Author's Note: Welcome to the last chapter on Great Expectations! Thank you very much for reading this far! I deeply appreciate all of the reviews and views. If you enjoyed this, I will (hopefully) have a surprise that I will reveal at the end of this chapter. Please enjoy this chapter, and leave feedback as you so desire!

Chapter 3: Alexander

After Christopher's birth, it took time for Cecily to recover from the delivery. During this time, the task of taking care of the children fell to Gabriel, who was fully prepared to dislike the child that nearly took Cecily from him. However, after a few nights of tending to Christopher, Gabriel was surprised to see a light dusting of freckles across the backs of the baby's hands when Christopher reached up and wrapped his hand around Gabriel's right index finger. Gabriel had stared at the tiny hand for a long while.

The first time Anna had been placed in his arms, she had been so little, her red face scrunched up into a pout, the hat Sophie had knit her almost too big for her. Gideon had insisted that he had felt something at the birth of his two daughters and that he had known beyond a doubt that they belonged to him. Gabriel thought that sounded crazy. Of course they were Gideon's daughters. Then Gabriel had met Anna for the first time and suddenly understood. Anna was a baby that he and Cecily had made together, their one contribution to the world that no one could ever take away.

It was the same with Christopher. After Christopher had released Gabriel's finger and started to cry from hunger, Gabriel had picked up his newborn son, held him to his chest, and felt the baby's tiny heart pound. Here was a child who had come into the world with nothing. It was Gabriel's responsibility to raise this boy, and give him everything, and so he would.

Perhaps it had been caused by Cecily nearly dying, but something changed in Gabriel and Cecily's marriage. They became less stubborn with one another and more willing to compromise. Gabriel allowed Cecily to come along on less dangerous missions, and Cecily allowed Gabriel to go on various interviews and short term assignments. The year Christopher turned three, Gabriel served six weeks at the Institute in Quebec and another three weeks at the Institute in Paris. The invention and refinement of the Portal by Henry Branwell enabled Shadowhunters from all over the world to travel as they had been unable to before. This way, Gabriel was able to feel like he was still doing something for the world, but he was able to come home to London any time.

By 1899, Gabriel had taken a more permanent position in Idris working with a group of people who drafted and enforced laws for the Shadowhunters, while Cecily had taken a job teaching at the Academy where Gabriel once attended, and where his own children were now students. Anna was now nearly fifteen years old, and looking more like her mother every day, while Christopher was twelve and took after Gabriel. Every week, Gabriel and Cecily stayed in town at a small apartment while the children lived at the Academy, and every weekend, they either traveled back to London, where they visited often, or made the hour long ride by horseback to their manor house in the country side.

The manor wasn't Lightwood House- Gabriel would never want his children to grow up in a place filled with dark rooms and secret passageways. Lightwood Manor was full of windows and open spaces, surrounded by small trees that would eventually grow large. It was the perfect place to retire (or retire as much as a Shadowhunter could.) Will had plans to relocate to Idris with Tessa, just as soon as James became old enough to take over the Institute, which would be in the next fifteen years. Will had purchased property close to Lightwood Manor the year before. Whenever Gabriel and Christopher heeled their horses into a gallop to race across the last stretch of flat earth before they climbed the gradual hill to Lightwood Manor, they would pass by Herondale Manor, which was slowly being built.

Sometimes, Gabriel would watch the construction and shake his head. Will planned for his manor house to have three floors (Lightwood manor had two) as well as a great wraparound porch (Lightwood manor had no porch.) Gabriel would insist time and time again that he had won the age old attempt at one- upping one another when he married Cecily, but that didn't matter. Some things would never change.

Yes, life was wonderful for Gabriel and Cecily. It had been going wonderful for so long, when it took a sudden turn, Gabriel thought nothing of it.

That turn had started on a Friday afternoon at the beginning of May. The family was in between Alicante and the manor house. Up ahead, Christopher and Anna were squabbling as they trotted along on their horses. Cecily and Gabriel rode side by side behind them, enjoying the warm weather. Gabriel looked over at his lovely wife. Time had been kind to her, and she had hardly aged at bit since he met her. She was 37 now, and still her blue eyes were clear and her skin remained as milky and flawless as it always had been. Her hair was thinner now, and she often wore it back in a braid that went all the way to her waist.

