"Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift."

― Mary Oliver

...

"Chocolate or Strawberry?" Alec asked as he reached for ice cream in the large fridge in the Institute's kitchen.
Kaden was sitting on a high stool at the counter, his legs dangling off of the floor. "Vanilla!"
Alec laughed, pulling out the carton of strawberry ice cream. "Sorry, Kade, but we don't have any vanilla." He got out two bowls and two spoons, then began scooping out some of the ice dessert. "Strawberry is probably healthier than chocolate."
"It's all unhealthy, Alec." Isabelle said upon barging into the kitchen, startling Kaden and Alec. Her cheeks were flushed as if she had been running around, and her hair was beginning to fall out of it's once neat ponytail.
"Izzy, what are you doing here?" Alec asked, shoving the scoop into the ice cream,
"I need Kaden right now."
He arched his eyebrows at her, "You know, you could have just called me and I would have brought him back-"
"No, it was last minute, but Magnus needs to do something with all of us." She shook her head, "Not you, but Simon and me and the twins."
Alec nodded, "Is he going to take your immortality?"
"How do you know?" Izzy backed away from Kaden, looking suspiciously at her brother.
"He's my husband; he can't keep everything from me."
She sighed, "Okay, well I need to take him right now, but thank you for watching him for the last couple of hours-"
Kaden spoke up around a mouthful of ice cream, "Uncle Alec taught me how to kill someone!"
Isabelle's eyes widened in horror, "Alexander-"
Alec raised his hands up in defense, "I taught him how to shoot an arrow, that's it. I promise. But..." He smirked, "Kaden was amazing. I mean, have you ever heard of a three year old archer?"
Izzy managed a smile even through her stress and anxiety, "Well, Kaden, you can tell me all about it in the car."
...
Magnus's grave expression was dark enough to bring everyone else's moods down the second they walked into the room.
Layla had already been upset over getting her ears stabbed twice, Kaden was sour over having to leave without ice cream, Simon was upset because Layla was upset, and Isabelle was just tired, as usual because if all the hormones raging through her body.
The warlock made them sit down in the living room before he even began to explain the whole situation. Layla took to her father for comfort, sucking on her thumb tiredly, which was something she hadn't had a habit of since she was an infant. Kaden sat pretty relaxed next to his mother, although he was still fuming a little bit.
Magnus tapped the tips of his fingers together for a short moment, and then checked his phone as if he was waiting for something to happen, "I thought I would wait for Alexander."
Isabelle was subconsciously fingering Kaden's hair, pulling it out of his eyes and letting it fall through her fingers as she replied to Magnus, "Alec is not coming. He specifically told me that he was going to stay at the Institute for a while longer."
Something passed over Magnus's cat eyes; sadness, regret, Izzy couldn't read the emotions, but she knew they weren't good ones. "Okay, well, I guess we should just get started, then."
The more and more detail he went into, the more and more anxious she became. "Alec found out that the only way to successfully perform the spell on Layla without, you know..consequences is that she needs to be fully relaxed. Her brain, her muscles, everything." His eyes flickered over to the young vampire, who had perked up at the sound of her name. "I figured that in order to do that, she should be unconscious. Completely unconscious. Like, an induced coma-"
"Daddy, what's a coma?" Layla asked curiously.
Simon frowned across the room at his wife, who was trying hard to avoid his gaze. "It's a kind of like a deep, deep sleep."
"Do you wake up from it?"
He shrugged, "Sometimes-"
"Simon!" Izzy snapped. Her eyes pierced his now, trying to scold him through her looks.
Magnus seemed to sense the tension between the two; he cleared his throat and clasped his hands together, "I would like to speak with Layla alone."
Isabelle looked extremely hesitant, but she took Kaden's hand anyway and led him out of the room, not thinking to wait for Simon. He was too busy trying to pry Layla off of him by telling her it would be okay. "I'm going to be right outside the door. I promise."
She let go of him when he kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear, "I love you, Lay."
"I love you too, Daddy."
...
"Layla, I know you're only three years old...but I think that you are a very smart girl, and that you can know what you really want." Magnus began, "So, do you want to live forever?"
