So, someone asked me if this fanfiction was finished and it was then I realized: holy crap, it's been a month since I last updated!

I am so, so sorry about that!

I have been focusing on this really big research paper for one of my classes and I am just very stressed about school and my outside activities in general. But I promise you, I am constantly thinking about this story and know that I can't give up now when I have come so far! I even thought about doing a prequel, but then shot that idea down real fast, don't worry ;)

Anyway, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has stuck with me and continued to leave kind reviews. I really appreciate it!

...

"A happy family is but an earlier heaven."

– John Bowring

...

There were papers everywhere. On the couch, on the coffee table, on the floor, in her lap, in her hands. Isabelle was literally drowning in work and she felt like if she didn't take a break soon, she would never surface. Just as she was reaching for a pen to sign a very important looking contract for Emilia's custody, her phone buzzed.

It was Maia: 'I need your help. ASAP.'

Izzy thought twice about texting her back and decided that when a friend needed a friend, it was best to talk face to face in order to sort things out: 'I'm coming over right now-don't move.'

She scribbled a quick note that would tell Simon where she was, left it on the kitchen counter, and then was out the door as soon as possible. Just as Maia had asked.

...

In all of the years that Isabelle had known Maia, she didn't think she'd ever seen her cry. At least not as hard as she was crying right then. It was hysterical and all nerves. It wasn't heart ache or grief, but anxiety, which Isabelle was slightly glad of because she's dealt with her own fair share of breakdowns like these.

There were tissues scattered all over Maia's bed and her hair was unbrushed. She looked nothing like the usual tough she-wolf she was everyday.

Izzy climbed onto the bed, pushing the nearly empty tissue box onto the floor. She brushed a few lose strands of hair out of her eyes and then moved a hand down to her shoulder as a way to calm her down. "What's going on?"

Maia looked at her, eyes shining. "You're married. You know what it's like. How did you know Simon was the one?"

Izzy smiled, "Oh. You're nervous about getting married?"

Maia nodded, her lips pursing together.

"Well. I knew Simon was the love of my life because he made me feel like the only girl in the world. He was always doing and saying little things that just warmed my heart and made me wonder what I ever did to deserve someone like him." She smiled warmly at all the memories of them before their kids, "It also helped that he is an amazing father to our kids. He's perfect and I could never ask for anyone better."

Maia's tears had stopped, and her eyes were red and puffy, but there was a smile on her lips, which Izzy had to admit, did bring her joy. "Well, I don't have any kids-"

"And you're lucky you get to sleep whenever you want." Isabelle shot back sarcastically, "People tell you to sleep when your baby is sleeping, but that's the only time you can get any work done."

Maia laughed dryly, "I'm not going to be having kids anytime soon...or maybe ever. I don't know."

Izzy sighed and leaned her head on her friend's shoulder, feeling quite relaxed for the first time in a long time. "When you're ready, just give me a call and I'll give you one of mine."

"You would never." Maia gaped disbelievingly, "You're an amazing mother and Layla and Kaden love you too much." She patted Izzy's knee and smiled warmly at her, "I would probably kill the kid anyway."

Isabelle jerked away, feigning surprise, "Okay, that really makes me want to let you watch my kids." She said sarcastically. Her eyes softened as she sunk back against Maia's side and tugged playfully on a strand of her curly hair, "Though in all seriousness, it was really sweet of you to say that about me...thank you."

Maia nodded, "It's true."

"I came here to make you feel better, not vice versa. So..." Isabelle sat up, "Do you truly love your man?"

She nodded, "Of course. He's careful when he needs to be, and honest with me. That's what I think is really important: honesty in a relationship. It just makes me feel like I've been stabbed in the back whenever someone I love lies to me. And...Jordan only slipped up that one time. But I can understand why, and that's why I chose to forgive him. The change was hard. And it is for everyone."

The mention of honesty had Isabelle feeling guilty all over again because of her major mess up during the previous months. Her heart started aching once more at the feeling of not knowing whether or not the love of your life genuinely felt the same way anymore. Izzy sniffed, her own eyes beginning to water, "If you're ever uncertain about someone, you should just stick to the good things about them. Because you might never realize how much love you may have for them until you lose them."

...

"You must have gone through a lot of heartbreak to be able to speak about something that passionately." Maia said, after she showed Isabelle to the door.

Izzy shook her head, "Being a mother has made me extremely emotional...and crazy."

"Finally, something we can agree on."

"Oh, shut up." Izzy rolled her eyes, "Call me if you need anything."

Maia arched an eyebrow, "Like a baby?"

"Yup...and you get to pick whichever one you want." said Isabelle, "I have a pretty generous assortment."

