Jem actually hated running errands without Tessa. He worried all the time that something might happen to her, and yet he didn't always get a family member to take care of her during this time. After all, he didn't want to make her feel like she needed a babysitter.
But sometimes she did.
The days when Tessa could remember everything were getting fewer and fewer. More and more often she lost all sense of time and place.
Most of the time, however, he was able to get her to accompany him.
Whenever she broke down in public, Jem kept his angelic patience to calm her down. After all, she couldn't help the fear when everything always looked so different. That was the biggest problem they had with this modern society. So much has changed in the area over the years that just looking out the window could be frightening. All the automobiles and ruins didn't really simplify things either. It was always a great difficulty to get Tessa into a car. She couldn't even use a phone, and her grandchildren's clothes kept giving her half a heart attack.
Now when he got home, he was relieved to see that the apartment was still standing. The hearth was not lit in his absence and Tessa was still in the same spot where he had left her.
She sat on her big rocking chair, which Christopher had made for her birthday, and looked out the window. A crocheted blanket lay on her lap, which she pinched with her fingers. "Will? Will, is that you?" she asked as he entered, without looking up.
"It's me, Tessa. Jem." He put his hat, coat and cane in the hall-stand before he went put the shopped items on the table and walked up to her.
She sighed. "Jem. James. My dear Jem."
"Exactly Tessa. I'm your Jem." He knelt in front of her as best he could and looked up at her.
Tessa looked at him, but it was as if she was looking right through him. "Where is he?" she asked before looking out again. "He is gone."
Moments when she didn't recognize him were particularly difficult.
"Tessa..." his voice cracked. It had occurred to him that he had to say her name as often as possible. Often this helped her to remember who she was. Sometimes the sight of him was enough to bring her back.
"I like the snow, don't I, Will?"
Jem followed her gaze outside and saw the little flakes falling onto the streets of London, cloaking it in a white cloak.
He wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled. "Yes, Tess. You love snow."
She smiled too. "Where have you been, Will?"
She looked peaceful at that moment. No worries in her eyes, the happiness of knowing her husband was still with her. "I'm here my dear," Jem replied. Every moment of peace he wanted her to keep for as long as possible, whether they were dedicated to him or not.
She reached out a hand to him and he took it without hesitation.
"Now we're all finally together again." Confused, he looked at her face, but she was still staring at the falling snow. "The three of us will always belong together."
A sob escaped his throat as he laughed and cried at the same time.
He put his arms around her hips and hugged her while they looked out silently and felt Will's presence with them.
That same night, Theresa Herondale-Grey died.
James Carstairs followed her a few days after, now nothing left, he could live for.
Both were buried next to Will in the Institute garden and every time the family passed by the graves they smiled and thought to themselves, 'At last they are reunited. Now they can finally be together forever."