Chapter 11: Teenage Birthdays...
March, 2031
It was mid-March and there was a celebratory mood in the Institute. Today was Will's birthday and there were a lot of visitors to wish him well. Alongside the Shadowhunters who normally resided within the Institute, Jocelyn, Luke, and Amatis were visiting, as well as the Lightwood parents, and the Lightwood-Bane family. Jem and Tessa were visiting, taking a break from a tour of the world to wish the eldest Herondale child well, as well as giving him a special gift that Jem had been gifted by the London Institute after he stopped being a Silent Brother.
2009
After a year of travelling the world, and eventually reuniting with Tessa, Jem Carstairs found himself back in the London Institute. Not much had changed, except for some noticeable structural aids to the building, mostly to counteract damage done during the Dark War. Whilst most of the records of the Dark War focused on the casualties in Idris and America, London had its share of victims, though any Shadowhunter in the Institute itself was protected by a force. Not many people had made the deduction that Jem had been able to: that the force was actually the spirit of Jessamine Lovelace who still wandered the hallways, unintentionally causing an unearthly chill to anyone who she passed in the corridors. Jem had been invited to the Institute under the pretence that they had something they felt Jem and Tessa may want to keep in their possession. Of course, Tessa was accompanying Jem wherever he went. Being back in London, where she had raised her children with Will, and where she had seen them age whilst she stayed eternally the same, caused Tessa to hold her fiancé tightly for comfort. Below the surface, Jem was struck by similar memories of seeing his friends and especially his parabatai age and pass on during his time as Brother Zachariah. However, he attempted to keep a brave face for his fiancé. They were to be married in a few weeks' time, and alongside visiting the Institute, they were in London to see whether their wedding plans were viable. Thankfully, they were. Back to the present, and the pair were approached by Damien Blackthorn, the head of the Institute and a distant cousin of the Los Angeles brood. Due to the distance between the countries, the Blackthorn children coming to live with Damien had never even come up in the discussion. Damien approached Tessa and Jem, carrying a large pile of books.
"We were surveying the Institute after the Dark War, trying to see exactly how much damage had been done, and whilst in some of the lesser used sitting rooms upstairs, we found these journals hidden behind a bookcase," Damien explained. "I'm surprised that you didn't have any in your possession yet, Ms Gray."
Intrigued, Tessa took one of the journals from the top of the pile and opened it. Despite the fact she had never seen the particular journal before; she recognised the handwriting in a heartbeat.
"Will wrote these." Tessa commented. She read the random entry she had opened to and realised it was Will's account of the day he had met Tessa. Will described Tessa as 'a peculiar mystery to be unravelled, wound in a rather beautiful shape'. In fact, reading what the Victorian Herondale had written in confidence made Tessa further appreciate the character of the man she had married all those years ago.
"I didn't even realise that Will kept a journal. So, it's no surprise to me that I didn't have such an item." Tessa explained to Damien, who nodded. Tessa turned to her fiancé.
"Did you know Will had a journal, Jem?" Tessa asked Will's ex-parabatai, who was more likely to know about the Herondale's habits and hobbies, more so than even Tessa who had married him. Jem simply shook his head.
"Whilst Will was very open in some aspects, he could be incredibly secretive in others." Jem commented. Tessa agreed with a nod.
Later, sitting in one of the London Institute's music room as she had so many times back when she was only starting in the Shadow World, Tessa began to read through Will's journals. Jem had also been in the music room, serenading Tessa with a violin he borrowed from the Institute's now extensive instrument collection, but had now walked to the kitchen to get some lunch for himself and his fiancé. Despite the fact that Jem was mostly adjusted to the modern era, he was still as much of a gentleman as he had been back when Tessa and he had first met. Reading through Will's entries into one of his secret journals, Tessa noticed that one of the entries suddenly cut off. Looking at the date, Tessa remembered a peculiar encounter she had had with Will around that time, and which she assumed was the very day that Will wrote the unfinished entry.
1898
Tessa Herondale, as she was known at that point in time, was pacing through the London Institute, looking for her husband and head of the Institute. There was to be an Enclave meeting within the hour, and Will had disappeared. Prominent Shadowhunters had started arriving, and Tessa believed that they should be greeted by the Institute head. Tessa looked through all the usual places, their shared bedroom, the children's bedrooms, and even the music room. Thankfully, as she checked in James and Lucie's rooms, neither one stirred. Tessa eventually found Will in one of the upstairs sitting rooms. As she walked into the doorway, the floorboards creaked. Will, who had previously been fervently writing something into a leather bound black book, jumped up and hid the quill and book away. Too preoccupied with the important Shadowhunters waiting downstairs, Tessa ignored the notebook for the time being.
"Tessa! You gave me a fright." Will commented, trying to avert attention from him hiding the notebook. It was then that noticed Tessa's cross/worried posture and expression and realised what he had forgotten.
"They've started arriving, I gather." Will remarked, to which Tessa replied with a curt nod.
