I'm here with a new chapter that was actually earlier than I expected it to get done! I pretty much worked nonstop on this, like, since I got up, and this is the outcome. I hope you like it!

By the way, thank you so much for the reviews! I enjoy reviews so much! Please review more!

Enjoy!

Tia was talking so fast that Alec wasn't about to keep up with her. Instead, he focused on Cadie, who had wordlessly sat down at a chair that Nick had guided her to. She muttered something to him, and he said something back, and she nodded. Then she put her hands on the table and slowly moved them up and down, until she felt a fork under her hand. She picked it up and poked at her food, as if making sure it was there. She stabbed a piece of chicken and put it in her mouth. She moaned. "This is really good. What is it?"

Tia stopped mid-sentence and looked at the blind girl like she was an alien. "Chinese," she answered.

Cadie raised her eyebrows. "No kidding." She put another piece of chicken in her mouth. Nick chuckled at her expression. She nudged him with her elbow not gently. "Shut up, I've never had Chinese food, and neither have you."

"Yes, but I knew what it was," Nick replied.

"Oh really? How..." she stopped. "You saw the container."

"Yep," Nick said, popping the 'p'.

"Damn you," she said, and continued to eat. Alec smiled at her.

He was standing in the doorway, watching the teenagers at the table. His mother came silently to his side, and he looked at her. "Did you know she had a daughter?" he whispered.

Maryse shook her head. "No one knew but a few people on the Clave. She wanted to keep it a secret."

"How do you know?"

"I just talked to Jia. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to talk with someone else."

She turned and walked off, leaving Alec to wonder who she was going to talk to, silently fearing for that person.

A few hours later, they had finished their food, but were still in the kitchen, just talking. Alec had gotten tired of standing, so he decided to sit down on the other end of the table, eat, and listen to their interesting conversation.

"So, have you seen the Eiffel Tower?" Cole asked. Alec shook his head really fast and signaled him to be quiet. Tia waved her hands at him, and Nick just smiled.

Cadie sighed. "No."

"But you lived in Paris," he forged on, completely ignoring his sister's attempts at getting him to shut up. "How could you not have seen it?"

Cadie bit her lip. "I know. The only way you couldn't have seen it is if you were blind." Her lips formed a tight smile.

Cole opened his mouth to speak, and then it dawned on him. "Oh." Tia and Nick were laughing their heads off, and Cole looked like he just killed this girl's puppy. "I am so sorry."

Cadie waved a hand. "It's okay."

Cole looked down, not daring to say another word that would embarrass him. Alec smiled into the coffee he was holding. Tia gave a thumbs-up to her brother, who mouthed Shut up to her in return. Alec heard a sound in the doorway and looked up. Magnus was standing there, looking at the kids and smiling slightly. Then he looked at Alec and crooked his finger at him. With a glance at the teens, Alec got up and walked with Magnus out the door and down the hall. "What is it?" Alec asked him.

"Your father's here," He answered solemnly. Alec felt his heart stop. "They politely asked me to find you and then to go away, because this is a family matter apparently."

"You don't have to leave," Alec said. "They're your family too, you know."

Magnus looked at him, a smile playing on his lips. "I didn't say I was going to leave, Alexander." Alec rolled his eyes.

They reached the end of the hall, where there was a group of people standing. One of those people was Robert Lightwood, dressed in his Inquisitor robes, an impassive expression on his face. Maryse, Isabelle, and Jace were standing there as well. "This does not concern you, warlock," Robert's voice boomed. "Please leave."

"He's making progress," Jace muttered from beside Alec. "He said 'please'."

Magnus looked at Robert, one eyebrow raised. They stared at each other for what seemed like a long time. No one spoke. Finally, Magnus smiled a tight-lipped smile, turned, and walked back down the hall. "What is it you want?" Alec asked Robert, once Magnus was out of sight.

Maryse stepped forward. "I called him here. There is something he needs to tell you."

They all looked to Robert, who looked nervous. He cleared his throat. "You all undoubtedly know of my affair with Annamarie Highsmith," he started. Isabelle crossed her arms. Jace stiffened. "Well, there is something else you should know. You...have a sister. A half-sister." Isabelle opened her mouth to say something, but Robert held up a hand. "Please, let me finish, Isabelle. I broke it off with Annamarie when Max was born, but a couple years after that, we..." he trailed off, but they all more than understood the message.

"It was only one night?" Isabelle asked. Robert nodded gravely. "Did you know, Mom?"

Maryse shook her head. "Let him finish." Alec looked at her. She looked like she knew something that Robert didn't, because he was looking at her, confused.

"Anyway, I told her I could only stay that one night, because I had three kids to look after, and she seemed mad. I didn't hear from her until she wrote me about four years later, saying that she'd had a daughter, and that it was mine." He looked down, ashamed. "I'm very sorry I didn't tell you, but your mother sent a fire-message to me, telling me that she knew, and that I should be the one to tell you. But, you don't have to worry about her, because she died in the Mortal War."

"What was her name, Robert?" Maryse asked.

"Annamarie told me it was Arcadia."

"That's Cadie's full name!" They heard a voice behind them. Alec whirled around and saw Nick, Cole, and Tia standing there, in the middle of the hall. Nick's eyes were wide.

"What are you doing here?" Alec growled. "Where is Cadie?"

"Papa's keeping her company," Tia said helpfully. "He sent us to spy."

"Well, you aren't doing a great job," Jace said. "So, go away. This is grown-up talk."

