Hey so I hope this isn't lame. There's so many of you to impress now! I always worry after leaving cliff hangers that the next chapter isn't entertaining enough. Anyway, this is the last update for a week, as I'm going on holiday. Will update asap!

Clary

A kid. Okay, that's….fine. I can deal with that. Jace looks at me like I'm a bomb about to explode.

"Boy or girl?" I ask. He looks a little taken aback.

"Boy"

I nod.

"What's his name?"

"I…I don't know." He admits. I narrow my eyes.

"You don't know your own son's name?"

"No I mean, Iedon Knoe is his name."

I shake my head.
"Jace…"

"Okay, fine. I don't know his name. Ella never told me."

"But surely it would have come up in conversation?"

He shrugs.
"We only talked once on the phone."

"And in person?" I ask, apprehensive.

"Never."

"You're telling me that you've never talked to the mother of your child? Have you even held your baby!?"

Jace fidgets, a sure sign that he's nervous or uncomfortable talking about this.

"…No."

"How old is he Jace!?" I ask, my voice raising. "How is Ella coping as a single mother!?"

"I don't know!" He replies, voice rising too.

I stand up, tempted to just walk away from him. Jace stands up too, looking like a lost puppy.

"You don't know! Well listen up Jace, because you should know! He's your child! Your child! The baby-making process involves two people, not just the girl! How do you know she isn't desperate for money! She could be a prostitute because of you and all you've done is left her! Left your son!"

"I was fifteen, Clary! Of course I wasn't ready to look after a kid! I have high school to finish, degrees to get!"
"AND SHE DOESN'T!? HOW OLD WAS SHE!?"

"GOD, CLARY I DON'T KNOW! SHE WAS OLDER THAN ME, SHE'LL BE FINE."

"THAT'S SUCH A DICK MOVE JACE!" I practically scream at him.

"WHAT BUSINESS IS IT TO YOU ANYWAY!? YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY TO NOT BE BURDENED WITH MY KID!"

"You forget who you're talking to." I say, voice much, much quieter. "I raised my baby sister by myself. I had to do everything because my bastard father was doing nothing and it was hell. You wouldn't know because you're like my father: just another asshole of a man who leaves the girl to fix up your pathetic problems!"

His face falls.

"Clary I didn't-"

"Don't give me all that 'I'm sorry' crap; give it to Ella, because god knows she probably deserves it." I seethe, facing away from Jace and looking towards the skyline, blinking tears from my eyes.

"Okay….Okay. I'll go see her and I'll go see him." Jace says, mind made up.

"Good." I say simply, not turning to face him.

"Although I don't know what good it'd do them though; I have nothing to offer but a bad influence." He mutters. I fixate my eyes on the few visible stairs in the sky. Jace sighs audibly.

"I'm sorry, Clary, I really am. I was so angry I didn't realise what I was saying, but you're right. I am being a dick. I should have seen my son earlier, but I was scared. I was so, so scared. I didn't want to have a kid to deal with, so I took the easiest way out….but it was also the most selfish."

I nod.

"I take it no-one else knows?"

"…no. Not the Lightwoods."

"Imogen?"
"Not her either."

"You should tell her about her great grandson, I'm sure she'll be pleased."

"She'll certainly be disappointed."

"As she has every right to be."

We stand there in silence for a while before Jace takes my hand and turns me around to face him, making me look at his devastated face.

"Please forgive me?"

"I forgive you, besides I love you too much to hold anything against you. It's just that it's not me you should be asking forgiveness for." I sigh. "Look, this is just really important to me because of Phin and everything…"

"I understand." He says, brushing his thumb against my cheek, wiping away a few stray tears. He looks like he wants to kiss me, but he's hesitating because he thinks I might still be angry. Rolling my eyes, I put my hand behind his neck and pull him down towards me instead. I never hold grudges.

"So you go in there and you tell her. I'm right here, it'll be alright." I encourage him, standing hand in hand on the doorstep of Imogen Herondale's home.

"Okay. I can do this." Jace prepares himself before planting three assured knocks on the door. There was a bit of rattling around before Imogen finally answers the door, smiling widely at her grandson.

"Jonathon! So good to see you!" She plants one of those embarrassing kisses on his cheeks, making me giggle. "Clary!" She exclaims, pulling me in for a hug. She has a surprisingly firm grip for someone older and I wince when it irritates my sore back. "Come in, come in!" She invites us, waving us enthusiastically inside the house.

