Author's Note: Thanks to Team Jem for the one wonderful review. It would have been nice to get more reviews, just so you know. It would be great to hear from everyone, or someone, so, you know… feel free. And now for a lighter chapter, that I hope you all enjoy… and please, REVIEW!

Chapter 18: London

At the end of the night, Stephen and Celine bid farewell to everyone before Stephen lifted Celine and carried her over the threshold and into the Fairchild manor. As soon as they were out of everyone's sight, Stephen dropped Celine onto the floor and they walked upstairs. They went to their room and walked in to find it filled with candles. The bed was covered with red rose petals and a bottle of wine was chilling in an ice bucket on the bedside table.

"I need a shower," Stephen said.

"Wait," Celine said. "Help me out of this dress." Stephen looked at the row of buttons straight up the back and tried not to laugh. By the time he got the buttons open, consummating his marriage would be the last thing on his mind. Celine grabbed a zipper on the side of the dress and started pulling it down. Stephen brushed her hand away and pulled the zipper down the rest of the way. The gold dress slipped from Celine's body, leaving her standing before Stephen dressed in a light brown lace corset with panties to match.

Stephen felt his mouth go dry at the sight of all of that lace, exposed skin, and the two runes that matched his. Celine reached up and pulled Stephen's jacket off, then pulled his shirt over his head. Celine fell against Stephen as they began to kiss passionately. Her fingers were on Stephen's belt, and then his pants joined her dress on the floor.

Stephen lifted Celine off the floor, kicked their clothes aside, carried her to the bed, and tossed her down onto it. He climbed over her and kissed her neck, then began to hastily untie the stays of her corset until it parted down the middle. Celine looked up at Stephen, her lips swollen into a delightful pout. She pushed her hands down into his boxer shorts and began to stroke his hardening cock.

"Not yet," Stephen mumbled. "Not…" Celine pushed his boxers down and threw them on the floor. Stephen pulled her panties down with a smirk on his face. Celine spread her knees and raked her fingers across his scalp. Stephen was well aware he was rushing into something, but that didn't matter. His body was reawakening beneath Celine's touch, as if the pain of the last week had never happened.

"I can't wait," Celine moaned. She licked her index finger, and then teased it along the bottom of Stephen's shaft. That little bit of warmth and wetness made Stephen only desire her more.

"Wait," Stephen said. He reached into the bedside table as he kissed her collarbones. Celine ran her hands up his back. Stephen thought he might have found what he was looking for and lifted it out, only to find that he was holding a book.

"I highly doubt the Codex is going to be of any use to us," Celine said with a laugh. Stephen dropped the book back into the drawer and sat up. His heart started to pound harder as he looked at the innocent girl between his knees. No, she wasn't innocent, she just wanted to seem that way.

"Who was in our room?" Stephen asked.

"Jocelyn? Valentine? Maryse? I don't know, whoever set up the candles," Celine said. She teased her fingers across his chest. "Why?"

"The bedside table is empty, save for the Codex," Stephen said.

"So?" Celine asked.

"I had a box of condoms in there and now they're gone!" Stephen exclaimed. He covered his eyes because he couldn't bear to see the shocked expression on Celine's face. She must have planned this, the way she planned everything else. Celine wanted Stephen to throw caution to the wind in the name of their wedding night, it was obvious. First came love, then marriage, and then, as soon as humanly possible, the baby in the baby carriage. "I just… I can't even… I can't do this. I'm taking a shower." Stephen climbed out of bed, walked into the bathroom, and slammed the door closed.

Stephen started the shower and climbed in beneath the hot water. He closed his eyes, willing himself not to cry from frustration. He only thought Celine was on his side, when all along, she wasn't. Of course Celine wanted to get married and pregnant as soon as possible; it was why he was a married man a full 28 days after he had divorced Amatis. Stephen put a bar of soap to his chest and scrubbed but the marriage rune would not wash away, no matter how hard he tried, it was already beneath his skin. Stephen bowed his head beneath the water and put his head in his hands.