Time had not been so kind to Gabriel. The years of hunting demons and serving the Clave had taken their toll on his body. He could no longer climb out of bed without various joints throbbing. His eyes stayed green as ever, but one morning at the Manor house he had been washing up in the bathroom when a beam of light caught his hair and revealed to him several silver colored strands. More would follow.

"You're quiet today," Cecily had remarked, looking over from her horse. Gabriel looked at her, smiling.

"Just thinking, is all," Gabriel said. Cecily smiled back, and then placed a hand on her stomach. "Are you alright, my love?"

"I'm not feeling well," Cecily said with a scowl. "It's been a week now. Something feels… off. Maybe it's the weather. I'm sure it's nothing." She had shaken her head, dismissing it.

Gabriel might have questioned her further, but Christopher yelled then, his voice eager, before he loosened the reins, giving his horse her head and allowing her to take off at a gallop. Gabriel could have held back, he could have continued the conversation, but then Cecily gave Gabriel an impish smile and a nod and he took off pursuit of Christopher, catching up very quickly. It was times like this, when Gabriel looked over to see Christopher nearly flat on his horse's back, his fingers tangled in the horse's mane as they thundered across an open field, determined to win at any cost, that Gabriel again saw so much of himself in his only son.

By that Monday, Cecily wasn't feeling any better, so Gabriel dropped Anna and Christopher off at school with Cecily, then went down to the Silent City. He hated it down there. The silence and darkness reminded him of drowning and death. When Cecily was directed to a large room with a black basalt table and torches on the wall, Gabriel went with her, tugging on his shirtsleeves, unnerved by this place. He had been there numerous times before for business and injuries alike, but it never got any easier. Now, Cecily was there, sitting on the table, humming softly, filling the silence with music.

"I doubt it is anything at all," Cecily said as a Silent Brother slipped into the room. He drew back his hood, and Gabriel was relieved to see, only somewhat, that the brother was Zachariah.

"You've come to seek treatment?" Zachariah asked. He looked over at Gabriel, causing Gabriel to look away. Zachariah had treated him before, and Gabriel saw him at the London Institute as well, paying a visit, but this was different.

"I'm not feeling well," Cecily said. "Something feels off. I'm not being foolish. I just know, something is not right." Gabriel looked over at her, worried. He crossed the room and was by her side as she lay down on the table, closing her eyes as Zachariah instructed. Then Zachariah placed his hands on her temples.

"Have you been exposed to any demons lately?" Zachariah asked.

"None," Cecily replied. Zachariah's face changed quickly, a light smile slipping across his lips. Gabriel knew that Zachariah was reading Cecily's thoughts now, and seeing all of the things she kept secret. He felt his face get warm. Angel only knew what Cecily had on her mind at any given time.

"When is the last time you went to London?" Zachariah asked.

"Two weeks ago," Cecily said. "Before that, it was a while. The children have been busy with school. We didn't want to take them…"

"It's been two months since you bled. Am I correct, Mrs. Lightwood?" Zachariah asked. Gabriel took a sudden breath that shattered any silence left in the room. Cecily's eyes flew open and she looked at Gabriel as Zachariah pulled his hands away. "You didn't need to come all the way to the Silent City. You can confirm it yourself. You're pregnant."

Gabriel could hear the laughter in Zachariah's voice as the Silent Brother stepped away, giving Gabriel a chance to run his hands through his hair, then reach down to help Cecily sit up.

"You're certain?" Cecily asked.

"Without a doubt," Zachariah replied. "You're about two months along, due just after the first of the year, with a-" Gabriel shook his head quickly. He didn't want to know. It was better that way, to not form an attachment to this… this…

"This cannot be," Gabriel said. "I'm going to be 39 next month. We have a fourteen year old. We were told that this couldn't happen…" He looked at Cecily, who had already placed her hands on her stomach, just over the place where their baby was growing. Oh, Will was going to have a field day with this, once he stopped laughing.

"Do you need my help explaining that as well?" Zachariah asked. With one final, triumphant smile, he left the room as quietly as he arrived.

"It was that time in London," Cecily said, as Gabriel buried his face in his hands and resigned himself to a full head of gray hair.

Gabriel remembered that time very well. At the end of February and Gabriel, Cecily, and the children had come to London so that Christopher could receive his first runes at the London Institute. It had been the day before the ceremony and the Christopher and Anna had gone up to the training room after breakfast with their cousins, James and Lucie. Lucie was Will's daughter, born in 1891. She took after her mother and was very quiet, usually only making noise if James provoked her. James was all fire and white hot rage, like Will had been at thirteen. He got along well with Christopher, who was more reserved. There had been talk over breakfast that either James move to Idris to train with Christopher, or Christopher move back to London to train with James.