"Tea? Coffee?"

"Black Coffee please!" I reply. Imogen bustles about making drinks. As the kettle boils, she stares at us and clasps her hands to her chest.

"It's like a dream come true! I've always wanted ginger great grandchildren. You two are just too cute!"

"She sounds like Izzy" Jace whispers into my ear. I laugh. Jace reaches across me to snatch a biscuit off of a tray and Imogen catches him, thwacking him with a tea towel.

"What would you like to do kids? We can play scrabble or monopoly?" Jace shivers beside me at the mention of Monopoly.

"Actually Imogen, Jace has something important that he needs to tell you." I say, putting Jace in the spotlight.

Imogen raises an eyebrow, very much like how Jace does.

"What is it?"

"Well…uh." Jace puts his hand behind his neck nervously. "Ihaveason"

"I'm sorry what was that? You'll have to speak up."

"You already have a great grandson. I just…never told you."

Her eyes widen at the news, but then she squares her shoulders stubbornly.

"Well, when can I meet him?"

"Err…"

"Goodness he's not yours is he?" She asks, suddenly turning to me. I blush.

"Oh no, no, no! Not mine!"

"Phew! Well then, who's is it?"

"A girl named Ella."

"A one night stand?"

"Yeeeah"

"Well I can't say I'm not disappointed in you Jonathon, but if I have a great grand son I would like to meet him."

"About that…"

"Jace hasn't actually met him yet himself, but we're going to see him this weekend, aren't we Jace?" I save for him.

"Yes. Yes we are."

Imogen studies me for a minute.

"I like this one. Keep her, but no more babies. Not until she has the Herondale ring on her finger." Imogen states, winking at me. I laugh nervously. Imogen claps her hands together.

"So, Monopoly?"

"Noooo" Jace groans, as Imogen smiles evily.

"I'm really not sure about this." Jace says, standing outside the dingy apartment complex. We found out that Ella lived about half an hour away right on the other side of the city. "I mean, what if this isn't even the right address? What if she doesn't want to see me?"

"Well then you can't say you didn't try."

Jace sighs and hovers his hand over the trashy intercom buzzer thing. He hesitates too long and I push his finger forward, making the decision for him. He shoots me a look of betrayal and I shrug.

"Hello? Who is this?" A static, but distinctly female voice rings through.

"Hi. Am I talking to Ella?" Jace replies, putting his charm on.

"Yes, and you are?"

"Jace and don't know if you remember me but-"

"Oh I remember you alright. Look, I don't have time for this right now, I'm kind of busy."

"Please. I would like to see my son."

She sighs audibly.

"Fine. You can stay for a little bit."

And she presses a button, unlocking the entrance door. He shoots me a nervous look before going through. I follow behind. He grabs my hand for support as we make our way up the stairs – the elevator had a not in use sign. We stop outside door number 45.

"Well here goes nothing," Jace says before knocking again. The door is flung open straight away to reveal the girl- Ella. She looks to be around 17, with blonde hair thrown into a messy plait and surprisingly gentle blue eyes. She was dressed normally too, a pair of scruffy jeans with a baggy blue shirt thrown over the top. I'm not going to lie, I was expecting someone like Kaelie. Ella was pretty, but her looks were dampened by the dark circles under her eyes. The reason immediately makes itself known as a shrill shriek of a crying baby floods the room.

Ella's eyes roam over Jace and she seems a little startled by his appearance, but I suppose he may look a bit different in the light. Her eyes than land on me and her eyebrows shoot up.

"He didn't get you preggers too, did he?" She asks. I shake my head.

"No" Jace replies. "This is my girlfriend Clary."

"Hi" I say shyly. She smiles back. The baby keeps wailing and Ella rolls her eyes, swinging the door fully open as she attends to him. I glance around, the format looking much like a small one bedroom apartment, albeit very messy with children's toys and laundry thrown about. Ella was standing by a cot, jiggling the baby up and down. Despite his mother's best efforts, it was clear to me that they weren't working on him.

"Here, maybe I can help?" I offer, my arms outstretched for the baby. Ella gives me a confused look and very hesitatingly hands him over to me.

"Just shut him up, please."

I nod, and look down at the child in my arms. He had tufts of Jace's honeycomb hair and before his eyes scrunched up to cry; I noticed his eyes were the same brilliant blue as Ella's.

