Chapter Eight

Once everyone was seated in the library, Maryse stood in front of them with her hands behind her back. "Alicante has become...overrun with demonic activity," she said after a long pause. "I spoke with Magnus and he has informed me why," she turned her gaze upon Clary and Jace. "This is very important. Clary, you are not to go anywhere near Alicante or Idris until this is...over," she said.

"But the wedding!" Isabelle said, looking upset. "What about the hall?"

Clary looked around Jace at her. "We can move it to somewhere here in New York. It's not a big deal," she said.

Isabelle huffed but nodded.

"That aside," Maryse said over them. "Magnus said that they are flocking into Alicante to try to find Clary. When they can't find her there, they will come here. So we need to be ready. The Clave is sending families of Shadowhunters here to help us protect Clary and the...the baby. Clary, you are to be under at least a guard of four Shadowhunters at all times outside of the Institute walls. Do you understand?"

Clary nodded and Jace gripped her hand.

"What about Downworlders?" Alec asked his mother. "Warlocks, vampires, and werewolves? They can all help us too whenever Clary needs to go somewhere," he said.

Maryse nodded, "Jocelyn contacted me earlier today and Lucian's pack is ready whenever we need them. Magnus and another warlock is coming tomorrow to put an extra ward on the Institute so that it is infallible." she informed.

"But what about dad?" Isabelle asked her mom. "He's in Alicante. Is he alright?"

Maryse's jaw tightened. "You father has not contacted me at all, but I can assure you I'm sure he's fine," she said stonily. Bringing Robert into the conversation always made Maryse go rigid. "That's all the information I have for right now, but when I hear something, I'll let you all know."

The four of them turned from Maryse and exited the library, waiting until they got into the hallway to start talking.

"I can't believe this," Isabelle said, shaking her head. "Alicante is...basically gone as of right now."

Clary felt her eyes brim with tears and didn't even know why. She had been fine several minutes ago. She felt Jace tug her closer against his side and he kissed the top of her head to comfort her.

"I'm going to go call Magnus," Alec said as he started down the hallway. "See if he knows anything more." He disappeared into his room as he was pulling his cell phone from his pocket.

"And now I have to go make a list of venues in New York to call tomorrow," Isabelle said. She gave them a small smile and dashed off to her room.

Clary turned to Jace. "This is seriously getting out of control…" she said, shaking her head. "I'm scared."

Jace hugged her to him. "Me too. But it'll all be okay. We'll get through this," he said.

Clary nodded against him, taking comfort in the circle of his strong arms. She was so glad they made up. She didn't know what she - or their baby - would do without him.

Jace pulled her into his room with him and laid back on his bed, pulling her with him. He turned on his side and put his arm around her, passing her the photos of their ultrasound so they wouldn't get bent. She put them on the nightstand and let her hand rest on his, which was on her stomach.

Over the next several days, two Shadowhunter families had already shown up to offer their protection to Clary. The first family who had arrived had been the Hallow family. It was a middle aged man named Richard who seemed stern, yet sincere. His wife, Lena, who was tall and thin and had a motherly face. Their two children Arabella and Edward, who were around Isabelle and Alec's ages. The family had been very nice and very helpful, telling Clary that if she needed to go anywhere at all outside the Institute, then to just come to them and they would be happy to accompany her.

The second family who had arrived the morning after the Hallows was the Brightstar family. It was only a mother and her son, as her husband had died in shadowhunting duties. Clary could tell the woman - Rena - was very strong. She held herself with a confident composure and seemed very sure of herself. Her son, Ryder, was in his early twenties, and held the same strong, calm, and confident attitude as his mother. They, along with the Hallows, were a huge help to her.

Even though it was only six more people staying at the Institute, Clary had immediately felt a little safer and let herself breathe.

Isabelle had been running around with her phone up to her ear practically nonstop, trying to plan out wedding details according to what Clary and Jace wanted. She was trying to do as much as possible over the phone so that Clary wouldn't have to go out of the Institute unnecessarily.

Poor Simon, Clary noticed, had seemed rather neglected with Isabelle's full attention on wedding details. He came over several times but then left not long after when Isabelle's attention was steered away from him. Clary felt sympathetic for him, and tried to explain that Isabelle was just trying to help her out, and that he should talk to his girlfriend about how he felt. He was quick to assure her that he was fine, and that he had things to keep him busy.

Clary was just finishing breakfast one morning with everyone else around the large table - some sitting at the breakfast bar - when Isabelle came rushing in.

"Clary! Guess where I got you an appointment to try on wedding dresses!" Isabelle squealed.

Clary shook her head. "I have no idea."

"Kleinfeld!"

At Clary's confused expression, Isabelle sighed exasperatedly. "The Kleinfeld! From 'Say Yes to the Dress'! Anyway, they said the only thing they have open for the next two months is one cancellation that they had this morning. The appointment is yours, but we have to be there in an hour!"

