This didn't turn out quite like I planned when I was writing it, but then again, they never do. It has a little bit of Simon/Isabelle but no Malec. While I had fun writing it, I have to admit that Alec and Magnus are probably the most fun to write together.

I was still consumed by the idea of trying on the ring. The ring might not have to be an item of mass destruction. For all I knew, it could save lives. There was only one way to find out, I reasoned. I slipped the ring onto my finger.

I stood on the side walk waiting for something to happen. I waited. And waited. Nothing.

I stared down at the silver band glinting in the sun and focused on making it do something. I didn't really care what, I just wanted it to work. Still nothing. Maybe I had to give it some sort of command to make it work, I mused, because standing out here in front of the Institute waiting for something to happen was getting me nowhere.

Hmm… how could I test it? According to the legends, its only power was complete control of someone's mind, be it mundane, Downworlder, Shadowhunter, or demon. I had no inclination to try mind control at the moment and no subject to try it on even if I had the inclination. I could always try some other mind-related power. Telekinesis would be cool. Maybe even some minor form of telepathy.

"Clary?" someone called loudly, interrupting my train of thought. "Clary, what are you doing out here?"

The past week's events had caused me to be paranoid. As soon as I heard the voice, my hand flew to the knife at my belt. I looked around wildly, belatedly noticing the tall, raven-haired girl standing in the Institute doorway. The sight of Isabelle calmed me down, and I relaxed a little. But I made sure to keep my left hand hidden from her view. I couldn't let her see that I was wearing the ring; I knew intuitively that Isabelle wouldn't approve of my tampering with such an evil object.

"Clary?" She asked again. She waited impatiently for a response.

I stuck my hand in my pocket to the hide the ring before answering. "I'm fine." I reassured her. "Just a little… preoccupied."

She eyed me doubtfully for a moment before saying, "Is that why you've been standing out here staring into space?"

"Of course." I told her. Honestly, I was preoccupied with the ring so it's not like I was lying.

She obviously wanted to say more, but in the end, she just shook her head. "Whatever, Clary," was all she said. "You're entitled to your weird moments. The Angel knows we all have them."

I tried to hold in a grateful sigh. Alec and Jace both would have pressed the issue, and I was thankful that Isabelle was the one standing in front of me. I was even more grateful when she held open the door for me and without another word ushered me into the building.

I followed her silently down the hallway, knowing her silence would only last so long. Sure enough, by the time we were almost to the kitchen, Isabelle was chatting animatedly. I only half-listened as she went on about some new pair of shoes she had gotten on sale today.

Soon, she stopped talking about shoes and went onto another topic instead. "I got bored after I got back from shopping, so I decided to do some cooking. I figured you and Alec were going to be coming back to eat, and I hoped Magnus was too." She stopped here for a breath. "But I'm guessing Alec stayed behind at Magnus' for a little… male bonding?"

"I guess you could call it that." I cracked a smile. "Last time I saw them, Magnus had Alec tied to a chair and was planning to put makeup on him."

"I would pay to see that," Isabelle laughed. She shook her head. "If Alec is wearing makeup, the world must be coming to an end." As she spoke, she led me into the kitchen. While her back was turned, I took the ring off and shoved it in my pocket.

When I didn't say anything, she turned back to look at me. "For a while I thought you weren't even coming back in time for supper," She continued. "So I invited Simon over. I know you'll be okay with that, because he's your best friend and all."

I knew that she was talking more to fill up empty space than because she felt that I needed to know this. Isabelle had spent her whole life surrounded by people. Jace, Alec, Max, her parents, and even Hodge were always around any time she needed them growing up. Now, she was practically alone. Hodge and Max were dead, Jace was in a coma, her parents were in Idris, Alec was always preoccupied with Magnus, and even Simon had school and his band and Maia while Isabelle was left here to go on as she always did.

"You are okay with that, right?" she asked. The concerned look on her flawless face made me feel guilty for lying to her earlier about the ring.

"Yeah, about that," I started. I wasn't sure how to get out of eating whatever toxic meal she had prepared today, but I was going to try my best.

