A/N: Hey guys! I know you're going to love this chapter. I love it for sure.
Please enjoy!
Clary took a deep breath, building up the courage to walk into the capital building. She hadn't been there in over five months, and she never thought she would go back. Now she was here, holding a basket of fresh cookies to give to Jace. He said he would be working in his office today, and she wanted to do something to thank him for giving her such a wonderful day earlier in the month. She was ready for the future with him, and they were moving forward.
She walked up the stairs, making her way to Jace's office. It felt so odd to be in these halls again. She walked by some people, and they smiled and waved. She never thought she would see half of these people again, but here she was waving to people she used to interact with daily. She walked up to his office door, pausing heavily in front of it. That room, it was a room she spent a lot time in before everything went down. She knocked on the door softly, and he beckoned her inside. She cracked the door open, poking her head in. He hadn't looked up from his papers, so she drifted inside shutting the door.
"Clary," He smiled, getting up from his chair.
"Hey," She grinned, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. The office felt different. It always felt a little heavy with Sebastian in there, but it seemed so much brighter now. Jace came over, hugging her gently. "I'm surprised you came down here." He leaned against his desk, seeming genuinely happy to see her.
"I made you some cookies, and thought I should surprise you with them to say thanks." She offered him the basket, which he took. "You really have been extremely good to me. I don't deserve it." She shook her head, taking a seat in one of his chairs.
"Yes, you do. You are a strong woman, who deserves everything." He spoke kindly, as his gaze softened at her. "I have some time before I need to make a phone call, do you want to grab some lunch?" He asked, pushing off the desk.
"Sure, can you help me up? There is no way I am standing on my own right now." She snickered, running her hand through her hair. "And I am paying for food because you spent too much money on me last month." She declared, as he assisted her to her feet.
"Ok." He chuckled, resting his hand on her back, as they made their way out the door.
OoOoO
They went to a nearby restaurant, and Clary found herself dwelling on her worries, as they looked over the menu. She was so nervous about tomorrow. She was finally testifying against Sebastian, and she knew Lilith, his lawyer, would bagger her. She chewed on her lip, holding her stomach lightly. She knew that she needed to remain calm for the baby.
She was terrified about everything right now, which wasn't helping. She was scared about birth. She was scared about testifying. Most of all she was scared to take care of her son. She never imaged being a single mom, but that's what she was. Even though she was dating Jace, she knew that it wasn't the same. He still wasn't sure about laying claim to her son, which she understood. It wasn't his kid, so she was technically alone with her child.
"You seem far away. Where did you go?" Jace murmured, picking up her hand.
"I'm just spiraling." She shook her head, leaning back in her seat. She squeezed his hand softly, feeling reassured that he was here for her in this moment. "A lot of things I've known are coming are all coming at the same time, and all of them are very scary." She breathed, feeling her chest drop.
"Testifying?" He questioned, cocking his head to the side slightly.
"Yeah, but also having the baby and being a mom. It's all just overwhelming." She played with his fingers, keeping her eyes on their joined hands.
"You'll be alright. You're a survivor." His lip pulled up ever so slightly.
"I know I'll be ok. I just wish I could skip through everything. I wish it could be over already." She sighed, shaking her head.
"If you skip over the bad parts, you can't appreciate the good parts." He explained, kissing her hands.
"You're right." She said softly, releasing his hands, as she reached for her glass.
"I know I am." He smiled at her.
"I'm just so nervous." She groaned, putting her face in her hands.
"Do you want me to come?" He asked, scanning his eyes over her.
"No, you have work, and I have to talk about just Sebastian being despicable. I don't want to associate him with you at all." She released a breath, leaning back in her chair.
OoOoO
Clary walked into the courthouse with Alec, as she wringed her hands. She felt like she was going to throw up, which wasn't making this whole ordeal any easier. She stepped into the courtroom, and sat behind the lawyers table. Alec was going to be second chair, so he could watch her back. She was incredibly thankful for that. It made her feel just a little bit less alone.
Sebastian was escorted in with Lilith in tow. They sat at their table, and Lilith send her a glare. The next few minutes by as a blur, as Clary mentally prepped herself to go on the stand. The judge and the lawyers were going back and forward, doing the formalities, which was incredibly boring.
"Ok, call your first witness." The judge stated, leaning back in his chair.
"We call Clarissa Fray to the stands." The lawyer stated, getting to her feet.
"Objection!" Lilith got to her feet.
"What?" The lawyer that was prosecuting her ex-husband was obviously confused.
"Since my client was previously married to the witness, I request that she be removed from the witness list on the grounds that a wife cannot testify against her husband." Lilith stated with a smug look on her face.
"Your honor, they are no longer married. This rule no longer applies to this situation. If anything, she if a victim of his, and she has agreed to testify against him." The lawyer exclaimed.
