Author's Note: Alright everyone, sorry for the wait. We have finally arrived at the end. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and/or comment. It is greatly appreciated.
***January 2010. New York, New York***
Clary had been at the Institute for two years. The years had flown by. When she had arrived she was a physically weak, emotionally traumatized sixteen-year-old. Now, at eighteen years old, she was a strong, self-assured Shadowhunter. Although Magnus had always been like a big brother to her, she had never felt like she had a family, until she moved into the Institute. Isabelle, Alec, and even young Max had become like siblings to her. While not the warmest person, Maryse had even taken on the role of mother hen. And then, of course, there was Jace. When she had decided to move into the Institute, she had thought she had been too damaged to ever have a romantic relationship, much less fall in love. She certainly never expected to be loved so deeply in return. As corny and cliché as it sounded, Jace was more than family to her; wherever he was felt like home to the petite redhead. Since becoming intimate, their bond had become unbreakable. That's not to say that they didn't fight or annoy the crap out of each other, just like any other couple, but at the end of the day, they both knew that nothing had changed in their relationship.
Clary felt a pair of eyes trained on her and slowly lifted her lids. Jace was propped up on arm staring down at her. "I've told you a hundred times, the whole staring thing is super creepy." She mumbled, sleepily rubbing her eyes. His serious expression didn't change, but he lifted his other hand to run it gently over her cheek, "Marry me?" he blurted without preamble. Clary felt like someone had knocked the wind out of her. It took her several minutes to reply with an ultra-eloquent, "Um, what?" as she stared wide-eyed at him. "Don't freak out. I don't necessarily mean right now. But, I love you so damn much Clary. You're it for me. There will never be anyone else. And let's be honest, we're Shadowhunters, our life expectancy isn't stellar. I want a family, Clary. I want to be able to introduce you as my wife. I want to watch my children being born. I want to die knowing that I'm not the last Herondale." He rushed out nervously.
She took a few deep breaths and tried to gather her thoughts before responding, "Wow, Jace. Honestly, I did not see this coming. I just don't even know what to say. I've never really given any thought to marriage or, uh, a family, and up until now, I didn't think you would have either. You are the only man I've ever loved, and I've always assumed, in the back of my mind, that we would spend the rest of our lives together, I've just never thought about the specifics of that situation. I hear what you are saying, and I understand your reasoning, but it is a lot to consider, especially at only eighteen. I'm going to need some time to think this through, okay?" His only reaction was a sad, quick, silent nod of his head.
That evening, everyone gathered at the loft for dinner. It had been several weeks since they had all sat down together, so Alec and Magnus's invitation had been very welcome. Everybody was laughing and having a good time catching up on what had been going on in their lives. When they had all finished eating, Alec cleared his throat awkwardly, "So, as fun as it has been, We actually invited you guys over tonight because we wanted to tell you something" he began as he glanced over at Magnus nervously. "Yes, Alexander and I have adopted a baby. A boy, to be specific." The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. "What the fuck are you talking about?" Jace exclaimed. "Well, you see, Magnus's friend Catarina is a nurse at the hospital, and I guess a few weeks ago the mundane police brought in a baby that had been left in a dumpster. As it turns out, the baby is a warlock, which was pretty obvious by his navy blue skin color, which is likely why the mother abandoned it. Catarina has done everything she could to keep it in the hospital for this long, but there is nothing left for her to do, they have to discharge the baby. There was nowhere for him to go. He clearly couldn't pass for a mundane, so he could never be adopted. Catarina asked Magnus to help her find a home for him, and well, we decided to adopt him ourselves. The paperwork went through today, so we are picking him up in the morning. " He grinned shyly. "Holy shit! I'm an auntie!" Isabelle laughed. Simon just whistled lowly. Clary continued to sit in stunned silence, as her jaw rested on the floor. Jace clapped Alec on the back and chuckled mockingly "Congratulations, Daddy!" Isabelle clapped her hands loudly, "We better get moving! There is a shit ton to get done tonight if you are bringing a baby home tomorrow!" Magnus held up a hand, "Oh, chill out Isabelle. We have been quietly buying things for weeks. Everything is in the spare room. I am a warlock, remember? I can literally have the room put together with the snap of my fingers." He gloated as Isabelle pouted prettily. Everyone sat around, discussing everything from nursery colors to baby names until late into the night, when Magnus finally kicked them out citing their need of the "last night of decent sleep ever".