The younger girl reached for her friend and pulled her in for a quick hug. Izzy was surprised, so she couldn't react quickly enough to hug Maia back before she let her go. "Thank you." Maia muttered, "I feel...loads better about my marriage."

Isabelle smiled softly, "Who knows. Maybe one day, I will need some relationship advice from you."

"No way, you and Simon are the couple that everyone wishes they were." Maia laughed, "I'm not even married yet and I'm already having marriage problems."

...

"I'm telling you, Si, we're the idol couple." Isabelle's eyes were bright and her smile wide, "I think we should do a photo shoot or something." She was sitting on the couch in their living room, her knees pulled up to her chest as she watched Simon try to feed Liam. The baby kept spitting out the bottle and coughed milk up that dribbled down his chin. Simon took his bib and for the sixth time in the past ten minutes, wiped the spilled milk off of him.

"Idol couple? Who idols us?" He asked, not looking up from his son.

"Maia idols us." Isabelle frowned and leaned over to watch her husband fail over and over, "And you're about to make Liam violate our agreement with the Silent Brothers."

Liam started to cry after another failed attempt. His hands clenched and unclenched as his voice grew louder and his face grew redder.

Izzy sighed sharply, "The Brothers said he could permanently move out of the Silent City if we monitor him closely. That means no slip ups." She put emphasis on the words 'slip ups', as the baby continued to cry.

Simon held Liam up to rest his head on his shoulder and rubbed his back, "Iz, he's fine. And he's going to stay fine so that our families can meet him."

Izzy reached her hand forward and tickled Liam's tiny feet, which were covered with fuzzy, blue socks. "And our baby is six weeks old today." She sighed with pleasure, "I am so happy right now, Si."

"Yeah?" Simon placed the bottle back at Liam's lips after he cradled him in his arms again, "Liam, why do you act like this is your first bottle? You've done this before, little one."

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Izzy started to take off her sweater, "Actually, everyone is going to be here in thirty minutes, so why don't I feed him-"

Simon shook his head, "Just give me a few more-" Liam suddenly gave a hard cough and spat up all over his father's shirt, "Well...I've got to go change now."

Izzy took the baby and the bottle from her husband, then pushed it between Liam's lips. His crying ended abruptly as he started to suck contentedly. Isabelle smiled smugly up at Simon, who looked completely dumbfounded. "It really isn't that hard."

"I think he just likes you better." Simon wrapped the blanket around Liam and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, stroking the soft brown wisps of hair. "He does look like me, though. My hair, my nose...but he's still got blue eyes-"

Isabelle shook her head, "They're gray now, but I hope they turn brown like yours."

"But then he won't have any of your physical traits." Simon protested.

Izzy laughed lightly, "He could be just like me on the inside."

Simon's eyes grew wide as they watched Liam move away from the bottle. He started to whimper when Isabelle lifted him to her shoulder and patted his back. Simon noticed that she wasn't wearing her wedding ring, "Where is your ring?"

Izzy looked down at her hand and sighed, "I took it off because whenever I try to feed and change Liam, it scratches him." She kissed Simon and smiled when he tried to move his lips down her neck, "Don't worry, I still keep it with me-ohmygod, Simon, not now." Isabelle slapped his hand off of her thigh and went back to comforting the upset baby, "Liam, you can't be upset when you meet the rest of your family. You need to make a good impression."

"He's a charmer either way; it doesn't matter if he's crying." Simon leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes as his fatigue really set in.

"This baby is so not cute when he gets up every two hours at night." Izzy frowned when Liam started crying even louder, "Okay, Liam, give Mommy a second."

Simon groaned when he remembered the big mess on his shirt, "Iz, he's going to throw up on you. That's why he's crying."

Isabelle took Liam's bib and pressed it to his mouth just as Simon's prediction proved itself, "Okay, thank you for saving my nice outfit." She stood up, "I'm going to go wake up Layla and Kaden, you should change your shirt."

Simon lifted himself off of the couch, "I'll take him if you want. It's kind of hard to herd two three year olds with your hands full of a newborn."

Isabelle nodded and gently passed Liam to her husband. He was sleeping now, but stirred a little bit when Simon took him. "Will you try to give him the rest of his bottle?" She held the half finished bottle up to him and he took it as well.

"I'll try, but remember, I can't feed him." Simon reminded her.

"If you're still having issues when I get back down here, I will feed him." She tilted her head up to kiss him again, soft, but still sweet and lingering. "I love you."

"I love you more." He grinned.

Izzy giggled, her eyes crinkling with happy laughter, "You are incredibly cheesy."

Simon smiled, "That's my job. To make you smile, beautiful." He moved to touch her face, but the bottle in his hand tipped over and some milk dripped onto her shoulder, "Oh, I am so sorry-"

She tried to glare at him, but laughter bubbled up and spilled out as she smacked him away, "Just go."

