Previously:
I could have continued it forever but unfortunately we didn't live alone in the house – I heard Valerie calling for us behind the door. I quickly pulled away and stepped back a step just before she opened the door and looked at us. I smoothed down my shirt a bit when she wasn't looking at me.
"Come on dad! We're hungry!" She said before looking at us one more time and skipping away and down the stairs.
Jace let out a long breath and looked at me smirking. "How on earth did you hear her?" He asked amused.
"Actually, I don't even know – but I'm glad I did." I laughed. It was a little too close for my taste.
"Yeah. Now, come on let's get us some food." He said and gestured me to go first. I walked out of the room, Jace behind me. He closed the door and we went downstairs to find the girls.
This time they didn't catch us. But that's only a matter of time. What will happen when they all or just one of them catches their daddy and nanny kissing? I thought to myself and couldn't decide if I liked the idea of them knowing about our thing or if I was terrified.
Clary POV
"Jennifer, you need to get up, please. We're already late." I said to sleeping Jennifer as a pushed her door open. The morning wasn't an exception from all the other mornings – I tried to get the girls up, dressed and fed while making sure they had everything they needed with them. This time it was Jennifer who was so tired that it took ten minutes until she was at least sitting on her bed. Her school uniform was on the back of the chair, and I quickly brushed her blond hair and put it on ponytail while she dressed.
"Take your backpack, I'll go check if your sisters are ready. There's breakfast in the kitchen waiting." I said to her as I rushed to Valerie's room. She was trying to brush her thick blond hair. I took the brush from her and detangled it before putting it into French braid. She had already packed her backpack and dressed into her uniform.
Their school uniforms made me laugh a little. I couldn't still after 3 weeks we had lived in Miami believe that their school demanded that all the students were dressed in school uniforms. Jace had wanted to put them into a private school, and with that came the uniforms too. The skirt was black and so were the knee-high socks and shoes, the button-up shirt was white and the v-neck sweater was wine red. It reminded me of the uniforms in Harry Potter.
Lex was already in the kitchen, eating her breakfast as I walked in with Valerie. She had her dark brown hair down, brushed carefully and on side tucked behind her ear. I made their lunches as they talked about their new friends – I had met few of them as I picked the girls up after school one day.
"Okay, let's go girls. You don't want to be late, do you?" I said as I took their coats and gave them to them. I looked myself in the mirror and quickly looked away. I looked just like a single mother – hair pulled into a messy bun, face without any make-up and my clothes looked like a three years old had picked them. But I didn't have to step out of car as I dropped them off, so it didn't matter.
I rushed the girls in the car Jace had gotten for me. One day he just asked me to come outside and there it was. A black Audi.
"What?! You bought a car?" I asked terrified.
"No, I didn't buy a car. We have many extra cars in the company. So, no, I didn't spend money at all."
"Oh, okay. That's fine, I guess."
I locked the door behind me and ran to the car, hopping into it and starting it, all in less than ten seconds. I'm becoming a master in this "take kids to school"- sport! I thought to myself as we made our way to the girls' school. I dropped them off, waited for them to get inside the building before carefully driving back home. It would be embarrassing to drive over a small child infront of the school (Note the sarcasm).
I drove back home and decided to clean the house thoroughly – it was unbelievable how quickly three little girls can make a mess. I changed my clothes into my old and worn-out Nike's running shorts and a black simple top, made sure that my tangled hair was still in the bun before dragging the cleaning equipment out of the cleaning closet. I turned on the music on my phone and plugged it into the speakers that were installed all over the house. One of my favourite things in the house was the audio equipment. There were two speakers in every room in the house. One option is to play the same music in all rooms from the downstairs where the main controller is, second one is to choose the rooms you want to play the same music by choosing the rooms in the main controller, and the last one is to control the music in one specific room upstairs, we all have our own controllers in our rooms. So, like I said, I loved that feature in the house.
I was singing along P!nk's So what- song when the doorbell rang. I lifted my brows – I had no idea who that might be. I turned down the music a bit and took off my rubber gloves as I made my way to the door. I opened the door and behind it was a beautiful brown-haired woman who was studying me with her pale blue eyes. She was much taller than me, half a head taller. She was dressed in tight navy blue dress, black heels on her feet. All in all she was very beautiful and reminded me of someone. But I didn't remember right at that moment who was the woman she reminded me of.