"Will Mommy, Daddy and Kaden live with me?" She asked hopefully, looking smaller than ever, curled up against the couch cushions.
He shook his head sadly, "No. No, unfortunately they will die before you."
Layla's eyes filled with tears as the thought of living without the ones she loved most came across her mind, "That's not fair though! I don't want to live without Mama!"
"I know, Lay, but that's why I'm asking; you don't have to live without them if you let me put you to sleep." Magnus promised, his eyes pained, although still quite warm and persuasive.
Layla nodded, not even trying to stop the tears that fell from her eyes, "Yes. Yes, I want to go to sleep."
"Okay, come here." She went into his arms and he pressed her head against his chest, taking deep breaths and kissing her hair. "I promise, as long as you want to wake up, you will."
...
"I just need to make sure his heartbeat is strong." Magnus said while he placed his hands on Isabelle's stomach and seemed to be concentrating hard as his hands began to glow blue.
"Are you absolutely positive it's safe for Liam?" She asked, slightly concerned. She already knew the answer, but she just wanted to be absolutely convinced.
"I am positive." He said, backing away from her, "But if you want, I will do an ultrasound later. To check up on him."
Izzy bit her lip as she nodded, looking over at Layla, who hadn't left the comfort of her father's arms since she finished talking with her uncle. "So are we starting now?"
Magnus nodded, "I just have to finish setting a few things up for the process, but if you could get Layla calm while I do stuff, then that would be great." He touched her shoulder lightly and smiled in a way that brought immense comfort to her, "The sooner the better."
...
Magnus had Layla pick one person that she wanted with her in the room. It was inevitable that she would pick Simon because she favored him, but also because the warlock had mentioned that the magic he would be using on her could harm any non-vampires.
Simon sat by her side as she laid on the couch, looking surprisingly comfortable. He had her tiny hand in his large ones and whenever she glanced up nervously at him, he would bend down and kiss the back of her hand.
"Daddy, will you please tell Mommy to not have Liam before I wake up?" Layla asked, voice shaking.
Simon smiled warmly, taking one of his hands away from hers to stroke her hair. "I promise you will wake up before Liam is born."
"Are you going to be here when I wake up?"
He could tell that she was about to start crying, but as far as he was concerned, he wasn't about to stop her. After all, who was he to suppress her emotions. "Baby, I will be right here, holding your hand."
There was a soft creak as the door opened and Isabelle stepped in. Her face was paler than usual and her eyes laden with exhaust and anxiety. "Hey..." She whispered softly, not wanting to kill the peaceful vibes.
Simon looked up from his daughter, but still slouched over her. "Magnus said-"
"I have to, Si." Izzy said sternly, her voice cracking. "I can't just sit out there while my little girl..."
Magnus walked back into the room at that exact moment and was rubbing some kind of white cream between his blue, sparking hands. "Are we ready?"
Layla took a deep breath and then sat up, holding one of her hands out for Izzy. "Mama, tell Liam to wait for me." She looked at Simon, who's eyes were starting to water at this form of goodbye. "Daddy, don't let Mommy have Liam here before I wake up."
Simon wiped at his eyes with his free hand and leaned down to kiss her nose, "I love you so much."
Isabelle smiled adoringly at her daughter and reached over to brush a few locks of dark hair out of her eyes. It was so much like her own, she found herself running her fingers through the strands just as much as she touched her own hair. "Layla, you're my only little girl. And you're always going to be my only little girl, so I get to love you in a more special way than Kaden."
Although Layla looked extremely exhausted due to the potion Magnus had already given her, she still got the energy to lean over and kiss both of her parents. "How long am I going to sleep?"
Both the parents looked at Magnus for an answer, "At the very least, three days. At the very most, one month-Oh!" He looked at Isabelle with excitement gleaming in his golden orbs, "You're starting your third trimester in ten days!"
She smiled weakly, "Yeah..."
"Are you going to have a shower or anything?"
Izzy frowned, shaking her head. "No. I think the Christmas party can be his welcome party, too."
Magnus grinned wildly, "Remind me to get you cake. You've been having cravings for cake, right?"