"Shh, shh, shhh" I coo, gently rocked him in my arms. He continues crying. I analyse the problem and lift him over my shoulder. I pat his back gently and he lets out an adorable little burpy sound. I bring him around into my arms again and he grows silent, little hands fisting into my shirt as he slept. I looked up to find both Ella and Jace staring at me in bewilderment.

"That was it! You're kidding me! I've been trying to get him to stop for ages!" Ella complains, raking a hand down her face. Jace gives me The Look full with those twinkling eyes, which ties my heart in knots and then undoes them.

"Do you have a kid?" Ella asks me, admiring at my control over the baby.

"No, but I've been a single mother to my sister since she was two. I helped out before that though."

Ella nods.

"What's his name?" I ask, ogling at the adorableness in my arms.

"Tyler"

"Hey Tyler." I whisper down to him. "How many months?" I ask Ella.

"About 4 now."
"Are you doing this alone?"

She looks down.

"Yeaah. I was kicked out. I have four other siblings and my parent's didn't see it worth keeping me as a disgrace. Tyler, for all the hell he puts me through, is worth it though." She turns to Jace. "You're not gonna hold your own kid?"

"I-I don't know how."

"It's easy." I say. "Come here." Jace saunters over, looking terrified. "Now hold your arms out." He does as I say. "Okay now I'm going to hand him over to you. Remember to hold is head and I promise you, you won't drop him." Jace looks like he's going to pass out as I gently place Tyler in his arms. He seems to cradle him instinctively though and I see his eyes light up as he smiles down at him.

"He's going to be as sexy as me when he's older."

I face palm, but come and join Ella by the kitchen counter.

"Hey. How are you coping, do you have a job?"

"Yeah, but it's not really enough." She sighs. "I mean I could get money easily using different methods, but I don't think I could stoop so low." She hints and I get the point. "I don't even know what I was thinking that night, I never even went to parties, let alone get drunk. But, then I did and the rest is history. I only knew for sure it was Jace because he was my first and only time. I used to dream of being a doctor, but I can see that it isn't possible anymore."

"Sometimes shit happens." I muse. Ella gives me a strange look.

"What happened to you?"

"My mum died and my dad is an asshole. Oh yeah and I'm a Morgenstern, hi nice to meet you."

Her mouth falls open.

"Woah dude, I thought my life was bad."

"Clary…." Jace calls, I look up to see Jace holding Tyler at arms length, nose wrinkled.

"What's the problem?" I tease, knowing full well what it probably is.

"He needs his diaper changing."

"Don't look at me." I say hands up. Jace's eyes flicker to Ella and she smirks, shaking her head.

"Nope. It's time you clean-up after the poop machine you helped to create."

Jace looks horrified.

"B-but-"

"The changing mat is over there." Ella points to the corner near the cot. Jace gulps, but sets him down on the mat.

"What am I supposed to do?" He asks, completely out of his depth. I roll my eyes and come to join him, talking him through the motions but refusing to do any of it. After ten minutes of Jace's complaining and poor attempts, the baby is finally sorted with a new diaper. Jace wipes his brow.

"That's hard work."

Ella scoffs and says, "You have no idea."

"…I would like to formally apologize for, as Clary put it, being a Dick about you and Tyler. I accept full responsibility for him and if there's anything you need that I can give you, I'll do my best to help."

She nods.

"It means a lot that you came, I didn't expect you to turn up at all. I'm running a little short on money at the moment and it might be nice if you could babysit for me sometimes. It gets a little stressy."

"Well if you need me and I'm available, I'll be right here."

"Tyler's going to need a father, so it'd be great if you could be there for him."

"Every football game and birthday and Christmas and-"

"Thank you."

"But there's one thing I can't give him. I can't give him two parent's who love each other. I hope you understand."

"Of course, but he'll have two mum's won't he?" She states.

"What do you mean?" He asks, frowning.

"Clary and you." His mouth forms an 'o' and smiles sheepishly at me. "Then me and if I ever find someone, as slim as the chances are, he'll have two mums and two dads. Oh goodness that's like eight grandparents."

Jace and I share a look.

"No, actually, it's like having two grandparent's. Well, no, technically three but my father is having no input in this whatsoever."

Ella's eyes widen at the amount of dead parent's we shared.

"And two adopted grandparent's." Jace steps in, including Maryse and Robert.

"Wow this is messy." She exclaims. We nod our heads in agreement. I check the time.

"Well I have to be home soon." I exclaim. "Besides Phin's spent enough time with Imogen already."