The bathroom door creaked up.

"Stephen?" Celine asked.

"Leave me alone," Stephen said.

"I want to talk," Celine said.

"I said leave me the fuck alone!" Stephen cried. "Angel, Celine, can't you leave me be?"

"I'm not the one you should be angry with. I know why you're upset and I know why you don't want to get me pregnant. You give me no credit sometimes and perhaps that's my fault," Celine said. "Come to bed soon. I want us to get an early start tomorrow." The bathroom door closed.

Stephen stayed in the shower until the water ran cold. Then he got out, dried off, and went into the bedroom to find Celine back in bed, reading the Codex. He stomped over to his dresser and put on a pair of flannel pajama pants and a long sleeved shirt. Stephen climbed into bed beside his wife and pulled the covers up to his chest.

"Do not say a word until I am finished," Celine said. "We can do this marriage one of two ways. You can resent me for how we got together, and you can distrust me, and we can be miserable. Or, you can accept the fact that I'm your wife and I love you and we can be happy together. What's it going to be?"

"I want to be happy," Stephen whispered.

"Then you have to trust me," Celine said.

Stephen woke up early the next morning to find Celine packing the last of her things to take on their honeymoon. Everything else they had packed was already in London.

"Good morning," Celine said. She walked over to the bed, leaned down, and kissed Stephen on the lips. "Breakfast is done. We can eat and leave as soon as you're ready."

Stephen climbed out of bed and quickly got dressed. Celine wasn't talking about last night and Stephen certainly wasn't bringing it up. After Stephen had returned to bed, they had fallen asleep together having never consummated their marriage. There was no precedent for that sort of thing. Sex on the wedding night was expected. For it to not happen was unheard of.

The kitchen smelled like bacon and eggs when Stephen and Celine walked in. There was a group of people sitting at the table having breakfast: all mainly Circle members Stephen was unfamiliar with. Robert and Maryse were there as well, with Alec, who was, as usual, sleeping. Michael was there with his wife and their son. Jocelyn had Jonathan, who was fussing and refusing his bottle. When Valentine gave her a look, Jocelyn left the room, not bothering to greet Stephen or Celine.

Stephen watched Jocelyn walk out of the room, wanting to go after her. Stephen realized with a start that Jocelyn had been a bridesmaid in his wedding to Amatis. Seeing Stephen marry Celine must have been difficult on her. He vowed to talk with Jocelyn when he and Celine came back from the honeymoon. It was bad enough that Amatis hated him; Stephen could not bear the burden of another woman's hate.

"Good morning," Valentine said. "You'll have to forgive the crowd. Breakfast turned into a bigger deal than anticipated." Stephen shrugged and went to the stove with Celine to load his plate with food. "So, how was last night?"

"Fine," Stephen said. "There's nothing really to report on…" Stephen sat down at the far end of the kitchen table, thinking that if he was going to lie to Valentine, he could have done a better job. There really was nothing to report on, as nothing happened.

"We're all family here," Valentine said. "Did you consummate?" Stephen nearly choked. The Circle members looked at him, not wanting to know the answer, and yet, burning with a perverse curiosity to see how Stephen would answer such a personal question.

"Not that it is any of your business," Celine said, "but you should know that my husband is a perfect gentleman, and our wedding night was everything I hoped it would be." Stephen resisted jumping up from the table, walking out the door, and never coming back. Celine placed her hand on his thigh and he remembered last night, when she told him to trust her.

"Oh, thank the Angel!" Valentine said, clapping. Robert patted Stephen on the back. It took all of breakfast for Stephen's blush to subside.

