8 years later…

Clary opened the oven to check on the whole pig. It was cooking nicely, but not quick enough. She was hungry enough to reach in and snatch some possibly raw meat, but she didn't think the baby kicking around in her stomach would appreciate that. She shut the oven and waddled over to the counter to finish making the salad for dinner.

"Mommy mommy!" Stephen came jumping into the kitchen in his kangaroo onesie. "Daddy said we're gonna eat a whole pig for dinner!"

Clary laughed. "We sure are sweetie." She would have picked up the little six-year-old, but her stomach made it more than difficult to bend over.

Jace walked into the kitchen and patted Stephen on his head, ruffling his curly red hair. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and put his hands on her stomach. "Don't you think we should save some for leftovers?"

"Don't be silly daddy," Stephen said, still hopping in place. "We're gonna eat the whole thing!"

Jace sighed. "He really is your son."

Clary pretended to wipe a tear. "I know. Isn't it beautiful?"

Jace laughed and rubbed her tummy. "How's little Hurricane doing?"

Clary shook her head as she tossed the salad. "I told you we're not naming her that."

"Well Jocelyn isn't much better of a name."

Clary scoffed. "You didn't let me name him Danger."

"I was gonna be named Danger?" Stephen asked, hopping over to his parents to hug Jace's legs.

"You sure were, sweetie. But your father is selfish and wanted to name you something that isn't even pronounced the way that it's spelled. And he wouldn't let me spell it with a V."

"Can we name my sister Danger?" he asked, reaching up to put his hands on either side of Clary's pregnant stomach. He leaned forward and pressed his ear against her belly button, like he was listening to a seashell. "I can hear the ocean!"

Clary chuckled and gently pulled Stephen away. "Careful, your sister is almost ready to come out and we don't want that to happen before we eat our pig!"

Stephen cheered and jumped up and down. Clary felt the same way about whole pig but she was so pregnant she thought if she jumped, the baby would just fall out like cracking an egg.

"Are we going to put the box of baby things in the closet in my sister's new room?" Stephen asked.

Jace and Clary looked at each other, both of them confused for a moment. Then realization dawned on their faces.

"No," Jace said. "Those things aren't for your new sister."

"Then who are they for?" Stephen asked.

Clary was just about to change the subject, when the subject seemed to want to change itself.

"My water just broke."

Stephen hopped back, narrowly avoiding being splashed by the liquid. "Eeeeeewwww!" he squealed. "Mommy peed!"

Jace immediately started to hyperventilate. "Oh my god. Oh my god. It's happening. I need to call Magnus and Alec. We need to go to the hospital. I need to get the bag. I didn't even pack the bag!"

"I packed the bag," Clary said calmly. She turned to get a towel from the drawer and dropped it on the floor, using her foot to clean up the liquid.

"Where is it? Where is the bag? Stephen, take my keys. Go into the garage and start the car. Bring it around to the front door—"

"Jace, he's six."

"Right. Stephen, strap some cans to your shoes. Use them to work the pedals."

"Jace."

"Right. I'll go bring the car around. Stephen, find the bag for mommy and help her come outside."

"The bag is already in the car," Clary said. She had opened the oven and was prodding the pig with a large fork. "Ooh, the pig is done!" She put on her oven mitts and pulled it out. "Dinner tiiiiiiime," she sang as she set the pig on the granite counter.

"What? No, Clary, there's no time! We have to go to the hospital! Your water broke!"

"What? Jace, no, I barely have any contractions."

"But Clary!"

"My water isn't going anywhere Jace. It will still be broken after dinner." She started cutting into the pig. "If you think I'll eat this pig cold… you're right. But I won't be as happy about it."

Jace growled and did the only thing he could think of. He picked Clary up and started running to the car. "Stephen, follow me to the car!"

Stephen hopped behind them. "I'm gonna be a big brother!"

"Noooooo my piiiiiiiiiiiig," Clary cried.

OoOoOoO

Clary sat in the hospital bed, exhausted, cradling her daughter.

"She's beautiful," Jace said. His arms were wrapped around her and they were both looking down at their sleeping baby.

Stephen had fallen asleep on the chair nearby. They didn't want to wake him just yet.

"She looks like you," Clary smiled.

"She looks like a potato."

Clary nodded, a single tear sliding down her cheek. "A really delicious potato. One that would have tasted so good with my whole pig."

"Speaking of," Jace mumbled…

The door swung open, and Magnus entered, still wearing his scrubs. Alec followed behind him, pushing a wheelchair that had a tray resting on the armrests. "Special delivery!" he called.

"My pig!" Clary exclaimed.

The baby started fussing from the loud noise. Jace took her and started rocking her. Clary tried not to cry as she reached forward and ripped off a leg. "Alec, I love you more than anything in this world."

"You just gave birth."

"I meant what I said." She took a huge bite out of the leg.

Jace leaned over Stephen, still fast asleep in his chair. He shook his shoulder gently. "Stephen, do you want to meet your baby sister?"

He sat up suddenly, like an old man just waking from a surprise nap. "I smell pig."

Clary nodded, still crying as she ate the pig leg. "That's my son. That is my child right there."

Jace shook his head and looked down at his daughter. "God, I hope you're like me. I love you, Hurricane Herondale.

"I love you, Jocelyn Herondale," Clary corrected around a mouth full of pig.

"I love you, Gunshot Herondale," Stephen interjected, halfway through ripping a leg off the pig.

Jace gasped. "Oh my god, Clary please! Clary! Gunshot Herondale!"

Clary took another bite of her pig. "I'll consider it."

Hey, so obviously it's been four years since we last updated this, and I'm sure you all thought that we would never come back to it... but we finally decided to write a bit of an epilogue to resolve the story and give it a less heartbreaking ending.

This is also our way of thanking everyone for the support that you've given us since we started writing this so many years ago. We started writing the Surrogate, our first multi-chapter fic, when we were in grade 11. We've both just finished our 3rd year of university, so we don't really have as much time to write together, but this whole experience still holds a big place in our hearts.

We hope you enjoy this happy little epilogue. It was really fun for us to look back and think about our old stories after we've both moved on to bigger things. We want to make more time for writing together, especially this summer, so hopefully we'll be able to post lots of new stuff these next few months!

But we've also been looking back at The Surrogate a lot as we write our new multi-chapter fic, the Nanny, which is an AU of The Surrogate. yes, we did that. Feel free to check it out, the first chapter was just posted today!

Thank you so much for your support and love these past few years. It really means the world to us.

xoxo,

R&A