-Clary P.O.V-
Large hands engulf small ones as I watch his lips move and her mouth turn downwards in disappointment. A kiss on the head and loud footsteps leading upstairs signals that one is down: another to go.
Jace sighs and bounces up from his squatting position. Golden eyes meet mine and a watery smile appears on his face, showing me just how hard this is for him. The second girl hops into the room, throwing herself into her father's arms and weeping. Rubbing her back slowly, he whispers comforting words into her ears. Blonde curls bounce up and down in understanding as the little girl untangles herself from her father and walks towards me.
"Don't worry, sweetie," I attempt to reassure Charlotte, brightly. "It'll be fine. He'll be back before you know it."
"I don't care, Mom. He just got here. Why is he leaving? Is it my fault?" The last question sparks my attention, and, seemingly, Jace's too. My eldest daughter's eyes cloud up with the promise of tears. "Do you not want us anymore?" As she says this, she turns around in my arms, staring at her father.
"No, Charlie," he shakes his head. "I gotta go see Grandma, okay? She needs my help with something."
Charlotte's eyes narrow disbelievingly.
"Cut the freaking crap, Dad," she breathes out, frustrated.
Jace looks taken aback but I just snort. Typical. Of course she'd pick something up from Jordyn. Why am I even surprised, anyways? They're twins: it was bound to happen someday.
"Your Grandma's sick, Charlotte. Your mother will take care of you until I come back, okay?" Jace crosses his arms and stares down his 11 year old daughter. Charlotte just snorts and walks upstairs in a similar fashion as her sister.
"Is it my fault that our kids are so moody?" My boyfriend turns to me with questioning eyes.
"Yup." I shake my head, grinning, and walk away.
My feet are swollen and I literally feel like the Grim Reaper is going to come for me any minute now. With my legs up on Jace's lap, his legs are ramrod straight in front of him while he pages through a thick book.
"Jace?"
When he doesn't reply, it occurs to me that he's too lost inside the pages of his own book so he can't hear me.
"Jace." I repeat, slightly louder this time.
Flipping a page, his eyes dart around the page.
"Jonathan!" My voice echoes around our well-lit bedroom.
A jolt goes through him and he sits up straight, book long-forgotten on the floor.
"Clary?" He looks at me with wide eyes. "What's wrong?"
I chuckle quietly.
"Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you. But, apparently, you were too lost in the pages of," I glance down at the cover of his book, "George Orwell's 1984." My voice raises slightly at the end in question. Jace wasn't one to read classics.
He catches this and just laughs.
"I know, right? Did you imagine this 11 years ago: me, the Jace Herondale, reading 1984 by George Orwell. What are the odds, huh?"
I shrug, leaning back into a plethora of soft, white pillows. I literally almost moan and Jace just stares, amused, at me.
My eyes shoot him a glare back and he just laughs.
"So what did you want to talk about, Tiny?" My boyfriend's voice comes from under the chair.
"What time are you leaving tomorrow?" My fingers idly toy with a loose string on the bedspread before I turn to the blonde-haired man sitting next to me.
"At 4." He mumbles quietly, flipping through the pages of the paperback, looking for where he stopped.
"In the morning or...?"
"Yeah, in the morning. Maryse advised that I should catch the earliest flight out to Anchorage ASAP."
Groaning, I lean further back into the soft cushion of my mattress and turn to my boyfriend.
Seriously. Who does this woman think she is?
"The girls have school tomorrow so I'm not going to wake them up at 4 a.m tomorrow morning to say goodbye to your stupid ass," I warn him before lazily dragging a pillow across my face.
A baritone laugh escapes his mouth.
"Yeah, I think I figured that one out on my own, Einstein," he teases, dropping the book onto the bedside table.
"So you better say goodbye to them tonight," I stress, "because they're going to get pissed off at me if I don't let them see you off or anything."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jace circles his arms around my waist and pulls me to him, pressing a gentle kiss against my lips.
The slight shift of the bed is what wakes me up in the middle of the night. Rubbing my eyes sleepily, I watch Jace get dressed, a sideways smirk gracing my face.
Because he doesn't realize that I'm awake, he damn near has a heart attack when he turns around and spots my green eyes shamelessly ogling him. Jace breathes out and, placing a hand to his heart, slowly pulls his shirt on. I lick my lips teasingly when he turns around to face me once more.
"God, Clary," he approaches me and kisses the top of my head. "You scared me."
Humming contentedly, I twirl a lock of my unruly, bed-head, auburn curls around my finger. "I'd say I'm sorry but, the honest, cold, brutal truth is that I'm not."
A deep, throaty chuckle signals that he's over the momentary shock. His strong arm circles around my shoulders and pulls me to his chest, before gently pressing his lips to the top of my belly, whispering quiet words to Jack.
"Be good for your mom, okay? She's got enough on her hands already," he confesses to our son. I shake my head, idly running my fingers through the silken strands of his hair. Finally he turns to me.
"Tell the twins I said goodbye, okay?"
I nod my head, tears stinging my eyes. A tidal wave of deja vu threatens to pull me under. Seemingly, Jace senses this and tightens his grip around me, kissing away the unshed tears in my eyes.
"It's okay," he whispers. "I'll be the first one to hold Jack, I promise. Okay, baby?"
I nod my head because any other answer seems virtually impossible to voice.
My ears don't register the quiet click of the doors until he's in the taxi. When I do finally hear it, though, the process of falling apart begins.
AN: And there we go, people.
God that took me foreeeeeeever.
Yeah, sorry guys. This is one of my better chapters, to say the most.
Love you guys so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sooooooooooo much,
-Sosebo