"Henry, can you say Dada?" Rebecca asked her silent child. Jonathan waited patiently for the words that would never come out of his son's mouth. He hated to admit it, but he didn't see any form of attachment when Henry looked at him. Something was dangerously off about his child, and Jonathan wanted to find out what.
"Rebecca, maybe we should just give him a little time? Yes?" Jonathan asked the impatient mother. She looked back at him with a smile before settling Henry on their bed.
"He's so quiet. Makes me wonder what's going on in his little head." She said, tapping against Henry's cheek. Jonathan was surprised at the giggle that escaped his plump lips. Henry never laughed, until now Jonathan believed it to be a miracle to get the child to find anything but sorrow amusing. "My baby boy." She cooed at Henry, who started to hold his feet, rocking back and forth on the mattress.
"I've never understood it now, but they really do grow up so fast." She sighed, brushing his brown locks out of his long lashes. Jonathan nodded, knowing she couldnt' see him. His hands played anxiously with each other as he watched Rebecca fawn over their son.
"Do you ever miss her?" Jonathan whispered to Rebecca, who stiffened immediately at his words. He didn't like to talk about it either, but as a father, forgetting about her seemed to be just as bad as disowning her.
"Jonathan, don't." She pleaded to him. He dropped the subject, not wanting to bring Rebecca back to the horrible memories.
"What's wrong sweetheart?" Clary asked Theo, who squirmed away from her hold. He didn't seem to like being around her lately. She didn't let him see it, but it hurt her feelings how he remained independent.
"Momma, lee go!" He babbled angrily, pushing his dimpled palms against her arms that encased him. Jace frowned, seeing that his son was struggling in his mother's hold. Sighing, she went along with what Theo wanted and set him on the soft carpet of their room.
"Is this a phase? Did you do this with your mother?" Clary asked him with watery eyes. She was angry at her son for making her feel so emotional. No, she reminded herself, he's just a baby, he didn't mean it. Jace looked at her grimly before replying.
"I was actually pretty close to my mother, you know, patching her up and stuff." He whispered. Theo crawled over to him hurriedly, locking his arms around Jace's neck as he talked. She was angry that Jace didn't seem to hide his pride as Theo chose him over her, his mother. Clary just couldn't understand why Theo seemed to dislike her.
"That's not fair!" She whined to Theo. "Why don't you love Momma?" Clary cried. Theo looked at her with large eyes, their gold bearing deeply to her soul.
"Clary, he's what, three? I don't think he understands what you're saying." Jace laughed, making Clary's eyes brim with tears. Her coppery lashes moistened with sadness as she watched her son hold onto Jace tightly.
"I'm his mother, Jace, he should at least want to be with me!" Clary started to think of how Ava had started to give her the cold shower at Theo's age. "His going to be like Ava! Being so damn clingy with their father." She huffed in defeat. Jace had a concerned expression on his face as she complained like child. "God," She began again. "What is that awful smell?" Clary grimaced. Jace still had that worried expression on his face.
"What, this?" He asked, pulling a piece of jerky Jocelyn had made out of his pocket. Clary nearly vomited at the sight of it.
"It smells horrible!" She gagged, running outside to breathe fresh, clean air. Her hand was pressed against the wall outside of the room, gasping for something to dilute the stench. Wait…
"Clary?" Jace asked, peering through the opened door. Her heart was booming in her ear, and all she could manage to do was count to forty, stumbling on the numbers as she made sure her calculations were correct. She hoped to the angel they weren't.
"Damnit." Clary groaned against the cool wall. She could feel Jace's intense stare as she kept counting over and over again, getting even more frustrated when the numbers passed thirty. No, she thought, she couldn't be.
"Clary?" Jace repeated, more louder this time. By this time, she was crying, turning to face Jace with tears molding into the curls of her hair. "Clary!" Jace panicked when he saw her face. He rushed to her side, holding her to him as she sobbed.
"I'm not sick." She said emptily too Jace. He pulled back, assessing her emotional state before replying.
"No? Then what's wrong?" Jace questioned with concern brewing in his tone. Clary didn't know how to answer him without sounding like she dreaded the situation she was in. Back at the farmhouse, she was happy to find out she was pregnant, but now, there was no assurance of safety. No way of knowing that she wouldn't wake up to the groaning of a zombie at her child's bassinet.
"By the Angel, Jace. How did we not see it before." She cried into his chest. He grew stiff with panic at this point.
"Clary?" He whispered, scared to realize what she meant. "What are you talking about?" He swallowed thickly. She thought of ripping the band aid off of the situation they were in. To just come out with the news.
"I…" She started to panic at the beginning of her sentence.
"You… what?" Jace said with anxiety. She could see that he already knew what she was talking about. He must have seen things from her point of view.
"I think I'm pregnant."