Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I still own nothing. Maybe I should start counting my pennies...

"Uh, hello?"

Clary sat still for a moment. The voice was deep and smooth, and she pictured a taller, more defined Alec on the other line. She could see the confusion in deep blue eyes like Alec's in her mind.

"Hi, I'm, err, Clarissa Fray?" Why did she say it as a question? As if he'd know! "Is this Jace?"

"Uh… yeah, it is. Do I know you?" asked the boy.

"Oh, no. I'm a wedding planner. I'm planning a wedding for Alec Lightwood," Clary clarified. Time for business.

"Wait, what? Alec's- Alec Lightwood? Are you sure?" The boy seemed shocked. Why was it so strange for Alec to be married?

"Yes, sir. Tall, dark hair, blue eyes? I think I'd know who my best friend was," Clary snapped. She didn't mean to be rude, but she felt she needed to defend Alec.

"Right… So, did you need something?" asked the boy. He seemed to pick up on Clary's anger.

"Oh, yeah. I, uh, was looking for a caterer for the wedding, and I remembered that you were supposedly a good cook?" Clary knew he was a phenomenal cook. She'd been to The Clave once for Magnus' birthday a few years ago. After ordering the Chef's Special, she'd sworn she'd never tasted anything as good. Edible heaven, she thought she called it.

The boy laughed a cocky, fake laugh. "Good? I'm not good, Clarissa. I'm amazing. Alec needs a caterer? I'm sure I can whip something else. If I were invited to his wedding, that is. Is Alec there?"

Oh no. Was Jace even on the list? Clary knew Alec's family had a falling out and were estranged, but surely he'd invite them, right? Besides, why would he have her call Jace if he didn't want him at the wedding? She skimmed the guest list. Thanking Raziel that she'd demanded the boys do it in alphabetical order, she saw four names under Lightwood: Isabelle, Jace, Maryse, and Robert. Isabelle and Jace had plus ones to invite.

"Yeah, yeah of course you're invited. Invitations haven't been mailed yet, but you should get it soon. And no, Alec's not here. He's out to dinner with his fiance."

"Does he… Does he know you called me?" Jace asked quietly. His voice was soft and held hope. Obviously he was hoping to reconnect with his brother.

"Well," Clary began. Should she say she asked him? Alec didn't want Jace to know he and Magnus suggested calling. "I asked him if you could think of something. So yeah, he knows. Do you think we could meet up soon to discuss the food? The wedding's in a few weeks and I have a lot to do, and I'd rather not plan things over the phone. When are you free?"

"The wedding's in a few weeks?!" Jace exclaimed. "Not that I can't still do it, but shouldn't invitations been mailed weeks ago?" Wait, who was the wedding planner here? Clary knew they were behind. She didn't need some cocky stranger judge her job.

"I'm working on it," she grumbled angrily into the phone.

'Maybe a different catering service would have been less trouble," thought Clary. Now she understood why Alec didn't talk to his family. Jace was aggravating.

"Are you busy on Friday?" she asked.

"No, Friday is always busy at The Clave. What about Saturday morning?" Jace suggested. His tone was friendly and business-like now. Clary was thankful that he'd calmed down and stopped yelling. She could feel a headache coming on.

"Saturday's fine, I think. Where can you meet?" She wrote Meeting with caterer in her agenda. If she didn't write it down, Clary was sure she'd either forget or plan two things for the same time.

"You can come by The Clave before we open. We open at 10 on Saturdays. Come at 9 and I'll make you guys a complimentary breakfast," Jace proposed.

"Oh, great. I think it'll only be me, though. Alec and Magnus are really busy right now." Clary could hear Jace's disappointed sigh. "But, if I can sweet talk him a bit… Maybe Alec will come. You'll have to bribe him with peanut butter fudge pancakes, though."

"Deal," Jace said happily. He sounded excited to see his brother again. Clary just hoped that Alec didn't smite her for arranging this.

'However… his wedding, his family, his problem," thought Clary. She smiled evilly and knew she could make Alec come along.

"Great. I wish I'd thought of this hours ago. I've called and argued with 34 catering services in the past six hours," Clary admitted. Her back hurt and her neck was stiff, but having food out of the way made her sigh a huge breath of relief. Clary heard footsteps in the hall outside Magnus' spacious apartment. Before she could check to see who it was, in huffed Alec with a tired-looking Magnus behind. Alec was soaked from head to toe.

"I hate New York!" he huffed.

"I told you to bring an umbrella, dear," Magnus stated softly.

"Taki's is three blocks away, it's a fifteen minute walk! How soaked could you get in fifteen minutes?!" Alec threw his wet shoes and jacket off and started to march into his bedroom before he saw Clary waving at him to be quiet.

"It's Jace!" She mouthed to him.

Alec's eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open, knowing there was no way Jace hadn't heard him. Magnus chuckled quietly and reached for the phone in the kitchen to eavesdrop.

"Is that Alec?" Jace asked hopefully.

