Disclaimer: The Mortal Instruments isn't mine

Jocelyn missed the days when she thought that her two children would come back for Thanksgiving and Christmas. When she thought she would get to dress her daughter on her wedding day and help her son pick out a ring for his fiance.

She did not, however, think that there would be a day when her son would graduate with a 1.3 GPA average or a day when she would find out, through Luke, that her daughter had eloped four years after she left for University and never come back.

That was not how she pictured her grown children living after they left the house.

Jocelyn knew that Valentine and Jonathan were growing apart when Jonathan hit fifteen. They had stopped watching sports together and going on camping and hiking trips together. They were slowly losing their close bond but Jocelyn thought it was because Jon was a teenager. She remembered Valentine when he was fifteen. He wanted nothing to do with his parents and everything to do with Jocelyn. They had had sex when she was sixteen and it was a close call when she missed a period so they decided to wait until they were married to have it again.

There was no room for the two of them to have a child in high school. It would do no good.

That was the story she and Valentine had hidden from their children. Looking back now, they probably should have told them. not to scare them but to inform them that it could happen. And it did, when Jonathan was eighteen.

Before that, Jocelyn had noticed that her own relationship with her daughter slowly dwindled around the time Jonathan dyed his hair black. She knew her daughter was strong, that was why she only checked in with her every now and then, but maybe it was just a facade.

Jocelyn thought that the straight A's and the art scholarships were Clary's way of saying she would be fine on her own.

She didn't ever realize that it meant that she was trying to seek her parents approval. It made Jocelyn's heart close up at the thought of her young daughter wanting her mother's attention when she was giving it to a relationship that she could not fix.

Now, Jocelyn and Valentine were on their way to a restaurant, both of them were nervous, neither one talking as Valentine drove quietly through the loud streets of Brooklyn towards their two children and their respective families. Jocelyn glanced over at her husband as he parked the car and took a deep breath.

He was nervous and so was she. They hadn't seen Clary since she graduated High School and had last seen Jonathan when he was eighteen also, and that was nine years ago.

Jocelyn took her husband's hand and squeezed. Valentine squeezed back before Jocelyn kissed Valentine's cheek and got out of the car. She waited outside his side patiently for a few seconds as he sat there with his eyes closed before getting out of the car and handing it to the anxious valet.

They walked into the restaurant and were lead to the table where their two children sat awkwardly next to each other, their respective spouses trying to make conversation but failing. It took Jocelyn all she had not to cry right there in the middle of a four star restaurant to see she had three beautiful grandkids sitting with their parents. She didn't even know Jonathan's girlfriend, now wife by the look of her ring, had kept their first child.

The two siblings hadn't noticed their parents yet and Jocelyn felt Valentine stop beside her and gasp at the sight of the two families.

Jocelyn didn't know if she could do this anymore, and she couldn't imagine what her husband felt at the moment. She knew he felt guilty. Both of them had tried to restore their relationship with Clary her senior year but it was useless. She was out of the house more than she was inside and that was when both of them realized their mistake. It was more like mistakes when they realized that they had only pushed Jonathan to become the reputation they were holding against him instead of trying to just be there for him and misreading their daughter's needs.

This was why she walked forward, leading her husband by the arm to the table and smiling softly at her son and daughter who finally noticed her. They both looked at her with their identical green eyes that they had inherited from her.

She was about to sit down when the man by Clary's side stood up and introduced himself as Jace Herondale, Clary's husband. Jocelyn almost cried because her darling girl was no longer using the name Morgenstern but Herondale and she hadn't been able to see it, but held it in remembering she was wearing makeup and shook his firm handshake as he smiled at her. He shook hands with Valentine and she noticed that his brown eyes softened with hurt at the idea of not meeting his daughter's husband sooner. It was a wound both her and her husband felt reopened that night.

They introduced themselves and Jocelyn couldn't help but notice the tattoos that adorned Jonathan's left arm. He was pierce free and his hair was back to the white blonde that belonged to his father. Jocelyn couldn't help the emotions stirring inside her to see him introduce the redhead woman next to him as Seelie Morgenstern, his wife and the girlfriend that had given birth to their first child, a boy named Ezra James. He was nine years old. Their second child was three years old, another boy named Julian Owen. Jocelyn didn't miss that he had named their second son a pure Swiss name. She looked over at Valentine who was smiling fondly at the two boys, both with blonde hair just as white as Valentine's though Ezra had his mother's blue eyes and Julian had his father's green eyes.

The waiter then came and took everyone's orders and after he left, Jocelyn turned to her daughter who had not spoken at all to her parents. Only speaking to Seelie and Jace. Jace nudged his wife but Clary didn't even look at her and Jocelyn couldn't help the hurt that washed over her. She was sure that it showed on her face because Jace quickly introduced their daughter to them, Colleen Juliet, A beautiful young girl with strawberry blonde hair growing thickly on top of her head and amber eyes like her father.

The dinner was awkward but Jocelyn knew this was progress.

She knew that though Clary didn't even look at her unless Jace prompted her to though they left shortly after eating, things would get better.

Clary claimed she felt sick so she excused herself and asked Jace to bring Colleen back to the car with him while she went to the bathroom. When she left, Jocelyn had asked if she could hold Colleen and though she could tell Jace wanted to say no because of Clary, he said yes and handed the one year old blonde over to her and so she held her granddaughter for the first time if only for a short minute before Jace took her back and they left.

Jonathan had been less involved in the dinner than Clary had, but he had looked at them. The only difference was that they stayed until they had had dessert because Ezra wanted cake and Seelie had told him yes so they waited for him to finish before leaving.

That night, Jocelyn thought of all that had gone wrong during the evening.

Her daughter wouldn't even look at her.

Her son agreed to the dinner because he thought that his parent's should meet Seelie.

She had just met her grandchildren even though the oldest was nine.

Her husband hadn't thought he deserved to talk to either of his children.

So Jocelyn turned in the bed and looked at him. She use to think of divorcing him during his alcoholism but decided to stay. He never harmed her or their children anyway and stopped during Clary's senior year of high school.

He had his eyes closed at the moment but he was shaking. Jocelyn leaned her head on his shoulder and let him cry tears of regret and joined him because they had both made mistakes. And now they were paying for it.

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