Sorry for the long wait between chapters. Life has been getting in the way of writing lately. On a positive note, one of my best friends has volunteered to lend her super overqualified eyes to edit for me, so from this chapter forward you shouldn't see as many grammatical errors. Hope you all enjoy the chapter, and I'll try to get back to posting more frequently soon.
As Alec let the warm water run over him, he thought about all he'd observed in the two days since arriving in Louisville. His siblings were obviously doing as well as they'd both told him on the phone. Not only did they seem to be getting along splendidly with each other, apparently Kentucky was also the place to come to fall in love. Of course, Izzy and Simon had already been in love, but watching the way Jace acted both with Clary and when she wasn't around, Alec could tell he had it bad too. Maybe even worse than Izzy did.
It was super strange to see Jace like that. Jace never showed feelings for anybody outside the family. He didn't even really have close friends. He had family and he had acquaintances, and now, apparently, he had Clary. Watching Jace watch her last night, Alec could almost see the cartoon hearts coming out of his eyes. Alec was pretty sure Clary could have asked Jace to lie down on the floor and let her walk on him and he would have. Alec decided he was going to need to keep an eye on those two. Jace had kept his heart locked up for so long, Alec couldn't have the first person Jace opened it up to go and break it. Based on the things he'd heard Simon say, Clary wasn't the kind to go around breaking men's hearts, but it was still something to be wary of.
Alec had already finished getting clean, but he was dreading getting out of the shower. He knew as soon as he left the sanctuary of the restroom his sister would be grilling him about his night spent with the man of his own dreams. She wouldn't care that he'd already told her all they did was talk until they'd finally fallen asleep together. She'd still tease him relentlessly and want every sordid detail.
He had no intention of telling her all the intimate things they'd discussed, or how passionately they'd made out while half stripping each other before tumbling into Magnus' bed. The truth was Magnus was the one who had stopped them from going farther. He'd said he knew his own alcohol tolerance was high, after all, he did own a bar, but that he would not be with anyone when he couldn't be sure their consent was not swayed by their alcohol intake. He said if Alec still wanted to be with him on any night he hadn't been drinking, all he had to do was say the word.
So instead of sex, they'd laid in each other's arms. Magnus had told Alec stories about his past relationships and Alec had told stories of his family. Magnus had held Alec's face in his hands and Alec had counted the gold flecks in Magnus' eyes. They'd made excuses to kiss until they couldn't breathe and run their hands along each other's torsos. Magnus had traced Alec's tattoos and Alec had kissed Magnus' scars and even when they were both too tired to keep their eyes open they had fought against sleep just to continue listening to the sound of each other's voices.
Loud pounding on the door pulled Alec out of his memories. "Come on!" Izzy yelled. "I'm finally meeting Gran and you're going to make us late!"
Alec sighed and turned off the water. "All right, all right. I'm coming!" he told her.
The drive to Shepherdsville was full of teasing from Izzy. She seemed to approve of his choice of "hot bartenders" but definitely didn't approve of his policy of not kissing and telling.
"Before we get there I'm supposed to let you know," Izzy told him, "if any of these topics come up we're supposed to play along. Gran doesn't know Clary has more than one job, so as far as she's concerned Clary was at the bar celebrating Jace's birthday last night, not working! They've also been together longer than they really have and before that she supposedly dated Magnus."
"Does Magnus know that?" Alec asked dubiously.
"I don't know. Telling you is the only part that's my problem. Just don't mess things up for Clary. We don't want Gran to worry."
"Okay," Alec finally said. "How was your night after you left? Are you and Simon still fighting?"
Izzy shrugged. "We weren't really fighting. I was just trying to show him that how he was treating Clary and Jace was wrong. As long as they've made up I'm not mad at him. I really don't want to see anything break up what Jace and Clary have going though. I've never seen him even half this happy!"
"Yeah," said Alec. "I was just thinking he's going to be devastated if she ever leaves him."
"Let's just hope she doesn't then," Izzy said. "I'd hate to have to kill her now that she's basically going to be my sister in law."
"What's up with that?" Alec asked. "I heard Simon say something like that last night. Did you guys get engaged and just not tell us or something?"
"No," Izzy said, "but we have gone to a couple jewelry stores so he can get an idea of styles I like and don't like. And we had them measure my finger, so I know it's coming."
"I suppose that means you've already decided to say yes?" Alec asked.
"Well duh!" Izzy said. "What kind of question is that? Never mind. You don't have to answer. Obviously it's a dumb one. Now make yourself useful and read me the directions. I remember this is the exit, but where do I go from here?"
A few minutes later, they had parked and were knocking on the door.
