Disclaimer- All names and characters belong to Cassandra Clare.
Chapter Four
Clary POV
Jace said that because she just moved in, dinner was on him and that she'd start the next day. Clary finished unpacking fairly quickly and was left with an hour of nothing to do. Not feeling comfortable enough to try and engage in conversation with Jace left Clary up to her own devices. She decided to sketch a little bit to pass the time.
As she flipped aimlessly through her pages, she was struck with a bolt of inspiration. Quickly turning to a new page, Clary's pencil flew across the page, making out a rough outline, before going into detail, doing and redoing certain parts until she was satisfied with its appearance.
Before long, a knock reverberated through the wooden door. Glancing at the clock, she was shocked at how much time had already past. After calling for the person behind the door to come in, Clary quickly closed her sketchbook.
Jace poked his head through the crack he'd made. "Just wanted to let you know that the kids have just come home, once they come out, you could get to meet them if you want." He stated.
" Yeah, I'll come out to introduce myself," Clary said, hurriedly getting up and smoothing down her clothes. They walked upstairs together in an awkward silence. Before entering the living room, Jace stopped her by touching her shoulder. Clary's heart skipped a beat in anticipation as to what he had to say.
"Before you go in, I thought I should warn you. Don't take it personally if they don't take to you immediately. They're still adjusting to living here, and there the last experience with a nanny wasn't the best. They'll warm up to you eventually." Jace said with a furrowed brow, looking her straight in the eye. They were so intense, all Clary could do was a nod.
" Hey guys, you nanny's here! Come say hi." Jace called as they walked into the living room. The kids, all except one, got up to meet them.
" This here is Emmy," Jace gestured to the tallest, who was about half a foot taller than Clary. She had short light brown hair that nearly touched her shoulders. Her face betrayed no emotion as she stared at Clary, making her a tad bit uncomfortable.
" Ezra," Ezra was around Clary's height, if not an inch shorter. His expression was the exact opposite of his sister's. His eyes twinkled with mischief and his wavy dirty blonde hair blond hair was just a little too long. He had a pair of headphones around his neck, and you could see his genuine smile as he gave Clary a firm handshake.
" Laurel," The young girl stood beside Ezra, holding his hand and looking at Clary with big eyes. Her sunlight blonde hair, like Jace's, was secured with a puppy clip.
" And lastly, Lucky." The toddler had gotten up from the couch after noticing the absence of her siblings and had partly hidden behind Emmy's legs. Her hair was a mix between Ezra's and Emmy's shade of brown and blond. It fell in doll-like curls to her shoulders.
After a second Jace cleared his throat. "Let's go eat guys, the foods gonna get cold." He then proceeded to lead the procession to the dining room. Emmy left without a second glance at Clary, with Ezra right behind her, who at least offered her an apologetic smile and whispered " Don't worry, Emmy just doesn't like meeting new people. She's lonely like that." Clary let out a small laugh and smiled wistfully.
Unlike their older siblings, Laurel and Lucky continued to stare at her. So she bent down until she was crossed legged on the floor.
" Your hair is red. I've never seen red hair before. It looks funny." Laurel stated. Clary smiled and replied, " Your right, not many people have red hair. My mom's hair was red but darker. Mine looks more like a carrot, don't you think?" Laurel giggled and nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Lucky had ventured a few steps closer to Clary and was examining a curl with an adorable look of confusion.
" I have curls, but wauwel and Emmy don't. Egra says it cuz we're speshal." Lucky said softly, giving the curl a small tug.
" Well, you do look like a very special girl to me. Do you play with Ezra a lot?" Clary asked, unable to fight the smile that came upon her at the toddler's pronunciation, which was too cute.
" I like playing, but Egra likes to play with his plends., she replied with a pout. Clary took it that she meant " friends". She said, " Well, I promise to play with you whenever I can. How does that sound?" Lucky's face lit up with excitement. " Can we play now?"
" Right now you're supposed to be eating Lu. You too Laurel. Hop to it now." Jace interceeded from the doorway. The two girls gave Clary a hug before shuffling into the dining room. As Jace stared down at her, she quickly got to her feet and dusted her clothes, turning slightly pink with embarrassment.
