This is a new Clace short story I've had jumping around in my mind for a while. If you've seen Baby Daddy on ABC Family (of Freeform, as it now insists it is called), that show inspired this story. I don't own Baby Daddy or TMI. I honestly have no idea how long the story will be or how often I'll be updating. We'll see how this goes. Enjoy!
Rated T - mostly for language.
I never considered myself a nurturer. Hell, what twenty-two year old man is? I mean, seriously, I could barely take care of myself, let alone others. Which is why I was especially shocked when I opened my door on a Saturday morning and saw a baby just sitting there in front of my door, along with a baby bag and a few other belongings. Shocked, I immediately brought the baby inside and called out to my roommates, my brother Alec and our friend Simon.
"Guys! Seriously, you need to come out here, now!" I whisper-yelled, trying not to wake the baby sleeping peacefully in the baby carrier in front of me.
The two of them were wiping slumber from their eyes as they stumbled out of their bedrooms. "What the hell, Jace? We didn't home until four in the morning last night, how are you even fucking conscious right now?" Simon asked, putting his glasses on. I moved out of the way, showing them the baby currently sitting on our coffee table.
"Jace…" Alec started. "Whose baby is that? And why did you kidnap it?"
I shot my brother a look. "I didn't fucking kidnap it, Alec. I opened the door to get the newspaper, and it was just sitting there!"
"Whose baby is it?" Simon asked. God dammit, I'm surrounded by idiots.
"Seriously, Si, if I knew that, don't you think I would have fucking told you?" The two moved closer, surprisingly calm given the circumstances. Considering that I was panicking beyond belief, I was relieved that they were chill. Alec reached into the carrier and pulled out an envelope, glancing at it before handing it to me.
"It's addressed to you." I quickly tore into the letter.
Jace,
She's yours. I tried to be a mom, I really did. But I just can't do it anymore. Don't try to find me. Good luck.
Kaelie
P.S. – her name is Lilly.
Fuck. This baby was my baby. I was really fucking hoping it was Simon's gamer spawn with some woman he had an affair with. Kaelie and I dated briefly almost a year ago; it wasn't anything serious to either of us. But now I had a kid? How could I even be sure she was my kid? Just as I was questioning whether I was actually the kid's dad, I heard gasps.
"J-Jace…" Simon started, getting my attention. The baby was crying, clearly she'd woken up. When I looked up, I saw him pointing at the baby. "L-Look at its eyes." I did. And suddenly the world was blurry and there was a ringing in my ears. I was looking into my eyes. The only person besides me that I'd ever seen with gold eyes was my biological father. This was my baby. It was obvious.
"It is a girl, Si. Her name is Lilly. And she's my daughter."
"Jesus fucking Christ Jace. How do you have a kid you didn't know about? And how do you even know she's yours?" I shoved the letter into my brother's chest before he could even finish talking.
"Look at her, Alec. She has golden hair and my eyes. She's basically baby me."
Simon just stood there, frozen, as he read the letter over Alec's shoulder.
"Now what?" Alec asked.
"We call the girls, obviously," I said – that decision was easy. My sister Isabelle and her best friend Clary live across the hall. Usually it's annoying, especially when I'm trying to get rid of a girl the morning after and they run into my sister on the elevator. But at that moment I'd never been happier that Izzy and Clary were there. Simon rushed over to get them and was back within a minute.
"Why the hell did you wake me up before 8 am, Si? You are so not getting lucky for a week for this stunt!" Izzy complained as she entered my apartment. Yeah, her and Simon are dating; they have been for three years. At first it was awkward as hell, my friend dating my sister, but I've accepted it. I think I've handled it better than Alec, who still looks like he wants to throw up when he sees them kiss. I realize that I wished that the baby was Simon's and momentarily felt guilty, until I remember she was fucking mine. The desperation was deep.
"Crisis, Iz. We are in crisis."
"What the hell does that even mean?" Clary asked. She looked adorable in her flannel pajamas with her red curls tied in a bun on the top of her head. She's been Izzy's best friend since middle school. As we got older, we grew closer. I definitely considered her one of my best friends now. She's always been there for me. I regularly ignore the weird twinge I get in my gut when she's around. Probably heartburn. I do have acid reflux after all.
I picked the baby up and walked over to my friends. "Meet Lilly… my daughter." Izzy gasped and Clary paled before sitting down on the couch, staring at me without blinking.
"Your daughter? You have a kid? Jace, what the fuck did you do? How is this even possible? You aren't that irresponsible, are you? For fuck's sake, you knocked some random chick up?" Izzy was screaming now, her face red with anger.
"Iz, calm down, let him explain," Clary nearly whispered.
"Thanks Clary. Apparently, Kaelie is her mom. I found her outside our apartment this morning with this note," I said, handing my sister the note. She read it quickly.
"What kind of bitch abandons her baby? And with you of all people. Cause you're totally responsible enough to have an innocent, helpless baby relying on you." God, Izzy was on a roll with the attacks.
"Can I hold her?" Clary interrupted. My head snapped up to look at her and I nodded. She smiled brightly as I placed Lilly in her arms. "Hi Lilly," she cooed at the baby. "I'm Clary, I promise I won't let your daddy kill you on accident." Our friends chuckled and I gave a faux offended look.
"What do we do now?" I asked after a few minutes of us all sitting in silence and staring at the baby, who was happily chewing on one of Clary's fingers.
"Now," Izzy started. "We go shopping. And you call Mom. Alec, call Magnus. We need reinforcements."