She frowned confusedly at me. "If you don't want Simon to be here, I guess I can-"

"No, it's not that." I assured her quickly. "It's just that I'm not really in the mood for a full meal. I was kind of hoping that we could just grab something from Taki's and call it a night."

"Oh." I was surprised when Isabelle didn't sound the faintest bit disappointed at my rejection of her cooking. Instead, she had the opposite reaction. "I'm okay with that." She perked up a bit.

Less than thirty minutes later, we were sitting in a booth at Taki's waiting for Simon to show up. Isabelle had already called him to alert him to our change in plans. Even after being a vampire for a year, Simon still wasn't ready to tell his parents about the change. He told me that his parents had once attributed his lack of appetite and other changes to his getting over me. Now however, they just thought Simon was trying to impress Isabelle.

In the relatively loud atmosphere of the buzzing restaurant, I waited for Isabelle to say something. She had said almost nothing since we walked into Taki's and now she was studying me. The way she was looking at me was more than a little disconcerting. Finally, she broke the silence by saying, "What was the real reason you were standing outside of the Institute earlier today?"

I don't know what I was expecting her to say, but that wasn't it. "Nothing." I said quickly. It was a knee-jerk reaction and I regretted it almost as soon as I it came out. I quickly tried to cover it up. "Umm…" I began. My mind raced as I tried to think of an answer that would satisfy Isabelle's much warranted curiosity. "I was just, uh, getting some sun."

She didn't look like she believed me, so I added, "You know, with everything that's been going on lately, I haven't had any time at all to just relax." Isabelle looked at me like I was losing my mind, and I had to admit that I deserved the look. No one stood on a street corner in New York just to relax.

All at once, the confused look on Isabelle's face cleared. "Oh," she said suddenly. "I understand now."

It was my turn to be confused. "What exactly do you understand?" I asked warily.

She gave me a sympathetic smile. "You must be so worried about Jace." Earlier, I had told her what happened at Magnus'. I told her about how Magnus had found a spell that could work, but there was a small possibility that Jace wouldn't wake up. Instead of telling her the truth, I decided I'd let her believe this white lie. Like what I had told her earlier, it wasn't technically a lie. I was worried about Jace, but that wasn't the cause of my preoccupation.

"Yes," I agreed readily and truthfully. "It's so hard, thinking he might not wake up."

"I know how you feel," Isabelle smiled sadly. He was her family too. "It's like Max all over again."

I knew Isabelle well enough to know that she was tough. She could make it through anything, and if it hurt her, she wasn't going to let it keep her down. The only exception to this so far was Max's death, Isabelle blamed herself and that wasn't something she could just get over. I only knew about the breakdowns she had experienced during this time from Simon. She had kept her pain hidden even from her family, letting only the outsider, the newly made vampire see what was going on inside.

Of course, I wasn't supposed to know any of this, so I tried to change the subject. "Yeah, it makes me sad." I nodded sympathetically. "But sometimes, I just feel so angry. Not at Jace, of course, just the world in general."

"You know, I think the older we get, the more lost we are." Isabelle gave me another rueful smile. She was dressed to perfection, and her makeup looked as if it was just applied, but something about her looked a little lost. I guess it was hard going from teenage heart breaker to teenage mommy-to-be."But little kids, they have it all figured out."

I had no idea where she was going with this, so I asked curiously, "How so?"

"We would all be a lot better off if we stuck to the fundamental five year-old belief that boys have cooties."She laughed, the sadness of the moment before behind us but not forgotten. "I remember I went through a phase when I was little where my motto was, 'Boys are stupid; throw rocks at them'."

"Who are we throwing rocks at?" Simon interrupted. I hadn't noticed him standing behind Isabelle until he spoke up. Something about being a vampire had given him a new talent of sneaking up on people, a talent he was very fond of. But talent or no talent, he had only caught the end of our conversation.

Isabelle and I both turned to look at him, and then we turned to look at each other. "You, apparently." I told him with a straight face.

Simon didn't rise to the bait as he would have a year ago. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." He replied easily, sliding into the booth beside Isabelle.

Isabelle tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled coyly at him. "Well, we all know I'm out."

