The next evening, Clary lay in the lounge area on her back on her usual one of the two brown leather sofas, her feet crossed at the ankles; because of the natural humidity of their home, she was only wearing a cotton fuchsia camisole and her underwear. There was classical music playing softly in the background- at some point Jonathan had bought a compilation CD of the works of Erik Satie. Her brother had disappeared off to their bedroom to get something and she lay quietly waiting for him, listening to the soothing sound of instruments filling the air.
She was half reliving the dream that had woken her the previous morning, careful not to dwell on the way it had ended and instead focusing on the little boy that she had embraced with so much tender affection she hadn't been able to get him out of her head. Her hands instinctively moved to rest over her tummy, caressing gently. She didn't want to raise her expectations but she couldn't help but hope with all her heart that their baby would grow into that loving innocent child she had beheld; she had no desire to succumb to the apprehension that came with knowing the possibility of their baby being born emotionally inept demon spawn. Surely she and her brother possessed enough angel blood in them? She could merely wait and anticipate, restraining herself from getting her hopes up too high.
She heard the hallway door creek, followed by light footsteps before her brother came into view, leaning over the back of the sofa and presenting to her a pastel pink teddy bear with a white felt blanket sewn into one of its paws.
"I saw it while I was out earlier and I couldn't resist," Jonathan explained, gazing at the silky furred bear in his hands with something like pride shimmering in his fathomless eyes.
"I'm telling you, it's going to be a boy," Clary said wearily, smiling up at her brother. The sleeves of the untucked black pin-striped shirt he was wearing were haphazardly pushed up to his elbows and as he climbed over the back of the sofa to lie down in the space she managed to create beside her, the material of his dark blue jeans was cool against her warm leg.
"And I'm telling you she is going to be a girl," her brother replied confidently as she accepted the toy he passed her, fingering its square comfort blanket. Her brother snaked his arm around her as she turned on her side so that he could settle onto his back.
"You know, you can't wish it into a girl," she commented, perching the bear on his chest and brushing her thumb over its paw. "If you keep buying girl stuff our son will probably end up gender confused,"
"Nonsense," her brother dismissed, winding one of her long red curls around his finger. "In the unlikelihood that we have a boy, I'll simply buy boy things for him. Of course, if he took to cross-dressing later on in life that would be entirely down to him," Clary snorted and rolled her eyes, leaning up on her arm so that she could see her brother's face.
"That wouldn't bother you?" she questioned doubtfully. Jonathan's eyes had closed but he opened them to gaze up at her in amusement.
"Why should it?"
"I don't know," she shrugged half-heartedly, hesitating a bit. "I couldn't picture Valentine ever putting up with that kind of thing..." her brother chuckled at that, shaking his head.
"No, I can't imagine he would have been pleased if I had ever decided to put on a dress and paint my face. That would have been sure to earn a beating," he chuckled again, unfazed. "But in answer to your question, it wouldn't bother me if our son wanted to dress like a girl; that he exists and is happy is all I care about."
"How...nice of you," she couldn't think of a better word to say- kind, thoughtful, loving? They weren't the sort of words that sprung to mind when thinking about Jonathan Morgenstern. Fatherly...she guessed that could work. After all, he was going to be a father soon and there wasn't anything that would outwardly suggest he would be a tyrant like Valentine before him; it was what was inside- his nature- that gave the redhead cause for concern. At least he didn't want a son, let alone somebody to mould into a steel-hearted soldier. Then again, she couldn't exactly put it past him to turn a daughter into a blood-thirsty warrior, especially a child with Greater demon in them. He may give the impression he wanted a daughter he could dote upon but she still couldn't guess at everything that went on in his warped mind.
"Did I detect sarcasm there?" her brother asked, quirking an eyebrow but he looked more quizzical than anything else.
"No," she sighed. "Why do you want a daughter so badly?" her brother's fingers had slid beneath the waistband of her knickers, hot on her pelvis and she mentally fought against the distraction.
"You make me sound incredibly untoward," her brother remarked lasciviously, curving his hand round to cup her. Her eyelids fluttered wide and she had to stifle a gasp as his onyx eyes started to simmer in lust.
"Can't think why," she responded dryly, wetting her lips. She could tell that he felt the moisture dampening his fingers but she ignored it. "Anyway, you should stop buying girly things. Money doesn't grow on trees, you know,"
"Don't worry about that," her brother murmured with a reassuring smile. "Even if this child is a boy, we may still have a girl one day," Clary blanched, staring at him in disbelief.
