Clary's Point of View:

I stalked the desolate halls of the Institute. Isabelle and Maia were double-dating with Simon and Jordan. Alec was at Magnus' apartment, doing who-knows-what. Robert was still in Alicante and Maryse was visiting family in Idris. Mom and Luke were on their fourth annual honeymoon-this time they went to Egypt-and Jace was out demon hunting at Pandemonium with two of our new trainees or learning more about his family history from Tessa Gray. All I had for company was Church and my bloated abdomen.

Twenty-two years old and I was already married and expecting a child. Six years ago, before Jace and Shadowhunters, I would never had imagined myself in this particular position. I dreamed of becoming an artist and studying at Julliard. I never believed that I would be here today, in the Institute with my protruding midsection trying to find a name Jace and I both agreed on.

My legs took me to the library, where I sat myself down on a cushion with a book of Shadowhunter names. I barely even had the book opened to the first page when I was hit with a wave of nostalgia.

Jace shook his head. "No. Valentine always called me Jonathan. And that's what they called me when I first got to the Institute. I was never supposed to think my name wasJonathan Christopher, you know—that was an accident. I got the name out of my father's journal, but it wasn't me he was talking about. It wasn't my progress he was recording. Itwas Seb—It was Jonathan's. So the first time I ever told Maryse that my middle name was Christopher, she told herself that she'd just remembered wrong, and Christopher had been Michael's son's middle name. It had been ten years, after all. But that was when she started calling me Jace: It was like she wanted to give me a new name, something that belonged to her, to my life in New York. And I liked it. I'd never liked Jonathan." He turned the box over in his hands. "I wonder if maybe Maryse knew, or guessed, but just didn't want to know. She loved me…and she didn't want to believe it."

"Which is why she was so upset when she found out you were Valentine's son," I said. "Because she thought she ought to have known. She kind of did know. But we never do want to believe things like that about people we love. And, Jace, she was right about you. She was right about who you really are. And you do have a name. Your name is Jace. Valentine didn't give that name to you. Maryse did. The only thing that makes a name important, and yours, is that it's given to you by someone who loves you."

"Jace what?" he said. "Jace Herondale?"

"Oh, please," I said. "You're Jace Lightwood. You know that."

He raised his eyes to mine. His lashes shadowed them thickly, darkening the gold. I thought he looked a little less remote, though perhaps I was imagining it.

"Maybe you're a different person than you thought you were," I went on, hoping against hope that he understood what I meant. "But no one becomes a totally different person overnight. Just finding out that Stephen was your biological father isn't going to automatically make you love him. And you don't have to. Valentine wasn't your real father, but not because you don't have his blood in your veins. He wasn't your real father because he didn't act like a father. He didn't take care of you. It's always been the Lightwoods who have taken care of you. They're your family. Just like Mom and Luke are mine."

And so I thought to myself, what am I supposed to name my baby? Is he a Herondale or a Lightwood? A Morgenstern or Garroway? Fray or Fairchild? I thought of all the names I, just one little person, could call my own. I was born Clarissa Morgenstern, but Mom changed our surname and I became Clarissa Fray. Valentine had called me Clarissa Fairchild, during our first meeting where he tricked Jace and I into believing we were siblings. After Mom married Luke, I became Clarissa Garroway. Now married to Jace, our name on the marriage contract was Herondale. But otherwise, Jace tended to alternate between the two names depending on his mood. Certain days he called himself a Herondale, other times a Lightwood. I always went along with whatever he chose to be his name of the day.

But with a child coming our way, Jace and I had agreed we should have a stable family name. I could imagine how difficult it would be for Jace to finally choose a name for himself. In his mind, he was either betraying the Lightwoods or the Herondales if he chose. I didn't want to rush his decision and have him regret it later, but I was anxious to have a name. When I first found out I was pregnant, two thoughts had popped into my mind.

One was that Jace and I would finally have a family of our own. The other was I couldn't wait to choose a name for my baby. At first, Jace was hesitant, but he quickly warmed up to the idea of us having a family. It didn't take him long to realize how badly I wanted to name our baby. His only demand was that it be a Shadowhunter name.

So here I was, propped up against a cushion on the floor of the Institute's oversized library, still cradling the book of Shadowhunter names. Magnus had informed Jace that our child was a boy, leaving Jace overjoyed to a have a boy he can teach to play with sharp objects. However, I knew that Jace would have been equally content with a little girl.

While Jace was adamant that our son have a Shadowhunter name, I was adamant that the name be meaningful. Jace had jokingly retorted that our soon should be named Pork because he loved Mu Shu Pork. It was a comment that result in me hitting the back of his head.

I flipped to a random page in the book and a lined sheet of paper with names fell out. It had a fancy Victorian scrawl on the lines, indicating that Tessa Gray had left it there. For over a century, Tessa Gray had been living in seclusion with only her beloved books for companions. Magnus had informed us about her past with Clockwork Automatons and the London Institute residents of the 1880s. She had come out recently to study Jace and teach him about the Herondale family. As it turned out, she had been involved with a Herondale too: William Owen Herondale. Even though she had originally turned him down for his parabatai, James Carstairs, she had a soft spot for the Herondales. It was a complicated story, but she eventually ended up with Will Herondale and she's technically the great-great-great-grandma of Jace. Obviously, she seemed to like both me and Jace enough to give us names to consider. It amazed me that she could still put up with Jace so patiently but when I confronted her about it, she merely smiled and said William Herondale had more than enough arrogance to surpass Jace. In actuality, Jace wasn't as arrogant or egotistic after the whole ordeal with Jonathan. He still had his diva moments, though.