Jace agrees and says an awkward goodbye to Ella, who rolls her eyes and pulls him in for an-entirely platonic-hug, saying thank you. I hug her too and she looks a little overwhelmed.

"I'll see you soon, right?" She asks.

"Of course."

Jace enters the school looking rather tired the next day.

"You okay?" I ask, concerned.

"Yeah." He says, but he doesn't sound very convincing.

"You told them didn't you?"

He nods.

"I take it they were angry?"

"There was a lot of shouting, yes. Alec went ballistic and Izzy…well actually she just wanted photos."

I roll my eyes, typical. I entwine my hands with his, leaning into his shoulder.

"You were amazing with Tyler." He smiles down at me, squeezing my hand.

"And you were….okay at diaper changing." I tease.

"It was my first time! You can't be an expert unless you have experience."

"That's what she said"

Jace chuckles and steers me into music class. We take our seats right when the teacher walks in.

"Alright class, you have one week remaining until we show these to the class." He announces and the leaves us to it.

"Time flies doesn't it?" Jace exclaims, leading me to the back of the classroom to set up our guitars. "Same song as last time?"
"If you want to."

"Of course."

We run through the song and realise that our voices fit together so perfectly that we early don't need to practice. We just mess around a bit, making up ridiculous songs and basically hanging out.

"Clarissa Morgenstern?" The teacher, Mr. Whitwell's voice calls out through the classroom. I look up surprised, Jace shoots me a confused look. I go towards the teacher's desk, assuming I had another appointment with Jem, instead he was looking at me with an impressed look.

"You have an offer, a record deal from a certain Magnus Bane, director of Bane, the prestige recording company."

"I…what?"

"Yeah, this letter landed on my desk this morning." He says, handing me a letter written in sparkly gel pen. "I must say this is a very good opportunity, you should definitely give it a try."

"Okay, sir."

I go back to my seat, ignoring the curious glances my way.

"What was that all about?" Jace asks.

"This." I respond, handing him the letter. He reads it, eyes widening.

"Clary his is excellent news!"

"I don't know…"

"What would go wrong?"

"Well, Valentine knows Magnus, so isn't it a bit risky to suddenly join his company and Valentine will know if I produce an album. I can dream of becoming a famous singer or whatever, but at the end of the day I have to face up to reality,

"Clary…." He groans, "At least keep your options free. Hang on to this."

"Okay."

"Anyway, I'm sure Alec has accidentally mentioned someone called Magnus before. That might be handy."

"Magnus and Alec?"

"I have no proof, but Alec has been acting a little shady recently. Always on his phone…."

"Hmm…."

I spot Jace heading towards our bench. It is a sunny day, and the light reflects of his golden hair in a halo. I sneak up behind him, before running and jumping onto his back, clinging on. Jace arms immediately grab onto my legs, supporting them. My red hair hangs loose over his shoulders and he smiles.

"You're in a good mood." He observes. I lay my head on his shoulder.

"I'm always in a good mood with you around."

"Nawww. I feel special."

I snort, unladylike.
"Very."

He carries me all the way to the bench, where Izzy and Simon are in a very compromising position. Jace clears his throat and they break away from their steamy kiss, both looking flushed and embarrassed. They hurriedly climb off the top of the table. Jace plonks me down and comes to sit next to me. Halfway through lunch he looks down at his phone.

"Just got a text from Ella. She wondered whether we could look after Tyler for the weekend."

"We?"

"That's what it said."

"Well you'll have to deal with him yourself, because I have no idea what I'll be doing this weekend."

"You'll be with me and Tyler."

"I can't make any promises." I say, hoping he'll get what I'm hinting at and then I whisper in his ear. "I think I might be sent off to Pandemonium again." He sighs.

"Be careful."

"I can try, besides I know what I'm doing. It'll be fine."

"But you can't make any promises."

"No, I can't. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, none of this is your fault."

I shrug and go back to my lunch, which Jace bought for me, being the gentlemen he is. I look around the table, observing the laughter and friendship of the group. A few weeks ago I would have sat here alone, probably sketching. I wouldn't have had somebody holding my hand like Jace was. Simon would have ignored me. I probably wouldn't be eating lunch, I had bad days back then. I would have been alone. Now I was far from it and even though I was still living in fear, I knew that I least I didn't have to do it alone.

Awww. Do people want to see the Valentine situation resolved? I have a plan for how to solve it and it is possible to deploy it in the next few chapters. Opinions?