Chapter 3: Foreign visitors...

A/N: Hi. I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, and enjoy this one.
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-ToAC

2030
Clary, Jace, Simon, Izzy, and their children were standing in the library of the Institute, waiting for the arrival of a very special guest. Will, the four adults were standing. The four teenagers had crammed themselves into one of the small sofas in the room. Will and Cecily sat either end of the sofa, with Charlie and Jordan acting as a physical buffer. Coming to the New York Institute were three Shadowhunters from the Paris Institute, the first French visitors to the Institute since the Dark War, nearly 23 years before. Each of the children has been given a 'Gifted in tongues' rune, and Clary had applied one to herself, just for ease. There was a squeaky pop, and three Shadowhunters appeared in travelling clothes, and each carrying suitcases. It was a family affair: visiting were Jacques Arcargent, his wife Hélène, who was born a Bellefontaine, and their 15-year-old daughter Rosalie. Clary greeted her guests, the rune translating her words. Her thoughts were English, but she could hear the French coming out of her mouth.
"Bienvenue à l'Institut de New York." (Welcome to the New York Institute) Clary greeted, smiling at the French guests. Jacques, a medium height, muscled man with a thinning head of dark hair, stepped forwards with his hand outstretched.
"You must be Clarissa Herondale. It's an honour to meet you." Jacques's voice was a baritone, with a thick Parisian accent. Clary could faintly see the lines and curves of the 'gifted in tongues' rune on his shoulder.
"Appelle-moi Clary, tout le monde fais." (Call me Clary, everybody does.) Clary shook Jacques hand and smiled. Hélène slightly pushed Rosalie towards the other teenagers before joining the rest of the adults.
"We've heard a lot about you." Hélène commented. Hélène looked younger than Jacques by about 5 years, a tall, elegant woman with dark hair a similar shade to her husband's. Hélène had no refund to help with the language, as her mother was originally British, but had met Hélène's father in Idris at the Accords. Therefore, Hélène was fluent in both English and French. Rosalie had inherited her mother's elegant appearance, but her father's stature.
"Je ne suis pas surpris." (I'm not surprised) Jace remarked, a smug grin on his face. "Ma femme fais sauver le monde, et nous aidons." (My wife did save the world, and we helped.) Clary's rune meant she also understood what Jace was saying if she concentrated, as if he was speaking English. His statement caused Clary to roll her eyes, and the French guests to laugh. Meanwhile, over with the teenagers, there was a small silence.
"Salut. Je m'appelle Charlotte, mais appelle-moi Charlie." (Hi. My name's Charlotte but call me Charlie) Charlie greeted, smiling at Rosalie. "Comment tu t'appelles?" (What's your name?)
"I'm Rosalie, but you can call me Ros." Rosalie replied, smiling back. "Who are they?"
'They' were the other three teenagers.
"Je m'appelle Will. Je suis le frère aîné de Charlie." (My name is Will. I'm Charlie's elder brother) Will introduced himself.
"Mon nom est Cecily. Je suis le parabatai de Charlie. Il est Jordan, mon petit frère." (My name's Cecily. I'm Charlie's parabatai He's Jordan, my little brother) Cecily greeted Rosalie.
"Il est mon parabatai, aussi." (He's my parabatai, too.) Will sounded indignant.
"Je peux dire pour moi-même." (I can speak for myself) Jordan was as indignant as Will. His statement made the four other teenagers chuckle, both are the indignation, and the unintentional French. There was just enough space for Ros to cram herself next to Cecily. The teenagers chatted idly, to the amusement of their parents. The scene reminded Jace of a similar scene 15 years prior.

