It was the night of January 4th, 2012. It was cold, rainy and uncomfortable outside, but the inside of the New York Institute was very pleasantly warm. The air, though, was thick with worry. Clary Herondale had gone into labor early in the morning the day before, a good month before the baby was due. She had several Silent Brothers in the room with her, but Jace was not allowed inside. Neither was anyone else, for that matter. Magnus, Alec, Isabelle, Simon, Luke, Jocelyn, Jem and Tessa were all lingering outside of the birthing room, silent and tense. While most of them had been there almost since Clary had first gone into labor - Alec had insisted that he and Magnus take a break from their vacation the instant a distraught Jace had called and given them the news, and Magnus had not argued - Jem and Tessa had just gotten there about three or four hours ago. Isabelle and Simon had gotten there not long after Alec and Magnus, and Jocelyn and Luke right behind them.

The silence was stifling. Clary had stopped her cries of pain, and no one had heard the baby yet. Jace was leaning against a wall, looking positively exhausted, while Alec tried to coax him into taking a little break and going to sleep for a while. Magnus was sitting in one of the chairs beside Isabelle, who was pretty pregnant as well - though not due yet - and Simon, who was too tense and jittery to get any rest. Jocelyn was leaning on Luke's shoulder - both of them were pale and looked frightened, though no one could blame them. Even Tessa and Jem were worried, and they were not nearly as close to Clarissa and Jace as the rest of them.

Only after another hour did the door to the birthing room open. Jace was there in an instant, his eyes wide and alarmed as a Silent Brother stepped out with a tiny bundle of rags in his arms. There were tiny noises coming from the rags - not quite loud enough to be considered cries, or even healthy, but just loud enough to be heard. As Jace reached out for the bundle, a confused and concerned look crossed his face, which was mirrored by Alec when the other young man walked up behind his parabatai.

The baby is a healthy little girl, and the mother is doing well, although you cannot see her until we are finished with the cleaning and check-up. There is no need for any concern for their wellbeing. The Silent Brother's voice rang through each person's head.

Relieved and excited, everyone else leaped to their feet to run over and see the infant they'd been waiting so long for. Isabelle was the first one there, which was surprising due to the fact that she was six months pregnant, and she let out a squeal of delight when she saw the baby's crinkled up, tiny face.

"Please, Izzy, kindly keep your girly noises down around my daughter," Jace scolded tiredly, though his remark had no real bite to it. He was now cradling the baby in his arms, low enough so that everyone could see. The infant was tiny, her skin tinted red. She was adorable, but there was something very, very odd about her, and Jace was the first to voice his concerns. "Alec, you didn't sleep with my wife, did you?" At a swift shake from Alec's raven-haired head, the golden man narrowed his eyes sharply. "Then why on earth does my kid have black hair?"

Jem, Tessa and Magnus all exchanged a glance, before laughing softly, as if he'd said something quite funny. At Jace's incredibly confused expression, Jem decided to elaborate. "Quite a few of your ancestors, Jace, have had black hair. I suppose your daughter is a true Herondale - refusing to meet anyone's expectations."

"Still..." Jace did not look convinced, though, and continued to stare at the bundle in his arms, completely perplexed. "If she opens her eyes and they're blue, I believe Alexander and I will have to have a serious discussion," he stated calmly, glancing over at his parabatai in a way that appeared to mean business, though Alec didn't seem to care. He was too busy studying the baby, his eyes alight with the excitement and love that seemed to be coursing through each person in the room.

After everyone had had their chance to see the baby, Magnus spoke up. He was adorned in a very sparkly, very pink suit for the occasion, as he had expected the baby to be a girl. Clary had wanted the gender to be a surprise, and everyone but Magnus himself guessed that it would be a boy. He was quite proud over that. "I do believe that Uncle Magnus should be the first to hold baby Maggie." The name that Magnus had chosen in honor of himself, of course.

"Her name is not Maggie," Jace protested with a sharp glare at the warlock, masking any and all affection he felt for the sparkly man. "And no, you won't be," he announced, wrapping his arms around the newborn as gently as possible.

"Then who will?" Isabelle asked, bouncing on her toes. "Auntie Izzy?"

"Uncle Batman?" Simon questioned as he gestured toward himself. He was ignored completely.

Jace groaned in exasperation and looked at the baby in his arms. "Apart from me, the first one who gets to hold her should probably be Jocelyn," he said softly, glancing toward the red-headed woman awkwardly. "Although I am not going to lie to you. It's hard for me not to let Alec hold her before you."

Jocelyn blinked slowly before she gave Jace a gentle smile. "I understand wanting your parabatai to hold her first. Go ahead."

