AN: I couldn't let a month go by without posting, even if these are the last few hours of January. Sorry for the wait! Oh, and grammar errors. I probably have a lot of those.

"Ouch." Jace grumbled as she patted his forehead with a damp cloth. He had a minor gash across his skin. Nothing that would need stitches… but the thought of him hurting made her stomach flip with anxiety.

That, and her daughter seemed to be pretty active at the moment.

"Sorry," Clary apologized as she continued to clean his small abrasion. He nodded in response, the muscles of his back relaxing as she took care of him. It reminded her of what seemed like forever ago, when she was cleaning his wounds after she had killed Jonathan. Except, now, there were several things different from then. First, she was heavily pregnant with his child. Second, he appeared to be a different man. If she hadn't known any better, she would have presumed he had a sibling. A well kept sibling as opposed to his usual rugged appearance. His hair was shorter, cleaner, sexier. She could clearly see his jaw now that he had shaved off his amber stubble. His body was leaner; not as broad as it used to be - thinner, but still it promised strength. The clothes he wore weren't as tattered and worn. He wore a gray shirt covered by a dark leather jacket, fitting jeans covered his long legs with combat boots to complete the look.

And what was she wearing? She was wearing Sebastian's shirt. It flowed over her enlarged stomach. Clary wanted to move her hands to shield her body; embarrassed that she looked so different from the girl he'd left at the cottage.

When Jace spoke up again, his words derailed her train of thought. "Sorry for throwing a clock at me, or being a little rough with the clean up?" Jace asked her, tilting his head up so that he could lock gazes with her. Clary bit back a shudder as her daughter rolled around at the stranger's voice.

After his arrival, and perhaps the rudest entry someone could make after abandoning a person - a very pregnant person! So, in the midst of her hormone induced rage, she flung the antique clock at him. Luckily for him, it had missed his eye socket and instead caused a sliver of scarlet to escape his skin.

"You're lucky it was the clock I threw. With my history of violence, it could have been a poker." She warned. A few moments of silence passed between the two of them before she began added on to her sentences. "What are you doing here?" Her voice was small. Barely a whisper. Jace's face showed several emotions: guilt, longing, regret… but, he said nothing. He looked down at his feet, clenching his fist and clearing his throat.

His lips opened, as if he were to say something to her; but what could he say? There were no words. There was no consolation adequate enough to mend her heart. And, perhaps, Jace knew this. He knew that nothing… nothing he said in these moments would have no other effect than to make her question his departure.

Clary's eyes were beginning to redden from dryness. She hadn't blinked it what felt like hours. As if blinking would cause him to disappear. After all, he had left her - alone in a house that was not theirs - during a dreamless nap of hers. A part of her questioned whether it had all been some horrible nightmare. That Jace hadn't abandoned her.

"I thought… I thought you loved me." She croaked, vision blurring with feelings she'd forced down for so, so long. Jace stood up from the edge of the bed he was perched on, shaking his head and running a trembling hand through it. His golden eyes were a myriad of emotions.

"I…" He shook his head again, then cleared his throat. "If I didn't love you, if I didn't have a single care in the world for both of you," her breath hitched at the mention - at the acknowledgment - of the baby. It was better than denial. "Then you'd still be with me. But I do care for you, I care for you too much and…" The more he shook his head to clear his thoughts, the more his eyes would shine in frustration. He began to pace - a few steps forward, pivot, a few steps back to his original spot. The rotations were beginning to dizzy her.

"I don't understand; what are you trying to say?" She questioned, causing him to stop his annoying repetition and stare at her with a heavy gaze. "That you regret leaving? That you shouldn't have done it?" Clary prompted.

"None of this should have happened." He croaked, looking down at his calloused palms and exhaling a long breath of air. "Not any of it."

She chuckled darkly. "I think I've been saying that since I woke up in that stupid basement Jace. What, are you having some sort of guilt? Come to beg for forgiveness in order to clear your conscience?" Each of her words struck him as they left her mouth. His fingers curled back into a fist as he dealt with the brunt of her vocal attack.

"No! I'm not saying that! I'm not saying any of that!" He pleaded with her, throwing his hands in the air as if the beg the big man upstairs to give him the right words to say. Anything to get him out of this horrible, complicated dilemma. It seemed that the only way out was through screaming.

"Then what?! What are you trying to tell me?!" Clary snarled. An impressive snarl left her lips, betraying the tears that were beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. "You left me for months… I was… I was moving on!" Clary was angered by his sudden appearance. Her eyes burned with hot tears. She wasn't even sure Jace had heard the end of her sentence as it was muddled by frustration. "You left me to fend for myself, to raise our child alone!"

"Do you think I wanted to leave the two of you? That it was an easy decision?" His lips turned down in disbelief. Clary returned the scowl, growling deep in her throat. This was Sebastian called her momma bear face. Her brows pursed together, her eyes brightened, and her throat was scorching with hateful things to say.

