Hey guys ! This chapter is dedicated to lilianneherondale, thanks for your reviews and for loving this story , you inspired this chapter so I really hope you like it too!

Enjoy, Lilly

Chapter Seven: Baby Talk

Alec spotted Magnus as soon as he entered the park. His boyfriend was enjoying the view, sketching distractedly on his pad, a huge box of colored pencils settled next to him on the bench. The children passing by were staring at him with a funny look on their faces and a little girl, wearing a pink and white striped dress with ribbons in her strawberry blond pigtails, was sitting right next to him, watching him draw. She seemed like she wanted to help him, pointing at certain parts of a drawing Alec couldn't see. He adjusted his sunglasses on his nose and walked to them.

"Hey," he said waving awkwardly at them.

"Hey darling!" Magnus flashed him two rows of perfectly immaculate teeth. "This is Rose," he added pointing to the little girl who waved shyly at Alec, her cheeks red. "Rosie, this is Alec."

"Is he your sweetheart?" Rose asked, tilting her head to the side, watching Alec with a look he couldn't decipher.

"Yes, he is," Magnus laughed. Alec blushed.

"Hi," Alec said again.

"I should go," Rose said getting up. "My mom will be back soon. Can I keep your drawing?" she asked.

"Of course, honey," Magnus said, tearing out the page and giving it to her.

"Thank you. Will you be here tomorrow?" she asked.

"Maybe, I don't know."

Rose looked disappointed and Alec wondered how long those two had been sitting together.

"But I'm sure we'll see each other again," Magnus added, gently pinching her cheek. She nodded, a smile back on her lips, and ran away, disappearing behind a line of huge trees.

"She's cute, isn't she?" Magnus smiled. "And very talented too." He showed him a child's drawing of a princess and what was probably a unicorn but looked like the giant offspring of a rat, a dog and a rhinoceros to Alec. There was also a lot of pink and purple and the horse was covered in glitter. Alec frowned.

"Nice," he said.

"Liar," Magnus retorted. "But it's okay, I love you anyway." Alec smiled and sat next to him. Magnus took his hand in his and rested his head on his strong shoulder.

Silence settled. Alec didn't mind, he didn't feel the need to talk on and on when he was with Magnus. If there was nothing to be said why say anything? The fresh breeze softly blowing in his hair and on his face was pleasant. New York was so hot in July, it was almost unbearable.

"Do you ever think about them?" Magnus asked, tracing invisible designs on Alec's forearm.

"About what?"

"Kids."

Taken aback, Alec's head snapped toward Magnus with huge blue eyes. Magnus covered his mouth with his hand and tried not to laugh.

"Relax baby," he said, but when the word 'baby' came out Alec's already horrified expression intensified. "Sorry."

"You want a baby," Alec gasped. It sounded like an assertion, not a question. Magnus stared at him, perfectly still. Alec wasn't scared, he thought, he was panicking.

"Hey," Magnus said cupping his boyfriend's face in his hand. "Calm down, Alexander."

"Don't call me that," Alec snapped. Magnus giggled.

"It was just a question," Magnus assured him, gently patting his shoulder. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm not scared." Alec's breathing was steadying. "Do you want children?" he asked.

"Eventually, yes," Magnus shrugged. "I've always seen myself with a big family."

"You never told me that," Alec said.

"We've never talked about it," Magnus replied with a sweet and tender smile.

Alec nodded. His eyes were so blue, Magnus realized. If they had a kid – or five like he had imagined a few weeks after meeting Alec – this was what he wanted him to look like. Shy and beautiful, like Alec. "I want children too." Alec's voice was only a whisper now.

"And you're going to be a wonderful dad," Magnus said. He filled the space between them and kissed him. When they broke up, gasping for air, Alec added, "But not now, right?"

Magnus chuckled. "No, not now, honey," he agreed. "How about we give each other another a year?"

xXx

"We're not naming our baby after your great grandmother, Simon!" Isabelle shouted, marching into the kitchen.

The warm light of the early afternoon poured in through the French doors, bathing the room in yellow sunlight. Isabelle was wearing a bathrobe loosely tied above her stomach. Her hair was disheveled and spiked in every direction and she was holding a rolled up pancake in her hand. Simon followed her inside, in jeans and white t-shirt.

Rebecca and Savannah might have gone home the night before after dinner, but she felt like they were still here, talking through Simon's mouth.

"Why not?" Simon scolded. "It's my baby, too."

Isabelle shot him a murderous glare. "I know that." He poured himself a coffee trying to avoid looking at her, which only served at igniting her anger. "Look at me!"

He spun around, his mouth in a thin line. "What?"

Her eyes went wide. Simon never shouted. Never.

She felt her voice die in her throat. "Do you really want to call our baby Gertrude?" She rubbed her belly.

Simon's face fell. "Of course not," he admitted. "I just want to have a say in our baby's name." He ran a hand through his brown hair and glanced at his watch. "But it's like you don't care about what I think." He rubbed his temples and sighed. "I'm late for work." He grabbed his briefcase and went for the door.

"I thought you weren't going to work today?" Isabelle said. "It's already two in the afternoon."

"Well, I changed my mind," Simon muttered. "I need some air."

Isabelle grabbed his jacket before he could leave. "Please stay," she begged. "I'm sorry. You're right it's just…"

Simon frowned. "Well, your mom is putting a lot of pressure on me. First I'm not Jewish, then I'm pregnant but we're not married. She's a very difficult woman to satisfy. But you're right, it's no reason to take it out on you. I'm really sorry, baby."

Simon smiled as she put her head in the crook of his neck. He set the briefcase on the chest against the wall in the entryway, his eyes closing. Isabelle took it as an invitation and started nibbling on his earlobe, her arms wrapped around his waist, pressing her body against his back. She heard him moan and forced him to turn toward her. Then she kissed him hungrily, feeling a wave of heat rushing through her body.

