Hey! First of all, shout outs to the following: luvmusic87, booklover1598, Neko-chan2604, Lockwheres theKey, CaptainSwan93, StarLights145, MoonDust198, SnowQueen135, PhoenixFeathers246, Mrs. Eaton138, Mrs. Clace159, IridescentLight and all the guests. An extra special shout out goes to Serenity Shadowstar for giving me an awesome idea for the story. Thank you! Here is chapter 3.

I stared at the screen as it went back to the horror movie. An aching sense of loss rushed through me, making me numb. That couldn't be right. They couldn't be gone. I felt tears in my eyes, threatening to fall. I held them back. I breathed in and out. I looked over at Jace, whose face was deathly clam and void of any emotion. Only someone who knew him well could see the tension in his muscles, the tears that he was fighting to hold back.

"We need to call our parents," was all he said.

Three Weeks later

Three weeks passed. Carrie and Joshua's bodies weren't found. The search was abandoned. The team claimed that it was more likely that their bodies were eaten by sharks or they would have floated up by then. They said that it wasn't likely that they were alive. Today was their funeral. I sat down on my bed, clutching a picture frame and staring at the window. The frame contained the first picture that Carrie and Joshua took in front of the house with Ariya, Josh and Cedric. Occasionally, I'd run my fingers on the picture. It was the only memory that I had left of them.

"Clary?" It was Jace, "Are you coming?" I shook my head and looked at him with my teary eyes.

"No, Jace. They're not dead," I said. Even after three weeks I refused to accept the fact that they were gone. When my adopted mother told me the funeral date and location, I'd shouted at her angrily. How dare she accept her daughter's death so quickly? Although Carrie and I had only become close after three years, I felt like she and I had been two halves in a whole. The whole thing ended with me breaking down and crying. I had stopped crying two weeks ago, and simply tried to move on normally. I put on a brave face and went to work. After work, I'd come home and take care of the kids. When Jace and I were out, Simon and Isabelle took care of the kids. I couldn't bear to tell them what happened to their parents, not yet. I felt Jace's arms go around me. He kissed my shoulder. Jace had taken his brother's death a bit better than I did. He didn't cry, but instead chose to grieve silently. He was the one who held me in his arms when I cried after having another nightmare. He was the one who helped me be strong in the morning, for the sake of protecting the children.

"I'll be back later with some pizza," he said, before he left, knowing that I wanted to be alone.

I put Cedric to sleep for his afternoon nap after giving him his baby formula. Ariya and Josh sat in front of the television, watching cartoons. I put in CD's for them to watch instead of television channels for fear that they might see news of their parents. I know that it was probably not a good idea to keep such a thing a secret to them, but I was worried about how they would take it. They were too young to understand it. Jace came inside and saw me looking at the children.

"When do you think we should tell them?" Jace asked.

"I don't know, Jace," I said, "I don't know," I whispered to myself.

When it was around lunchtime the next day, someone rang the doorbell outside.

"I'll get it," I said. I rushed out of the kitchen, after turning of the stove. Jace was busy with Cedric and the kids, keeping them occupied till lunch was ready. I opened the door. Outside stood a man and a woman that I didn't recognize.

"Hello, are you Carrlianne Herondale's sister, Clarissa?" the man inquired. His black oily hair was slicked back and he peered at me through his round glasses. On his left hand, he held a briefcase. The woman was tall and her body had an hourglass shape. She wore red horn rimmed glasses and a white dress that made her look like a nurse.

"Yes, that's me. Is there something wrong?" I said, softly.

"Well, I am Mr. Nightshade, their lawyer. And this is Ms. Kinder, a social worker. May we come in? We have something extremely important that we need to discuss," the man said. I opened the door wider.

"Of course," I said. Jace looked up as we entered the living room. He looked at the pair.

"Is something wrong?" he said, standing up. Mr. Nightshade looked at Jace.

"Mr. Herondale, we have something very important to discuss with you and Ms. Fray. Is it possible that you could take the children upstairs?" he said. He nodded.

"Sure," he said.

Cedric had fallen asleep yet again so we didn't have any problem putting him upstairs. We left Josh and Ariya in their play room. When we got back downstairs, the pair was waiting for us in the living room. We sat down in front of them.

"My client has left this letter for you," Mr. Nightshade said and gave me a brown envelope. I took it and was about to open it when I realized that there was another paper with it.

"That paper is your siblings' wills. In these wills, they stated named you and Jace as their children's joint guardians, and also the owners of this house," Mr. Nightshade said. Jace and I looked at each other.

"Us?" we said at the same time. Mr. Nightshade nodded.

"Yes. Since you both have jobs as lawyers and have an extremely stable relationship, we don't see why not," he said. Ms. Kinder smiled.

"Yes, but there's also one thing we need to discuss," Ms. Kinder said.

"What's that?" Jace asked.

"Considering the children's youth, I think that it would be extremely advisable that both of you should be married," she said.

There you go! So, what did you think? Was this chapter bad, good or horrible?