Sweet Dreams
The night sky had finally darkened from the blue that came with dusk to an inky colour. Tessa Herondale sat curled up in her favourite chair in the little study that technically was Will's, taking a few precious moments to flick through the beginnings of A Tale of Two Cities for the fifth time since James had been born. Every time she had attempted to start it, she was inevitably called away; by the cook, by the gardener, by her own treacherous body, desiring precious sleep. She had opened it up this morning to the tenderly-written inscription, but was cheerfully surprised by Charlotte and Henry and their sons Charles and Matthew - delightful children, very polite - and she had spent the day with them. Will was away visiting his sister, and while Tessa was extremely happy with James and her books, she could hardly wait to see her husband again after two weeks of separation.
Smiling to herself at the thought of Will, Tessa turned the page absent-mindedly, only to realise she hadn't actually taken any of the last paragraph in. She looked back with eager grey eyes, devouring the introduction to the mystery surrounding Lucie Mannette's father. The little fire crackled merrily in front of her, the light and shadows interweaving over her silver skirts. Automatically Tessa reached out for a cup of tea, and nearly laughed aloud at discovering the cup was empty; she'd been sitting there for at least an hour already, steadily stocking up on caffeine. She swiftly got up, closing the book on her table, and stealthily sneaked out of the warmth to the cold night of the hallway.
Padding down softly in her stockinged feet - she had kicked off her slippers when first curling onto the chair - Tessa peeked momentarily into each room she passed, admiring the way moonlight made everything more beautiful. There was the drawing room, a billiards room Gabriel had convinced them to furnish, the morning room Tessa, Charlotte and Matthew had spent most of the day in while Henry and Charles tinkered around in the basement laboratory, and finally the nursery. Tessa paused here. She loved to watch over James as he slept, looking utterly at peace with the world, his deep blue eyes hidden beneath delicate pink eyelids. Will was utterly convinced their child's eyes would eventually lighten to Tessa's glistening grey, but she hoped James's eyes would stay like his father's. After all, they were the eyes she had fallen in love with.
James turned around restlessly, a half-formed cry dying on his breath. Tessa hardly dared breathe. Even with the nanny, she had gotten hardly any sleep - once awoken, only his mothers arms could send James back to the Land of Nod. The bags under her eyes resembled bruises in their deep blue-and-purple colour, and often it took over half an hour before James dropped off. She looked down at her son, eyes moving under his eyelids, punching his hands slightly in the air, and she was filled with an overwhelming sense if love for this child, that was part hers and part Will's and - yes, and part Jem as well. She didn't like to think about the Silent Brother too much outside of their annual meetings. It hurt too much.
Suddenly, with a heart-rending cry, James woke up and started sobbing as if his heart would break. Tessa swooped in, picking up her son with her strong young arms, gently bouncing him up and down. She clucked affectionately at her frightened James, watching as he slowly calmed down.
"There now, little James, isn't that better?" Tessa smiled winningly down at the child, and for the first time that night she got a good look at his eyes.
"Well, my little beauty, looks like your eyes definitely won't be blue anymore! Can't say what they'll be, my darling, but they're definitely not blue." She kissed her son's nose and eyes gently, as if they would break apart if too much pressure was put on them, and slowly dropped him back into the cradle. Behind her she heard Will walking in quietly, and when he wrapped his arms around her waist, Tessa knew they were both back at home. She smiled, turned her head, and leaned up to kiss her husband.
"I do believe that James may be growing out of your eyes after all," Tessa murmured after some time.
Will chuckled, and observed his slumbering son.
"I do believe that he's going to be a handsome little devil whatever his eye colour," Will rightly observed.
They stayed there the rest of the night, watching over their child like two guardian angels.