"We were a team! It wasn't your decision to make! You weren't the one left behind, Jace!" Clary's voice grew in volume; ending in a shout. Still, there were tears scaling the length of her cheeks. "While you may hate the thought of our child, I wouldn't take back a second of my miserable stay with you-"

"I was trying to protect you!" Jace bellowed, golden eyes shielded as he closed them tightly. Her shouts lodged deep in her throat as his words shocked her. "I was trying to protect you, and I failed." The tone of his voice dropped to the lowest pitch it was capable of. He stopped pacing, stopped throwing his hands in the air as he talked. Instead, lines of tears trailed down his angelic face. Clary couldn't think of a time when Jace had cried… no, Jace had always been incredibly strong. Both emotionally and physically.

But him crying now just proved how strong he was.

"I can handle broken ribs, bleeding wrists, and even starvation. I can handle all of those things and still come out on top… Clary, Maia's pregnancy went by without a hitch. She and Jordan believed that everything would turn out right. That they'd walk away a happy family. I'm not sure if you saw the look in Jordan's eyes when Jonathan shot him, but it was almost like relief after Maia had died just seconds before. Those two were meant to be just as much as you and I are… and like I said, I can handle many things, but losing you?" His face contorted in disgust, tears adding a strong impact to his sincere words. "I'm not sure I'd survive - physically, I'd have to. I'd have to be strong for Scott. Mentally, though, I'd be dead. You'd take everything with you if you died. I'd be an empty shell, Clary. And don't for a moment think that isn't true." He swore heavily.

She looked down, unsure of how to respond to something so passionately said.

"It's too late." Clary whispered, rubbing her stomach. Warm, rough fingers gently cupped her chin, lifting her gaze from the floor. She probably looked like a mess of flushed skin and watery green eyes, yet Jace stared at her like a prized treasure. His pupils had swallowed his golden eyes that were trembling.

"There's no such thing as can't when it comes to you and I." Jace promised, the baby seemingly bouncing in agreement. Her throat burned with denial that she did not want to spit out. "We're joined together, for the rest of our lives, and the rest of this world's existence." His hand hesitantly touched her stomach, avoiding the bruises despite having no clue as to where they were. The baby made soft, sweeping motions, relaxing just as her mother was. There was no fighting him on the subject. As long as Jace had been absent from her life, it never felt permanent. Yes, it was a painful wait, but not once had she given up on him returning.

This gave her an idea for a name. Nothing set in stone, but it pleased Clary more than any of the other names she had picked out of the baby book.

Clary choked on her next words, "It's a girl." Jace let out a tearful laugh, kissing the back of the redhead's hand. "Oh!" Clary squeaked when she felt a plethora of sharp kicks as if the baby were trying to escape the safety of her mother's womb. "She's kicking me right now. I think… I think she likes your voice." He looked up at her, shocked by what she had said.

"The baby - she - can hear sounds? She can hear me?" Jace asked with eagerness. Clary nodded, biting back a smile when he leaned in close to her stomach. "Can you hear me in there, little one?" Jace chuckled, continuing to rub Clary's swollen abdomen. He paused for a moment, eyes widening when the baby either kicked or punched the spot where he was massaging. "She moved!" He exclaimed, kissing the spot. The sight caused a bittersweet feeling to swell in Clary's heart.

"Jace… what are we gonna do?" She whispered. "What's going to happen to us?"

His hands traced the curve of her abdomen, his eyes following his long fingers. "We'll figure this out, because I can't leave you again."

Clary blinked back the dryness in her eyes. "Why did you come back in the first place." She hadn't known Jace for nearly as long as she'd known the rest of her friends, and yet could describe his character to a 'T'. When he did something, he was sure of himself. He was confident and certain, never hesitating in his actions. Perhaps this was why she'd reacted so strongly when she'd been left alone at their previous estate. Jace didn't take back the things he had done, and though she'd waited for him, there was a subdued amount of dread in the pit of her chest as each day had past. If Jace were to have come back it meant only one thing. Not that he missed her terrible; he wouldn't put the baby or Scott - who was just as much their child as the one inside her - at risk because he was lonely.

"When I left you, I thought it'd be safe for you to go on as you had before you met me. All was fine at first. I kept watch on you at the hospital-"

"You were there?" She guffawed.

He let out a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a break from showering her midsection with attention. "Clary, I was never gone. Not really. I could never just move across the country with the mother of my unborn child on the other side." Jace admitted. She didn't know what to think of this. This angered her, but at the same time the curiosity to know why he'd stayed so close was stronger than that.

"So what's this danger? Is someone - did someone send a hitman after me?!" She squeaked, her hand flattening over her chest. The man that had nearly killed her daughter and Clary in the process… what he had said. "Did my father send that man after me?!" Her heart rate picked up to an incredible speed.

Jace stroked his chin - one, twice - and then took her smaller hand in his. She was raised slightly higher on the bed than him as the heavier weight of his body caused him to sink into the mattress. "Yes and no." Noticing the obvious confusion on Clary's face, he continued on with his answer. "A few days after your return to New York, I noticed that people were beginning to follow you around the city. They were always a few blocks away, just as I was. I'd corner them and ask what it was they came for; though they never told me. Finally, finally one cracked when I… persuaded the answer out of him."