After the meal, Stephen took a bright red apple out to a paddock, where Nicias was turned out with several other horses. As usual, Nicias trotted over to Stephen, took the apple from him, and proceeded to eat it before she slobbered chewed up apple all over the sleeve of his coat. Stephen scratched the horse behind her ears as his thoughts turned to London. He and Celine were to be gone for a month, until the middle of December, but Stephen imagined they could stretch the honeymoon out until at least the first of the New Year. He hadn't been back to London for a year. Being home, after everything he had been through, would be wonderful.

"You love her, don't you?" A voice asked. Stephen turned around as Valentine walked over to him. He had a bag of carrots to distribute to the rest of the horses. Nicias took the carrot Valentine offered her and made quick work of it.

"She's a good horse," Stephen said. "Some things change, but I'll always have her."

"Her and Celine," Valentine said with a laugh. "I'm sorry about breakfast. That wasn't any of my business to ask such a personal thing." Stephen shrugged. The incident was long past. "So you and Celine had a bit of scare, yes?"

"What?" Stephen asked.

"Before the wedding. Before your engagement, really," Valentine said. "You thought that you had gotten her pregnant?" Stephen clenched his hands into fists. He pictured the few people who knew about that incident, then narrowed the list down to one person with enough motive to report secrets back to Valentine. Robert Fucking Lightwood.

"I'm not angry, you know," Valentine continued. "If you had gotten her pregnant, I would have been overjoyed, because every baby born is a blessed gift from the Angel. You know that, right?"

"Even the ones that are born too early?" Stephen challenged. "How was Isaiah a gift?"

"He was a gift in his own way," Valentine said. "Had Celine been pregnant, you would have welcomed the baby, wouldn't you?" Stephen refused to respond, because Valentine was right. For however awful and inconvenient the pregnancy scare was, it opened Stephen's eyes to the fact that he had another chance to have a family. "I know you don't want to have a child because you're afraid of losing another one, but you can't let your fear dictate your life. You have a duty, Stephen. A heavenly mandate to..."

"Oh here we go," Stephen said, rolling his eyes. He could remember turning 13 and getting this speech from his father, along with the all important "birds and the bees" speech. He heard it again at the Academy from an instructor and again, the morning of his wedding to Amatis, from his father.

"You must reproduce, Stephen. All Nephilim are called to do this, and more so you, as the last male Herondale of your line. Your children could be powerful. They could go on to do great things," Valentine said. "In twenty years, your son could change the world. It all starts with you." Valentine squeezed Stephen's right arm a little too hard. "Best wishes on a wonderful marriage, and a productive honeymoon."

It was an hour ride to Alicante in a carriage shared with Valentine and Jocelyn. There was a bit of a delay down in the Silent City, as several couples had married the day before and had to register their marriage. Once the Silent Brothers had written Stephen and Celine's names in the registry and checked their runes, Stephen and Celine left the Silent City and walked up to the Gard with Valentine and Jocelyn. There, they said their goodbyes in front of a shimmering Portal.

"Remember what I said," Valentine said with a wink. Stephen nodded and smiled. He took Celine by the hand and pulled her over to the Portal.

"What do I do?" Celine asked. "I've never…" Celine's face was pale, her eyes darting nervously as they reflected the glow of the Portal.

"Think of London," Stephen said. Celine's expression went blank. She had never been to London, she had never even left Idris. "Put your arm around me and don't let go." Stephen stepped forward but Celine balked. "I know it's scary. Close your eyes. Trust me." Celine closed her eyes and put her arm around Stephen's waist.

The second Stephen stepped into the Portal with Celine, he closed his eyes and thought of an old church which never aged, even as buildings sprung up around it. The Portal seemed to rip at Stephen's body, tossing him this way and that. Celine clutched against him, screaming and crying. He held her tighter. A moment later, Stephen's feet hit solid ground.