"Never mind that, I just want December 18th to come so that Liam can be out of my body. Honestly, he's not even three pounds and I feel like I am carrying a whale with me everywhere I go."
He shrugged, "It would be easier on you if you gain more weight-"
"Bullshit." Izzy laughed, "But fine, get me a cake and some peanut butter and I will eat the whole thing."
Simon covered his mouth to stifle his laughter, but it came out anyway, "And then you're going to throw it all up."
"Simon, when I get what I want to eat, it stays down."
"Shhh..." He held his hand up and everyone looked to find that Layla had gone completely unconscious. "She's sleeping."
"You can make as much noise as you want and she won't wake up because it's a coma, not a nap." Magnus said sharply, brushing them out of the way. "Isabelle, you need to get out of here. I don't doubt that you'll be fine, but if you stay, Liam will most definitely be affected. I need to do the spell now before she has to be hooked up to an IV."
Isabelle turned to her husband, who could barely take his eyes off of her. She leaned in to place a long, lingering kiss on his lips, that he didn't return. But Izzy couldn't blame him. It was his princess who could be lying on her own deathbed.
"She's going to be fine, Si. I promise you."
This time he did look at her, but only for a brief moment. "I hope so."
...
"Daddy and Layla are getting a spell done to them." Isabelle told Kaden when she made her way back into the living room, where he had been staying.
"When do me and you get the spell?"
She sat down beside him and was barely able to muster up a smile through all of her nervousness, "As soon as they're done."
"I'm scared." Kaden wasn't looking at her, which normally meant that he was pretty uncomfortable. "Is it going to hurt?"
Izzy scooted next to him so that she could pull him into her lap and kiss him. "It's not going to hurt," she paused as Liam started kicking her lower abdomen, which was where Kaden was currently seated. "But if you do feel pain, you can just tell me and I will kiss it away and hold your hand."
"I think Liam wants to come out." Kaden laughed as he felt the kicking against his back. He turned around and placed his hands on Izzy's stomach, giggling when Liam kicked some more. "When do I get to hold him?"
Isabelle leaned back against couch cushions, breathing out heavily. "December."
Kaden pouted disappointedly, but before Isabelle could respond with any calming words, her phone went off in her pocket. To her surprise, it was Simon's mom. But why in the world would Elaine be calling her? So she handed the phone to Kaden, "It's Grandma. Why don't you talk to her?"
He took the phone, then hit the answer button and raised it to his ear, "Gramma!"
"Kaden!" Although Elaine's voice sounded happy, Isabelle could still hear the confusion mixed into it. "What have you been up to?"
"Layla and Daddy are doing magic with Uncle Magnus!" He responded cheerfully. Izzy noticed that Kaden had always been intimidated by her mom, just as she always had been as a little girl, but with Simon's mom, it was like he was talking to his best friend.
"Really? That's so cool! What are you and Mommy doing?"
He looked at Isabelle, slightly confused. She rolled her eyes and gently took the phone from him, sighing as she answered her mother in law. "We're doing family stuff."
"Oh, Isabelle! How are you?" Elaine gasped, "We haven't talked in over a week!"
"I know, because shit happened." Isabelle was too tired to worry about censoring herself in front of her child. It really didn't matter anyway.
"Honey, I know. I'm so sorry for everything..."
"Don't be. It wasn't your fault."
A pause.
"So how is everything going with the baby?"
Isabelle started smiling at the mention of her baby. Kaden seemed to know, too because he bent down and kissed her stomach, then felt for more movement. "Things are going pretty well. Simon and I have thought of a name-"
"Tell me now. Right now!" Elaine exclaimed, nearly squealing with excitement.
Izzy laughed, feeling more energized already. "Liam. Liam Gabriel Lightwood."
"Aww. I can already see how adorable he is going to be. That reminds me...I made you a cake and now that I know Liam's name, I can put him on the cake!"
Izzy frowned, "Why did you make a cake?"
"Because you're having a baby! My fourth grandchild."
"You never made Kaden or Layla a cake..." Izzy teased.
Elaine sighed, "I know, I started at Leo. Besides, I didn't know about the twins until they were three days old."
"So, why did you call?" Izzy asked as politely as possible.