"I agree, that was a stretch. Ms. Fray please make your way down." The judge ordered.
Clary pushed herself awkwardly up into a standing position before waddling to the stand. She could practically feel the jury sympathizing for her condition, which was definitely good for their case against Sebastian. She sat in the chair, feeling an uncomfortable pain in her stomach. She rolled her eyes. Stupid Braxton-hicks.
"Can you describe the night that Mr. Velrac attacked you?" The lawyer walked around the table, clasping her hands together.
"I was putting away laundry, like I did most nights, and I found a shirt stuffed in the back of his drawer. I picked it up, seeing a shirt covered in blood. Sebastian got home almost immediately after I found it, so I asked him about it, and asked who's blood it was because it was a lot. It didn't take me long to put together that he wasn't home the night my brother went missing. When I asked him if he killed Jonathan, he attacked me." She inhaled a small breath, looking at Sebastian who shifted uncomfortably.
"and how did he attack you?"
"Um-" She cleared her throat, knowing that she was going to ask this question. She just didn't realize that it would be so hard to talk about in front of everyone. "He pinned me on the ground, while he choked me." She cleared her throat, trying to relax a little. Sebastian looked down, pursing his lips.
The lawyer raddled off more and more questions, and she answered them the way they told her to. The lawyer said her closing statement, as she sat down. Clary inhaled a sharp breath, feeling pain radiate through her lower stomach. She felt it move down her legs, making her wince loudly. No, not right now.
"Ms. Fray I asked you a question." Lilith snapped, getting her attention when the pain subsided.
"Sorry, could you repeat that." She felt a little panic in her chest because she knew that these pains were from labor. She never had a Braxton-hick's contraction that went down her legs before, and that was supposed to be a symptom of labor.
"When did my client begin acting strangely?" She questioned, stepping out from behind the table.
"When did he turn into an abusive husband?" Clary asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"When did you notice his behavior change?" She was obviously annoyed by her statement, and that was exactly why she said it.
"Four years ago." She stated, sucking in a breath, as her entire lower body tightened.
''When he took over the position as party whip?" Lilith clarified. Clary held onto her stomach, trying to catch her breath. She needed to pull herself together to finish testifying. "Ms. Fray are you avoiding the question.
"No, I'm sorry." She stammered, trying to straighten herself out. "Yes, it was after he became party whip.
"So it was after he began to spend time with the majority leader?" She cocked her head to the side, crossing her arms.
"They interacted a fair amount before he was picked to be the party whip." She gasped, doubling over.
"Are you ok, Miss Fray?" The judge asked, leaning over.
"I'm fine." She corrected herself, inhaling a deep calming breath.
"She is obviously in labor you honor. She should be escorted to a hospital." Lilith stated, sounding incredibly annoyed.
"No, I'm fine. The contractions are far enough apart that I'll last a while. I want to finish." She looked over at the judge, silently begging him to let her finish. She didn't want to give birth before she did everything that she could to get Sebastian a life sentence.
"Please continue." The judge sighed, forcing Lilith to continue. Clary answered the new few questions without any issues, but then she got another contraction. She held her hand up, doing what her Lamaze classes taught her.
"Your honor, please, this is a distraction and it is pulling the juries sympathy. They aren't even listening to what she is saying anymore." Lilith was obviously done with this interaction. "We can continue this after she recovers from birth." She explained, moving back to the table.
"No!" She exclaimed loudly, groaning in pain.
"What do you mean no?" Lilith raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning on giving birth in the courtroom?"
"I will not give birth to my baby until I finish this. I want to be done with this part of my life, and I want to move on. I am stuck in this phase of my life because you were stupid enough to plead not guilty, so, no, I am going to continue to testify because I am over this." Clary was on the verge of yelling, as she heaved a sigh.
"You heard her." The judge shrugged, seeming mildly scared of her.
"No further questions." Lilith sighed, seeming unsatisfied. "I would ask her more, but in this state anything she says will only hurt my client because her condition is a distraction." Lilith bit out, sitting down.
"Ok, I think we'll call it a day. We'll reconvene tomorrow at noon." The judge hit the gavel, as Alec ran over to her.
"You're really in labor?" Alec asked, pulling her to her feet.
"Yes," She nodded quickly, as they began hurrying to his car.
"Oh, my gosh." He exclaimed, pausing just outside the courthouse. Oh my gosh was right. She was terrified. He left her right out the street, so he could literally run to his car. She crouched over, feeling another contraction rip through her. She propped herself on the nearest thing she could find, which was a trash can. Alec parked in front of her, hurrying to her side.
Through her breathing technics she could vaguely hear Alec calling Isabelle and some other people. She moaned, feeling her entire body tighten up, as her legs clenched. The pain subsided, and she dropped her head back against the head rest.
