to readjust his blanket. Clary moved the soft fabric so it covered the leg of his batman pajamas.
She brushed a curl off his forehead and internally winced at the warmth of the skin. "Just still feel icky huh?" He nodded and clutched his bear closer. "I'm sorry, baby."
Jace had gotten a mundane children's show to play and adjusted the volume until it would be loud enough for them to hear it but quiet enough Jon could fall asleep easy if he needed to. He sat down on the end of the bed and leaned in so he could be face to face with their son. "Do you want Daddy to go get you some juice? It might make you feel better."
Jace looked as exhausted as Clary felt. There were dark shadows under his eyes and it was obvious he hadn't changed clothes in a while. Jon's cough and fever kept them all up. Jon had finally stopped crying a couple hours ago, resigned to the fact that he was sick and no matter how much he cried his parents weren't able to make it go away.
After a moment's deliberation Jon nodded. Jace stretched up and kissed his forehead. "I'll be right back."
"Jace," Clary said softly as Jace got up, "Can you call my mom and see if there's anything else we can try? Or ask Alec?"
Jace stretched his arms up over his head and yawned. "I can try but I doubt they've come up with a cure-all in the last four hours." He shuffled out of the room and shut the door quietly behind him.
Jon let out another round of pitiful coughs. He looked at Clary with watering eyes before he burst into tears again. Maybe he hadn't accepted the fact he was sick just yet. "Mommy," He cried and reached his hands out for her.
Clary sat up and felt her heart break as he continued to cry for her. "I'm right here, baby." She pulled him into her lap and pushed the blanket off his head. Sweat plastered his curls to the nape of his neck and the rest of his hair stuck up awkwardly. She kissed the top of his head and pulled him as close as she could. "Please don't cry," She pleaded.
One of his little hands clutched at the collar of her t-shirt while he leaned his head against her chest. "I know you feel icky, but you'll be all better in a couple days." She wasn't sure which one of them she was trying to convince, Jon or herself.
She rubbed soothing circles on his back. "How about after you drink your juice Mommy gives you a nice bath? Maybe you'll feel a little better in some clean PJ's." He sniffled against her shirt in response.
Jace came back a few minutes later with a little green sippy cup in hand. "Called Jocelyn and she said the best we could do now was wait it out," He climbed onto the bed next to Clary and held out the cup to their now quietly crying son. Jace frowned, a little line forming between his eyebrows. "Alec said the same thing. We've done all we can do."
He wrapped his arms around both of them and Clary felt herself lean her head against his shoulder without making the conscious decision to use him for support. "What's the point in being part of a magically world if we can't just magic this kind of thing away?" She whined.
"We protect the world from demons not the flu, Clary," Jace reminded her and kissed the top of her head.
"I saved the world once," She said and looked down at Jon as he took another sip of his juice. He wasn't crying anymore but there were still tears shining on his cheeks, "I should get to know how to protect one little boy from the flu."
The juice and the show on the screen had distracted Jon from his sickness enough to get him to stay calmed down. It wasn't long after that that he dozed off in Clary's lap. Jace helped Clary lay him down between them. Jace took his blanket and laid it over him and they laid back on either side of him.
"Finally," Jace sighed, "He sleeps."
Clary pressed a kiss to her little boy's forehead. He didn't stir at all. His eyes were shut and his pale eyelashes brushed his cheeks just barely. Just a couple more days, she told herself, And he'll be back to running around and causing trouble.