Thank you guys so much for the reviews! I'm so glad you guys are interested in this story! Anyway, on with the story...
"Where were you last night?" Valentine Morgenstern asked as he grabbed a bread roll from the basket in the middle of the table. Clary glanced up from where she was eating her soup and looked over at her father, who was sitting at the head of the table.
"I was out with Izzy," Clary replied with a shrug.
"Til two in the morning?" Valentine pushed. Clary rolled her eyes and put her spoon down in her bowl.
"This an interrogation or some shit?" She asked. "I was out clubbing, dropped Izzy off at Simons afterwards and then went home. Probably got back around three."
"Seb was looking for you," he answered.
"Good for him," Clary muttered as she looked over at her mother, who just shrugged at her.
"You know he has a thing for you, right?" Valentine said.
"Does it look like a care?" Clary lifted an eyebrow. "He's an asshole." Valentine pointed his spoon at her, as if to warn her about what she was saying, but then he snorted and went back to his food. It was a tradition in the Fairchild-Morgenstern home that they always had lunch together on Sundays. A lot of the time, there were other brothers there as well, but today it was just the three of them. Sometimes Isabelle was there as well, given she was just an extended version of the Silver Demons, like Clary and her mother were. Her and Isabelle had been running around together since they were in diapers, they had been inseparable as teenagers and now they were living together.
"So who you screwing these days, then?" Valentine asked abruptly and Clary made a face.
"Did you know that in polite society, fathers don't ask their daughters that?" She told him with a roll of her eyes. "Actually, they go out of their way not to know that. At all. Ever."
"Guess I'm not polite society," he shrugged, giving her a mock pained laugh before letting out a laugh that came right from his stomach. "But I will threaten any man that you date with a shot gun, if that helps. That's normal, right?"
"No, no, no," Clary shook her head. "Fathers usually joke about doing that. They don't actually bring a shot gun." He didn't look at all bothered by this, and she let out a laugh. "Soups good, mum. I think I'm gonna head off soon."
"That's fine, babe," Jocelyn smiled over at her. "You want seconds?"
"Yes," the red head nodded at her mother. Jocelyn stood up and reached over the table to pick up her daughters bowl, as well as her partners, and walked around the table to head toward the kitchen. Valentine reached out and slapped her ass she walked past, and she rolled her eyes over her shoulder at him.
"You guys are gross, you know that?" Clary said and Valentine just grinned, leaning over to pinch her cheek and ruffle her hair. "Ohmygod, you need to stop doing that now. I'm not five anymore."
"You'll always be our baby girl," Jocelyn cooed as she came back and dropped a kiss to Clary's head.
"Hey, where's Jon?" Clary frowned. Usually her brother was late for family lunch, but his stomach always lead him back at some point. It was now almost one thirty, and there was no sign of the elder Morgenstern sibling.
"He's just finished a run," Valentine responded.
"Ah, makes sense," Clary nodded as she picked up her spoon and started eating her freshly filled bowl of soup. Valentine and Jocelyn started talking about something that was going to happen next week at the shop. She really didn't care about cars or motorbikes, even though she had been around them all her life. But she knew that guys looked hot on bikes, and she liked the ones that made a grunty rev when she pressed down harder on the accelerator. Ride was a string of auto-body shops that were spread through this town and the next few, all run by Silver Demons.
"Oi, babe!" Valentine reached over and pulled at a strand of her hair to get her attention.
"What?" Clary blinked at her father.
"I said," he rolled his eyes at her. "Can you come in a little earlier tomorrow? We've got a big stock order coming in and I need you to be there to help sort through."
"Translation," Clary tilted her head to the side as she looked over at him. "Sebastian is going to be there to put the stock away, and you want me to go in early to bat my eyelashes and pout my pretty little mouth because you want me and him to get together and pop out a bunch of blonde haired, freckle faced munchkins." Jocelyn snorted across the table and Clary grinned over the table.
"What can I say?" Valentine shrugged. "You're getting old, girl. I want some kids before you're too old to get knocked up."
"I'm twenty-three," she reminded him with a roll of her own eyes. It was clearly a family thing, she looked very similar to her mother when she did it. "Anyway, I—"
"What up, bitch?" Came a crow from the doorway and Clary spun around to look over to where her brother was coming in. Jonathon Fairchild-Morgenstern was coming in, dressed in a pair of a jeans, a dark hoodie and a leather cut, with a patch announcing Silver Demons and a smaller stitch underneath it, announcing Vice President. Clary let out a squeal as she jumped up from her seat and ran over to her big brother. He grinned as he easily picked her up with one arm and planted a kiss to her cheek. "Miss me?"