The walk back to the Institute was pleasantly quiet, with everyone lost in their own thoughts after Alec and Magnus's big reveal. Upon their return, the couples bid each other good night and headed to their rooms. Once they were alone, Isabelle groaned loudly and flopped onto her bed. Simon slid down next to her and ran his fingers through her raven locks as he waited for her to speak. "Honestly, I am so happy for Alec, truly I am. He struggled for so many years trying to accept himself, and I feared he would never be happy. Now, he is practically married and has a kid! I never saw that one coming, that's for sure. I just hope Mom and Dad don't completely ruin this for him, you know? I would like for at least one person in this family to get to be happy." She sighed. Simon stilled his hand and started to sit up, as Isabelle turned towards him in response. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were so unhappy with our relationship. Here I am, thinking things had been going really well for us all this time. Stupid, Stupid Simon. I guess I should have known better. Bye, Izzy." He bent down to grab his shoes as Isabelle's hand shot out and caught hold of his wrist, "No! Simon, that is not what I meant at all. Things have been great between us. Truthfully, I never expected this relationship to work out, but it has, and I am so very happy with you. Really." she winked playfully, but Simon wasn't in the mood for her playful brush off. "Wow, I am so glad you had so much faith in us," he muttered sarcastically, "We've been together over a year now, Isabelle. A year! And you still act like this is a joke. I mean, I'm not standing here talking about marriage or kids or something ridiculous like that, but it would be really fucking nice to know that my girlfriend didn't think that out whole relationship was a fucking joke. Like I'm a fucking joke." He erupted as he headed for the door. "Simon Lewis! You stop right there or else I will break your fucking twiggy little legs!" he stopped, but refused to turn and look at her. "We both know that I'm not good with the whole 'sharing your feelings' type of crap, but that doesn't mean that I don't have these feelings, okay? Our relationship is not a joke. And while you certainly make plenty of jokes, particularly bad ones, that doesn't mean I think you are a joke. In fact, I actually kind of love you, maybe." She whispered as her cheeks heated. Simon raised an eyebrow, "You kind of love me, maybe? Seriously?" Isabelle just rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Yes. You heard me. And you know exactly what that means. Don't be a dick." A wide grin took over Simon's face, "I Love you too Iz, and that is not a maybe."
Jace exited his bathroom to find Clary sitting crossed legged on his bed, "Well, that was certainly an unexpected turn of events." She exhaled. "I know. I mean, I'm Alec's parabatai and Magnus practically raised you. You'd have thought they would have told us they were even considering this." Despite his best effort, Jace couldn't completely hide how hurt he was. Clary took the opportunity to study her boyfriend. There was no doubt about it, he was stunningly gorgeous and an amazing Shadowhunter. He was intelligent and funny too. And although he tried to mask it behind acerbic wit and sarcasm, he was actually very kindhearted and thoughtful. Not many people got to see the real Jace. Clary was lucky enough to be one of the very few. Had it only been that morning that he had opened up to her about his dreams of having a family of his own? She had grown up without any blood relatives either; she could understand the desire to have a "real" family again, especially now that Magnus and Alec were starting their own family. Before she could second guess herself, Clary announced "Yes, I will marry you." Jace's eyebrows disappeared underneath his hair. He certainly was not expecting that to come out of her mouth, especially in the middle of discussing Alec and Magnus. "Well, I don't mean right now. I want to wait a few years, until I'm twenty, at the very least. The point is, I am in love with you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, if you want to go ahead and make it all official-like now, I am okay with that. Then, you just have to keep yourself alive and healthy for two more years. Deal?" His resulting smile could have rivaled the sun. He gently slipped his Herondale family ring onto her left ring finger and sweetly whispered into her lips, "I love you, Clarissa Fray!"