Not surprisingly, the first name on the list was William. The next name was James. Henry, Gideon, Nathaniel, Granville and even Magnus was on the list. I supposed naming a child after Magnus would be the best way to coax Magnus into giving you free favours, but I refused to give in to Magnus' request. Ever since I announced my pregnancy, Magnus had been pestering me to name my son after him. I almost didn't have the heart to turn him down so many times. Almost.

Later that night, I lay in bed with Jace's arms around me. One hand was on my belly, waiting for a kick from our son. We lay together, in blissful silence when he decided to start talking.

"So, how did name hunting go? Find any Shadowhunter names that you like? If you didn't, we could just name the boy after myself. I do have a great name, you know."

"Tessa gave me a list of names to consider. Most of them sound very Victorian-esque but they still sound like Shadowhunters. With the exception of Magnus. I can't believe she actually put Magnus' name on the list. If he ever finds out, he'll be boasting to Tessa about how she thinks he's important enough to consider as a name which will lead to him pestering us to name our child Magnus."

Jace smirked, "And here I thought she was smart. She's known Magnus longer than us though, so she probably has some idea on how to control him. While we're talking about Tessa, I should mention to you that William Herondale also hated ducks. She's been keeping tabs on both my family and the Carstairs. Unsurprisingly, each and every male Herondale has been beautiful and hates ducks."

"I see. And what of the Carstairs?"

"I remember that Tessa's other boy toy Jem was a Carstairs. He was Brother Zachariah too. And wasn't he addicted to demon blood or something? Those Victorian Shadowhunters were pretty complicated."

I laughed. I wondered how Tessa would react if she knew Jace had called James Carstairs her boy toy. "I suppose he's an ancestor of Emma Carstairs?"

"The one and only. I can't believe she's the next me. I'm not even dead yet, you know. The least people can do is at least wait for my valiant and heroically gory dead by whole army of demons before naming someone else the 'Best Shadowhunter since Jace Herondale'."

Suddenly I remembered that Jace and I still had to decide on a surname. We had roughly two months to choose a name. Our nursery had already been set up weeks ago, as Jace wanted to get into the spirit early. "Jace, have you decided on a name?"

During an earlier discussion, we had decided to give our child one of his names. That eliminated Fray, Fairchild and Garroway. Jace usually went by Herondale or Lightwood, depending on how happy he was with the Lightwoods or how saddened he was by never knowing his birth parents. However, when he felt especially nostalgic, he would introduce himself as Jace Wayland, or if he felt particularly sadistic and murderous he would introduce himself as a Morgenstern. Once, he even took my brother's name for himself, when a group of demons tried to capture me. Needless to say, the demons scattered pretty quickly.

Jace laid a kiss on my hairline and sighed. "You know I was talking to Tessa today. She was saying how it was sad it was that the Herondales had been reduced to this; only one surviving member. I think, in her own way, she was trying to tell me to keep the name Herondale. She was yapping endlessly about how recklessly brave William Herondale was. But the thing is, the Lightwoods will also lose their name. Sure, they have both Isabelle and Alec, but Alec's gay and Isabelle will take the name of whoever the unlucky boy is. But Tessa was talking to me about how her William had such a bad feud with Gabriel Lightwood back in the 1880s. But his brother Gideon saved the day or something. I wasn't listening very carefully."

"Is it Herondale or Lightwood? You won't take Wayland because they weren't your real family and Morgenstern was my name, not yours."

Jace laid another kiss just beneath my ear. "I've been talking to the Lightwoods too. They don't mind if I don't take their name. They're happy with whatever name I end up choosing, but I just can't choose one name without feeling guilty. And I was hoping my days of guilt would be over after we killed Jonathon."

I took a deep breath, deciding to take a risk and tell him my opinion on this whole fiasco. "Jace, I think you should take the Herondale name. I love the Lightwoods as much as you, but you are a Herondale. Tessa has been enforcing you of your heritage for months. No matter how close you are to the Lightwoods, you are still a Herondale. I know I told you all those years ago that just because Stephen Herondale was your father, didn't make you a Herondale. But honestly, after listening to Tessa's laments about her beloved William, there's no doubt on who you are. You are a Herondale through and through."

He smiled. "I guess I can't avoid guilt forever. Hopefully Isabelle won't threaten me too much for not taking her name."

He shifted in bed and grinned. "So, Clarissa Adele Herondale, tell me. Have you named our child yet?"

Before I could answer, his lips attached themselves to mine. Gentle and loving. His palms caressed our growing son. I pulled away, breathless.

"You know, I've always liked the name Declan. Declan Alexander Herondale."

"Alexander?"

"What? He is your parabatai after all…"

Well, not a bad way to return to Fanfiction, no? Although, I suppose all you Mortal Instrument fans don't have the slightest clue who I am, as this is my first TMI fanfiction. I couldn't help but add the allusions to the Infernal Devices, so I'm sorry if you don't understand parts of it. I even added a Dark Artifice allusion (with Emma Carstairs).

So please, review and ell me wht you think. Any constuctive criticism is greatly welcomed.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Shadowhunter related.