Jace wasted no time in handing the infant to Alec, who looked both alarmed and in awe of being given such an incredibly high honor. It was clear he hadn't expected it, and he held the baby close to his chest, his blue eyes locked on Jace. The golden-haired man grinned at him and nodded encouragingly, and Alec smiled softly before giving the baby a tiny hug. It wasn't too long, however, before she began crying loudly in the man's arms.

"She hates me!" Alec whined, bouncing a little on his toes to try and calm the child down, a worried expression on his face.

Jace let out a laugh and shook his head. "She doesn't. She probably just knows that you'll stop her from doing reckless things. You know how I hate the fact you're a stick in the mud." Alec glanced up at him at that. "But that's okay. She'll act like she hates it, but she'll be so grateful to you for loving her enough to care," he murmured as he walked over to run his fingers over the squalling baby's soft, black hair.

Alec relaxed slightly at that and offered Jace a warm smile of his own. "Why am I the one who was tasked with keeping not one, but two Herondales safe?" he questioned, feigning annoyance.

Magnus grunted at that. "Consider yourself lucky you only have two." The warlock had encountered more than his fair share of the Herondale line.

"We are magnificent. Don't pretend you don't love us," Jace protested, crossing his arms tiredly over his chest.

Before long, everyone had gotten to hold the baby, and finally Jace was allowed to go back and check on Clary, which he did instantaneously, leaving the newborn with her loving family. She was safe with them, after all, and was currently in the arms of her adoring Auntie Izzy.

Only after several minutes of simply kissing Clary's face and telling her that he loved her at least a thousand times, Jace managed to leave her side to get the baby so they could hold her together as a family, for the first time. Clary took the child into her arms and blinked slowly, before a peal of laughter escaped her. She sounded so tired, and Jace was incredibly confused.

"Is something funny?" he asked, tipping his head to the side ever so slightly.

Clary shook her head with a small smile. "She doesn't look anything like me," she remarked, pulling the blanket back away from the baby's face to reveal her eyes. Now open, they were a shocking shade of gold - incredibly similar to her father's. "Black hair and golden eyes. For some reason I expected her to have red hair..." She didn't really sound disappointed, but more perplexed, as though she couldn't make sense of it. "Red hair runs strong in the Fairchild family."

"But she's a Herondale. We do tend to break the mold a bit." Jace leaned over to press a kiss to the infant's little forehead, a smile playing on his lips. "She's still so beautiful, though," he breathed, reaching out a hand to touch the baby's raven-black hair.

"What are we going to name her?" Clary asked, looking up at him. "I think you should pick the first name, because I want her middle name to be Jocelyn."

Jace frowned at the question, still looking intently at his daughter. She blinked her big golden eyes at him, and he gave her a bright smile. "How about Aurelia?" he offered softly. "It's Latin for 'golden.'"

"That's unusual," Clary commented, rocking the little girl in her arms gently. But then she smiled a bit, nodding her head. "It sounds beautiful, though. I think it's great." She kissed the baby's forehead with a tiny laugh. "Unusual and beautiful. That's her."

"Aurelia Jocelyn Herondale," Jace said with a small smile, his eyes trained on the little girl's face. His expression suddenly brightened. "Maybe we could call her A.J.?"

"No."

"But Clary-"

"No, Jace."

"Clary..."

"One more word and we're changing her first name."

"Fine..." Jace hung his head in defeat.

But it is a well-known fact that Herondales are very, very good at getting what they want.

I'm sorry if that seems weird, or confusing, or if this is like another story! I didn't look to make sure that this was particularly unique, but I hope the storyline - once we get down to it - will be very different. Plus I want to make the next chapters longer. This is just a prologue, and I'm looking for some feedback before I continue with it. I don't want to write a story that no one will read xD

Just a warning - while this is under the Family/Friendship category, this has angst, tragedy, hurt/comfort, romance, adventure, humor and everything in between in it. I'm very excited to get started, but I will probably be updating sporadically.

I would like you all to know that I have not read the book about Simon yet, so I don't know how that went, and this story will have spoilers for both The Mortal Instruments series and The Infernal Devices series. This will probably involve some adult themes as well, though nothing too bad. Mostly violence and alcohol use and things along that line. c:

As stated before, I love reviews, both positive and negative, so go ahead and hit me with your best shot c: I don't bite.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Mortal Instruments or The Infernal Devices. They belong to the brilliant Cassandra Clare.

Please note that I do not usually have same-gender pairings in my stories. The Magnus and Alec interaction will not include romance. The most I'll do is mention them being together. This is not to offend anyone. We all believe differently, so please do not hate me or flame me for my decision.

God bless you and have a great day,

anim8or