Hi guys, sorry for the long wait, another chapter to sate you all 3 Thank you for being so loyal and reviewing my story :)
No, no, no. They were all wrong.
Jonathan sighed in frustration, he may have made most of the transitional process of becoming a more angel orientated and calm shadow hunter, but his anger sometimes still flew out of control, especially when he was frustrated, like now.
He had been searching relentlessly for the perfect ring ever since Clary mentioned the concept of a promise ring to him, but he just couldn't settle on any being good enough for her. He wasn't supposed to get a engagement wedding ring, it was supposed to be a regular everyday ring that was supposed to somehow hold a personal quality to it. At least that's the little information he had gleaned from his short dive into the internet world.
His hope had severely diminished during the 4th hour he spent in the mall trying to find the right ring in the 5th jewelers he had visited. Maybe nothing was good enough for her. Maybe his expectation were set too high? Yes maybe that was the issue. He was envisioning what he wanted to get for her and not what she would want herself. He realized now that she wouldn't care for any flashy ring he could provide for her. She would want something simple and beautiful in it's own way. Something unique and understated like herself. He felt hot flush wash over his back as he understood the pressure that now rested on his shoulders to find something that she would love and would somehow fit her perfectly.
He searched through his mind to try and discern something he could add to his must have list for the perfect ring, that way he could narrow his search at least a little bit. His thoughts soon drifted to the baby. Was she safe? was the baby safe? Would he come today? Would he have her eyes or his? Her flaming red locks or his lifeless white ones. He suddenly decided that the ring had to be green. As close to Clary's eye color as he could possibly get. He knew she would probably roll her eyes at it but this color was something he so deeply associate with Clary and the feelings he felt for her, that he knew it was the perfect decision.
He wanted something that didn't have to much shine and flashiness about it. Something that let the green shine through natural and untouched by the rest of the overpriced flashy rings. He renewed his search and, with these requirements now in mind, was able to receive more help for the shop assistants in his search as they now had an idea of what he was looking for. He hoped he would find it today as it was her baby shower today and he felt like there was no better time to give this gift to her than today. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair once more before visiting the few stores he had yet to see, hoping with all of his heart that he could find a beautiful ring for his beautiful girlfriend.
Clary was currently hiding in her closet munching on some salt and vinegar chips when she heard someone enter her room. She held her breathe and hoped to god they wouldn't hear her, or try to open the closet door, because if they discovered it was locked then it would become quite obvious that she was hiding inside. She sensed, as well as heard, the person slowly move into the bathroom and clicking their foot against the tiles in an irritated fashion before moving into her bedroom once more. She saw the shadow pass the little space of light underneath the door she was sitting next to, as the person moved to check on the other side of the bed. She unconsciously shifted in the slightest from her anxiety at being caught, which cause the bag of chips to move the slightest bit in her lap, emitting the smallest noise. She froze in fear and heard the person searching the room, pause at the entrance to her room and inhale sharply.
Crap, they were going to leave and she had to ruin it by moving her damn chip packet. She saw the shadow come closer and closer util the light under the door next to her vanished completely. She heard he sound of the person gripping the door handle and slowly attempting to turn it, only to fin it locked from the inside. She heard an excited gasp from the other side of the door and she quickly crawled backwards, uncaring of the loud noises the bag was making anymore. "I know you're in there chimed the person on the outside of the door, entirely too happy with themselves for finding her. She heard the sound of a Steele being put to good use on the other side of the door and then the door swung open slowly. A perfectly manicured hand reached around the door and swung it open the rest of the way with the jubilance of a toddler being offered dessert. Isabelle, in all her overwhelmingly beautiful glory, stood grinning at Clary like a cat that caught the mouse.
"Well, well, well, this is a little hurtful I must admit. Now stop hiding from you responsibilities and let me do your hair and makeup before people start arriving, I've got a lot to tell you about how shadowhunter parties work and how you should greet everyone," she relayed to Clary in an almost sing song tone of voice. Clary sighed heavily and grabbed her chips in her hand before rising to her feet and walking deliberately slowly and unenthusiastically out of the closet to her doom. Isabelle just rolled her eyes at the girls theatrics and ran through her schedule in her head as well as every bit of information she had to impart to Clary in the little time she had left to do so.
She made her way to the spare room that Isabelle had set up shop in. It was slightly smaller than her room and didn't have a walk in closet like hers but it was still extravagant with it's modern architecture and furnishings. It looked like it belonged in a fancy catalog rather than her home. Even after all this time sometimes Clary was still overwhelmed by her boyfriend's expensive taste. She waddled over to the plush bed and leaned back against it's cushioned headboard and sighed as she felt the luxurious Egyptian cotton rub against the expose skin of her legs. Isabelle grinned at her. "Enjoying the fact your boyfriends rich now huh?" she asked rhetorically. Clary just gave her a small smile in answer to her question.
