The Only Thing
Summary: When Valentine snatches Clarissa from Jocelyn and brings her with him back to Idris, he notices a change in his dark son, Jonathan Christopher. And he cannot seem to tell if his daughter creating a strong bond with his son is a good thing for his plans or not.
Disclaimer: Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series and their characters solely belong to Cassandra Clare.
ChapterOne: Little Sister
A man with silvery-white colored hair in his twenties walks down a dimly lit hallway. He does not really look like he is hurrying to get where he is going. For every step he takes, he becomes more aware of the loud voices coming from the room at the end of the hallway. His eyebrows knit together as the voices become louder and louder and there are obviously cries coming from a child as he gets nearer and nearer to the door. He stops directly in front of the door and takes a moment before he puts a hand on the knob and turns it.
He is greeted by three maids crowding around two small figures in the middle of the room. A maid is holding a pitcher of water while another is crouching in front of a golden haired little boy. There are a lot of toys scattered on the carpeted floor. The head maid who is in her early thirties notices his arrival. He sees the flash of relief on her face but he cannot ignore the horrified look on her face as well. "My l-lord… t-the young master… I-I mean… t-the y-young masters… Young Master Jonathan w-was hol– " She trails off because a little boy who looks like he's in the age of five or six shoves past her. The boy has pushed her out of his way with such strength despite having a small body. The maid almost falls over.
"Father!" Valentine Morgenstern's intense black eyes lock on the boy before him. He cannot help it but to feel a tinge of warmth because of the look of delight his son has on his face. This son of his rarely shows emotions and for that, occasions like this are something to remember for Valentine. He leans down to gather the fair haired boy in his arms but his eyes catch a bread knife in his son's right hand. The bad thing about it is the knife has blood on it. He grabs the boy's wrist none too gently. His son does not even wince at the rough treatment. For a moment he locks his eyes with his son's. The boy looks expressionless. If he is confused of his father's sudden roughness, he does not show it.
Valentine rips the knife out of Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern's hand and throws it away. He still has a vice grip around Jonathan's wrist. "What have you done this time, Jonathan?" Valentine manages to keep his voice even. But his body betrays him. He is shaking with anger directed towards his son who is looking at him with soul less black eyes.
"You told me to play with that angel boy… I just did. He's just too fragile to play with me. It's not my fault, Father." Jonathan says in monotone. He stares up in his father's eyes. His face is passive. But his eyes look challenging. It's almost as if he is challenging Valentine to hurt him for what he is done. Valentine closes his eyes for a moment before releasing Jonathan. He thinks that he better attend to his "other" son.
"F-Father!" His head snaps automatically to the direction of the loud wail. His eyes quickly lock on the very small boy with blonde hair and golden eyes in the age of two. His eyes are puffy red from all the crying he did. The boy runs towards him and he gathers him in his arms. The little boy throws his arms around the man's neck and sobs on his shoulder. Valentine notices that his son has his left hand bandaged. He looks at his older son who is standing there watching them with cold hatred burning in his eyes. His small hands are curled into tight fists at his sides. Jonathan turns to the head maid.
"Myrna, I'm hungry," he says and stalks out of the room without another word. The head maid, Myrna, trails behind him after she gives a small bow to the head of the house. Valentine turns to the other maids in the room.
"You may go," he says as he pats the back of his son. The maids hurry towards the door.
"How could he do that to his own brother?" "Is he really just a two year old? He looks five to me."
Valentine pretends that he didn't hear any of their comments about his eldest son. The blonde boy in his arms seems to have calmed down. He knows he cannot go on raising his two sons in the same manor. He knows that soon enough his Jonathan will do more drastic things and he fears that next time, he won't be there to help the small child in his arms. A sigh escapes his lips. He has decided. Tonight, he will put his plan into action. He will take Stephen Herondale's son to the Wayland manor. Yes, the child in his arms right now is not really his own son. The two year old boy is the son of his deceased second-in-command. Valentine will bring this boy to the Wayland manor and pretend to be Michael Wayland whom he had killed.
He has figured out that he can be the father of both boys and be able to raise them separately. His real son, Jonathan Christopher, will stay here in his manor in Brocelind while the Jonathan he is carrying right now will be staying at the Wayland manor, and will be representing Michael Wayland's son. Yes. He has thought about everything. He is confident everything will go in accordance with his plans. Once he settles the moving, he will go to New York and pay his wife a visit. News got to him that his once wife, Jocelyn Fairchild, has already given birth to his second child. And he is coming to claim that child.
Valentine looks out the huge glass windows. The wind blows gently towards him. He feels the boy shift in his arm and soon enough he finds himself looking into bright pale golden eyes. He gives the boy a small smile. He cannot help it but to warm up to this child. Sometimes he thinks it's just because of the angel blood in him and after all it's hard to be cold towards children even for someone like him who has done dreadful things. "Don't worry, Jonathan. I'll bring you to a safe place," he says softly and the boy buries his head on the crook of his neck.
The next day...
Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern stands at the doorway of a spacious room. His black eyes are set on the black grand piano in the middle of the room. He just stares at it for long minutes. It is hard to tell if he is just curious about it being a child like him or he is thinking if he should play or not. He soon walks towards the piano. He climbs on the chair before the piano with such grace that will make other people think that he is too intelligent for his age. Well he does not even look his age. Jonathan Christopher is just a two year old boy. He is indeed in the same age as that of the other little boy but he develops a lot faster than boys his age. He develops faster because of the demon blood in him. His father experimented on him when he was still in his mother's womb and this is the result. A one of a kind child.
