Em woke to find Tessa asleep in the chair next to her bed. She sat up carefully and climbed out, taking care not to rouse her, before walking across the room and peering out of the window. The sun had recently set, leaving rays of rapidly-dimming orange light streaming across the street below. Tessa must have portaled into the neighbourhood sometime during the day and let herself into Em's hotel room without waking her.
She watched Tessa for a moment, tucked into the chair, legs curled up under her. Her head was resting on her arm, dark hair spilling forward to obscure her face. When Em had originally been sent to stay with Tessa she had seemed much older. Younger than Em's mother had been but definitely old enough to be an Aunt to a twelve-year-old. She'd visited Em and Magnus regularly since Em had left home and recently they'd been mistaken for sisters on their nights out. But with Tessa's delicate features, petite frame and smooth skin Em could see that she would soon out-age her relative.
Em's grandmother had been a lost Shadowhunter, one who lived as a mundane and had no knowledge of the Shadow World. When Tessa discovered that she had an extra branch to her family tree she'd tracked her down and explained her heritage. She'd kept in regular contact through the years, visiting Em's mother and then Em herself. After the accident, Tessa had been the only family she had left.
She grabbed the throw off the bed and placed it over Tessa before heading to the adjoining bathroom to run herself a bubble bath. When she emerged, perfectly clean and wearing a pair of her own pale purple satin pyjamas Tessa was waiting for her.
"Emmeline," She rose and embraced her in a warm hug, "Oh my poor sweet girl, how are you? How are you feeling?".
"It's ok Tess," Em smiled as her guardian stepped back and gave her a once-over. "I'm ok".
"You are most certainly not ok", she chided. "We have no idea what's going on. You could be in danger!" Her voice quivered delicately at the thought. "We need to get to the bottom of this, quickly". She retrieved a small leather travel bag from the foot of the bed and fished out her phone. Em watched her curiously, Tessa's use of modern technology was a recent thing. Being a warlock and over one hundred and fifty years old, she took a little while to adjust to new customs.
"I called Catarina Loss," She said, scrolling through her messages, "I hope you don't mind". Em's stomach dropped. Catarina was one of Magnus's oldest friends, she was sure to tell him about her... condition. Tessa pocketed her phone and scanned Em's expression. "It's OK, She's arriving in an hour and I didn't mention anything about you. I know Catarina, once she arrives she'll want to help you and she's very strict when it comes to Doctor-Patient confidentiality. She'd never tell Magnus anything without your express permission. I promise Em, we can trust her".
"Good", Em nodded, watching Tessa replace her bag "Because I don't want Magnus to find out".
"I know," Tessa agreed, "we need to work out what's going on first".
Em shook her head. "No", she said, "I don't want Magnus to find out at all". Tessa's head snapped up.
"Em," she began, moving towards the younger girl "I know he hurt you, but he was under the influence of faerie magic, you really can't hold him accountable for that."
Em nodded in agreement. "I'm not mad at him for kissing someone else," she explained "I'm trying to stop us both from being miserable. I don't think I'm what he wants anymore."
Tessa's eyebrows shot up in surprise, she lowered herself down on to the edge of the bed. "But you love each other, you're happy. What on earth makes you think he wants anything else?".
Em'd had a long time to think about this when she'd arrived at the hotel this morning. Yes, she had overreacted. Coming home to find your boyfriend making out with someone else would do that to a person. But once she'd seen Jace's face she'd realised that they'd been spelled. Magnus wasn't really responsible for his actions last night, however hurtful, but that didn't stop Em from worrying about the motivations behind them.
That particular faerie potion was designed to make the drinker carry out one of their deepest desires and kissing Jace was something the old Magnus would have done. She knew that before he'd met her, Magnus had lived a different life, one of freedom, exploration and adventure. Spending the last few years in Brooklyn had been wonderful for Em but she'd always worried that their life together was stopping him from living as he had before, without ties and responsibilities. She didn't know if he'd grown bored of her or just of their life together but either way having a baby, even a magical one, would make everything harder.