Clary didn't want to lie, but Jace wouldn't believe her anyway. Damn Alec. Alec wasn't helping her at all as he stood there clueless and frozen. Magnus poked his head into the living room and whispered, "Alexander! Take the damn phone!"

Alec walked slowly towards Clary and held his hand out.

"Er, yeah. It's Alec. Here, I'll let you talk to him," Clary spoke carefully and slowly. She didn't want Alec to run off and hide before he had the phone. Once she handed it to him, she ran into the kitchen with Magnus to listen.

"Hi, Jace," Alec said calmly.

"Alec," Jace breathed. "How are you?"

"I'm good, great. I'm great." Alec was being careful. He walked on eggshells as he spoke.

"That's great. I, uh, hear you're getting married? When do I get to meet the lucky guy?" Jace asked. Clary was glad he remembered to say guy instead of girl. That wouldn't have ended well.

"At the wedding, probably," Alec suggested. His tone grew cold and Clary went to intervene.

"Alec, Jace invited us to breakfast at his restaurant on Saturday morning to discuss the food for the wedding." She rose her eyebrows and gave him a pointed look. She hoped he could read her look.

Alec rolled his eyes at her and sighed. "Or Saturday morning, I guess."

Jace's enthusiasm could be heard without her having her ear up against the phone.

"That's great, Alec, I can't wait. I miss you, man. I can't wait to see you. Do you want anyone else to come? Maybe Izzy could-"
"Look, Jace, I'm really busy right now. I kind of have a wedding to help plan. I'll see you Saturday," Alec interrupted. Obviously the idea of seeing the rest of his family wasn't very pleasant right now.

Jace sounded rejected when he responded, "Right, okay. Nice talking to you anyway. See you Saturday."

Alec hung up the phone and fell to the couch dramatically. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. And then, just like that, he was back to business.

"Did we finish the invitations?"

"Yeah, I'll have them printed in a few hours. Mark, the guy who prints them for me, is charging an extra 50 bucks for short notice," Clary explained. $50 was no problem, she knew. When she'd sent Mark the format she needed, he'd been annoyed that she wanted them tomorrow. He hung up on her after her only explanation was, "Oops?"

"So, Jace," Magnus winked suggestively to Clary. "You've got yourself a date for Saturday already."

"Magnus, it's not a date! You're coming, and it's only to suggest your wedding."

"But he's cooking for you," Magnus pointed out.

"Magnus, stop. He's cooking for all of us. And he's a chef, cooking is his career. It's no big deal," grumbled Alec. He didn't feel like hearing Magnus drone about how Clary needed a date. Not today, at least.

"Thank you, Alec," Clary smiled. Magnus sat down and crossed his arms. While a grumpy Alec may not be any fun, he was good at working fast. "Now, let's talk flowers."


Three hours later, the trio was thoroughly exhausted. Clary, who hadn't had dinner, was starving. Her brain was buzzing with details and her hands cramped from writing and rewriting them. Magnus decided he would tackle color plans and flowers, while Alec would recall who was allergic to what and give bits of opinion here and there. Turns out Isabelle was allergic to tulips, so Magnus needed to restart halfway through his order.

"I'll call Maia tomorrow and ask if she has any baby's breath," Clary promised. Magnus wanted white roses and baby's breath, but Alec wanted the roses to be traditional red. They decided their wedding colors would be navy blue- "Just like Alec's eyes," said Magnus in a dreamy voice- and royal purple. Magnus thought the white would lighten the place up, because he felt their choices were too depressing. Clary agreed that red roses would clash, and ordered 500 white roses. She decided to use her usual florist, Maia Roberts. Maia and Clary were good friends and often did business together.

"Flowers, guest list, and invites are done. Now what?" Alec's eyes were red from staring at the computer screen for hours. He sounded tired, but Clary still have a few more details to do.

"Now the fun part," she promised. "Since we don't have a bride, we don't have any bride's maids or a maid of honor. So, to compensate, you each need groomsmen. I'd like two each, if you can conjure up that many friends," Clary joked. Magnus was well-known and had a lot of friends. It was Alec she directed her joke towards.

"Easy. Clarissa Adele Fray," Alec said with complete seriousness as he bent to one knee, "would you do me the honor of being my best man?"

Magnus jumped up and cried, "No fair! I wanted Clary as my best man!"

"Call Jordan," Alec suggested without breaking eye contact. His face showed no signs of laughter and his tone was serious. Clary, on the other hand, was biting back her laughter.

"Why, Alexander Gideon Lightwood," Alec winced at his middle name, "I would be honored." They both started cracking up laughing.

"One down, one to go!" exclaimed Alec successfully.

"Maybe you should ask Jace," proposed Magnus playfully. Alec glared at him for a moment before he considered it.

"We'll see," he promised.


Author's note: So, we've met Jace! I'm trying to get through the backgrounds quickly. The breakfast with Jace might be in the next chapter, if nobody minds a bit of a time skip :)

No worries, darlings. You meet the rest of the Lightwoods soon ;)

Read on and prosper.

~xox Jaciem