"Hello. How can I help you?" I asked politely, trying not to hide myself behind the open door – my clothing looked like it was picked up from a rubbish bin.
"I'm looking for Jace Herondale. This is the Herondale's house, right?" She asked, her tone somewhat arrogant.
"Yes, this is Herondale's house. He's not home right now, but I'll let him know that you were looking for him when he comes home. Who were you again?" I asked trying to make my tone stay calm. I didn't like the woman at all. She gave me bad vibes.
"My name's Melissa Garcia. I'm here to meet my daughters." Her words felt like the wooden floor had cracked under me and I was falling through the ground towards the core.
"I'm sorry, they're not home. I just took them to school couple hours ago. But I'll let Jace know you came to visit when he come's home, alright?" I tried really hard to keep the shaking out of my voice.
"Okay, I'll come back soon." She turned to leave but turned around quickly to face me again and looked me from my head to toes. " I have to ask, are you their new housekeeper? When does your workday end?" she asked with the bitchest tone I've ever heard.
"I'm sorry, miss Garcia, but I live here with Jace and his daughters. And I'm afraid Jace doesn't want you to come near his daughters." I said.
"Oh, I see Jace has lowered his standards after I left. Well, I'll come back later with my lawyer. I think he can make some arrangements so Jace will never see the girls again." She said and went to her black shining Porsche.I watched as she drove away before closing the massive wooden door and leaning against it.
Valerie, Alexandra and Jennifer's mother had just shown up on our door, wanting to see her daughters who she left almost year ago without explaining anything to them and threatened that Jace would never see his daughters again. I could only imagine how angry Jace would be – just when the girls stopped asking daily where their mother was, she shows up out of nowhere and wants to meet them. I knew Jace had loved her very much and I also knew Melissa would have always a spot in his heart, wanted he that or not. She was after all his daughters' mother. So I could only imagine how pissed he would be after he heard all of this.
Gathering my thoughts together, I picked up my phone and called him.
"Hello? Clary, is everything okay?" He asked after picking up.
"Yeah, I guess everything's fine. I just... Umm. I just called to let you know that... Umm." I didn't know how to say it.
"Clary, you're worrying me. What's wrong?" He asked again. "Do you need me to come home? Yes, I'm coming home. I've done my work for the day anyway. I'll be there in 15 minutes, alright?"
I sighed. "Yes, alright. I'll see you soon." I said before ending the call. I sighed again and went to sit on the couch, trying to get myself together. I was still sitting there 15 minutes later when I heard Jace opening the door. Couple seconds later he walked into the living room and sat next to me, taking my hands into his.
"Clary? What's wrong? You're scaring me, you really are. Please tell me what has happened. Are you alright?" He asked quietly.
Finally I looked into his eyes and said: " Melissa Garcia was here just 20 minutes ago." I watched as he realised what I had said.
"What?! Melissa was here?!" He asked, his voice raising. I nodded and told him what had happened, not leaving anything out.
"She said what? That she would forbid me from seeing my daughters ever again?! Has she lost her mind?" Now he was yelling, standing up and loosening his tie like it was choking him. He raked his hand through his hair, leaving it messy.
"Jace, please calm down. Yelling is not helping anyone." I said still sitting on the couch. I gently touched his hand, sliding my fingers down his arm to entwine our fingers together. He glanced at our hands and stopped pacing back and forth. I pulled him down next to me and kept my eyes on his.
"Clary I.. I can't loose them. I just.. I just can't." He looked like a man who had just lost everything. Though he hadn't yet.
"I know. And you won't. We'll get you the best lawyer in this country, and they will make sure that you get the girls' full custody, okay?" I said, grabbing his chin gently and turning it towards me so he had to look at me. "Do you understand?" I asked and he nodded.
I pulled my hand from his face and planned to get up, but before I could move Jace had lifted me up onto his lap and hugged me like his life depended on me. And I hugged him as tightly.