"I wanted to apologize for my dramatic exit last week. Also, I wanted to see if you could come visit some time. I miss my grandchildren."
Izzy smiled tightly at the thought of going to see her mother in law so soon after the little quarrel, "I'm sure they miss their grandma, too-"
"Isabelle..." A soft whisper came to her ear and she looked over to see Magnus poking his head out of the door to the guest bedroom.
"Elaine, I'm sorry, I've got to go." She didn't even wait for the older Lady to answer before she handed her phone to Kaden and pushed herself off of the couch with a bit of a struggle. "Are they okay?" Izzy was trying to peer around Magnus to see into the room behind him, but he was so much taller than her that he completely blocked her view.
"Simon passed out-"
"What?!" She shrieked, surprising herself with the volume of her own voice.
Magnus held his hands up, chuckling slightly. "I promise, it was expected. The spell I used on him and Layla was extremely strong, so I knew he would at the very least be exhausted by the end."
Izzy felt a small wave of relief pass over her, but she was still worried about her daughter, "What about Layla?"
"Layla is stable. The only way I could really check to see if it worked was by looking at her teeth...and there were no fangs. So, we'll just need to wait for her to wake up before we know for sure."
She nodded, "I guess we're doing the waiting game now...can I see them?"
He nodded, then back up so that she could come in. The second she saw her husband and her daughter lying still on the bed, side by side, she broke down in tears. It looked to her like Simon wasn't breathing, but when Isabelle placed her hand on his neck, there was a faint pulse that hasn't been there when he was a vampire. Layla's chest was rising and falling deeply, like she was sleeping; which she was.
"Magnus, he's not breathing. Why isn't he breathing?" Izzy panicked, her breaths hitching in her throat.
The warlock came up behind her and placed his hand on Simon's neck, "The spell is still working now. But if his heart starts beating before he starts breathing..."
Izzy wiped under her eyes, trying not to smudge her makeup. "Is there anything you can do?"
Magnus shook his head, his eyes clouding over with an unmistakable darkness.
At this, she bent down and pressed her lips to Simon's jaw, kissing his lips, his cheeks, his neck. All the places that she knew he loved the most. "Simon..." The tears blurred everything. She was crying so hard, she could barely even hear his first gasp of air when he took it. It was when he started saying her name between strangled coughs that she looked up to see him in a sitting position.
"Isabelle!" Simon nearly yelled when he saw her, "Oh my God, I had the craziest dream! I think I was stuck at the bottom of a lake or a pool of something, and I thought I was fine because I'm a vampire and I don't need to breathe. But my lungs were on fire and I started seeing stars, so I swam to the top and as soon as I broke the surface, I took the biggest breath ever. Like I hadn't breathed in years." He looked at her with shiny eyes as she scooted even closer to him and placed a shaking hand on his cheek.
"That's because you haven't breathed in years." Her entire face lit up with surprise and absolute joy when she felt the real heat radiating off of skin, "You're warm! You're so warm!" She pulled him in for a kiss that was meant to be a short peck, but the second his new-feeling, warm lips touched hers, she deepened it, not wanting the moment to end. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and as she pressed even closer to him, she could feel his own heart against her. "By the Angel..." She breathed into his hair as he kissed her neck. Her hands traveled to his chest just to feel his brand new heartbeat, and she smiled, knowing that this was something he had wanted for a long time.
"Iz..." Simon gasped, "I can't smell you anymore. I mean, your blood. I can't smell it anymore."
Isabelle pulled away to look at him curiously, "That's a good thing, right? That means the spell worked."
"Yeah." He pulled her on top of him and crashed his mouth back onto hers, tangling his fingers in her hair when her lips parted over his. Everything suddenly became all sweet and dark, both of them momentarily forgetting anyone else was in the room.
"Simon..." Isabelle sighed, her mouth still locked on his, not wanting to stop.
"Yeah?" Simon whispered back feverishly.
"Magnus is still here."
They finally pulled away from each other when the warlock cleared his throat, "I mean, I was about to leave, it's just that you guys didn't seem to mind me watching. You just kept going-"
Isabelle got off of her husband and then crawled over to the other side of the bed where Layla was sleeping. "Why can't she just wake up now? If the spell is already complete..." She stroked Layla's cheeks, which were pale, yet still warm with life.