"Okay well first matter of business, why the hell did you let your legs get this bad?" Isabelle questioned with a delicate scrunch of her face in the direction of Clary's partly exposed legs.
"I'm pregnant Izzy, do you really think I can reach down there and shave now that I have a belly the size of a house in between me and the other part of my body? Sometimes I wonder if the lower part of my body even exists anymore since i never actually see it," she mumbled the last part in a frustrated tone.
"Okay well we will start with de-hairing your body, then when you're plucked clean like a chicken ready for slaughter I will then bestow the graces of Isabelle Lightwood's infamous makeover on you. Then when we are done with that I will walk you through how to properly greet guests. Since the shadowhunter world is quite small it is expected that you know everyone by name and that you greet the head of each family accordingly. It is considered rude if you don't get around to saying hi to everyone. Then I will show you - Are you listening!" she yelled mid sentence at Clary, stomping her foot in the process. Clary paused in her slow reach behind her for the chips she had brought with her and nodded enthusiastically in case Isabelle decided to repeat herself again. Isabelle rolled her eyes at Clary and tugged her, by the hand, off the bed and into the bathroom to get her ready. Clary shot her bag of chips one last mournful look before allowing Isabelle to close the door to her torture chamber.
Jonathan was very happy with himself. In fact not only was he happy, he held immense pride in himself for what he had accomplished today. Just when he was about to give up, he saw a tiny little vintage/antiques store on the underground floor of the mall just before the exit. It was overshadowed by the Sephora it had on one side and the Tommy Hilfiger it had on the other side, but the light bouncing off a mirrored bit of furniture in the store caught his eye before he completely passed it. Right now he was thanking every deity that existed that his shadowhunter senses had allowed him to pick up on that slight refraction of light and lead him to the tiny but overstocked store. He was doubtful at first because of how dimly lit and how silent it was inside when he had entered. It put his sense on edge sine he was used to the hustle and bustle o the mall, but the shops thick windows in the front blocked out most of the noise after he entered.
He made his away around a few rickety old objects that looked extremely fragile, which made him wonder why they were even out on display to begin with, and finally unearthed the back of the shop where there stood three jewelry display cabinets. He searched the store trying to find an employee to direct him but when his search turned up nothing but old and frankly smelly, furniture and decorations, he gave up and approached the cabinet on his own. The glass on top was a bit dusty so he gathered his cloak over his hand and gave it a few swipes so that he may see inside it better. His eyes perused all the glittering objects and noted a few things he really liked but none that were right for Clary, so he moved onto the next cabinet. He swiped this one free of dust and peered inside. Right away there was a ring that caught his eye. He tried to move closer to get a better look, even leaning hands on the glass to keep steady. "That's the one," he breathed in awe. As soon as he came to this conclusion he leaned back a bit, amazed that he had found the perfect ring in such a creepy store. When he focused on the glass again he saw someone standing just behind him, with a wrinkled old face, grinning at him.
He swore before whirling around to face the intruder. "Relax boy, I own this store, I'm sorry I gave you such a fright," he spoke the last part with a small smile that suggested he wasn't in the least bit sorry. Jonathan was frozen as he tried to process this information into his brain that was still flooded with adrenaline. He stared at the man, noticing how he leaned heavily on an ugly green cane with a strange looking bird on the hand piece. He was old and vulnerable, not a threat. This was probably the most fun that guy had, had in years so her decided to just let it go. He straightened up and stuck his hand out for a brief hand shake. The old man seemed a bit shocked that he had't gotten a tongue lashing from the boy but decided to just go along with it and shook his hand before moving behind the display cabinet.
"So the green one I take it?" he questioned Jonathan whilst peering at it himself. While the old man was scrutinizing the ring through the glass Jonathan spoke up.
"Yes my girlfriend isn't big on anything being flashy, she's an artist as well so I feel like she will appreciate the rawness to it," he voiced, a bit unsure of what the old man may think of him getting Clary something that didn't look like it was worth much value. He didn't want the old man to think he was cheap because he wasn't, he just knew what Clary would like. He wasn't sure why he old man's opinion mattered to him so much but it did. The old man fixed his gaze on Jonathan and smiled warmly.
"Well then I reckon she will love this one. Let me take it out and clean it and then you can have another look and make your final decision," he said before unlocking the cabinet and heading into the back of the store through a door that Jonathan hadn't noticed before. While the man was gone, Jonathan took another look around and noticed more things about the store. The store was fitted with a plush red carpet an the walls were a mint green. The lining around the ceiling was gold but had a few imperfections that had likely taken place over time. The whole place has an extravagant air to it, as though it had been gorgeous at one point but had slowly fallen into disrepair and nothing had been fixed in a long time. If he closed his eyes he could imagine what it would have looked like back in it's prime day. He felt a bit bad for the old man who obviously didn't have enough money to fix up the place or enough money to hire employees to actually be round in case of a customer.