"Jace, I'm almost seventeen years old," Tia said. "That hurt."

Nick and Cole were already halfway back to the kitchen. Tia took one last look at Robert, muttering something about a messed up family, and then followed them.

"What was that boy talking about?" Robert demanded. "Who is Cadie?"

"Robert," said Maryse calmly. "You are aware that the Clave has sent two young Shadowhunters to the Institute?" Robert nodded. "One of those is a girl named Cadie Highsmith."

Robert shook his head. "That's impossible. They told me Arcadia died..."

"What do you want, Nick?" a voice said from down the hall. A very cranky voice at that. "You do know you are tearing me away from a very interesting conversation."

"Trust me, this will be more interesting," Nick said, his voice echoing down the hall.

Cadie walked into Alec's line of vision led by Nick, her cane beating frequently on the concrete floor. The twins followed them, curious as always, and Magnus brought up the rear, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.

"Cadie," Alec asked softly. "What is your full name?"

Cadie sighed. "Arcadia Veronica Highsmith. Don't dwell on it too long. It might be pretty, but it's an unneeded mouthful."

Alec looked back at Robert. His father's face was pale, and his mouth was moving but no words were coming out. Finally he said something. "Arcadia?"

"Yeeeeees?" She asked.

"Okay," said Magnus, putting his hands on Cole and Tia's shoulders. "I think it's time for us to go home." He pushed them toward the elevator, giving Alec a small 'good luck' smile on the way. Alec nodded in return.

Robert moved toward Cadie, asking her a quiet question that Alec couldn't hear. She nodded slightly, and they moved to sit down on the bench that was nearby, sitting against the wall. Nick walked over to Jace and Alec, and Isabelle and Maryse joined them.

"Is she really...you know? Your sister?" Nick asked.

"Yes," Maryse answered him.

"I can't believe this," Isabelle muttered. "It's one thing to want to leave you, Mom, but to completely abandon Cadie like that."

Jace shook his head. "In his defense – and I don't do this often – he didn't know she existed."

"No, he knew," said Alec. "She would've been four when Annamarie wrote that letter to him. He could've visited any time he wanted, but he didn't."

"But then he thought she was dead," Jace argued, and then checked himself. "Never mind, I don't care enough about him to do this."

"Jace," their mother warned.

"I hope they get done soon," Nick said. "Cadie doesn't really know how not to let her words run away with her."

Their conversation was cut short when Cadie yelled. "You already had four children! Why were you going to leave them? Were they not enough for you? They are great people, and you were going to leave them. But then you decide after you get my mom pregnant that you are going to come back to them. And then you don't write, don't even acknowledge my existence. I didn't know that you were even alive! So now, you think you can just come back into my life like nothing happened? Like you never had other children that needed you? You know what I say? TO HELL WITH THAT!"

"I told you," Nick muttered.

She turned to leave. Nick ran after her, pausing only to apologize to the Inquisitor about his parabatai's temper. He then caught up to her and led her down the long hall and turned the corner, disappearing from Alec's sight.

By then, it was almost 11:00. Alec quickly said good-bye to his sister and parabatai, and was about to go when Maryse stopped him. "Why are you leaving?"

"I have children that are expecting me," he answered, and made it loud enough so that Robert could hear. Robert seemed to flinch. Alec immediately regretted his words, but the elevator started moving, and it was too late to take them back.

Alec tiredly walked into the apartment. Magnus was sitting on the couch with a magazine, but the minute he walked in, Magnus was up and pulling Alec into his embrace. Alec put his arms around his husband's middle and sighed into his shoulder. "How'd it go?" Magnus whispered. Alec didn't reply, just shook his head.

"Dad?" Tia's voice drifted over to them and they broke apart, but with Magnus's arm still around Alec. She was standing behind the couch, Cole behind her, like always. Alec thought it was funny that they were pretty much always together, even though that had met only a year ago. He voiced his idea to Magnus, who chuckled and said: Such is the bond of twins.

"Dad," Tia said, "it's not Cadie's fault she's your sister. Don't take it out on her, alright?"

"I won't," Alec said to her. "You might want to tell that to Isabelle, though. She might not be as accepting of Cadie as you are."

Tia nodded and turned, Cole behind her, to go to her room. Cole started to follow, and then paused. "So," he said, turning back around, "would it be weird if I asked her out?"

Magnus opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again, but then decided to speak anyway. "I think, since you aren't related to Alec by blood, that it would be okay. But you'd have to ask Alec's permission."

Cole looked to Alec, eyebrows raised. Alec shrugged and nodded. Cole smiled and turned to walk to his room, which was beside Tia's. Magnus and Alec sat down on the couch.

"Cadie's a nice girl," Magnus said. "She actually didn't realize I was a warlock until I told her my name."

"I think Tia likes her," said Alec. "Cole definitely likes her." He laughed.

Magnus smiled. "Yeah." He paused a minute. "You know, she acts a lot like you."

"Cadie?" He nodded. "No. "

"Yes," Magnus insisted. "The way she always fidgeted with the ring around her neck, the way she barely talks. But when she does talk, she reminds me of Isabelle. There are some family traits there, you know." Alec just nodded, not in the mood to talk about this anymore. "Just, give her a chance, okay?"

Alec nodded. "Okay."

Alright, what did you think? Was it too much? Was it bad or good? I want to know these things, I wanna know what you feel. Please.

That's really all I have to say, other than REVIEW PLEASE!

-T