"Thank you Clary. For keeping me sane." He whispered into my neck.
"My pleasure." I tried to joke and Jace did laugh a little. We stayed like that for a while, before Jace decided to search the best lawyer in the country and I had to go to get the girls from school.
The next two weeks Jace and his lawyer, Ryan Walker, spent more time in Jace's office at our house than out of it. I took care of the girls, who I cared a lot of. When Melissa didn't come back anytime soon, Jace dared to loosen up a bit.
Isabelle had arrived in to Miami as well. Her apartment was gorgeous. I took the girls with me one Friday to look at her new home. It was a quite small apartment, but Izzy didn't need that big home. There was a bedroom with ensuite bath and a walk in closet – of course. The kitchen was a really modern one, with all the stainnless metal cabins and fridge. The walls were very dark grey everywhere, but it was just like Isabelle's style. The floors were dark wood except for the kitchen floor. It was dark grey tile. The windows in the apartment were huge - the kitchen/living room area had a glass wall, viewing over Miami's heart.
The girls were playing with Izzy's iPad in her bedroom as we were talking in the livingroom.
"Melissa really showed up at your house? You got to be kidding me." She said, her eyes wide open. I shook my head and explained what had happened.
"Oh my god. Is Jace alright? Do the girls know?"
"He okay, I guess. He has been working with the lawyer for the past two weeks. And no. He hasn't told them yet. What could he say?" I said. Isabelle nodded.
"Do you think you could come over tomorrow night? We could watch some movies, order some pizzaa, maybe go to some clubs. Have a girls' night!" Izzy asked.
"I'll ask if Jace needs me at home. If he's okay with me coming, then it's a date!" I laughed. It would be great to get out with someone.
Apparently Jace was alright with me going to Izzy's place. He said he could drive me there, but I said it would be easier if I had a car just in case. He couldn't disagree with that. I said my good byes to the girls and Jace, and drove to Isabelle's apartment. She was already waiting at the door when I got out of the car and locked the doors. We took the elevator to the 15th floor and got into her apartment. The view will probably never stop amazing me. It was something over nine p.m – it was getting dark and the street lights lighted up the dark streets, it was captivating.
"So, what do you want to do? Order in some pizza? Watch a movie? Go to a club?" Isabelle said as I put my bag down.
"Going to a club sounds very good to me. I mean look at me. I look like a single mother of twentyseven children. I need your help." Izzy and I had met just few months ago and I knew it was probably a huge mistake to ask her help but I was really desperate. I did want to look good, not like a single-mother who hasn't sleep well in ages. I mean I love my job, but I also love to stay up and sleep late. And the girls don't, so yeah. That's why I looked like a homeless person.
"Oh Clarissa, you've come to right person." She said at tapped her fingers together, creepy look on her face. Like I said, probably a huge mistake. Isabelle skipped to her kitchen, opened the fridge and took out a bottle of champagne. Who has champagne in their fridge just like that? She skipped back to me, handing me the other glass she was holding.
"Now, drink a glass, or two, while I pick out some clothes to you. That'll make it easier for you." Izzy said as she dragged me into her bedroom, sat me down on her bed and vanished into her closet, leaving the door open so I could see her. I didn't understand why she had said 'that'll make it easier for you'. Make what easier?
One and half glass later she came back to the bedroom with a pile of clothes in her arms.
"Now, I want you to try these on. Take off your clothes, I need to see if I have to give you underwear also." She commanded, taking the champagne glass from me and psuhing the pile to me. She drank the other half of the glass and filled it before sitting down on the bed.
I took off my clothes and she rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. She handed me strapless black lacey bra and matching panties. I went through the pile of clothes. There was a lot of black, silver and green fabric. The first one was some kind of dress, I guess. It was silver, strapless and short. I sighed as I pulled it over my head, pulling the hem down. It reached my mid thigh. I couldn't wear anything like that. I obviously didn't have a body for that kind of dresses. Isabelle's eyes shone with excitement – I was obviously her Barbie-doll.
"Iz, darling, this is sho-" She cut me off by a single movement of her hand.
