Hi guys, thanks for reading my story. I'm very very excited to present this story to you and I hope you like it.
This is sort of a continuation of another story I wrote - Voyager (under the Infernal Devices category). I don't think you need to have read that one to understand this, but please do if you have time and love Jem Carstairs.
That said, please enjoy Gemini. Please review. :)
Jem groaned as he lifted his daughter's heavy box from the truck of the car. Next to him, Mel wrestled out her large red suitcase and eyed her father with some amusement.
"You sure you can handle that, Dad?" she asked.
"I'm good," Jem replied, struggling to get a better grip on the box. "What have you got in here? It weighs a ton."
"Oh, you know, everything and the kitchen sink," Mel teased.
Jem balanced the box and hurried up the path to the little white bungalow, using momentum to propel him. "Lock up the car, will you, honey?" he called.
Mel grinned and slammed the trunk shut. She went round to the driver's side and removed the key to lock up the car before following her father to the house. The front door was open and she could hear Tessa fussing. "You're going to hurt your back! Why couldn't you have just asked me to come out to help you?" Mel heard a small thump as Jem put the box down in her room.
Church, the grumpy Persian cat, was sitting by the door. "Hey buddy," she greeted, reaching to pet him. The cat looked disdainfully at her and then pointedly walked away. "At least you're not attacking me any more," Mel said.
"Mel, it's good to see you. Welcome home," Tessa greeted, coming out from the bedroom area. She gave her daughter a hug.
Mel shyly hugged her mother back. She was a little awkward around her mother because when she was growing up, she was in foster care in London and had not known who her parents were. All this because a Shadowhunter had put a rune on her when she was too young. The effect of the rune was that she turned Forsaken and got epileptic fits when she came into contact with the Shadow world and had to live in the mundane world.
When she was 16, she got hit by a car and was in a coma for nine days. During that time, her soul was sent on a quest where she met the younger version of her father. When she woke up, the fits were gone and she was reintroduced to Jem. He had taken care of her at the hospital, explaining everything that had happened. Because of what they had been through together, she was very close to her father.
Meeting her mother was a whole different story. All her life, Mel had believed her parents had abandoned her. She did not know how to behave around Tessa, who was practically a stranger to her. Tessa too moved around her carefully, as though she were a startled kitten. The first time mother and daughter shared a hug, it lasted less than a second and was so awkward that neither wanted to repeat it anytime soon.
After Mel recovered from the accident, she came to live with her parents at their Los Angeles home. There, she finished high school and entered college, from whence she had just graduated.
Eight years was a long time. While Jem wore each of those years on his face, Tessa still looked exactly the same. She now looked more like Mel's sister than mother.
"It's good to have you back. How was your journey?" Tessa asked.
"It was fine, Mum. It wasn't that long," Mel answered.
"I'm making your favourite chicken tikka masala. I hope you're hungry."
"Thanks, Mum," Mel said. "I'll go wash up."
Tessa smiled, gave her daughter a kiss and wandered back into the kitchen.
"We all missed you when you were away at school," Jem said, coming out of Mel's bedroom and helping her with her suitcase. "Tessa wouldn't admit it, but she did. You should have seen her yesterday and this morning – worrying over getting your room ready, what to have for dinner… Give her a chance, ok?"
"I know, Dad," Mel sighed. "I'm trying." Jem gave her a kiss and left her to unpack her bags.
Mel's room was just as it was during her teenage years. When she first came to LA, her parents had tried to decorate it like a girl's room, with pale pink and white wallpaper and frilly bedspread. Over the years, the wallpaper had become covered with posters of bands and TV shows, and the frilly covers exchanged for dark, solid-coloured sheets. The colourful throw rug still covered the floor, though there were scratches at one corner to show where Church had made himself at home. Wooden blinds covered the large windows, which had a nice view of the Pacific Ocean.
The door creaked open and Mel looked up just in time to see Church's tail as he disappeared under her bed. She lifted up the bedspread and was greeted by an irritated hiss. Clearly, Church staked Mel's room for his own while she was away.
Shaking her head, Mel left the cat alone and started unpacking. The clothes were easy to deal with and she hung them up in her closet quickly. Her box was harder. Inside was, as she had told Jem, her life from her four years of college. Books, papers, souvenirs and knick-knacks all packed in as tightly as possible. She was glad Jem had offered to help her move back home; she would never have managed that box by herself. Mel plugged in her headphones and turned the music up loud as she started to unpack.
The room was much messier by the time Mel emptied out the box. With a grateful sigh, she put the box by her door as a reminder to put it out with the rest of the trash. She could smell the spicy scent of curry as she stood by the door and wandered out into the kitchen.
Tessa was there, talking to Jem as the pot of curry simmered. She stopped when she saw Mel come in.
"Smells great," Mel noted.
"Thanks, I was worried it might not turn out well," Tessa said. "It'll be ready soon. I was just going to set the table."
"What were you two talking about?" Mel asked.
Tessa glanced at Jem. "Not too much," he replied. "We were going to Idris in a couple of weeks for the signing of the Accords. We were debating whether or not you would like to come."
"Why are you involved in the Accords? I thought that's Shadowhunter stuff," Mel asked. Idris was the Shadowhunter homeland. As far as Mel knew, neither of her parents had any tie to it – Jem was an inactive Shadowhunter and Tessa was a warlock.
Jem looked a little sheepish. "Well, I was appointed as an adviser to the Council last year…"
"When were you going to tell me that, Dad?" Mel asked in surprise.
"I'm telling you now," Jem replied. "Sorry, honey. I didn't think it would interest you."
"Of course it would! Why did they appoint you?"
Tessa replied to this: "They wanted a Silent Brother originally, but none of them would accept the position. Jem's the only person in history to stop being a Silent Brother so they thought he would be the best alternative."
"It's not just me on the advisory committee. There are others too. Alec Lightwood and Jia Penhallow," Jem added quickly.
"There's no need to be so modest, Jem. It's an honour to be chosen," Tessa chided. Jem smiled and shrugged.
"Am I allowed to go to Idris?" Mel asked. "You know, seeing as I was expelled from the Shadow world as a kid and I'm technically Forsaken."
"You'll be there as my guest," Jem assured her. "I'll not let them expel a daughter of mine again."
"I've always wondered what it was like in Idris," Mel mused. "A whole country that people can't see. It's like Harry Potter come true."
"You'll like it," Tessa commented. "Especially Alicante, the Glass City. It's like a whole different world."
"Well, that's settled then. I'm going," Mel said. "I can't wait."