"You can't be saying you want more kids?" she said and she could hear the horror in her voice, her forehead creasing in anxiety. Her brother's expression closed fractionally, his muscles tensing ever so slightly. "This one was a mistake, Jonathan- it can't happen again!"
"Why not?" he demanded almost petulantly but he didn't remove his hand from her underwear and she was becoming increasingly aroused down there. "Who's to stop us?"
"I can't go through this again," she whispered faintly, eyes dropping to gaze vacantly down at the teddy bear still sat on her brother's chest. "You have no idea how hard this has been on me- how hard it still is..." she closed her eyes as silence stretched out between them.
"I have some idea," her brother said in a subdued tone and she glanced back up to see that his angular features had softened significantly, although they were tinged with the inevitability of his disappointment. After another pregnant pause, she leaned down and bestowed a tentative kiss to his lips.
"We don't have to talk about this now," she relented, having barely enough time to get the last word out before Jonathan was recapturing her mouth and stroking the sacred cavern between her thighs. Self-consciously she tossed the bear to the opposite end of the sofa and her brother shifted onto his side. He pressed her down onto her back with the strength of his kiss and as their positions altered he swapped the hand that had been tantalising her nether regions with his other one. Her leg was trapped under his as he massaged circles against her clitoris before moving his fingers away far too soon.
Clary heard herself release a muffled whimper as her brother started teasing her weeping entrance, his tongue licking into her mouth over and over and trying to dominate hers into submission. She ravaged his top lip with her teeth in response, dragging a stunted groan from deep in his throat and he retaliated by pushing his middle finger inside her as far as it would go. She moaned into his mouth, her hips tilting up in anticipation. However, Jonathan didn't move to take off his jeans and underwear- or his shirt for that matter- and Clary squirmed in need as he began pumping his finger in and out of her.
He was trailing his tongue down the side of her neck now, nibbling along her collarbone as he continued wringing moans from her kiss-swollen lips. One of her hands was knotted in his tousled white locks while the nails of her free hand raked savagely across his shoulder blade. Without warning her brother thrust another finger inside, startling a raspy gasp out of her and proceeded to pound it into her in quick succession with the first finger.
"How does that feel?" he whispered into her ear in a playful tone, sending shivers down her spine. "Do you want more?" he sucked her earlobe into his mouth and her breathing grew more ragged, her body all but bursting with need.
"Yes..."
She moaned in protest as his fingers left her hole, her hips jerking up sporadically. Her brother had lifted his head to look down at her flushed face with hooded black eyes, blood running high along his sharp cheekbones.
"Do you want me to make you come with my mouth..." he took her hand and pressed it against the hard rod straining against his restrictive jeans. "...or with this?" with her palm cupping his dick, so stiff and throbbing, she was mildly astounded to find herself in this kind of a dilemma; even though it had only happened the one time, she still remembered the way his luscious mouth had felt as if it was imprinted forever on her memory. Her brother's dick twitched under her hand as she deliberated and she was so tempted by it that she opened her mouth to answer. However, as her eyes reconnected with Jonathan's, his expression patient yet wanting and his lips slightly parted, she made a split second decision.
"I want your mouth on me." she swallowed harshly as a crooked smirk darkened her brother's fine features, wickedness glinting in his eyes.
"As you wish,"
He moved between her legs which she drew up and let fall open for him. Her eyes were fixed on him as he braced his hands on her knees and bent down to snag the hem of her underwear with his teeth, tugging them down. She lifted her hips off the sofa to make it easier for him to pull them down her legs and off over her feet, releasing a hoarse giggle as she regarded her brother sitting on his heels with her knickers dangling from his teeth; he looked like a dog with a bone. Tossing them aside, he bent down once again, his arms hooking under her knees and his hands grasping her thighs, spreading them wider. Her toes had curled of their own volition and as her brother glanced up at her from beneath his elegant lashes, she bit her lip. His tongue flicked out as she watched and she sucked in a breath, her eyes closing on his hungry expression and her head going back.
