So, I mentioned before that I had an idea for another fanfic, but I only felt like doing 50% of the time...I think I might actually want to do it! I'm about 75% sure about it, but it might have to wait for a couple of months because I am going to be very busy in the near future...
Anyway, enjoy this chapter!
...
"No one loves the messenger who brings bad news." ― Sophocles
...
"How did the meeting with your parents go?" Simon asked tiredly. He was lying on the couch with Isabelle, his arm around her middle, her head resting on his chest. Liam was in his crib upstairs and they were exhausted after only a few hours of taking care of their three kids all on their own.
She sighed, "They had Emilia and me meet a very attractive, young man who owns the Italy Institute. He needs new shadowhunters to train there and Emilia doesn't want to stay here, so-"
"But what about Magnus?" Simon asked.
"I am slightly concerned by the fact that you don't seem to care about me meeting a very attractive man-"
"Did you sleep with him?" Simon asked, sounded bored.
"Hell no." Isabelle said strongly.
"Then I don't care. So will you answer my first question?"
Izzy breathed out slowly, "Alec is trying really hard, but he's scared. He can't be doubting himself around such an important situation." She insisted, sounding a bit distracted.
Simon closed his eyes, "You doubted yourself while you were pregnant."
Izzy rolled her eyes, "That's different; I was hormonal."
"You were also seventeen-"
"Wait." She sat up and stared at him, her eyes dark with exhaust, "There's something I need to tell you."
Simon rested his head in her lap and smiled with pleasure as she began to stroke his hair, "What is it?"
She took a deep breath, "My parents are getting a divorce-"
Simon's eyes shot wide open, "What?"
"-and they want us to take over the Institute."
...
"Your parents are getting a divorce?"
Izzy nodded slowly, "Yeah and I kind of forgot to tell you-"
Simon gaped, "How do you just forget about something like that?"
"I don't know, Simon." She sighed, "I don't really want to think about it. It's kind of a difficult topic to discuss." Izzy looked down, "A part of me knew it would happen eventually, but I just pushed it to the back of my mind because...they're my parents and they're not going to be living together anymore-they might not even see our kids together anymore-" Her voice hitched as her breath caught in her throat and when she looked back up at her husband, her eyes were quickly filling with tears, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cry."
Simon pulled her into his arms and the second he did, she wrapped her own arms around his middle, pressed her face into his chest and sobbed, "You can cry. Cry as much as you need to."
"But..." She sniffled, "Then I'm going to wake Liam." Izzy backed away from him and went to go check her makeup in her vanity mirror, "I honestly don't even know why I'm crying."
Simon sat on their bed and watched her reach into a drawer for more mascara, "It's sad. You were used to your family being together, all five of you for over sixteen years and now you guys are...broken."
"That's right." Isabelle sat down at her vanity and began reapplying some concealer and mascara.
Simon's brow furrowed with confusion, "Aren't we going to bed? Why are you putting more makeup on?"
She pushed away from the vanity and stood up shakily, "I need to go see my brother. I'm not sure if he knows about everything that's going on, but it would be nice to talk to him anyway."
"Okay," Simon gestured for her to come closer and when she did, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap, "Do you think you'll be back tonight?"
Isabelle nodded, their faces only inches apart, "Of course. I can't be away from my family any longer."
"Good, because I can't be away from you any longer." He moved hair out of her eyes and kissed her temple, stroking his finger over her cheekbone when he pulled away, "I'll wait up for you-"
"No," She protested, "You need to get sleep while Liam sleeps; I might be a while-"
Simon pressed his finger to her lips to quiet her, "I can't sleep when you're not with me anyway, Iz, it's fine."
Isabelle nodded and brushed his finger away to give him one last kiss before standing up and making her way towards the door, "Call me if you need anything?"
"Of course," Simon answered quietly, smiling warmly at her, "I love you."
Isabelle tilted her head to the side and grinned, "No way," she said sarcastically, but then her face turned serious and she smiled sweetly, "I love you, too."
...
It was almost midnight by the time Isabelle arrived at Magnus and Alec's apartment. She dropped her coat onto their couch and did not have to walk far into their home before she found her older brother sitting at their kitchen counter with a glass of wine in his hands. The kitchen was lit up by a single candle that sat in the middle of the island counter. It cast dark shadows across Alec's face, making him look much older than 23.
Isabelle pulled a chair up next to him and took the bottle of wine, swallowing what was left of it...which, was not a lot.
"You're not supposed to drink when you have a baby." Alec's voice was about as empty as his eyes.
Izzy shrugged, "It doesn't really matter as long as the baby isn't still inside of you-"
"That's not true-"
"How would you know?" She laughed dryly, "You don't have any kids."
Alec chuckled, a smile finally slipping onto his lips, "I read a book so that I can be ready to be a dad."
Isabelle looked at him, gasping a little bit, "Magnus told you about Emilia?"