"It's only been a week, dork," Clary tried to cover up her excitement with a shrug as he put her back on the ground. She stood a good few feet shorter than her brother, and while Clary took after her mother like wise, Jonathon took after their father. He was built like their father as well; tall with big muscles, and an ever confident smirk on his face.
"No problems out there, son?" Valentine asked, getting up from the table to come over and sling an arm around the younger mans neck and bringing him in for a one armed hug.
"Nah, nah, we were fine," Jon shrugged, although there was a tightness in his expression that Clary was curious about. It quickly cleared, though, when he looked down at the table. "Anyway, we're pretty damn hungry, mum. Is it all good if the boys come in?" Jocelyn raised an eyebrow as another head poked through the door and gave her a hopeful look.
"As if you boys were waiting for an answer," Jocelyn muttered, but there was a grin on her face and three men flooded into the kitchen, all in similar dress to Jon. One of them was Sebastian Verlac, who gave Clary a long look as he passed by the table and headed into the kitchen to grab a bowl. Clary just rolled her eyes back to her bowl of soup, scooping more up with her spoon and swallowing it down.
The quiet atmosphere had quickly dissolved into boisterous and loud as the boys all crowded around the long, wooden table. But that was normal. While Sunday lunch was family time, as in, specifically the Fairchild-Morgenstern family, pretty much any other time was Silver Demons family time.
And the noise was normal when it came to them.
Clary finished her lunch and pushed it to the middle of the table as she looked around. The boys were tucking into their food, talking through mouthfuls of bread, swearing like sailors and telling dirty jokes. She couldn't stop the smile that curled her lips upward as her mother looked over at her and gave her a grin. Jon was in the seat next to her, and he reached over to ruffle her hair and chuck her on the chin and she rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling.
This was her family.
They were loud, and they were crude, and they acted far outside the socially acceptable rules.
But that didn't matter.
Because they were hers.
"Love you, daddy," she murmured, leaning over and kissing Valentine quickly on the cheek. She picked up her bowl, checked that no one else had any dishes, and then headed into the kitchen. The windows over the sink looked out over the front yard. Her car was parked in the drive way, and then there were bikes set up all around it, standing proud just like the boys who drove them. She was about to turn around and head back into the dining room when Sebastian came in, raising his eyebrows in greeting to her. "Heard you were looking for me last night," she stated.
"Thought we could go out for a drink," he shrugged.
"You thought wrong," Clary pursed her lips. "Such a pity." He shook his head, a grin on his lips, and looked as though he was about to say something when there was the sound of an engine outside. She looked out the window and smiled when she saw Maryse Lightwood's car pulling up at the curb outside their house. "Sorry, pal," she gave him a tight, clearly insincere smile before bouncing out of the room. "Mari's here, mum," she said as she walked through the dining room and headed toward the front door. She pulled it open before there was even a knock and Maryse gave her a wide smile.
"Hey, babe," Maryse leaned in to give the girl a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey, Aunty Mari," Clary gave her a kiss back. "Have you eaten yet?"
"Who do you think I am?" The woman asked. "I live with your Uncle Rob—we've already had lunch two times over."
"Mum made chicken soup," Clary sung out as she lead that way into the dining room.
"Well," Maryse shrugged. "Maybe I have room for more."
"Afternoon, Maryse!" Valentine called from the table.
"Hey, Mari," came a round of greetings from around the table, the boys all getting up individually as a show of respect for one of the old ladies of their brotherhood, giving her hugs and kisses on the cheek.
"I hear you have your famous chicken soup on the stove?" Maryse called over to Jocelyn who grinned as she stood up from the table.
"It's a good thing I always cook for an army," the red head said as she lead the way into the kitchen. Maryse and Clary followed after as she started pouring another bowl of soup. "Hey, Maryse, did Rob tell you about the dinner and drinks next Friday?"
"Sure did. I called the catering company last night. They're going to have everything ready by six, we can pick everything up and then have it all ready by sevenish," Maryse replied.
"What's happening?" Clary asked, looking between the two older woman.
"One of the other charters are coming through," Jocelyn replied.
"Ooh," Clary grinned, her eyebrows raising in approval. "A charter party. Sounds like fun." Jocelyn smiled at her, before turning back to the stove and tucking her hair behind her ear. It was only a brief flash, but Clary caught a glimpse of a bruise on her neck. She pursed her lips together and looked over at Maryse, who had seen the mark as well. She shook her head once at Clary, and the younger girl let out a sigh through her nose, keeping her mouth shut.
So this is my last update for the year. I'm taking some time from now until after New Years because I've got five weeks of training at work, plus two 21st's, plus a concert, plus Christmas and New Years—just insanely busy in general! But I love you all so much, and pretty please leave a review, as an early Christmas present to me, and I'll send you a preview, along with lots of my love.
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you guys for making my year great, and I hope that my stories have helped you all to escape reality for just a few minutes xxxx