Stephen opened his eyes to find himself standing on a sidewalk with Celine pressing her face against his chest. People were running every which way. They weren't wearing black and they had no runes; instead, they wore wool coats and carried umbrellas. They walked around Stephen and Celine as if they weren't there. Vehicles of all sizes sped up and down the street. This was a different sort of chaos from the Portal, it was filled with people talking loudly and the echoes of horns bouncing off tall buildings. The noise was terrifying, but Stephen felt himself smiling so big, he feared he might never stop smiling.

"Angel, where are we?" Celine asked. Stephen turned around to see a massive church rising up before them. Twelve steps led to two metal doors, covered with runes. High above, a bell tower and steeple raked a blue, cloud filled sky. The air smelled like a hundred different scents at once, of mundanes and fried food and river water and life.

"Home," Stephen said.

They went inside and up a flight of stairs to the second floor. Already, Stephen could feel himself relaxing as he breathed in the warm, comforting scent of the London Institute. Someone must have been baking something sweet, as Stephen could smell vanilla and sugar just outside of the kitchen. Stephen led Celine down the hallway, past the vast Library, to an office. He knocked on the door, then walked inside and introduced Celine to Mr. and Mrs. Merryweather, who had taken over running the Institute when Marcus and Imogen retired to Idris.

The Merryweathers showed Stephen and Celine to their bedroom, which was located on the Institute's fourth floor. Celine made light conversation as they walked down the third floor hallway, where most of the other Institute residents lived.

Stephen stopped at one door and pushed it up to find a room containing a small bed, a bureau, a desk, and a mirror. He felt a pang in his chest as he remembered growing up in this very room. There was a black and white ball sitting in the corner of the room. Stephen smiled and went in to retrieve the ball, overjoyed that it wasn't gone. Marcus thought Shadowhunters had no use for mundane things such as this, but the ball had been Stephen's one escape from the Shadowhunting life.

"What is that?" Celine asked.

"It's nothing," Stephen said. "It's just some silly boy's toy." Celine gave Stephen a dubious look but said nothing else.

The fourth floor contained several large apartments. Stephen and Celine were shown to one and walked in to find their trunk already sitting beside the door. The Merryweathers claimed that afternoon tea would be at four, followed by dinner at eight sharp. In the mean time, Stephen and Celine were to settle in and alert the staff if they needed anything at all.

Stephen breathed a sigh of relief when the door finally closed. He already had a vision for the honeymoon, which consisted of waking up at dawn and walking all over the city, partaking in all the delights of being home. There were friends he could meet in the park. There were also the London Shadowhunters who were dispatched every night from the London Institute. Stephen imagined joining up with them and going hunting for the worst demons London had to offer.

"Is that the Thames?" Celine asked. The apartment was very large and contained many windows, as well as a fireplace and a king size bed. Celine had a curtain pulled aside. Stephen walked over to her and looked out the window to find London stretching out in all directions surrounding the Institute.

"Yes, that's the River Thames," Stephen said. "That bridge in front of us is Blackfriar's Bridge, and the one to the right is Waterloo."

"Oh, Stephen, it's beautiful!" Celine exclaimed. She turned to Stephen and kissed him on the lips. Stephen kissed back briefly, and then stepped away. Celine pulled him back against her and slid her hands beneath his shirt. Her fingers were suddenly on the button of his pants. "Perhaps we should finish what we started last night."

"Oh, right, yes," Stephen said. Celine unbuttoned his pants and pushed her hand inside. She touched him gently as they kissed. Stephen groaned and put his hands on her shoulders to push her away. He couldn't imagine being with her, not now, and not after the pep talk Valentine had given him. "I'm starving, aren't you?"

"We just ate," Celine said. She tugged his pants down past his hips and knelt on the floor.

"Yeah, in Idris," Stephen said. "Portaling always makes me work up an appetite. Let's go to the kitchen and see if the cook has any sandwiches left over from lunch. After we eat, we'll come back and finish… this." Stephen stepped away from Celine and pulled up his pants.

"You can't keep making excuses," Celine said, standing up.