Magnus shrugged then tiredly ran his hands through his spiked hair, sending a spray of golden glitter across the bedspread. "It's a matter of how fast she can realize that's the 'dreamworld' she's in right now isn't real. And if she wants to come back, she will. If not..."
Simon frowned, "But aren't 'dreamworlds' supposed to be your dream? Why would anyone want to leave-"
"Sure, that's kind of the point. But sometimes, the world can be turned into something sinister and hellish. That's what would make anyone want to leave it." Magnus took a short pause before continuing, "I actually gave her the weakest spell I could, and apart from all of her biggest wishes coming true in the world she's in right now, it probably consists of at least one of her greatest fears in order to scare her off." He looked at the parents expectantly, "Do either of you know what that fear could be?"
Simon looked at Isabelle, who nodded and then turned back to Magnus once more. "I'm guessing it might have something to do with us not loving her. She's pretty sensitive with the idea that I favor Kaden..."
"You do favor Kaden; it's pretty clear to everyone." Magnus laughed, "But I assume that's merely because he likes you more than Simon. And it's probably the same for Layla and Simon."
"Whatever, Magnus." Izzy waved him off, only half taken with his jokes. "You're so extra."
He smiled for a little bit and then pulled a straight face again when he thought about the rest of the reason they were all there now, "Isabelle, do you maybe want me to get Kaden so that we can finish up?" Magnus said at the door.
She nodded, but kissed Layla before she got off of the bed with a little bit of Simon's help. "Ow!" Izzy gasped, pressing a hand to her stomach.
Simon stopped, panic immediately filling his system. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, he's...I'm fine." She smiled weakly at him, "Go get Kaden with Magnus."
...
"So, because you two aren't vampires, you most likely won't feel like you're going to lose consciousness." Magnus came up to Izzy, holding her stele in his hands. "But if you're really tired right now, I recommend a strength rune."
She took the stele from him, feeling immediate comfort as soon as the familiarity of her favorite stele smoothed into her hands. The burn of the rune was enough to calm the rest of her nerves, which had been on fire ever since she first stepped into the room." "Thanks, but are you positive Simon can't-"
"Be in the room?" Magnus interrupted, shaking his head. "He passed out the second he got on the couch. Poor man is exhausted. You're working your man too hard, Iz."
They had already been at Magnus's apartment for almost two hours, but it felt like 20 to everyone, and all they wanted to do was sleep. Liam hadn't been moving as much, so Izzy assumed that he was way ahead of everybody on terms of sleep.
"Baby is already sleeping, that's good." Magnus said as he rubbed his sparking hands together.
Kaden had been leaning on Izzy's side, with his eyes closed, but as soon as Magnus pressed his hands to his forehead, the younger boy's breathing became deeper as he fell into a deep sleep. She helped him lean back onto the bed next to his sister, cringing when Layla didn't move even when Kaden's hand knocked into her arm. She had always been quite the light sleeper, so the fact that she didn't even twitch a muscle made the situation so much more real.
"You might feel a slight pain at the base of you neck and you spine." Magnus said, now moving on to work his magic on Isabelle. "If you feel any discomfort where Liam is, tell me because that's not healthy."
"Okay." Isabelle took a deep breath in, seriously wishing that her husband was there to comfort her. Even though she had always been deemed as tough, it was because she had so much support behind her. Now, without the most important person in her life, she felt extremely lonely, although both of her children and one of her best friends was in the room with her.
Magnus repeated what he did to Kaden on Isabelle and it wasn't long before she felt a sharp pain in her lower back that spread all the way up her spine and through her head. Despite the strength rune, she felt all of her energy drained from her body, and before she could even tell Magnus to stop, the feeling split into darkness and she was consumed into an endless, black pit.
...

I'm sorry! I promise I will stop with the cliffhangers soon and also add more of the other couples. I just felt that this chapter was already long enough without them, so it's just sizzy...

ANYWAY

thanks so much for reading! reviews are encouraing, so leave me a review and I will love you forever and most likely update SOON!

xxx

H.