The future had been on Gabriel's mind as he crawled back into bed after breakfast. Everything was taken care of for Christopher's party that would be held after the rune ceremony the following day. Today was a day for relaxing, which Gabriel had wanted to do. Against Cecily and Tessa's wishes, Gabriel and Will had gone out hunting the night before, and as Gabriel was well aware, he was not nineteen any longer. He couldn't stay up all night and then be wide awake the next morning, no matter what rune he applied to his scarred skin.

"What do you think about Christopher moving back to London?" Cecily had asked. She had locked the door to the bedroom and came over to the bed as Gabriel unbuttoned his shirt and cast it aside. The night before, he had been struck by an obnoxious little demon and now had a still healing wound across his collar bone. An iratze helped, but also raised his temperature, making him feel jittery and feverish.

"I think Christopher should do whatever he wants," Gabriel said. When he was twelve, Benedict had never given him a choice of what he wanted to do. Christopher had a good head on his shoulders, and he was capable of making a decision on how he wanted to spend his formal schooling. Besides, it was a matter of Christopher living in London at the Institute, or Gabriel and Cecily hosting James, who had already proven to be a most difficult child. The last thing Gabriel wanted to be responsible for was Will's wayward son.

"But what do you think?" Cecily asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. Gabriel reached up and unbuttoned the buttons down the back of her dress, until Cecily was able to stand up and remove the dress before crawling into bed in just her chemise and petticoats. She reached over to the bedside table and picked up a small jar of sweet scented ointment that would promote healing.

"I think Christopher would be happy anywhere, but I doubt James would be happy in Idris," Gabriel remarked. He flinched as Cecily massaged the ointment into the scar, then reached over and rested a hand on her back. Cecily smiled and leaned over to kiss his lips.

Gabriel closed his eyes and kissed back, tangling one hand into Cecily's hair that hung loose down her back. He tugged on it gently, causing Cecily to lean her head back, exposing her throat and allowing Gabriel to place a kiss at the base of her throat. He followed this kiss with a light nip, grazing his teeth over the pale, soft rose scented skin of her neck. Cecily shivered against him, unable to speak, and so Gabriel wrapped his arms around her, pulling her over to him, so that she straddled him. The silken fabric of her petticoats slipped against his lower stomach, feeling cool against his burning skin.

He traced his index finger down the side of her neck, brushing his cheek against hers before he kissed the place just beneath her ear, gasping warm air against that very spot. Cecily placed her hands against his chest, gripping lightly, moving her hips against his ever so slowly, stoking within him an unexpected fire. Gabriel reached up and tugged the straps over her chemise down, exposing her breasts. Cecily shook her head and pulled away, slipping the chemise over her head and tossing it aside along with her petticoat. Then she was naked before him, and she reached down, deftly tugging open the buttons on his pants. Cecily pulled them down and climbed on top of him, pulling him close, pressing her lips back to his.

There was no time for thought, there was only here and now, need and desire and want all wrapped up with heat and coolness. Gabriel pressed himself into Cecily, causing her to moan loudly before smiling quickly. He put his arms around her, running his hands down her back, kissing her collarbones and lower, until each were satisfied by the other.

Afterwards, they didn't speak of it. Gabriel pulled the covers up and lay close to Cecily, tracing his fingers over the runes that dotted her arms and back. She lay against him, her body soft and cooling against his still feverish skin. Gabriel could have slept for hours like that with his wife in his arms, only, there was a knock at the door, followed by a distraught sounding "Father?" Moments like this with Cecily were hard to come by anymore. The children always needed something.

"I have it," Cecily said. She climbed out of bed and put on a dressing gown, then went to the door, pulling it open slightly.

"I need Father," Christopher said. "He can help." Cecily sighed, then closed the door and returned to the bed side. Gabriel was already reaching over for his shirt as Cecily handed him his pants.

"There's blood," Cecily reported, "probably Christopher's. Clearly because this wound isn't a scraped knee, I am unqualified to take care of it."

