Clary flipped through her sketchpad, looking for a free page to use. The afternoon sun was beating on the back of her neck, her red hair tied back ever since training, and the worn cement bench she was sitting on was warm underneath her dark blue jeans. Her emerald green eyes dimmed hopelessly as she realized that her sketchbook was completely full, mostly of runes that she had created. Gathering her art supplies into her brown shoulder bag, she looked up at the clear blue sky, her vision of New York's smog suddenly obscured by a black tee-shirt. Before she could react, a pair of soft, salty lips brushed her chapped ones, gloved fingertips feathering across her pale cheek. The wearer of the shirt was none other than her long-time boyfriend, Jace; his lean, god-like frame glistening with a sheen of sweat. Eying him as an artist, she admired the fine strands of gold silk that fell into his equally golden eyes, the fire of a hard work out burning deep within his irises.

"Working on any new runes?" He asked mildly, sitting next to her with his arms behind his head as he looked at the trees hovering just in his line of sight.

Clary shook her head, looking at the relaxed set of his muscles, peeking out from beneath his nearly skin-tight shirt, "No paper."

He was quiet for a moment, taking her in, "Clary-"

"Yo," A human-looking teenage boy of about sixteen, acid-green ear buds pounding with a heavy metal song under a mop of heavy black hair, rolled up to them, resting his skateboard against the side of the bench, "Magnus Bane?"

"We're friends of his," Clary stood up and greeted the boy, noticing that the black sash he was wearing over a monochromatic striped hoodie was actually a sling.

A shrill giggle came from his back, and the boy handed Clary a thick letter addressed to Magnus, acting as if he hadn't heard the sound, but Clary that the maybe he really hadn't, considering the volume of his headphones, "This is important."

She nodded in understanding as she took the unmarked white rectangle, sliding the letter into her bag, "Why didn't you give it to him yourself?"

The boy shrugged, taking a squirming baby from his back and handing it to Jace, "Bane and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye. Be sure to give those to him."

Those? Clary and Jace looked at each other, baffled as to why they had been left in charge of this baby and delivering a message to the warlock. Who was that kid? Why did he have a baby for Magnus? Why was there a baby in the first place? Where did it come from? Who was the mother? Where was the mother? What the hell was going on? Magnus has been dating Alec for the past few years now, so how in the Angel's good graces could Magnus have a baby that was only a year old? Unless... No, Magnus wouldn't do that to Alec, becuase they loved each other! Although, Alec has been really busy lately, so maybe... No! Whatever was going on, it wasn't because Magnus was cheating on Alec, that just couldn't be it... Could it? Thinking the same thing, Jace lead Clary to Magnus' apartment, handing her the baby after a spit bubble popped on his bare arm.

Before they entered the apartment, Clary asked Jace, "Should we ask him about-"

"No. Whatever the deal is, its between him and Alec," Jace refused to think of what this would mean for his friend and brother.

Clary wasn't so sure, but she decided to listen to Jace just this once, "If you say so."

X x X Fast Forward X x X Enter At Your Own Risk X x X Fast Forward X x X

Once the baby had been delivered to the warlock, the two Shadowhunters returned to the Institute, not without a dread-filled feeling of apprehension. It wasn't that they were only thinking of Magnus' connection to the infant, but that they weren't sure that he could take care of a baby at all. Sure, Magnus could just snap his fingers and get anything that he needed, but was he really qualified to take care of a child? Well, no one really was, but Magnus? Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, taking care of a child? That sounded more like something you'd see in a dream or laugh about in passing, not something that was truly possible.

Knowing Clary well enough to know what she was thinking, Jace sighed, baring her way to the elevator, "You're never going to forgive me if we don't go back, won't you?"

"Never," She shook her vibrant red head, already halfway to the front door.

And so they went back to Magnus' apartment, unaware of what they were about to find...

A/N:

Mwahaha! No answer yet, my readers! You'll have to wait until the next chapter for that... And thank you all so very much for the favs/alerts! Oh, and becuase I don't mind either Simon/Isabelle or Simon/Maia, I'm going to the readers for their opinion on which pairing they'd like to see. Please, visit my poll and cast your vote! And I'm sorry that this one is the shortest chapter yet! I promise, the next one will be longer!