Em knew on almost every level, that they hadn't had the chance to talk about any of this. The fae potion had pushed the issue into light before Magnus had felt comfortable bringing it up with her. But she also knew that they couldn't talk about it now, not all of it anyway. Magnus was kind and loyal and caring, and If he found out that she was pregnant she knew that he would never leave her, despite what he wanted. And Em loved him, but she didn't want Magnus to stay with her out of obligation. No, In the end, however, much it would hurt to lose him, she just couldn't bring herself to condemn either of them to a life where they would be miserable.
Em explained the situation to Tessa, who listened before shaking her head sadly.
"I can't argue with your reasoning, you know Magnus much more intimately than I do," She said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "But even if he forgets you, goes on to live this exciting life free of responsibility. What happens to you?"
Em sat down next to her. "I just... live."
"That doesn't sound like much of a life."
"I love him, Tess. I can't be a burden or a regret, even for a second. I want him to be happy and live the life he wants, even if it's without me."
"Then you've made up your mind?" Tessa reached over and placed a hand on her arm. Em nodded. "OK. If we're going to keep this a secret you'll need to go away for a while, to somewhere Magnus can't track you. Jem and I have been restoring the Herondale residence outside of Idris, there's no TV of course but the wards make it untraceable and Catarina could still visit you there".
"If she agrees to help me" Em replied.
A sharp knock came from the door.
"Well," Tessa hopped off the bed to answer it. "Let's find out shall we?"
She opened the door to admit Catarina. Her pale green scrubs clashed spectacularly with her blue skin and her white hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, held in place by what looked like a tongue depressor. It must have been a busy shift at the hospital, she looked exhausted.
"Tessa," she reached down to hug her. "How have you been?"
"Well, thank you" Tessa replied politely, "And yourself?".
"Oh you know," Catarina walked into the room "same as usual, the hospital's practically overflowing with mundanes, I barely get time to -" She noticed Em sat on the bed and her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh. Hi Em, sorry, I didn't know you'd be joining us. Is Magnus here as well?" she looked around the room as if hoping to spot him.
Tessa glanced at Em. "Not exactly. Catarina, I think you'd better sit down."
. . .
Catarina sat silently as Em explained everything, with a little help here and there from Tessa. When they finished she took a deep breath and slumped back in her chair.
"I don't want to sound indelicate", she looked at Em, who was sat on the edge of the bed next to Tessa, facing her. "But are you sure the baby's father is Magnus?"
Tessa looked shocked. "Of course it is Catarina", she scolded her friend, "Em would never cheat on Magnus". She glanced sideways at Em, "Right?"
Catarina's cheeks flushed a darker shade of blue. "That's not what I'm saying Tess", she shook her head. "There are other ways this could have happened, look at me and you for example. Our mothers were tricked by demons who took on the appearance of their husbands, how can we be sure that isn't what happened here?"
"I have all of the normal protection marks," Em explained, she had already considered this and ruled it out. "A demon couldn't trick me in that way. And for the record," she added, "no, I have never cheated on Magnus."
Catarina eyed Tessa and Em carefully. "OK," she sat up a little straighter in the chair "I'm going to need to take some blood from you. I can test it to make sure everything is alright." Em nodded. "Then," she continued "I'm going to need to give you an ultrasound. Usually, you'd see your Doctor every month, but I think it would be wise to have weekly check-ups. If your baby is half warlock and half Shadowhunter we don't really know what to expect." She glanced down at her hands and then looked up at Em. "And just so you know, I won't say anything to anyone else but I'm against keeping this a secret. I think you should tell Magnus."
Em looked back at her hopefully "Does that mean you're going to help me?"
Catarina nodded and rubbed her hand over her eyes.
"I am the worst friend ever".
"Or the best one," Tessa leaned forward and placed a hand on her friend's arm, squeezing it.
Em nodded in agreement, "Thank you."
"There's just one more thing," Tessa paused for a moment. "Can you do an ultrasound in Idris?"
A/N - No Magnus this time, but hopefully lots next chapter!
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