CHAPTER 6

I gasp. "Jace, quick, place your hand here." I clutch his hand and drag it to my stomach where the baby kicked once more.

He gasps and chuckles weakly. "Was that the baby?" he asks me incredibly.

With a nod, I giggle. "Yeah." I look at him and see that he looks exhausted. He's sitting up on the table in front of me and there are dark circles beneath his eyes and his normal posture is sagging with weariness. Lightly, I trail my fingers down his cheek bone to just where the corner of his lip is. He sighs and his eyes flutter closed. "Are you ok, Jace?" I knew he would lie, but still I had to ask.

Opening his eyes, he smiles. "Yes, of course I am." Our fingers interlaced together as he tuggs on my arm lightly. "Sit down, Clary, you're feet are swollen." Reluctantly I take a seat beside him.

Brother Zachariah glides into the room. How are you feeling, Jace? His mental voice came into our minds and I have to stifle a shudder with a shiver. Jace's arm links behind me, bringing my body closer to his to offer me warmth.

"Fine, thank you." Jace answers.

We have called upon the Iron Sisters so we can perform the procedure to protect your mind as soon as possible.

"Thank you."

***PAGE BREAK***

The smell of cigarettes and coffee fill the interior of the back of the taxi. Reaching over, I clasp Jace's hand in mine. He squeezes it gently and I scoot closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder.

When the taxi pulled up at the curb in front of the institute, Jace payed the driver and we stepped out, staring up at the large building that looms before us.

Hand in hand, we trudge up the stairs and through the door. In the elevator I stand with my arms wrapped around him and my head on his chest. His arms too snake around me, holding me close to him.

When the elevator came to a stop and the doors open we were greeted by the whole family. Isabelle, Alec, Maryse, Robert, Magnus and Simon all stand there, grins breaking across their faces. While each one came up and hugged Jace, I made sure I kept a firm grip on his hand, never wanting to let go in case he somehow vanished from me.

After a dinner of Taki's, Jace declared himself that he was tired and together we retired back to his room.

He flopped onto his bed, fully dressed.

"I'm just going to get changed." He closes his eyes and nods. Clutching one of his shirts and a pair of my sleep shorts in my hands, I wander into the bathroom. I stare at my reflection through his mirror. I seem to have a sort of glow with weariness in the background. I pull out my hair from its ponytail, letting my red flames fall out around my shoulders. Once I take my shirt off, I pull my maternity bra on and look at my six month pregnant belly. My skin around my stomach feels tight and uncomfortable and only the feeling of rubbing helps ease the tension.

Turning away from myself I slip Jace's shirt over my head and feel it settle around my middle, hugging it kind of tightly but not as bad as my own tops; and slip my shorts on, which hangs just on my hips.

When I come out Jace looks to be asleep but as I come closer to the bed, he opens his eyes and looks at me sleepily.

I slip under the covers beside him and notice that he has removed his shoes and changed his jeans for sleep shorts. He wraps me in his arms and just holds me as he kissed the top of my head. I pull back and just stare at him as I trail my fingers across his face.

"Jace…" I whisper but before I can get another word out, Jace's lips are on mine, kissing me greedily. I kiss him back, equally as passionate. He rolls on top of me, holding himself up by his arms. I gasp surprised and watch as he tries to position himself carefully over my protruding belly. His lips find mine again and my hands find his back, his stomach, his hair and his face. His shirt somehow becomes discarded on the floor and soon we are lying on our backs beside each other, panting heavily.

I roll onto my side with some difficulty because of my stomach and watch as Jace's eyes begin to flutter closed. "Jace," I whisper under my breath.

His eyes open to look at me and then close once more. "Mm?" he murmurs.

"I love you." He smiles softly as he continues to fall asleep.

"I love you too." He holds his arms out and I somehow manage to shift into them.

***PAGE BREAK***

Waking up I feel the familiar roll of nausea in my stomach that I haven't felt for months. I glance up and see Jace already awake, staring down at me, his arms still securely around me.

"Hey," he whispers hoarsely.

I sigh, feeling my stomach do another flip. That was it—before I could greet him back, I'm wrestling myself out of bed and running for the bowl of the toilet, where I empty my stomach out. Jace stands behind me, holding back my hair and rubbing my back. As I stand up and slump against the boy behind me, I sigh, exhausted already.

"I thought you were over with the morning sickness?" He asks me, concerned as I begin to rinse my mouth out and pick my toothbrush up.

I shrug and look at him through the mirror. "I thought so too." Quickly, I run the bristles of my toothbrush along my teeth.

I turn back to him when I am finished. "Is there something wrong?" Jace questions, his eyes full of worry.

"How are you feeling today?" I ask, quickly changing the subject. I don't think there is anything wrong, nothing felt wrong to me apart from the nausea that I had had before; but it felt better to talk about something else and take my mind off of a potential problem.

Jace look at me through half narrowed eyes but at a glance of my pleading face, he seems to agree to change the subject, so he goes along with me. "I feel fine, a little tired, worried about you." And there it is again.

"Jace…" I groan.

"I'm sorry, Clary but maybe we should go and see Magnus, make sure there isn't anything wrong. Anyway we haven't gone to anyone about the pregnancy before, we've just been going with the flow… but now—" He explains, pulling me back into the bedroom.

"No, Jace, we don't have to. I would know if something was wrong—she is in my stomach after all."

He looks at me, watching my expressions. "If you're sure…"

"I am sure." But the truth is, I'm not. Something doesn't exactly feel right; there is a pull in my stomach, one that doesn't feel normal. However I choose to ignore it, thinking it must be normal. How would I know if something was normal or not? This is my first pregnancy; this meant I knew nothing of what is happening within my womb. I just hope that whatever is happening, it will all work out in the end.