He nodded, "And I read that book for nothing because that little girl is definitely not a baby."
"No, she isn't." Isabelle shook her head, looking back down at the empty bottle in her hands, "She is perfectly capable of taking care of herself...n-not that she won't need you. She really needs people that will spend every second of their time with her, loving her." Izzy sighed, "You and Magnus are some of the most accepting, gracious people I know and...I really don't want to let her go off with the really hot guy from Italy."
Alec frowned, "What really hot guy are you talking about?"
She shook her head again, "That doesn't matter-he doesn't matter. I just came over here to make sure that you're okay...you know?"
Alec's eyes darkened and he looked away, "I knew it was going to happen, Isabelle. Mom and Dad have never been as stable as they were before Dad fucked everything up." He slammed the glass down on the counter so hard a crack formed in the base of it, "I'm glad Max isn't here to see how much of a failed, coward Robert is-"
"Alec-"
"No, Isabelle, he did it again. He cheated on mom again because he didn't think he could fix things-"
Izzy cut in, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach for talking so much crap about her own blood, "But he's been trying to fix things since he found out Mom was pregnant with Max-"
"No, Isabelle." Alec snapped, "He stopped sleeping around when they found out about Max. But he never tried to fix anything. And after Max died, he lost control and saw other women again." He covered his face with his hands, "I'm not even upset that Mom finally decided to cut him off because to be honest, she doesn't deserve scum like him. She deserves so much better."
Isabelle pushed her hair out of her face and over her shoulders, "Then why are you sitting here, drinking yourself into oblivion?"
"Because the Lightwood name is ruined again."
Izzy scoffed, "It's just a divorce; people get them all the time-"
"Shadowhunters don't." Alec said sternly, "We need to make new shadowhunters so that we can ban together and build a strong army for the next war." His hands wrung together so tightly, his knuckles turned white, "We're breaking them apart."
"Maybe Dad will have kids with his new mistress and then this all won't be for nothing." Isabelle said softly.
Alec glared at his sister, looking like he wanted to smack some sense into her.
Izzy giggled, "I'm only kidding." She sighed, "Kind of."
...
"Simon...why is she in our bed?" Isabelle asked upon returning from the bathroom after freshening up for bed. She stood at the foot of her bed and watched as her husband scooted their daughter more onto his side of their bed. Layla woke up and pulled the covers over her head, "Mommy, can you turn the light off?"
Simon smiled at his little girl, but when he looked up and saw his wife looking very impatient with her arms crossed, he frowned, "Iz, she had a nightmare. Let her sleep here tonight."
"I'm on board with that, Simon, but if Kaden wakes up and sees that Layla isn't there, he is going to freak out. Then when Liam wakes up in a few hours and I bring him in here, we'll have three children in our bed." She climbed beneath the covers after turning off the light, then threw her arm over her daughter and sighed, "Layla, are you okay?"
She shifted until she was facing her mother and gently touched Isabelle's bare face, "I had a dream that Daddy was protecting me and Kaden from a demon, but then..." Layla hiccuped then and Isabelle leaned forward to kiss her forehead and shush her so that she didn't have to continue. "That's okay, baby, you don't have to tell me-"
"It was scary-"
"Layla, go to sleep." Simon murmured softly.
"But I'm scared." She whimpered.
Isabelle noticed that Layla was starting to tremble and she reached her hand out of the bed to turn the bedside lamp on, "Do you want the lights to stay on?"
Layla shook her head, eyes brimming with tears, "We have to bring Liam in here so that he's safe."
Simon blinked and looked at his wife for permission, but when she nodded silently, he got up and left to go get their baby.
"Layla," Isabelle placed a cool palm on her daughter's cheek, "I want you to take a deep breath and close your eyes."
She did as she was told and Izzy kept whispering soothing words into her ears, but by the time Simon had returned with Liam, Layla was fast asleep.
Isabelle watched as her husband laid back down with the baby sleeping fitfully on his chest and then sighed, covering her face with her hands, "Now I feel bad."
Simon's brows furrowed, though his eyes were closed, "Why?"
"Kaden is the only one not in here." She whispered guiltily.
"He'll be fine, Iz." Simon reached his hand out and squeezed hers comfortingly, "You should try and get some sleep before the baby wakes up again."
"I know, I know." Izzy turned the light off and intertwined her fingers with his again, "You're right."
"Hey," Simon said gently, turning his head to look at her through the darkness, "I'm sorry about your parents."
"Yeah..." She whispered sadly, "I am, too."
...
Isabelle talked a lot about a really hot guy from Italy, event though I didn't include their conversation in this chapter. I should have! It was quite amusing to write :) Maybe next time...
Short chapter.
Also, kind of emotional...?
I promise things will get better soon, though it will be kind of slow moving.
Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you think!
Thank you so much for reading!
-H.