...

"Angel above..." Maryse whispered. Liam was sleeping in her arms and she was leaning over him, smiling at all the faces he made in his sleep. "You two," she said to Isabelle and Simon without looking away from her grandchild, "did an amazing job. He is so beautiful."

Robert and Alec had been watching over her shoulder, Clary and Jace were on either side of them. Simon was talking to his mother while sitting on the other couch and Isabelle was grinning wickedly at Magnus, her feet planted in his lap on the third couch. At her mother's comment, Izzy looked over at her and smiled cheerfully, "Thank you, Mom."

Simon turned away from his conversation with his own mother and nodded at Isabelle's.

"Mom, can I hold him now?" Alec asked impatiently.

Maryse frowned, "He's my grandchild-"

"He's my grandchild, too." Robert argued.

Jace, Clary and Alec all spoke at the same time, "He's my nephew."

Magnus waved his hand, "Mine too."

Elaine walked over to the couch where Liam was being fussed over and sat down beside the redhead, "He's my grandchild."

Layla ran up to Simon and tugged on his shirt until he picked her up, "He's my brother! I wanna hold him." Simon grinned at his little girl and kissed her cheeks, "You've already held him, Lay."

She groaned, "But he's cute."

He laughed, "I know, but it's time for other people to hold him."

Isabelle was pulling Kaden into her lap after taking her feet out of Magnus's, "Layla, you can hold him after Uncle Magnus does."

Magnus did a double take, "Why? Am I last or something?"

She nodded, "Of course you are. And you shouldn't have an issue with the fact because you are a patient man, right?"

"Not when it comes to adorable babies." He gestured for Kaden to come sit with him and when the boy climbed into his arms, he started to tickle him, "I haven't quite seen Liam yet, but Kaden, you were cute. You were so cute-you still are."

Kaden laughed, resting his head on his uncle's chest when he finally caught his breath, "Leo was cute, too. And so was Layla."

Isabelle scoffed, "How do you know that, Kade? You're only ten minutes-"

"13 minutes." Simon corrected her.

Izzy rolled her eyes, "You're only 13 minutes older than her-"

Kaden wriggled out of Magnus's arms and went back to his mother, who accepted his presence with grace, "But there's a picture of her in our room."

Isabelle smiled sweetly at her first born child and brushed his hair back out of his eyes, "I know. It's my favorite picture of her. She was 10 months old and obsessed with sticking her tongue out." Izzy giggled, "I can't wait until Liam is walking so that he can play with you and your sister."

Kaden frowned, "He's always gonna be too little, though."

"Isabelle," Maryse whistled as she gently handed Liam to Alec, "you're supposed to cherish the moments you have with him; newborns grow very quickly."

Simon chuckled, hugging his daughter closer to him as his eyes filled with sudden realization, "Tell me about it." He looked at Layla, who had her eyes on Liam. She was already a little kid. No longer a baby or a toddler, but a young child. It seemed like it was just yesterday when Layla and Kaden had been born, and now here they were, a month off from their fourth birthday. Simon could not believe how quickly they were growing. He was glad now that he had another chance to watch his child grow, and perhaps appreciate every moment of it, rather than hoping the sleepless nights would soon come to an end.

"Layla..." Simon took her hand in his and entwined their fingers.

She looked at him, smiling broadly and leaned her forehead against his, "Yes, Daddy?"

"Will you be my baby girl forever? My only baby girl?" Simon asked, his voice a soft whisper in her ear.

Layla pondered the question seriously for a moment, then her face broke into a huge grin and she giggled uncontrollably, "No because Mommy's going to give me a baby sister next time-"

"No more babies." Isabelle called from the couch. She shook her head at her daughter as she continued to speak, "I'm sorry you didn't get the sister you wanted, Lay-actually, I'm not sorry because I love Liam to death...but I can't have anymore babies. No, seriously: I am physically unable to have anymore children." She added on quickly when Layla's face fell.

"Why?" Layla asked sadly.

"Yeah, why?" Simon looked concerned, "You never told me this before."

Isabelle blinked, "There were...complications during the surgery...and now I just...can't have anymore babies."

Magnus frowned from his space on the couch, "But I was with you yesterday, and you looked fine-"

Izzy slapped him over the head with a pillow before he could finish and Simon smirked, knowing that she was only telling a partial lie.

Liam was starting to get fussy after being passed on to Robert, who tried to get him to settle down, but the baby was overly tired and was not having any of it. He did not seem to like his grandfather very much, but when Elaine took him from the older man, Liam's cries immediately quieted to whimpers and Isabelle was able to release the knot of anxiety that had been forming in her stomach.

"Mom, if he's hungry, I'll feed him-" Simon started, but Elaine shook her head.