The usual waitress, Kaelie wasn't in today. Instead, a heavily muscled Ifrit came to take out order. He arrived just in time to hear Isabelle and Simon's exchange. He smiled at Isabelle flirtatiously and swiped a lock of blonde hair off his forehead. "You can throw stones at me any day, sweetheart."

Simon shot the Ifrit a dirty look that wasn't missed by Isabelle. In an equally flirtatious tone, she replied. "Sorry, hot stuff, but I'm taken." She cuddled up to Simon as she said it, leaving no room for doubt as to who she was taken by.

"Too bad." The blonde Ifrit replied. "My name is Dorian. Feel free to call me when you're single."

Isabelle didn't bat an eyelash. "I don't plan on being single." She declared. The tension in Simon's body eased a fraction with her statement. He and I both realized what she meant; though I was pretty sure Dorian missed it. The way Isabelle said it; she didn't mean that she didn't plan on being single in the near future. If she was serious, she meant that she didn't plan on ending her relationship with Simon. Ever.

"Aren't you supposed to be taking our orders?" Simon asked. As our waiter did so, I felt the tension between Isabelle and Simon ebb away.

As Dorian was walking away with our orders, Isabelle called after him. "It never would have worked, anyway. Not while I was pregnant with someone else's baby." This got quite a few stares from surrounding tables, but Isabelle ignored them. She smiled at Simon, and it was the first time I had ever seen her look truly happy about having a baby.

I knew it couldn't last. I was right, because that was about the time that the morning sickness began.

"I have cupcakes!" Isabelle announced loudly as she strode into the kitchen the next day.

I didn't know how someone who had been puking their guts out thirty minutes ago could be so cheerful while I felt about as far from cheerful as I could get. Something about spending time with Simon yesterday had brightened Isabelle up, apart from her trip to the bathroom where I heard her cursing his name.

"Cupcakes?" I said hopefully. Isabelle had screwed up the coffee and it was too strong even for me. If I couldn't have caffeine, sugar was the next best thing. Isabelle laid the box on the counter. I reached forward to grab a cupcake, but she swatted my hand away.

"Not yet." She insisted. "We have to wait for Alec."

"But he's at Magnus' house!" I objected. I stared longingly at the box of blue frosted cupcakes as Isabelle held them just out of reach.

"No he's not." She said. "He's here. And he's awake. He'll be down in a minute. Go ahead and eat the other stuff."

I sighed and went back to what I had been doing before Isabelle waltzed into the kitchen, staring at the table. After what seemed like an hour, but in reality was probably minutes, Alec came through the door.

He sat down beside me, and grabbed a plate. He made no effort to say hello to either of us, instead, he shoveled food in his mouth. "What's wrong with him?" I asked Isabelle, because she was usually an expert on these things.

"He can hear you." Alec told me. He brought his head up and met my eyes. Taking one look at his face, I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud. Alec's face was transformed. With the black eyeliner, mascara, and eye shadow, among other things, he looked feminine. But only a little. The makeup enhanced his already stunning bright blue eyes and made him look slightly less frowned up.

"Nice face, Alec." Isabelle laughed. He only glared. He tossed his plate in the trash, muttering something about stupid gay hedgehogs and their stupid magic makeup.

"Can I have a cupcake now?" I asked Isabelle.

She scooped the box up and held it against her chest. "I have the cupcakes; I make the rules." She said, wielding the box like a weapon.

"Call me when we're allowed to have cupcakes." Alec called as he left the room.

Almost as soon as he walked out of the room, Isabelle doubled over. She managed to grab a bowl and hiss a few words, one rhyming with duck another with bit, before she let go of the contents of her stomach. I wanted to close my eyes and cover my ears at the disgusting noises coming from my friend. Instead, I walked over to her and pulled her hair out the way as she finished.

"Come on, Izzy." I took her hand and led her to a chair to sit down. I placed the bowl on the kitchen counter, not wanting to be the one to have to clean it out. "Alec!" I called. "Come here."

Less than a minute later, he hurried through the door. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Isabelle has morning sickness." I informed him. I motioned to his sister who still looked slightly queasy.

Alec sent her a worried glance and was silent for a minute before he said, "Does this mean we don't get cupcakes?"

I have a feeling all of you will like the next chapter! (Hint, hint)