Jonathan places his small hands over the keys and starts playing. He plays and plays for who knows how long. It is already night time when he ceases his music. He looks out a huge window wondering why his father is not home yet. His father left the night before and promised to return today. At first, Jonathan didn't like the idea of his father bringing that small boy into another house. He knows his father will still raise the child and he hates the thought that his father's time will be more divided now than before. He wanted to tell his father that he will not hurt the other boy again. He prefers to just have his father in this house every time and he is now very much willing to share the house and his father to his so called little brother. He thinks that it's better than his father going to the Wayland manor then going back here over and over. But he didn't say it. He simply nodded to show his understanding of the situation when Valentine informed him of the new arrangement. He trusts his father. He's the only one he trusts. And he likes pleasing his father that is why he always tries so hard to be the obedient child. But somehow his father cannot seem to understand his hatred towards the other boy.
He slips off of the chair and walks out of the room. It is time for dinner but he does not feel like eating. He simply makes his way towards his room. His footsteps do not hold any sound in them as he walks. He stops in his tracks when he sees his father walking out of a room. He does not make any move to announce his presence to his father. He watches Valentine keenly as the man closes the door quietly but he doesn't miss how his father seemed to give one last look to whatever is inside the room before closing the door completely. Jonathan just stands there several doors away from his father. His father does not sense his presence and Jonathan waits until Valentine leaves the area.
The boy makes his way towards the door his father just closed. He reaches the knob and slowly turns it. The door opens quietly and he pokes his head in. He scans the room with his eyes. The room is very well lit. Something unusual catches his eyes. It's a white crib and it's occupied. He welcomes himself into the room completely. He sees movement in the crib and this makes his eyes narrow. Just then an earsplitting wail invades his ears. He makes a face. He hates it when children cry like this. He often wonders why in the hell they cry. He himself does not cry. He cannot even remember a moment when he cried. Maybe that one time when he grabbed an old book from the library and when he opened it, dust invaded his eyes making them very red and teary.
He chooses to stand a few feet away from the crib. He sees the baby move through the bars. He catches the pink clothes the baby wears. Then he catches a flash of red. He wonders if it's the baby's hair. His eyes widen a fraction when he sees two small hands grasp the bars of the crib. The wailing continues and he soon realizes that the baby is bringing itself up. It takes a few struggles and soon enough, Jonathan finds himself staring into big teary emerald colored eyes. The baby is now holding onto the railing and is crying her heart out. He figures that the baby is a girl considering all the pink. There is a pink ribbon on one side of her head, holding little of her shocking red hair. The baby girl's small chubby face is getting all red because of the effort she's currently putting on crying.
He just stares at the baby and blinks when the baby reaches out a hand towards him. For the first time, Jonathan is not sure of what he should do. He soon turns his back to the crib and takes a few steps towards the exit but as soon as the wailing's volume increases, he stops. He grits his teeth and walks back to the crib. He gives the baby an icy glare. He's expecting the baby to cry more or stop. His little brother usually stops crying when he glares at him. He almost smiles in triumph when the baby stops crying. Big green eyes stare at him in pure wonder. Just then a big smile erupts on the baby's face. She giggles and tries to reach him from her crib.
Jonathan does not know what it is but something is pulling him towards this baby. Before he knows it, he is standing directly in front of the crib. His hands are grasping the railing. He jumps a little when the baby's small hands pat his own in a playful manner. He notices the tears on her chubby cheeks and he reaches a hand up to wipe her tears away. He does all this with a still blank expression on his face. "Who are you?" He is not so sure if he did say that out loud. The baby continues to stare at him with delight in her green eyes. The baby does not respond, she only giggles some more.
"You can't talk?" He slips his hands under the baby's arms and lifts her out of the crib. He holds the baby in the air with his arms stretched out.
"Jonathan?" He looks up to see his father standing at the doorway. There is a surprise look on the boy's face. Valentine takes a few long strides towards the boy and Jonathan pulls the baby against his body. He cages her in his arms in a protective way. He thinks that his father might take the baby away and for once, Jonathan wants to contradict him and he is ready to speak up. He sees Valentine reach out a hand towards him and the baby. He takes a step back as a reflex.
"I'm not hurting her," he declares and a look of surprise and amusement passes over Valentine's face. After a few seconds, Valentine drops his outstretched hand to his side.
"I know you're not." Jonathan seems to relax at this. He moves towards the crib and places the baby girl back in it carefully. "I know you're going to take good care of her." This makes Jonathan look to at his father with curiosity written all over his face. Valentine gives him a small smile.
"Her name is Clarissa… She's your little sister."
Sorry for the grammatical errors so please bear with me ^^; Anyway, I feel like this chapter is a bit short for my liking or maybe I'm just pretty used to writing longer chapters. Oh well I just feel like it really should end there since this is an introductory chapter.
The idea for this story came from my previous fic involving Jonathan Morgenstern. I just want to write him being able to grow up with Clary so here it is ;D
Thanks for reading and please do leave some reviews ^_^