Clary grimaced.

"Of course, the moment he spit out his employer's name, I had no idea who Valentine Morgenstern was. So I had to do some research. The name led me back to your mother… and then I made the connections from there." He looked towards the window, breathing softly. "It wasn't really a shock that your father was still a part of your life; even if you didn't know about it. The shitty thing is what he was trying to do." Jace growled.

"What, kill me?" She shrugged. "Having his daughter murdered doesn't seem to be above him."

"Clary," His amber eyes were darkened with urgency. "He's tried - trying - to kill the baby." Jace finished with a whisper. It was a long, long time before either of them dared to speak again.

"Why?" She croaked. "Why would my father want to harm his unborn grandchild! Whatever happened to good old fashioned morality?! Mercy?! How can someone do such a thing? To want to inflict such emotional pain on their own child?" Clary snarled. Her hands clenched into tight fists as she struggled to reign in her anger. So much for bedrest being stress-free.

He allowed her to calm down, taking her fists and rubbing the knuckles with the pad of his thumb. Slowly, her muscles relinquished their tensed state. "It didn't take long to find out why." The corners of his lips turned down in a scowl. "Clary, this baby is a connection to me, and that isn't good for Valentine since I'm supposed to be dead. Our daughter represents everything Valentine fears: revealed secrets, unfinished jobs, and the two boys that escaped him." Jace answered.

Almost immediately, Clary's eyes snapped wide open. "Oh, God! I'm on bedrest! How am I supposed to dodge hitmen when I'm on bedrest?! And what about when the baby is born? How am I going to protect her and make sure all her needs are met-" She was cut off when a welcoming touch stroked her cheek. Concern muddled Jace's stare as he caressed the side of her face. Fat tears rolled down to touch the pads of his fingers. "She hasn't even been born and I've already failed at protecting her." She softly announced. "How does this not end badly?" It was a rhetorical question, but Jace answered anyway.

"Because I'll be here to make sure the both of you are safe." He assured.

Clary snorted. "Jace, I'm almost certain you'll get thrown in jail once someone spots you next to me." He frowned at her before flicking the tip of her nose. She opened her mouth to shout in protest; stopping only when he spoke.

"Come on, it's been a long time since I've been in New York. Out of the small number of people who saw me, who would recognize me?" The name practically burned in her head.

"One of my friends! That's who!" Jace rolled his eyes before crossing his arms. "I'm serious. She could probably pick you out of a line up, and then call the cops when she catches you so close to you.

He raised a golden eyebrow to challenge her. "And how would she recognize me?"

Clary flung her hands up in exclamation. "She's been living with this painful guilt ever since I was taken. I'm sure she's thought of your face more than a thousand times, maybe even more! You are the last person she's going to forget, Jace." She swore.

Slowly, his head began to nod in reluctant agreement. He cursed under his breath as solutions skimmed through his mind. "Fine. Then to the shadows I remain," a puff of air escaped his lips.

"Wait!" Clary cried out. "You're not going to stay hidden from me, right?" Jace shook his head, leaning his face deliciously close to hers. She could practically feel the heat radiating off of his skin. His eyes roamed her hair, her nervous gaze, her pointed nose, and finally her lips.

"Is that what you'd prefer?" He questioned.

Clary nearly choked. "No!" His palm smoothed down her red hair and in the process he ran his fingers through it, relishing the memory and moment of her.

"Then you'll be seeing a lot more of me." Jace chuckled, eyes still resting on her pink lips.

"How can I be sure you won't leave me again?" She asked him.

Momentarily, his gaze lowered as he thought up his answer. Clary became impatient when seconds began to tick by in silence. Just as she figured there wasn't a way to prove his permanence, he brought his face much, much closer to hers and kissed the side of her jaw. Seeing as she didn't slap him, he continued on, sliding his lips to kiss the top of her nose, each of her angular cheeks, and oh so softly, the corner of her mouth. This action alone caused her to gasp, even if he was slow in his ministrations. Jace pulled back, brow furrowed as he examined her dazed expression. Once satisfied, he brought his lips to her face, peppering it with kisses until he lastly kissed the corner of her mouth once again, only this time she refrained from announcing her shock. His mouth was warm, smooth, and brought back a plethora of memories as he kissed her slowly, then heatedly. Clary didn't dare move a muscle, not even to kiss him back for fear that this would all disappear.

Saddly, the kiss did not last forever. He slid his mouth to her cheek and then to her ear, running a hand up her leg to intertwine their fingers. "You can't leave someone after doing that." It took her a second to realize he was answering her previous question. Clary let out a helpless whimper as her bones practically melted at the intimacy.

Jace stood up, kissed her hand, then exited the bedroom.

Leaving her in a state of amazement.

AN: I initially meant to have this chapter up sooner, but some stuff came up and now a month has practically passed between the last update. Forgive me?

I loved reading all the reviews the last chapter got! Thanks to all of you who are reading this story, because I know the wait can be annoying. And, the reviews you've all left are just... awesome, to say the least. There were a lot of exclamation marks.

Review please!