"I think he's just tired." She was smiling down at her grandson, her lips pulling apart even more whenever he smiled or made a very cute noise. "Liam, I have to say, you are probably the most well behaved out of all of my grandchildren." She joked lightly.

"Not in front of the other kids." Clary laughed, her attention almost fully focused on Liam, while watching her own son toddle around the living room towards Luke. Jocelyn, who stood next to her husband looked up from her grandson and smiled at Izzy, "Isabelle, how well does Liam sleep?"

Luke nodded, "Yeah, does he cry a lot?"

Izzy shook her head, "For the first few weeks, it was really hard for him to cry, and so he didn't do it as much. His feeding tube also kept him pretty content." She shrugged, "But now that I can feed him...he's a very easy baby-during the day."

"Are you two okay?" Clary asked, "I mean, a month ago...you guys were kind of...apart."

Simon put Layla back down on the floor and went to sit by his wife, taking her hand and pulling her into his lap when he sat down, "We're amazing, aren't we, Iz?" He leaned in to kiss her cheek, but she turned her head to the side and accidentally caught his lips.

"Yes." She sighed with pleasure and cupped his cheeks with her hands to bring him closer and kiss him harder. His hands found her waist and he gripped her tightly as the kiss stretched out longer. Isabelle was the first to pull away, laughing breathlessly as Alec began to freak out.

"Would you two please take your very public display of affection elsewhere? Nobody needs to see that-by the angel, I cannot believe this." Alec walked out of the room and everyone was quiet for a moment, except for Isabelle and Jace's snickering. But Alec walked right back in seconds later, "I haven't seen enough of my nephew-"

"I haven't seen any of my nephew yet." Everyone stopped their laughter when they saw the familiar werewolf standing in the doorway. Isabelle frowned at the state she was in, fiancéless and whispered something to Simon before grabbing Maia's arm and whisking her into another room.

"Where is Jordan?" Izzy demanded, hands on her hips.

"He didn't want to come with me." Maia confessed, eyes sad.

"Oh, Maia." Isabelle sighed softly, "Is that what he said?"

The she-wolf shook her head exasperatedly, "No, but it was something along the lines of that. All I know is that I have screwed up and I am so mad at myself-"

"Go home." Isabelle whispered, "If you feel that it's your fault, then it is up to you to fix things."

"But I need to release some steam-" Maia protested.

Izzy folded her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side, "And do you think I would let you do that by holding my very, very fragile baby?"

Maia's lips pulled into a wrought smile, "Not in a million years."

...

"Did you just kick Maia out?" Simon asked when Isabelle returned to the living room without her friend.

Izzy shook her head and took her seat back on her husband's lap, "No, I had something that I needed her to do; no worries." She slung her arms around Simon's neck and moved in to kiss him again-

Alec groaned, interrupting the couple, "I mean, you just had a baby and you're already about to make a fourth one-I cannot believe this madness." He got up and left again, but it was not long before he returned...yet again, "That was your second strike." Izzy his her face in Simon's shirtfront to stifle her laughter as her brother continued on with his angry rant, "One more time and I will-oh, come on."

People laughed at his indecisiveness for a while and then carried on talking and cooing over the new baby. It was almost the perfect Sunday afternoon...well, if Izzy completely ignored the tension surrounding her her traitor father as he held her fragile baby and her broken mother, who sat nearby, eyes sad and dark. She had thought that perhaps their past could be dropped for the time being, but Izzy knew it was still hard for her parents around new babies especially with their newly found anger towards each other...which, Isabelle was confused about. She would have to ask them later what was going on with them.

Simon also viewed the situation as possibly their last family gathering with everyone all together. He would not be able to further keep in contact with his mother due to age old Clave laws and though that saddened him immensely, he would not give up this second chance at life that he had received after being on the brink of death. And he knew his mother would never make him part from his kids.

Simon watched his wife, smiling at every warm thing people told her despite the exhaust he could see shining in her eyes. He could tell that Liam's arrival was finally starting to take a huge toll on her physical and mental state, but he held great admiration for her being able to push through it and put on a happy face for those she loved. Simon wrapped his hand tighter around hers and she turned slightly to flash him a loving smile.

He would definitely have to show his wife, really show her his appreciation for her later.

...

This chapter might have seemed really slow and not...intense...? That's because this fanfiction is coming to a close. I meant to wrap it up in January, but then obviously got a lot busier than I intended...but now, I have mapped out the ending and am planning on finishing it sometime in May.

Also, after I finish this and NMBP, I have a completely different idea for another fanfiction, but I only feel like doing it 50% of the time.

I don't know, I think my fanfiction writing days are coming to an end...

Well, with that said...

Please leave me a review, as I find them more encouraging and they motivate me to write!

Thank you all for reading!

-H.