Clary's eyes widened. "An hour?! Isabelle, we can't make it there in an hour," she said.

Isabelle sighed dramatically. "Yes we can if we go now," she said. She grabbed Clary's arm and dragged her out of the room, with Clary giving Jace a look that clearly said 'help me'.

An hour later, Clary was sitting in the waiting room - a very large waiting room - at Kleinfeld's in the middle of the city. She was tapping her foot nervously on the floor; she had never tried on dresses like this before. She didn't even know if they would have the type of dress she needed, one in the traditional gold that Shadowhunters wore.

"Clary, calm down. It's just dresses," Isabelle said, sitting back comfortably in her chair, flipping through Bride magazine.

Clary ignored her and looked around her, shocked at how much crystal and expensive things surrounded her. This place looked like an impeccable palace.

"Clary Fray?" A woman in a black dress came over with a notepad and pen in hand. She had a friendly smile, and was very blonde. "Hi, I'm Jessica, it's so nice to meet you," she said as she shook Clary's hand. "Who have you brought with you today?"

"This is Isabelle, my Maid of Honor," Clary said, motioning beside her to Isabelle who was nearly jittering with excitement by now.

"Great, well I hope we can find you the dress of your dreams today," Jessica said, her smile never ceasing. "What kind of dress are you looking for?"

"Umm," Clary bit her lip. "Well I don't want anything that looks like a puffy ballgown. I want something that just kind of...flows? Oh, and not white; I would like it to be gold?"

Jessica nodded, writing everything down. "Great, well lets go to the back and get started searching," she said.

Isabelle and Clary followed her to the back of the store where all the dresses were stored and they began searching through the thousands of gowns that hung along the racks. After about thirty minutes, Jessica held four gowns in her arms, all of the gold, but all of them a different style.

Clary was escorted into one of the dressing rooms while Isabelle sat in a plush chair outside in front of rows of mirrors.

"Aw, how far along are you?" Jessica asked Clary as she was helping her into one of the dresses.

Clary blushed slightly, not knowing her bump was that noticeable. "About ten weeks," she replied.

"Congratulations," Jessica said as she zipped the dress up. Clary noticed a flash of black ink in a rune shape under Jessica's sleeve as she adjusted part of the dress. So she was a Shadowhunter. Isabelle had used a rune on Clary before they came in to hide Clary's runes temporarily.

"All done," Jessica said. "Let's get to the mirrors so we can start eliminating dresses," she said as she held the train of Clary's dress as they walked out. Clary stood up on the platform in front of rows of mirrors with Isabelle seated behind her. The dress was pretty, but she wasn't in love with it, she knew right off.

Isabelle gasped. "Clary, you look amazing!"

Clary smiled a little. "I just don't think this one is it," she told Jessica.

The girl nodded with a smile and picked the train back up. "Let's go try some more, then," she chirped and they went back to the dressing room.

After an hour, the very last dress was being zipped up along Clary's back. She noticed Jessica beaming. "I think you're going to love this one," she told Clary as she helped her back out to the platform.

Clary saw Isabelle slap a hand over her mouth when she stood in front of the mirrors.

"Oh my gosh…" Isabelle said almost inaudibly.

Clary looked at herself in the mirror and her eyes widened. The dress was stunning. It was an A-line dress, a beautiful champagne color, and had a long train on the back. Going up the back was a series of elegant bows, and was accented with lace. It had medium width shoulder straps and hugged her curves perfectly, her baby bump no longer unnoticable.

Clary's eyes teared up and she turned several times before she looked at Isabelle and nodded. "This is it," she said, smiling.

Jessica clapped her hands together. "I'm so glad to hear it! Does it fit fine? Need any alterations you can see so far?"

Clary shook her head. "It fits perfect. Just enough room for the belly too," she added with a laugh.

Two hours later, Clary and Isabelle were heading back to the Institute after picking out a veil, shoes, and Isabelle's dress and accessories, with their entourage of security tailing them. They walked into the Institute without any demon incidents and Clary collapsed down onto the couch, utterly exhausted. She noticed the house was unusually quiet. She looked down at Church who was sitting next to the couch blinking up to her.

"Where is everyone?" she murmured to him as she heard Isabelle clanking around in the kitchen.

Church blinked and let out a meow before he turned and walked upstairs. Clary shrugged and lay back on the couch letting her eyes close.

Okay guys, so kind of a uneventful ending and I'm really sorry, I'm just really trying to revamp my ideas for this. I've been out for a while because I moved into a new house, and plus this past week I just had gallbladder surgery so I'm going to be recovering for 5 more weeks so hopefully that means more time to write! Also, the pic to the wedding dress is in a link on my profile.

Hope you review/alert/fave! Love you guys!

-MagicalMemory