"Amazing, wonderfull, sexy and perfect. But I need you to try on all of them. Now, change." She said, leaning back and sipping her drink. I sighed my wiggled out of the "dress". Next piece of clothing was leather shorts.
"Izzy what the hell? Leather shorts? Who wears these anyways?!" I asked, my mouth hanging.
"You might, tonight. And Clarissa-dear, they are very much in fashion right now, so shut up and put on the green top with it."
I did as I was told and I had no words for myself. I looked like a real whore. A cheap one. "No, Isabelle. No. I'm not wearing this. For real. The silver dress was a million time better. Ugh, I'm taking this off, now."
"Yap, it wasn't for you, unfortunately. I thought you'd look good in that. But you need something more classy." She smiled at me pointing out the next outfit. It was a black peplum dress, as short as the first dress, but I liked it already. I pulled it carefully over my head and pulled the hem down. It had cuts on the sides, but it didn't show my skin too much. It made my hips look slightly bigger, which wasn't a bad thing.
"Oh! I think we have a winner right here!" Isabelle clapped her hands and stood up.
"Now, drink this and I'll do your hair and make-up." I downed the glass and sat down. "Well, someone's thirsty." Isabelle laughed as she brushed my hair.
Few hours later we were giggling on her couch, all dressed up and ready to leave. I had the peplum dress and ridiculously high high-heels, my hair just brushed and left down. Isabelle had done amazing job doing my make-up; it was dark but didn't look like I had smudged my face without any skills. I loved it.
Isabelle had chosen leather pants and cropped black top. Simple but beautiful. I could swear – anything Isabelle would choose to wear would look ridiculously good on her. Her raven hair was straightened and flowing down on her back. I was much shorter than her, despite my high-heels; she was also wearing heels.
"I think we should go." I said after we had calmed down. "I'll just grab my purse and then we can go, okay?"
"Yep." Was her answer. "I have to pee, though." She said, standing up and wobbling to the bathroom. Great, I hoped she could walk five blocks to the club by herself – I wasn't walking too straight myself either.
Five minutes later we were walking down the cold streets, arms linked. She told me about her new job. She had gotten a job from some teen-agers' fashion magazine. I told her about Jace, how he was worried that Melissa would come and take the girls. I also told how he had demanded that he could take me out.
"Like a date?!" Izzy stopped on her tracks, pulling me to stop too.
"Yeah, I guess. Why?" I asked confused.
"Yes, finally!" She smiled widely.
"Umm. Okay?"
"Yes, now, let's go. It's getting a little cold here." Isabelle said and pulled me with her. 20 minutes later we were inside the club, trying to make our way through the mass of dancing people. Finally we reached the bar and ordered some drinks. At some point we were dancing like there was no tomorrow, and for once, I wasn't worried how Jace and the girls were doing – it was my night off. Isabelle dragged me to the ladie's room wiht her, to wait her to pee. I was checking my make-up when I heard my phone ringing in my purse. I took it out and looked at the caller's ID.
Jace
"Hello there, Jace. How's your night going?" I asked, giggling a little at Isabelle who had troubles with opening the door's lock.
"It's.. It's Melissa. She came here just few minutes ago and- and- and she.. She took-" I had hard time hearing his voice. It was like he was crying.
"Jace? Jace, what's happening?" I asked, looking at the clock on the wall. 11.40 pm. "Jace it's over half past eleven. Why are you still awake?"
"Clary, Melissa took the girls." He managed to get out. What?!
"What? Are you serious? What happened?!" If I were drunk earlier, it was all gone. At least it felt like I was sober.
"Could you come home? I know it's your night off, but I- I need you." He said, sobbing slightly.
"Yeah, I'll be there in twenty minutes." I said, ending the call.
"What's going on?" Asked Isabelle. Few minutes ago she was having problems with the lock but now it was all gone, concern colouring her face.
"Melissa came to our house and took the girls with her. Jace is a mess, I need to go home. I'm sorry Iz."
"What?! That slut came back and took my nieces?! Yeah, let's go get a cab."
Half an hour later a got out of the cab, saying good night to Isabelle who continued her way to her apartment. She said she'd pay the cab, so I ran inside, unlocking the door and yelling for Jace as I closed it behind me.