His mouth felt like velvet on her as his tongue began pleasuring her in long maddeningly slow licks. She was hearing as well as feeling when he started interchanging between swiping at her with his tongue and sucking on her and her toes curled tighter, her fingers travelling down her torso to twist in and out of her brother's white locks in response to the sensations racking her body. She moaned louder when his mouth vanished only to latch onto her inner thigh, his blunt nails biting into her flesh. She writhed under his ministrations, mewling in relief when his mouth and tongue finally returned to feast on her clitoris, her hands fisting roughly in his hair.
Distantly she registered one of his hands detach from her thigh and the sound of a zip being unfastened teased her hearing before her concentration was called back to her brother's mouth. His tongue delved inside her, swirling in and out as he continued to suck on her with his delicate lips. Clary was panting quickly, her hips starting to jerk with each shiver he sent coursing up her spine and causing her to arch against him. Just when she thought she couldn't take any more and was crying out louder than she realised, her brother went back to working on her clitoris, driving her over the edge with the pressure of his mouth and tongue.
She screamed out in wild abandon when she peaked, her nerve endings exploding and rolling wave after wave of relief through her quivering frame. Jonathan didn't let up on her as she rode out her orgasm, his hand grabbing a handful of her bum and squeezing hard. Breathing heavily, she relinquished her hold on her brother's hair and sank back on the sofa, a satisfied smile twitching on her face as she sensed him gradually kiss his way up to her chest, pushing up her camisole as he did so. Her fingers dove beneath his messy locks to stroke the back of his neck as he lay his cheek on her breast, his breath ghosting across her flushed skin.
The soft music playing in the background seemed more sultry and seductive to the redhead's ears in her blissed-out state and she found herself being lulled to sleep by it until she felt her brother raise himself up and bring his lips down on hers. She sighed languidly, tasting her natural juices on and inside her brother's mouth and trailing her hand down his arm to where his hand disappeared down his boxers. Her fingers clasped around his wrist and coaxed his hand out.
"Sit up," she commanded, levering herself up into a sitting position with her hands on her brother's shoulders and he balanced on his knees as she freed his problem from its confines. Taking her time with fumbling fingers, she undid the buttons of his shirt to run her palms over the expanse of his snowy torso. She took his dick in her hand and stroked with her thumb as her mouth pressed against his fair- near invisible- dusting of a snail trail, feeling the muscles of his abdomen contract under her tongue. An audible gust of air left his lips and she sensed his fingertips skimming across her skin, lifting her masses of fiery curls back over her shoulders. She glanced up to meet his black intense gaze before wrapping her lips around his heated flesh and sucking him deep inside her mouth.
It didn't take long for her brother to come, one of his hands clawing at the top of the back of the sofa while the other scrunched the collar of his shirt up in his fist. She'd had to trap his hips in iron grips to hold off their eager instinctive thrusts and as she pulled back, she saw the angry red crescent moons her nails left behind.
Jonathan tucked himself back into his pants and sunk down onto her legs, panting and his eyes falling shut. Clary kissed his hand before sagging back down onto the sofa and zoning into the music, sleep once again climbing up from the depths to claim her. The last thing she registered before she drifted off was the brush of her brother's lips against hers.
"Clary,"
The person in question stirred faintly, gradually becoming aware of a warm hand on her cheek. There was a pressure against her left temple.
"Clary, my love," a whisper in her ear. She slowly cracked her eyes open, blinking through sleep as the smell of food danced around the air. Jonathan smiled softly down at her, crouching on the floor beside the sofa. His torso was still bare and the dim ochre light from the rose lamp behind her cast shadows across the contours of his muscular chest, shimmering slightly off his old runes. "Good evening, Sister,"
"What time is it?" she croaked belatedly, pushing herself up onto an elbow and glancing down at the silky black dressing gown that was draped over her nude body.
"Nine," her brother answered. "I know you're tired but we can't have you skipping meals now, can we?" He placed his hand on her tummy, thumb brushing back and forth. Clary looked over at the coffee table to see two steaming bowls waiting there next to two glasses of orange juice.
"What is it?" she inquired as she sat up properly, threading her arms through the sleeves of the dressing gown and tying it around her waist. Her brother had swivelled and sat down, reaching for his bowl to begin eating.
"Chilli con carne," he replied around a spoonful; he was picking up her bad habits she noted with a hint of a smirk. "It's mild because I didn't know whether you liked spicy food,"
The redhead swung her legs over the side of the sofa and lowered herself to the biscuit-coloured carpet, knee brushing against the cotton fabric of her brother's charcoal pyjama bottoms as she crossed her legs. She picked up her glass and took a deep gulp of juice before replacing it and taking her bowl in her hands. She scooped up a heap of chilli and rice with her spoon and tentatively put it in her mouth. Although her brother's cooking usually left something to be desired, the food was surprisingly tasty and she instantly tucked in.