The door creaked open again and the old man hobbled out with his ugly green cane and another mint green ring box in his other hand. He handed it to Jonathan and watched excitedly as Jonathan turned the latch around to face him. Jonathan was a bit shocked at the state of the box if he was honest. Where the shop was old and decaying, this box was made of a fine mint green silk and had a hand etched logo on the top with green thread. It was a picture of a swan with it's wings raised.
"Well, go on, open it!" the man boomed excitedly, he looked like a child on Christmas morning.
Jonathan cracked a little smile, "Okay, okay," and he unclasped the front and opened the box slowly. Inside there was a gold satin cushion and in the middle of the cushion was the ring he had chose. It was a raw muted green emerald stone held in place by a warped, thin band of gold. It looked very simple but also very elegant and he knew she would love it. "It's perfect," he breathed, staring at the ring he had been looking for all day. He glanced up from the box to find the man smiling a very toothy smile. He gave the man the money for the ring and turned to leave. Then, realizing he hadn't thanked the man he turned to do so but he was gone. He searched the back wall for the door he has saw earlier but he couldn't find that either.
He shrugged to himself and exited the store. The sudden bright lights and chorus of noise hit him like a ton of bricks when he left the store. He had taken a minute to compose himself before making his way back to his car. He was elated that he had found the perfect ring and he couldn't wait to see Clary's face when he gave it to her.
Clary had become numb. She wasn't sure at which point she had become numb. Somewhere amongst the plucking and waxing and slathering of lotions and makeup on her body she had become desensitized to Isabelle's intrusive fingers. She had gone through the list of people coming so many times in her head that she felt about ready to fall asleep. Isabelle hadn't let her go until she could recite each one at the snap of a finger as well as walk in the larger but still uncomfortable heels she had brought for her. Her feet had swollen up and she really didn't feel like putting them on show but Isabelle had assured her they were closed toe so no one would see them and they made her legs look great, or at least that's what Isabelle said.
"People are starting to arrive c'mon Clary," Isabelle whispered hurriedly to her form the stair case, Clary clambered off of her bed and made her way to the stair case. Isabelle stopped her and did a once over, brushed few creases out of her dress and then motioned for her to make her way down the stairs. Clary rolled her eyes at her friends motherish behavior but did as told and descended into the small crowd gathering in her lounge room to thank them for coming and to answer every intrusive question they had about her baby. As if Isabelle knew what she was thinking she raised one finger in a threatening stance from the staircase and then her features melted into a warm polite smile as she began to converse with Clary's guests. it was scary how easily Isabelle could put on facade.
She received gift after gift all wrapped in different variations of blue happily but all she could think about where her chips up stairs and how much these shoes were killing her. Simon hurried in looking a bit flustered and she beamed at her best friend for arriving at such a girly event. He located her and beamed back before pulling her in for one of his bear hugs. He held her i place and whispered in her ear " There's some flats in this box for you to change into, I always know exactly what present my best friend needs." She ripped the box out of his hands and ripped open the box excitedly. She pulled out some plain black leather flats and thankfully slipped into them. The absence of noise became apparent to Clary and she froze and slowly looked up to see everyone staring at her.
"Uh mundane tradition! Always open the gift from your best friend first!," she exclaimed awkwardly, they seemed to accept it as they all turned back to what they had been doing and whispers about how weird mundanes were floated around them. Simon was currently almost crying from the laughter he was trying to hold in but immediately subsided when he caught the glare of Izzy over Clary's shoulder. "Can you help me over to that couch Simon? There's presents everywhere and I don't wanna trip and my back hurts," she complained quietly, not wanting to offend anyone who may have been bearers of the gifts. He nodded and linked arms with her as she and her way over to her favorite powder blue couch.
After many, many little delicacies had been shoved down her throat and her mouth had become dry from all the talking she had to do, the shower was finally over. All the women and Simon left after offering her their last well wishes and presents. She closed the door on the last straggler and sighed heavily. Leaning against the door she though again if she was ready for this. She wanted this so badly but she also was worried about what others may think and how they may treat her child. She thought of Jace and how everything would have bee so much easier with him. But at the same time she knew her love for him had been more adoration and was born out of her shock that someone of his caliber had actually taken an interest in her. With Jonathan they were equals and she knew he loved her for her personality and her endeavors, her goals and dreams not her body or her heritage as he had the same one. Still her emotions were all over the place and her eyes teared up thinking of Jace.
She was just scared, scared of what may happen. She felt another throb of pain in her back and decided upstairs was probably the best place for her right now, she could relax and sleep her worries away.