"Come on in," Simon said as he showed them inside. "Clary and Jace are in the kitchen making sandwiches and Gran is in the living room. Come and meet her." He grabbed Izzy's hand and led her to the living room with Alec trailing behind.
Alec had planned to say hi to his brother as they passed the kitchen, but a glance to the right showed Clary backed up against the counter with Jace's hands one on either side of her, and they were definitely doing something other than making sandwiches. From the looks of it, one of them had lost his or her tonsils and the other one was using their tongue to help find them. Alec quickly turned forward and continued following the other couple to the living room.
Gran looked exactly like Alec had expected someone named Gran to look. She had hair some people would call gray, although Alec thought it looked more like silver. Her face was kind and wrinkled in places that indicated it had been home to many smiles and much laughter through the years. Her eyes were her most noticeable feature and were the same striking green color as her granddaughter's. They were very beautiful, but Alec couldn't help thinking he preferred the complexity of Magnus' green to the pure emerald of Gran and Clary's.
When Gran was introduced to Izzy she stood to give her a hug and Alec noticed that even though she probably didn't stand quite as straight as she used to, Gran still looked a couple of inches taller than Clary was. As Gran and Izzy began getting to know each other Alec wandered around the living room, taking in the photos that decorated the walls. They almost all had Clary and Gran in various phases of life. Many also had Simon and a gentleman with bright reddish orange hair who Alec could only assume was Clary's grandfather. Some of the older photos also had a girl whose coloring and facial expressions matched Simon's. Alec hadn't met Rebecca yet, but he assumed this must be her when she was younger. Gran had apparently been blonde in her youth, so apparently Clary had gotten her hair from her grandfather and her eyes from her grandmother.
Alec hadn't been paying attention to the conversation near him, but it drew his attention when Gran's voice rose significantly as she said, "If Clary and Jace could focus on something other than each other for a few minutes maybe we could eat lunch soon!" It was obvious by her tone of voice Gran was teasing and everyone chuckled, including Clary and Jace from the kitchen.
About three minutes later Clary and Jace emerged from the kitchen, hand in hand, to let everyone know lunch was on the table and ask if anyone wanted anything other than water to drink. As they made their way into the kitchen, Gran commented on how nice it was to have a full house again.
"We were always the hang out house when Clary was growing up," Gran told Izzy. "It's been so weird just being the two or three of us for meals now. I hope you'll be able to come with Simon more often when school ends."
"I hope so too!" Izzy said. "I know you and Clary are Simon's favorite people. I've been so excited to get to know you better."
Jace and Clary had apparently added a couple of eaves to the table since Alec had glanced into the kitchen earlier because what had been a small table in the corner of the kitchen was now in the center taking up almost all the free space in the entire room. Alec had only seen four wooden chairs at the table earlier, but now they were joined by a couple of folding chairs and it looked like there would actually have been room to seat a few more people if necessary.
"Is this the same group who are coming for Thanksgiving?" Simon asked. "Plus Magnus, of course."
"There will also be one of my coworkers from the office," Clary told him. "Her name is Helen. She's from California and is used to being with her family on holidays, but she couldn't afford to fly back for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hopefully whoever the new boss is will let her have a few extra days off between Christmas and New Year so she can spend the whole week. She has six siblings! Plus another girl who has lived with them since her parents died that's basically like another sister. I told her it will seem quiet here compared to all that, but it's better than staying home alone. She's out here for school. She's nice. I'm sure you'll all like her," Clary finished.
Gran laughed. "Rare is the time I've ever heard you say someone isn't nice, or that we wouldn't like them. You see the best in everyone dear."
Clary blushed and Simon quickly jumped in to say, "Don't worry, it's one of your lovable traits. I'm sure we'll like Helen."
"I couldn't very well let her spend the holiday alone," Clary said quietly. "No one should have to be alone on a holiday."
Alec remembered what Magnus said about Clary and her grandmother taking in all the strays. It seemed he hadn't been far off after all. Then he remembered Jace telling him about this crazy girl who worked two, which turned out to be three, jobs. How on earth was Clary going to find time to host a big holiday gathering? Would she be the one preparing the food? How was this girl supposed to also find time in her busy schedule to spend with his brother?
Alec silently observed Clary and Jace as everyone else continued talking around the table. Jace was eating with his left hand, which was normal, since it was his dominant one. Clary sat to his right and was eating with her right hand. Neither of their other hands could be seen beneath the table, but Alec assumed they were still clasped together as they had been when they sat down. Both were participating in the conversation, but every few seconds they would glance at each other and share a smile. They both looked happy enough. Actually, Jace looked happier than Alec had ever seen him. Maybe Clary didn't need much time to keep him happy. Maybe whatever she had was enough.