"I'm not making excuses! I can't have sex when I'm hungry. It's a fact," Stephen said. "Now are you coming with me, or are you going to stay up here and pout?" Stephen walked over to the door and pulled it open. Celine followed with an exasperated sigh.

After they had a snack in the kitchen, Stephen insisted showing Celine around the entire London Institute, top to bottom, Sanctuary to Bell Tower. The tour went until they stopped for tea, then started up again and went until dinner. After dinner, Stephen and Celine went upstairs with a bottle of wine, which Stephen had one small glass of. Celine had three glasses; her mood went from giggly to lustful, until she passed out on their bed. Then Stephen dressed in gear and went downstairs to join up with two other Shadowhunters who were going out on patrol.

Stephen spent the entire night hunting with them, killing the demons that needed to be killed, then returned to the Institute for a small breakfast before he left, again, to meet friends in the park for a rousing soccer scrimmage. When Stephen returned to the Institute, Celine was sitting alone in the dining room, miffed, to say the least.

The first week of the Honeymoon followed the same order: when Stephen wasn't hunting demons or playing soccer he was sleeping. They finally consummated their marriage five days after the wedding, on a night where Stephen and Celine both drank equal amounts of wine and fell into bed together. There was nothing earth shattering about the encounter: Stephen, as drunk as he was, wore protection; Celine did all of the sorts of things Stephen enjoyed, and the ending was predictable. Afterwards, Celine fell asleep naked in their bed. Stephen drew extra Agility and Equilibrium runes to sober himself and went demon hunting.

At the start of the second week, Celine was starting to get fed up with Stephen's adopted lifestyle. She tried to confront him about it, but every time, he gave her what she wanted and it quieted her down. The second week continued as the first did: with demon hunting, soccer, and getting drunk. Towards the end of that week Stephen went out after dinner to catch up with a Shadowhunter friend and came home at four in the morning, stumbling drunk.

It became a game to see how much Celine would let him get away with. Celine passed her days studying in the library while Stephen spent his days recovering from the night before. The third week looked to continue as the first two did, that is, until Stephen came home one morning with blood all down his face and on his shirt, missing his two front teeth.

"Celine," Stephen said. He found it difficult to speak. All of his words came out with a strange, hissing lisp. "Celine, I can't find my stele." Celine rolled over in bed and glared at Stephen, for just a moment.

"By the Angel! What happened?" Celine cried. She leapt out of bed, pulled him into the bathroom, wet a wash cloth, and pressed it to his mouth. "You're missing teeth! They're going to have to grow back, you know."

"I can explain," Stephen said. "I was playing soccer in the park…"

"What's that?" Celine asked.

"It's a game," Stephen said. "I meet some guys in the park to play every morning."

"Mundanes?" Celine asked. "You play soccer with mundanes?"

"It's hard to find soccer playing Shadowhunters," Stephen said. He shrugged and gave her an innocent look. "We were playing and I was goalie and I dove to keep the ball out of the goal…" Celine threw her hands up in the air. It was as if Stephen was speaking in a different language to her. "I must have gotten kicked in the face."

"That's right, you must have," Celine said. "You got kicked in the face and now you've left your teeth in some field somewhere…. Stephen William Herondale, I will not stand for this for one more day. I came to London to take a honeymoon with my husband. I thought I married a man, not a boy who caroused every night and played soccer in the park every morning."

"What do you want me to do?" Stephen asked.

"I want you to show me London. I want to go to Buckingham Palace and the House of Parliament and I want to sit in Hyde Park and have a picnic. I want to have tea somewhere nice," Celine said. Stephen gave Celine a horrified stare.

"Why would you want to do such mundane things?" He asked.

"This from a man who got his front teeth knocked out playing soccer," Celine said.

"I'm sorry," Stephen lisped.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading, now, please review. Reviews are like love, you know. There can never be enough love in the world. Look! A teaser!

"Now, now, son, you know, these things, sometimes, they just happen," Valentine said.