"Izzy," he whispered as she unzipped his jeans. "No."

She ignored him, letting her bathrobe fall at her feet revealing the blue lacy lingerie she had on. Simon licked his suddenly dry lips and sucked his breath in. His heart started pounding loudly in his chest, echoing in his ears.

"Izzy," he repeated. "Please."

"What? It's not my fault you're so hot!" She bit her lip seductively.

"You do know it's your hormones talking, right?" Simon said.

"They know what they want and so do I," Isabelle stated, her hands caressing the skin of his flat stomach. "You."

"Baby, I can't. I'm exhausted," Simon grabbed her by the wrists. "You won't me let have any sleep, I'm not a machine and even if I were, my batteries would be dead anyway."

Isabelle snorted. "Do you know how many guys would love getting laid eight times a day?" she asked, her face a painting of pure innocence.

He purposely avoided looking right at her because he knew, the moment his eyes would start wandering on her transparent blue negligée, slowly caressing the curve of her breasts, he would lose.

"Okay. How about," Isabelle continued, "I make you a deal?"

"What kind of deal?" Simon asked, curiously amused.

She smiled and sat on the chest, her legs hanging in the air. "We go upstairs and make love and I'll let you sleep," she proposed.

Simon almost laughed. "That's not a deal per se, but continue," he said.

"When you wake up, we'll choose the name of our baby together and I'll even agree to listen to your ridiculous ideas." Isabelle gazed at him, a ferocious look in her blue eyes.

"That's still not a deal," Simon repeated, but sighed. "You promise you'll let me sleep?"

Isabelle grinned. For a split second, Simon thought she grinned like Jace but he pushed that thought away. "Promise."

xXx

Clary re-read the invitation for what seemed to Jace as the hundredth time. She was sitting on the table in the kitchen, watching as Jace cooked them a late lunch. She was still surprised that his bosses at Alicante Banking group and Corporation let him finish so early two days in a row but she was too happy to question it.

"A masquerade ball? And you want to go?" She asked.

Jace cooking was kind of a sight, she thought. The first time he had invited her over for dinner at his apartment, she had expected take away or a cataclysmic mess in the small open kitchen but she couldn't have been more wrong. Jace was efficient and neat, precise and quite talented, although she tried not to compliment him too much, knowing it was better not to fuel his ego.

"Yes," Jace nodded, handing her a glass of red wine. "It's a company thing but I thought it would be fun you know; Alec and Mags are going to be there."

"And let me guess, Magnus has already sent over a ball dress and a mask for me to wear." Clary sighed, but couldn't keep the smile away.

"Next time we'll stay home and snuggle in front of a movie, I promise." Jace shot her a dazzling smile over his shoulder.

"Okay," Clary muttered. "But on one condition."

"I'm listening," Jace said, tasting a home-made tomato sauce out of a wooden spoon.

"Tomorrow we're invited to the Kyles," Clary quickly explained how she met Maia and Jordan in the morning. "And you won't get out of this one."

"Deal," he turned and quickly kissed her lips before getting back to lunch.

Clary smiled and took a sip of wine. It felt so right to have Jace here with her. He had been working so much lately, flying around the world, leaving early in the morning only to come very late at night. The penthouse was too big for her to be alone in.

She thought about Maia, Jordan and Killian; Isabelle, Simon and the baby, and how it made her so happy to hold little Killian in her arms or feel the baby kick in Isabelle's belly.

"I think I want a baby," Clary said out of the blue.

Jace, caught off guard, dropped the spoon on the floor. He turned around, his face a mask of surprise and confusion.

"I don't understand," he said looking Clary in the eye.

"I want a baby," she repeated calmly, but felt her cheeks heating up. She found his golden gaze was almost oppressing.

"Where is that coming from?" Jace asked. "You never–"

"It's coming from me loving you so much I want to carry your child," Clary said, cutting him off, offended by Jace's reaction.

"That's not what I meant, sweetie," Jace said, "We need to talk about this, you can't just drop that on me like that."

"Why not?" Clary asked.

"I don't know what you expected me to say," Jace said so low that Clary almost thought he was talking to himself.

"That it was what you wanted, too," Clary said, hopping off the table. "But clearly I was wrong." She walked toward the living room but Jace caught her arm before she could leave.

"Honey," Jace said cupping her face in his hands. "I do want a family with you. You know that don't you?"

"But not right now," Clary finished for him. She bit her lips, praying for the tears to stay behind her eyes.

"I– It's complicated," Jace said. He looked hurt, Clary thought, though she didn't understand why.

"It's about work, isn't it?" She guessed.

Jace didn't say anything.

"Why won't you talk about it?" Clary almost begged. "It's like each time I bring it up you shut me off! Why? What is so terrible you can't talk to me about it?"

"I don't want to have this fight right now," Jace said and turned back to his burning sauce. He bent to pick up the spoon.

Clary stood still. "You're doing it right now, it's like a wall that pops up out of nowhere! Jace!" she screamed.

"Let it go, Clary," he simply asked her, but his voice was cold and distant.

And the tears just poured out of her eyes as if a tap had been turned on.

She grabbed her invitation and stormed off. A few seconds later he heard the front door slamming and sighed. He wanted to tell her why, to explain that he was only doing it to protect her, that if it was only up to him he'd give her as many babies as she wanted. He inhaled deeply before running a hand through his hair, leaning against the counter, hands clenched in tensed fists.

He wouldn't let Valentine break him and Clary apart. Never.

So how should Isabelle and Simon name their baby girl?

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I love you all guys!

Lilly