2015
It was a mild day in autumn and the Herondales were in the library. Simon stood by a camera facing the sofa, and Clary sat on the sofa, cradling the infant Charlotte. Jace was standing aside, arguing slightly with the toddler Will who was already so much like his father.
"Will, you have to sit down. It won't be a family picture without you." Jace insisted to the toddler, whose arms were firmly crossed.
"No. I look silly." Will delivered this in the stubborn way most toddlers talked, as in he was always 100% right. Will has been dressed in a smart looking, buttoned shirt and dressy trousers.
"You don't look silly. Do I look silly?" Jace was also dressed in a smart buttoned shirt and dress trousers. Will shook his head. Jace leant closer to his son.
"Behave for the photo, and I'll give you extra ice cream at dinner." The promise was whispered as Clary would probably disagree, saying something along the lines of 'he'll be sick'. Will energetically nodded and walked back to the sofa with his dad for the photo.

2030
That particular photo was stowed in an album in Clary's and Jace's room, alongside other moments from the couple's life, from their wedding to the present. About 90% of the photos included one of both of their children. Jace was broken out of his reverie by the other adults laughing. Apparently, Jacques has made some sort of joke about the trip to the Institute. After a short conversation, the French guests were shown to their rooms and life went on for the inhabitants of the Institute. Spurred on by the memory of the photo, Jace practically dragged Clary to their shared room and the couple flicked through the pages, glimpsing moments from the past. After the photos of their wedding and their international honeymoon, there was a page dedicated to a single photo: a white stick with two clear red lines. Both adults vividly remembered that particular memory.

2013
It was a few weeks after Clary and Jace had returned from their whirlwind world tour of a honeymoon, and the redheaded woman was bent over a toilet, throwing up her breakfast. Her blonde husband worriedly entered the bathroom, proceeding to hold Clary's loose hair so she wouldn't get sick in it. After Clary had (involuntarily) emptied her stomach, she stood.
"What's going on, Clary?" Jace and, face full of sheer worry for Clary's well-being.
"I'm not sure." Clary lied. "It will pass though."
She said this in a hope that it would assure her husband. Jace went to protest, but decided against it. As Clary and Jace went around their daily routines, the redheaded woman thought of the previous days: Telling Simon, who nearly jumped out of his skin in excitement; telling her mum and Luke, who the former of which looked like they were going to faint when they heard the news. Jace had been busy with some Clave related matter for the last few days, so that night provided the perfect opportunity for Clary to tell him the good news. That evening, as the inhabitants of the Institute ate a dinner from Taki's, Clary excused herself and walked to her and Jace's en-suite. She took a wrapped box from the cupboard under the sink, turn returned to the meal. Immediately, Jace noticed the 'present'.
"What's that, Clary?" Jace voice betrayed his curiosity. Clary gave her husband the present.
"Unwrap it." This was both a request and a command from Clary. Jace did so. Inside the wrapping paper was a cardboard box containing a mundane pregnancy test; Jace looked at it, an expression of shock mixed with confusion on his face.
"Is that a pregnancy test?" Jace's tone had turned to shock. Clary nodded, grinning widely. Jace's face broke into a wide grin, and he pulled his pregnant wife into a tight hug.
"We're having a baby!" Jace exclaimed to nobody in particular.

2030
Remembering the happiness of that memory, the two adults smiled at each other. After looking through the rest of the photo album, the pair returned to their everyday routines. At about 18:30, the Institute's inhabitants and their guests were sitting in the dining room, eating a takeaway meal. Izzy had attempted to cook, but it went incredibly wrong; Clary was pretty sure they'd be cleaning the scorch marks and splatters for days. The meal was going fine then there was a sudden commotion. First, Jace's parabatai rune began to burn. Secondly, there was a loud clatter in the entrance hall. The adults ran to the entrance hall and saw Alec collapsed in the centre of the hall. Jace quickly ran and dropped by his parabatai's side. There was a wound on Alec's shoulder which was a dangerous shade of green.
"Magnus - Demons - Danger." Alec's tone was pained, and after he had wheezed the three words, he passed out.
"Par l'ange!" (By the Angel!) The exclamation came from Jacques. The other Shadowhunters who saw the scene simply stood in shocked silence

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. Please remember to review and I'll see you in the next chapter, which will be the conclusion of this event/couplet.
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-ToAC