"I'm here." I heard him saying quietly from the living room. I ran, the heels clacking against the floor. Jace was sitting on the couch, leaning against his knees, head in his hands.
"Oh Jace, I'm so sorry. I said as I sat down next to him. He just shook his head and whispered:
"I couldn't do anything. She was standing there with her lawyer, saying how she had every right to meet her daughters. And then the lawyer just listed some laws I had never heard of and I just stood there, frozen. I had to watch as my girls got into the car and they drove away. Clary, I-I don't know-w what to do." He lifted his head and looked me in the eyes, his golden ones red from all the tears that were still running down his cheeks.
"Oh Jace, come here." I said and opened my arms. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed his head against my chest, breaking into heart-breaking sobbs. I stroked his back, buring my face into his curly hair. It smelled like sun-shine and honey. We stayed like that for a long time before his sobbs eventually stopped. I thought he fell asleep, since he didn't make a sound or moved a bit. I was just trying to move carefully, to see if he was asleep when he lifted his head up, looking at me with his sad eyes.
"Jace, I know I said this earlier but I'm really sor-" I was cut off by Jace. He crushed his lips against mine, wrapping his other arm around my body to pull me closer to him, the other hand into my hair, pulling it slightly. I whimpered against his mouth. God how I had dreamed about making out with him, but now it just felt wrong.
"Jace, I don't think this is right. You're just sad and what we're doin-" I tried to say to him, but he put a finger over my lips.
"No, Clary. I want you. I need you. Right now, right here." He said desperately. I couldn't say no to him, so I just nodded. He wasn't obviously waiting me to say yes to him, his eyes widening, mouth hanging slightly. But he recovered pretty fast and suddenly his hands were everywhere. On my legs, in my hair, on my stomach. His lips hungrily on mine. I pulled off his shirt, unbuckling his belt. He took of my dress, kissing every inch of my body.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, his eyes still the most heart-breaking things ever. I nodded, stroking his cheeks before pulling him down on me and kissing him.
The next morning I woke up in Jace's arms, immediately remembering where and with who I was. I turned around to look if he was awake already. His eyes were closed and breathing steady and calm.
After we had done it on the couch, Jace had carried me upstairs and into his bed, ready for round two. After that he had hard time falling asleep – I had wrapped my arms around him, gathering him to almost lay on top of me, trying to sooth him. He was crying again, hugging me to his body like I was the only thing that prevented him from losing it. It took a while before his sobbs quieted down and he fell asleep in my arms.
And there he was. Right next to me, looking so young in his sleep. I looked at the clock on the table – 10.54 am. I touched lightly his cheek with my fingers, tracing down to his chin and back up to his eye brows. He smiled in his dream before opening his eyes slowly, his eyes focusing on me.
"Good morning." I whispered. He took my hand and put it onto his lips, kissing it lightly.
"Morning." he smiled. But the smile was quickly gone and the same saddness was in his eyes again. "The girls. They're gone."
"We'll get them back. It's not like she kidnapped them, we'll know where they are as soon as you call her. I promise everything's going to be okay. You hear me? Everything is going to be okay." I said as I propped myself against my elbow, touching Jace's lips with the other hand.
"Yeah." he breathed, closing his eyes.
"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" I asked quietly. He opened his eyes and stroked my bare back. I had forgotten we were naked under the duvet. I tried not to blush.
"Just lay there. Don't leave me now." He whispered.
"I'm right here." I said and snuggled against his chest. Jace wrapped his arms around me tightly, drawing little circles on my back with his finger. It was nice, wonderfull even, but the worry for the girls was there. I didn't want to ruin our moment, but I knew Jace's daughters needes their dad. So that's why I forced Jace up and threw some clothes at him before pulling one of his t-shirts over my head. We had many calls to make.
So, yes. I'm here again. I'm sorry you had to wait this long. I wrote this chapter for like 2 months, again.. I haven't over read it, so there might be mistakes. I hope they're not that big! But now, I'm tired af, and I need to go to sleep! Good night my loves, I hope you liked this chapter! I'll try to update as soon as I can (which will probably take a while...)!
thank you for reading, and, I love you! Good night.
/jbm33