She slowly made her way up the stairs, they had a button she could push if she felt dizzy or tired or felt like she was slipping and it would push out a barrier behind her so she couldn't fall backwards. They had a few of these buttons up the staircase now. She had the installed after the last time she almost fell, she didn't want to come across as such a weak person but she was also not about to let her independent nature be the cause of why she hurt herself or this baby. She slowly but steadily made her way upstairs. It took her about a good 8 minutes since she had o rest every now and then because trying to haul not only her weight but all her extra weight as well up the stairs was a workout in itself. She finally made it up and went into her room. She shed her dress and shoes and trailed over to her vanity where she wiped all her makeup away. She felt another annoying pain in her back but this time she felt it spread a bit around her waist and caused an uncomfortable feeling in her gut. She hated the back aches she had been getting from this pregnancy.
She finished up and pulled on a maternity night dress and went to sit on the edge of the bed. As she did so however she felt a sharp pain in her lower gut and fell onto the bed totally due to shock. She laid there in the quiet and held he breath. Was it happening? Was this it? She waited about 5 minutes and started falling asleep when she felt another one. Crap she had contractions, no one was with her. She went into panic mode. What if she had to have the baby in her house. Oh god what if she had to give birth and deliver her own child. Where the hell was Jonathan? Another one raked her body and she felt immense pain but it was bearable. She tried to crawl across her bed to the phone but when she reached her hand out her energy was gone and she couldn't drag her weight. A cold sweat came over her as she realised she was useless and vulnerable. She couldn't take care of herself, she was going to give birth here and she couldn't even handle the pain let alone do everything required for her baby to survive. All she had to do was get the phone and call he Silent brothers but she couldn't even do that.
That's when she heard it. A creak downstairs. She went into full anxiety mode now. He breathing became labored and she was shaking. She pulled her limbs in to protect her belly. "Hello? Clary? I forgot my jacket here, I'm just gonna take it and leave okay?" sounded an all to familiar voice. Thank god, Simon, forgetful Simon had come to her rescue.
"Simon," she croaked out. She listened and he hadn't heard her, she could hear him rustling around downstairs looking for his jacket. She had until he left to get his attention. She concentrated all her mental ability on her task and willed her body to overcome the strain it was being put through. "Simon," she managed to squeak out a bit louder. She heard the rustling stop and she wondered if he had heard her. "Clary?" he spoke confused, as if he thought he was hearing voices.
"Simon!" she managed to yell as another contraction hit, the contraction enabling her to put more volume into her voice.
"Clary, are you okay? Where are you!" he yelled panicked, thinking she was hurt or being attacked.
He followed his common sense which led him to her room. "Alright I'm coming in so hope you are decent," he voiced before swinging open the door.
He took in the scene and rushed to her side. " What do you need?" he asked simply, his anxiety disappearing when he saw how frightened she was and realised he had to take charge.
"I need a bag with change of clothes for me, clothes for the baby and shoes, breast pump, ah blankets and whatever snack you can find," she spoke croakily, her throat being strained from talking all night to people and from the labored breathing she was doing.
"No worries, I've got it, Ill call the Silent brothers now and give you some clothes to get changed," he spoke in a calm and collected voice before exploding into action. At this point everything was a blur to Clary. She was able to dress herself as her contraction were still evenly spread out. She told him some last minute things she remembered needed to be packed in her bag and tried to delay leaving in every way that she could.
"I know you are putting off leaving because you want Jonathan here Clary but we need to leave, think about your baby's health yeah?" he spoke soothingly. She looked at him through her tears and nodded glumly. He picked her up and slung the bag over his shoulder and made his way carefully down the stairs before hurrying into her garage and getting in the first car he saw. Clary was impressed that he could carry everything but didn't comment as she didn't want to inflate his ego and she shouldn't really concentrate on talking at the moment anyway. He backed out of the garage and started along he street when she felt liquid running down her legs. She didn't alert him as she was embarrassed that maybe she had peed her self but upon closer inspection she realised her water had broken and her contractions had become closer together.
"Get to a hospital right now!" she screamed. Simon jumped and looked at her shocked, "But the Silent Brothers-"
"Simon I'm not going to make it, take me to the closest hospital now!" she screamed.
Simon nodded vigorously and made a sharp turn towards the hospital, she sped and dodged every other vehicle. He finally arrived at the hospital after much crushing of his hand by Clary, a lot of encouragement and abuse. He parked, jumped out, grabbed Clary and ran inside and shouted that he needed a doctor. She was rushed into an emergency room and he was closed out, in the waiting room. Everything had happened so fast that at first all he could do was stare at the wall in daze before he realised he should contact everybody. So he did a mass text to everybody and then put his phone in his pocket and awaited news.