" I'm surprised they took to you that easily. Usually Lucky's very shy around new people. Now you just got to get Emmy to come around, because of Ezra a really easy going kid." Jace stated, staring into her eyes. Not wanting to look intimidated, Clary stared right back.
After shaking her head slightly, Clary yawned, " I think I'm going to head in for the night, I had a long day." Jace looked at her alarmed. " But you haven't eaten dinner yet."
" I usually don't usually eat dinner, especially if I ate breakfast," Clary confessed. " That can't be healthy now, can it? That's not going to do, not on my watch." Jace said with a determined look in his eyes and a friendly smile on his lips.
" Goodnight Jace," She emphasized as she descended the steps and into her room.
Jace POV
With Clary's back to him, Jace stole this moment to think about his choice of a nanny. She seemed like a really sweet person. She was a little on the young side, but Jace was banking on the fact that she'd be able to better connect with Emmy than the older women that had applied for the job.
She really was a peculiar candidate. Unlike his past nannies, she didn't try to bargain for higher pay, or even her days off. She dressed modestly and effectively so far, and she didn't seem to care about money. What really stood out to Jace was how she interacted with Laurel and Lucky. His heart swelled when she saw that instead of just being nice to them for a show like others had done in the past, she had gotten down to their level to learn more about them. For reasons unknown to Jace, Lu liked to play with other peoples hair, which included occasionally tugging it. But Clary seemed unbothered by it.
Jace entered the dining room and took a seat at the head of the table. They continued eating in silence usual until he broke the silence with a not so normal question.
" So, what do you guys think of her so far? I know you've only just met her, but first impressions are important." Jace couldn't fathom a good excuse as to why, but he was overcome with the urge for them to like her. He genuinly wanted the kids to like Clary, and the thought baffled him.
Ezra spoke first, " She actually seems pretty cool. I think I can work with this." He said this with a troublemaker smile that painfully reminded Jace of his brothers, Ezra's dad, all too much. In the meantime, Laurel and Lu nodded in agreement.
" Emmy? What about you?" Jace questioned quietly. Emmy continued to stare at her food, not saying a word in defiance. He sighed. Jace knew how much she detested having a nanny, especially becuase she thought she was old enough to look after the four of them without " some stranger imposing on their lives," as she put it the first time he put an advertisement for a nanny.T he truth was, Jace knew how hard it was to grow up without someone to look after you. His parents were always working, which meant leaving Jace and Will up to their own devices when it came to almost everything, including food. And Jace didn't want that for his neices and nephews. No matter how much it made Emmy hate him, Jace would not put her through what him and her father had to got through x4 becuase of her siblings. Even if it meant paying someone to look after them. They needed a mother figure. A nanny may not be a mom, But Clary would definetly have that " women's touch" that Jace definetly did not have.
" I can't really tell you what I think of her when she barely said anything. She seems kind of stupid if you ask me though." Emmy said rather rudely.
" Emmeline I won't tolerate that kind of language under my roof, especially about the women who's going to be feeding you!" Jace said sternly.
She let out an antagonized noise before dumping her plate in the dishwasher and stomping to her bedroom and slamming the door. Jace let out another sigh and ran a hand through his thick hair.
Ezra, oblivious to the tension, merrily continued conversation. " So, Clary's a looker, am I right uncle?" He said, while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at Jace.
" No. I already told you Ezra, that's not how it works. Clary works for me. This is going to strictly a bussiness relationship, just like the last one." Jace huffed as he finished his dinner.
But his nephew just shook his head with a smile on his face and murmmered, " That's what they all say in the begining."
Once they all finished eating, Jace helped Lu get ready for bed before tucking her into bed, reading a story for her, and saying goodnight to the others. Right before he could head upstairs to his room, he chanced a look into Clary's room, who's door was slightly open. Clary was already fast asleep, and tangled in the duvet with her flaming red hair sprawled across the pillow. A forgotten sketchbook and pencil must have tumbled of her bed when she was moving around and now lay on the ground by the carpet. Smiling slightly and shaking his head at the girl he barely knew but wanted to, he headed to his room to get ready for the busy day ahead.