"Thanks," she said between mouthfuls, catching his eye. His lips curled up on one side and he lowered his lashes in an uncharacteristic show of modesty. Her brother the modest man, she mentally scoffed. She wanted to punch his arm and tell him he didn't have to pretend to anything; tell him to gloat or to give that smug look of his.
"I must say, your sibling bonding is an absolute bore to watch," came an imaginary voice to her ears. Her eyes flicked across to where the phantom of Valentine reclined against the wall to the left of the window seat, his arms folded imperiously. She didn't respond for obvious reasons, merely looked at him gazing over at her brother with a mildly irritated twist of his lips. "Jonathan held so much promise,"
'Until you took it away...' she thought bitterly, rage beginning to simmer beneath her skin. Her biological father closed his eyes as amusement morphed his stark features.
"I do wonder where I went wrong," the broad-set man sighed, feigning brooding regret.
'You know exactly where you went wrong- you just hate to admit it.' She grit her teeth as the spectre before her chuckled lowly and shook his head at her.
"Clary!" her head snapped to her brother who was scowling and looking a little upset. "Why aren't you listening to me?"
"I am-"
"What a snivelling fool you have turned him into," Valentine went on as she gazed apologetically at her brother. "You know, he used to be my loyal lapdog. Now it appears you have made him yours. Funny, that."
"I know I care more about the baby than you do but you could at least help decide on her name," Jonathan was saying, his words overlapping the ones she was hearing from their father.
"Her name-?"
"Do you mean to destroy him? Is that your intention? How fitting; I always did say that to love is to-"
"SHUT UP!" Clary's eyes were squeezed shut and her hands were covering her ears. A stunned silence had descended over the large room and all that could be heard was the quiet ticking of the abstract clock on the wall and the redhead's panting. Cautiously, she opened her eyes, looking straight ahead but Valentine was no where to be seen. Her gaze drifted to the right of her to weakly meet with her brother's onyx orbs. She faltered at his searing look, dropping her eyes and lowering her hands to clasp loosely in her lap.
Her bowl of half-eaten food was sitting neatly on the floor and she assumed that her brother's impressive reflexes had caught it and prevented it from toppling over when she had dropped it. She flinched at the sudden feeling of the crook of her brother's finger under her chin as he turned her face to look at him.
"I thought we'd agreed that you would keep your eyes on me and ignore them when they're here," Jonathan murmured delicately as she struggled to retain eye-contact, flushed in misplaced embarrassment and guilt.
"I thought I could handle it..." she trailed off, eyes avoiding the deep-seeded concern darkening his features.
"Silly girl," he said almost inaudibly, his tone partially endearing, partially apprehensive. She lifted her hand to grasp his forearm, keeping his finger under her chin and after a beat, he leaned down to touch a tender kiss to her lips. Their mouths lingered together before her brother finally pulled away. "Finish your dinner," he sighed, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. Nodding slightly, she did as he said, comforted only a little by the arm he put about her shoulders.
When she was finished, she put her bowl on the coffee table by her brother's and took a swig of her drink before sitting back with her legs drawn up and her head resting against his shoulder.
"Your cooking's getting better," she remarked softly after a peaceable silence and she was rewarded with a kiss on the top of her head in response to the praise.
"I'm glad," her brother murmured against her hair and she let her eyes fall shut, ears tuning into the timbre of his voice. "I do try, you know,"
"I know," she replied, a smile creeping onto her freckled face as her brother's fingers subconsciously toyed with her curls. "Didn't you say something earlier about a name- for the baby?"
"Hm, I was wondering if you had any preferences..."
"Not really..." she began hesitantly, mentally listing through names that came to mind. "I guess we'll have to think of a name for a boy and one for a girl too, just in case."
"I was thinking the same," her brother said with more than enough satisfaction clear in his tone. "How about...Theodore? He could be Theo for short,"
"No way," she said immediately, hoping against it but knowing he had more of the same high-faluting names up his sleeve. "It's too...I don't know. I think we should stay clear of three syllable names."
"You are such a snob," her brother teased in faux exasperation and she rolled her eyes, turning her head to look up at him.