"It's not that at all," Gabriel said. Christopher was at the age when he needed his mother for less and his father for more. Sometimes Gabriel looked at Christopher and saw the little boy with the big blue eyes who followed his big sister everywhere. Then Christopher asked him about a girl who liked him, and Gabriel found himself at a loss for words. Where had time gone?

Cecily sat on the bed, giving Gabriel a look that told him not to fight with her. She was resigned that her youngest son was growing up faster than they had ever expected. Gabriel buttoned his shirt, then went to the door and opened it to find Christopher and James standing together in the hallway. A bloody rag was held in Christopher's fist, while James scowled at the blood.

"I cut my finger," Christopher said.

"I told him to be careful with the throwing stars!" James snapped, all self righteous. Of course. Will Herondale's boy would never admit to wounding himself on a piece of metal with five very sharp blades attached. "He should have known better."

"And if I recall right, didn't your father and I agree that no one was to be playing with blades without adult supervision?" Gabriel asked. "Last I checked, you are still only thirteen. I don't care how many runes you have. In my eyes, and in the eyes of a Clave, you are still a child." James glared, his face twisting into a look of barely contained anger. This was James, who liked to challenge anyone and battle those who dared to disagree with him. He was quite at home in the Institute, and quite used to his father running the place. "Go find your father and meet me upstairs. If you want to train, you can train with your father and I assisting." James clenched his jaw and stomped away. Gabriel examined the wound on Christopher's finger, then pulled him into the room to bandage the wound, promising to give Christopher his very first iratze the next day.

It was then, though, they didn't know it and never even considered it. The next afternoon, Cecily and Gabriel stood by as Christopher gritted his teeth and Zachariah drew a Voyance rune on the back of Christopher's right hand. When it was finished everyone cheered and Gabriel pulled Christopher close, prouder than ever of his son. After that, there was a luncheon and presents, and at some point, Gabriel gave Christopher and iratze which didn't slow the boy down in the slightest. At the ball that evening, Gabriel and Cecily drank and danced until the wee hours of the night, until Cecily was giggling as she carried her shoes upstairs, her cheeks flushed bright.

Two days later they returned to Idris, back to their daily lives. They returned to school during the week and Gabriel and Christopher racing their horses the last mile before they got to the manor almost every weekend. Life was wonderful, yet, life was about to change.

"What are you thinking?" Cecily asked, her voice loud above the silence. She remained on the basalt table, one hand covering her mouth. Her eyes were dark in the witch light. Gabriel swallowed nervously and said the only thing that could come to mind.

"But we gave the crib away!"

The pregnancy, by comparison to Christopher's, was a dream. Two weeks after finding out they were excepting, Gabriel, Cecily, Anna and Christopher traveled to London, where Gabriel met Will in the drawing room, poured him a very tall glass of brandy, and told him the news. Will laughed so hard he put himself into a coughing fit. Once that was done, he smacked Gabriel on the back and said, over and over again, "I always knew you had it in you!"

The pregnancy flew by quickly and blissfully simple. Tessa visited often and helped Cecily knit things for the baby while Will helped Gabriel and Christopher put a nursery together. Then Gabriel helped Christopher pack his things and stood by with Cecily, holding her close, as Christopher stepped into the Portal with Will, bound for formal schooling at the London Institute. Summer became autumn and November turned into December. That year, Gabriel hosted Christmas for the family in Idris and spent the entire time watching Cecily carefully.

It was just a few days into 1900 with the snow still blowing outside when Gabriel sat with Christopher and Anna in the kitchen of Lightwood Manor. Will and Gideon had arrived earlier and were talking softly at the other end of the table as Gabriel rolled a dice and moved a marble across the Chinese checker board. Tessa and Sophie were upstairs with Cecily and had been for much of the afternoon.

"Not long now," Tessa said, walking into the kitchen. She placed a hand on Will's shoulder and he turned to kiss the back of her hand, smiling up at his beautiful wife.

Almost on cue, a baby's wail broke the quiet. Gabriel looked over at Christopher, then at Anna, then further down the table at Will and Tessa and Gideon. His family, all gathered together, prepared to welcome one more.

Alexander.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Please review? Am I forgetting something? Oh yes. If you enjoyed this story and would be interested in reading more like it, please sign up for an author alert, because I have ideas for more fics that you will hopefully enjoy as well, and there is a very, very good chance that one might be posted as early as a week from now. And once again, because I cannot say it enough, thank you so much for taking the time to read the things I write! ~Melissa