The sun's rays danced off of her golden aura as she bounced around in the grass outside the Herondale manor. She reminded her so much of her father, and Clary knew she would one day become just as brave a warrior as he always had been.
She could feel his golden eyes fixed on her and she didn't mind. He seemed to do that a lot, just stare at her as if he were breathing in ever little detail and never growing tired of her, no matter how many years had passed. Jace thought he could look at her forever, marvel at the way her flaws came together to form such a perfect woman. And she was his. And he was hers. Years had passed and he still thought he was living in some kind of twisted dream he would one day have to wake up from.
He broke his gaze from her to look over at their son, a spark of fire in the calm green landscape. He had flaming red curls brighter than his mother's and golden eyes that lit up as he chased after his younger sister.
Jace knew how much it hurt Clary to look at Jonathan and Charlotte, see the childhood she could have once had. Nobody else had ever understood how it was possible for her to miss and love a brother she never had, but he knew how she felt because he missed the idea of a father he never had, the father hidden behind an old letter and faded photographs. He glanced at her again and she was smiling. He knew it hurt her, but it also made her heart fill up with warmth, knowing her children could have the happiness she had wanted.
She sat opposite them on the Herondale porch. Time had eventually grown on her as it had on all the others, but she was still the brave and gorgeous Isabelle Lightwood. Her hand was interlocked with the man's next to her, where it had been for the last 10 years, never daring to let go. He looked at her in that same childlike and stunned expression he always had, as if he still couldn't believe someone like her could have fallen in love with someone like him. He gripped her hand tighter, scared he might lose her again.
They glanced over into the garden as their eldest son Max sat down in the grass to read a comic book to the younger ones, his jet black long hair sliding into his eyes. Simon laughed as his son's dorky glasses slid down his nose. He would grow up to be just as beautiful as his mother, he thought, and yet retain that geekiness that seemed to follow Simon no matter how much his life had changed.
Isabelle sighed as Max pulled out the comic book. It wasn't a sad sigh, but looking at her son always reminded her of her younger brother, no matter how much time had passed. Before, when he was smaller, it was like an angel had granted her brother a second life, and as he grew older it was like watching her brother live the life he never had. She could tell Clary felt the same when she looked at Jonathan, but Clary had never lived half her life with her brother like she had. She never had to give away such a big part of her heart to someone just to see it all crumble away, the only pieces left to remember him by locked away in memories, everyone always reluctant to open them again until he would just become a face on a old photo.
Along with Charlotte and Jonathan, three bouncy toddlers huddled around Max. They climbed up on his shoulders and tugged on his hair. Gabriel and Thomas were twins, and they looked like younger versions of Max, both with shaggy black hair which covered their dark eyes. It was very hard for their father to tell them apart, but they didn't make it easy for him by switching their roles around every day. Next to them an even younger girl jumped up and down. Sophie had always been Simon's favourite, although he wouldn't dare admit it to himself. He knew that all the boys in this family would over protect her, and he knew that Lightwood girls were not the ones you could save from an ugly beast. They were the ones who would judge your every move as you tackled one and assess you without mercy. She would become a strong warrior, with her curly brown hair and dark, dark eyes reflecting in a powerful sword, side by side her brothers and demons fallen by their feet. He had suggested calling her Princess Leila, but Isabelle had refused to even know what he was referring to before there was anything to argue about.
Alec looked into those gigantic and adoring eyes, and he never thought he could ever feel such an overwhelming love burning inside his chest. He never even thought it was possible to love someone more than he loved Magnus, but each second he spent admiring the baby in his arms the deeper he fell in love. He smiled as a tiny tear dribbled down his cheek. A soft finger wiped it away and Alec broke his gaze from his daughter. The same spiky blue hair greeted him as he looked up, Magnus' enchanting cat eyes almost as bright as the baby's.
Alec had with no doubt grown older, he was aging with grace and very slowly, (as some Shadowhunters sometimes do) but enough to remind him that every day counted.
He and Magnus had come in as quietly as possible, Alec with a silence rune and Magnus with a hint of magic, and none of their friends had noticed their arrival, their faces fixed on the children in the garden. Alec was just about to announce something when an eruption of blue flames and raining glitter interrupted him.
"WE HAVE A BABY!"
Magnus exploded like a volcano that couldn't contain its lava anymore. Alec didn't drop the smile from his face, but he gave Magnus a look that said, I thought we agreed no Magnus-itude at the announcement.
There was no time for anyone to jump from startles, everyone exclaimed with joy and approached them with their hands raised to the sky. Isabelle was the first to rush to her brother, her face illuminated by an enormous grin. Questions swarmed the air all at once and Alec thought he might faint. But he didn't need to worry about answering them, Magnus was way too excited to let him do the talking.
"Let me hold her! Oh my god she's adorable!" Isabelle took her in her arms before Alec had any time to protest.
Simon stood by her shoulder and started making goofy faces for the baby to laugh at. His daughter' laughter was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard in his life. He never thought a sound could contain so much, could bring such happiness to his heart.
"Hold on a second. I thought there had to be a female for this kind of thing to happen... or did Magnus literally do some magic in the bedroom?" Jace said.
Clary nudged an elbow into his stomach but she couldn't contain her laughs.
"It's the 21st century there's something called adoption if you didn't know, Shadowhunter." Magnus answered calmly.
"I'm finally an aunt!" Izzy exclaimed.
"Excuse me, how about Jonny and Charli?" Clary said, but no sound of actual offense in her voice.
"No but I mean an actual brother..."
"Hey great I'm happy to know out whole childhood together meant nothing to you." Jace teased.
"Children, children, quiet and admire my baby." Magnus interrupted.
"Uhm, do you mean our baby?" Alec asked.
Magnus dismissed him with a flick of his fingers and took the baby from Isabelle's arms.
"How about Princess Leila for her then?" Simon suggested.
"NO, SIMON." Everyone shouted at him. He murmured something under his breath about how if he were still a vampire they wouldn't dare treat him like they always do.
"You know, I've always thought Jace was a sort of girl name as well..." Jace started saying.
"Jace we're not naming our baby girl after you," Alec said.
"We're naming her after someone very special to me, whose been there for a long part of my existence." Magnus said, "Someone who's also very close to the Lightwoods."
"Everyone, meet Theresa Lightwood-Bane."