"Isabelle told me to tell you to do your breathing technics." Alec said, as he pulled into a stop light.
"I know." She nodded, exhaling a forcibly calm breath.
"I don't know how you women do this." Alec shook his head, seeming a little frazzled by her state.
'I don't know how we do it either." She gripped the arm rest tightly, bracing herself.
They arrived at the hospital, and in a flurry she was stripped, placed in a hospital gown, and laid in bed. She hated being on display like she was, but she didn't really have a choice now did she. She never imaged being alone in a situation like this. Isabelle was supposed to be here the whole time. She wasn't prepared for Isabelle to not be here when the doctors pulled on their gloves to check how far she was dilated. She hated being alone right now. She squeezed her eyes shut, beginning to cry. Her doctor left, and she curled up in a ball, sobbing into her stiff clinical pillow. She knew Isabelle was coming she reminded herself, but she was so exhausted. She was so tired on her own.
She was so scared of everything that was coming. She was ready for Sebastian to be behind bars, but she knew for now that free of him. If he got out, she would leave the country, change her name, she would do anything if that meant protecting her son. He was everything to her, and she would survive. Jace was right about that. She would always survive and thrive.
"Clary?" Isabelle stepped into the hospital room with her, immediately going to her. "Oh, sweetheart." Isabelle climbed up into the hospital bed with her, sitting behind her like they always planned. Clary leaned back against her still crying heavily, as she squeezed her hands. "You're ok. This time tomorrow all the pain will be gone, and you will have a beautiful baby boy." Isabelle cooed, soothing her hair down.
"It's not the labor." She sniffed, looking up at her friend. "It's everything else." She shook her head, rubbing her hand over her face. "I just want everything to be better and happy." She wiped at her face, taking deep breaths.
"I know." She pulled at Clary's hair, securing it in a bun. "And it will be. Give it a few more months. Sebastian will be in jail, my brother will confess his undying love, and you will have a beautiful son." She encouraged, kissing her head.
"I don't want to wait months." She winced loudly, holding onto her stomach.
"I know you don't, sweetheart." Her best friend squeezed her hands, assuring here that she was there. "I'm here. Jace is out in the waiting room with Alec." She explained before sounding off affirmations about her.
She didn't feel so alone anymore, which made her cry even harder. She held onto Isabelle tightly, as more pain shuttered through her. She sniffed heavily, grounding herself in her friend. Isabelle encouraged her up, walking her around the room. She sat on the birthing ball, as she gripped onto the pole her IV was attached to.
"Jace just texted me. He wants to say hi. Is that ok?" She set her phone aside, sitting beside her.
"Umm… I don't know." Her cheeks flushed, as she bit her lip.
"Do you want to see him? If you don't want to, then I can just say no." Isabelle smiled lightly at her friend, which didn't help her make her decision.
"Ok, he can come in, but only for a little bit." She said, feeling a pit of nerves in her stomach.
"Alright." Isabelle snickered at her, typing on her phone quickly. Clary inhaled a small breath, seeing Jace timidly standing in the doorway. "I'll give you guys a minute." She grinned, striding out of the room.
"Hey there, how are you doing?" He asked, stepping in front of her.
"I am in agony, but I'll be ok." She bounced on the ball, trying to help with the stiffness in her body.
"Well I'm sure you are doing an amazing job." He stood in front of her, inhaling a breath.
"Could you held me walk across the room a little bit?" She held out her hands, and he took them. They didn't talk after that. They remained silent, as they wandered around the room. She was glad for it though because honestly she didn't know what he could say right now. She was just glad that he was here, helping her through this, even if it is only for a few minutes. He made her feel safe. The doctor came in, and Jace walked her to the bed.
"I'm just going to get Isabelle." He took a step towards the door, and she inhaled a sharp breath.
"Can you stay while I get checked? I don't like being alone during this stuff." She looked desperately at him, feeling nervous. "You can stand at my head." He took her hand, taking a step closer to her. She looked up at him, and there was that look. The look from her dream, but now he was looking at her when he had it. She closed her eyes, as the doctor examined her.
"You are close to giving birth. We'll move you into the other room soon and you can give birth to your boy." She smiled, leaving the room.
"Thank you for staying." She kissed his hand before letting it go. "Can you get Izzy now?" She breathed, seeing him steadily move towards the door.
"I'll see you later." He grinned, walking down the hall. Clary smiled to herself before falling into yet another contraction.
A/N: In the next chapter there will be a little baby boy. I'm super excited. I feel like there is about 4 more chapters left in this story. that it isn't for sure. It might change. It just depends on how the next few chapters go. I am super excited for the end. The last two chapters I already have planned out and they are amazing.
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