An hour later, Clary, Izzy, Simon, Alec, and Alec's boyfriend Magnus were heading out to baby stores and my mom was on her way to the apartment, probably getting ready to murder me. Lucky bastards all left before the yelling could start. Lilly was sipping on a bottle of formula that Clary found in her baby bag. Thank god for Clary, or the kid would have already starved to death. She also showed me how to change a diaper before she left.
"Jonathan Christopher Herondale Lightwood, where are you?!" I heard my mom screech as the door slammed behind her. We never should have given her a key to the apartment; I didn't even have a warning that she was here.
"I'm here Mom," I said, standing up with Lilly in my arms. Mom's black eyes were burning with fire, until they turned down and saw the baby I was holding. Okay, Jace, I thought. She's like kryptonite for angry moms. Don't put her down. "This is Lilly." Just then, the little girl opened her eyes and began murmuring contentedly in my arms. It was like she knew my mom was in rampage mode and wanted to diffuse the situation.
Mom's eyes softened as she scanned the little girl over. "She looks just like you when you were her age," she whispered, her eyes misty. My parents adopted me when I was eight, but they'd known me from the day I was born. They were best friends with my biological parents, Stephen and Celine Herondale, and they were my godparents. When my parents died in a car accident, the Lightwoods took me in and treated me as their own. For well over a decade, Maryse and Robert Lightwood had been my parents in every way that mattered. Including making me feel like shit when I did something stupid, like all good parents.
"She does look like me."
"How did this happen?" Mom asked.
"Well, when two people like each other, sometimes they…" My mom glared at me, lifting her hand to shut me up.
"Not the right time, Jace." If looks could kill, I'd be bleeding out.
"Okay, okay. There was this girl, Kaelie. We weren't anything serious, and it only lasted a couple of weeks. I didn't think anything more about it, until this morning, when I found this little one outside the apartment. And she has my eyes and my hair. I just feel it, you know? She's mine."
My mom gave a small smile before reaching out and taking the baby from my arms. "So, what's the game plane?" she asked as she rocked Lilly.
"The crew went out to buy the basics. Luckily, I've been saving for a few years, so I'm dipping into that to buy everything she needs. Alec, Magnus, Simon and the girls have already volunteered to babysit during work hours when I can't work from home. And I should be able to afford a nanny if I need more help…"
"Don't be ridiculous, Jace. I'm retired, Max is in school during the day and your dad is at work. I'll watch her when needed."
"Thanks, Mom. That means a lot."
"She's my granddaughter, Jace. I won't let you screw this up." We sat in silence for a while, just staring at the baby. And then Mom started giving me all kinds of information on doctors, play groups, feeding and sleep schedules, and all kinds of other stuff. Honestly, I started taking notes because it was too much to remember. That lasted until my friends walked back in a few hours later.
Izzy and Alec kissed our mom hello and Clary immediately scooped the baby into her arms. I couldn't deny that seeing Clary with my baby did something to me. Years ago, I'd had a little crush on her (okay, a fucking gigantic, life destroying crush), but I got over it when she started dating Sebastian, a guy she met in freshman history class. When they broke up last month, I told myself nothing changed. But maybe something had. Maybe I still cared about Clary. Or maybe seeing a woman love on your daughter just melts you as a dad, like some kind of biological response. It still could have been because of heartburn. Either way, I wanted to ignore it. So I volunteered to help the guys bring everything in from the car as the girls and my mom fussed with Lilly.
"I've literally never seen Izzy and Clary so excited about something. They were just running around like little girls, picking out everything they liked at the store," Si said as we were bringing the crib upstairs.
"Yeah, well, I'm terrified to know how much you spent." Simon grimaced.
"Uh, I'm gonna let Izzy field that question." Fantastic.
When we finally got everything upstairs, Alec and I worked on putting the new crib and changing table together while Clary and Izzy unpacked all the new clothes, shoes, bows, and whatever the fuck else they decided to put on my credit card. Magnus and Simon provided commentary as they worked on cleaning and putting away all the new bottles, bowls, and supplies. Shit, babies come with a crap ton of stuff.
Finally, after the longest day of my life, my mom left and Izzy, Clary and Simon went to the girls' apartment. Alec decided to stay the night at Magnus' house, so it was just me and Lilly. I was exhausted by the time I bathed her, fed her, got her ready for bed, and finally settled her down. By nine, I was crawling into bed and within seconds I was asleep. Until 10 pm, when Lilly started crying. Luckily, I calmed her down quickly.
At 11 pm, she woke up again. And that time, she didn't settle. She just cried and cried no matter what I did. I was on the verge of losing it. Lack of sleep the night before, the stress of the day, and the piercing cries coming from the baby were enough to bring me close to tears. I did everything. I changed her diaper, fed her, and sang to her. I would have fucking thrown myself off a balcony if it would've quieted her.
At 4 am, I finally gave in and called Clary. She was at my apartment in ten seconds. That was why I loved her. Her eyes widened when she took me in, shirtless, my hair a disaster, dark circles under my eyes, and practically shaking with Lilly in my arms. "I'm so tired, Clare," I whispered, ashamed that I was crawling to her for help after less than twenty-four hours as a parent.
"Give her to me, Jace," she said, opening her arms for my daughter. And I willingly handed her over. All I wanted was sleep, no matter the cost. I saw Clary settle down on the couch with a whimpering Lilly before turning around and going to sleep.