"What about Willow for a girl?" she suggested, almost laughing as she watched her brother purse his lips.
"Cain?" he pressed on with a mocking glint in his dark eyes.
"After the guy who murdered his brother?" she retorted with a sarcastic drop in tone.
"It's one syllable," he pointed out and she gave him a hard look. "Alright, alright..."
"Maxine?"
"Maximillian?"
"No- if it's just Max then it's fine," she told him adamantly.
"Just Max?" Jonathan repeated with an obvious pout. "This is our son we're talking about. Morgenstern's should have proper names; we can call him Max for short,"
"We're not from ancient Rome and we're not calling our son Maximillian." She replied sternly and her brother gave an elaborate sigh. It was only then that she remembered another, more disturbing, reason why they should stay clear of that name. "We could call her Zara,"
"Zara," he said, getting a feel of the name on his tongue before his features turned playful again. "It may seem unpretentious but doesn't it mean 'princess'?"
Clary rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. "Why do you even know that?"
"I met a Zara once and she..." he stopped abruptly, looking suspiciously cautious to the redhead. "Well, to cut a long story short, she told me what it meant."
"Whatever," she dismissed but her chin lifted ever so slightly and her brother smirked knowingly. "Esther?"
"Hm, that is fitting," her brother responded thoughtfully as though he was seriously considering it. "Although I doubt you would like it,"
"Why?" Clary asked with an ever-suffering air.
"If I remember correctly, Queen Esther- originally named Hadassah- is a book in the Bible and some believe she was named Esther because she was 'as beautiful as the Morning Star'," he explained, winding one of her curls around his finger. "Much like you are-"
"Fine, I get the picture." she said, disheartened, clasping her hand with his and lowering it from her hair to rest in her lap. "What other names have you got?"
"Tobias,"
"Nope."
"Nicholas,"
"Um...no."
"Marcus,"
"What does it mean?" she inquired warily.
"Something to do with Mars, the Roman God of War,"
"No."
"Samuel,"
"Erm...no, but hey, how about Samantha for a girl?" she questioned suddenly. "We could call her Sam or Sammy or...?"
"That has three syllables," he stated with a quirk of his eyebrow and she glared at him until he chuckled.
"Do you like the name or not?" she quipped.
"Would you like to call her that?" he batted back and she got the distinct impression that even if she told him she really wanted to call their child Carrot, he would agree to it.
"I don't know," she answered honestly, gazing down at her belly. "I never thought I'd be choosing a baby name this early on in life."
"I know," Jonathan murmured as he pressed his lips to her forehead, his white locks tickling her cheeks for a split second. "We have plenty of time," Clary tried to smile up at him through the fear and worry that was assaulting her mind. The part of her mind that was hidden in a far corner now and getting smaller day by day, shrieked and begged at her, shaming and shunning her for giving up- giving in- so easily and all she could do was block it out as best she could.
A cramping sensation disrupted her concentration and she gasped sharply in surprise, clutching her stomach. However by the time it took her brother to react in fierce concern, the pain was gone.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Jonathan demanded, placing his hand on the one she held over her belly and tightening his arm securely around her shoulders.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she reassured him, smiling affectionately at the look of alarm that had come upon his angular features. "Just a twinge."
"Are you sure?" he fussed, closely scrutinizing her face.
"Yes!" she enunciated, kissing him swiftly on the mouth and widening her smile. "Look at you, the concerned father-to-be," she shook her head. Jonathan's muscles visibly relaxed and he grinned down at her momentarily, cupping her cheek in his hand.
"The name isn't especially important, is it?" he voiced rhetorically, going back to the previous subject. "As long as she- or he- is healthy and...normal,"
"Exactly," she agreed gently, losing herself in the wealth of meaning in her brother's fathomless eyes.
"So perhaps..." he paused, his features softer than she ever recalled seeing them before. "...we can give them our middle names; Christopher for a boy and Adele for a girl," Clary mulled that over in her mind for half a minute, imagining a little boy and a little girl with those names.
"Chris..." she whispered, gazing almost lovingly down at her tummy for a quiet moment before looking back up at her brother's expectant expression. "Okay."
"You're happy with those names?" Jonathan double-checked. "We can always think of others-"
"No, they're perfect." she told him firmly, mesmerised as she watched her brother's features flood with warmth. "Perfect."
Sorry for the wait! :)