"Gabriel and Cecily are keeping them at bay for now," Tessa explained, trying to sound annoyed that her husband had 'forgot'. "But they are waiting to talk to you. You are the Institute head, of course."
Will had a tendency to purposefully be late for Enclave meetings, mostly to see what would happen and much to the annoyance of his wife and the other inhabitants of the Institute, bar Cecily, who put it down to the Herondale personality, to which Gabriel would often jokingly reply 'what family are you from then?'. Whilst Tessa sounded calm, Will quickly realised that this was a cover for her scolding, in case any of the important Shadowhunters happened to be within earshot. Taking heed of the scolding he had received, Will stood and followed his wife downstairs to the waiting Enclave. The meeting wore on until late in the night and after it was finished, both Tess and Will were too tired to do anything other than walk to their bedroom and fall asleep. There was no mention of Will's notebook the following day, or week, and eventually, it faded in Tessa's memory.
2008
Tessa smirked at the memory and continued to read through the journal, enthralled by the detail about what the different Shadowhunters of the Institute got up to. A lot of what Will had written was focussed on Tessa, though a good portion was also about the children. Reading the journal brought up old memories which long ago faded back to the surface and reminded Tessa of her old life.
March, 2031
When Jem and Tessa had given Will one of the journals, the teenage Herondale looked at them with utter shock. A few weeks prior, Clary had contacted Jem and Tessa and told them that Will wanted to learn a bit more about the Herondale family, and had read the entire genealogy volume that Robert had been able to get loaned from Idris. Jem and Tessa chose the particular volume they had gifted to Will as it was a particularly eventful year and had good descriptions of the behaviours of the entire Herondale brood, including some (slightly biased) self-assessment by Will. Amongst the presents that Will had received, mostly weapons, the journal was definitely his favourite gift, and nobody else who had given the new 17 year old gifts felt the need to protest. Currently, Jem was retelling a few memories of Victorian London and the Shadowhunter life, to both Will and Cecily, who were intrigued to learn about their namesakes, even if said namesakes were siblings. Once their curiosities were satisfied, Will and Cecily thanked Jem, who then walked back to Tessa. Meanwhile, Charlie approached Cecily and Will. Jordan was in another room of the Institute, with Amatis. None of the three teenage Shadowhunters wanted to think about what Amatis and Jordan might be doing. So, instead, they turned their attention to how Charlie and Ros were doing, relationship wise. Charlie had got back a few days prior from visiting Paris for a fortnight, Her excuse for the visit was that she wanted to learn a bit more about how Shadowhunting was different in Europe, but everyone at the New York Institute new the true reasoning for the trip.
"So, how was Paris?" Cecily asked her parabatai, trying to be covert. Both Will and Cecily noticed Charlie flush slightly, probably realising the subtext of Cecily's question.
"Paris was good. It was busy, but nothing compared to here." Charlie commented, suppressing a particular memory. "The Arcargents and other Shadowhunters in the Institute were incredibly hospitable."
February, 2031
It was a few weeks prior. Ros was waiting in the entrance hall when Charlie suddenly popped into existence in the centre of the hall, having passed through a portal in New York. Ros ran to Charlie who was carrying a cargo bag and suitcase with all her clothes and items that she felt she needed for the next two weeks. Dropping her bag and suitcase, Charlie pulled her girlfriend into a warm embrace. Ros hugged back.
"How have you been?" Charlie asked Ros.
"I've been good, thank you." Ros responded, smiling at the blonde Herondale. Taking one of Charlie's bags, Ros showed her girlfriend up to the bedroom that had been prepared for her.
"Not that you need to sleep in this bed every night." Ros whispered to Charlie flirtatiously, making the American Shadowhunter flush. Ros kissed Charlie on the cheek then left, saying that she had a family matter to attend to. After unpacking her bags into the dressers provided, Charlie decided to wander around the Institute, to get an idea of what the place was like. Walking through one of the corridors, she was confronted by Helene, Ros' mother.
"Ah, Charlotte, It's nice to see you." Helene greeted the Herondale, giving a kind smile. "How are you settling in?"
"I'm settling in well, thank you, Madame Arcargent." Charlie commented. "Thank you so much for your hospitality."
"It's our privilege;" Helene assured Charlie. "It's not every day that Rosalie asks to have a friend stay with us."
"Speaking of which, where is Rosalie at the moment?" Charlie queried, curious about what her girlfriend was doing.
"I'm not sure." Helene replied. "She left the Institute wanting to do some shopping. She said she'd be home before too late."
Charlie nodded and thanked Helene, before continuing her wander through the Institute. She was in the library when Ros found her, looking through an original copy of 'The Three Musketeers'. Alexandre Dumas was a Shadowhunter, after all, and had based the characters of Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan off other Shadowhunters he knew. In the original Shadowhunter version, D'Artagnan was a recently Ascended Shadowhunter, whilst the other three were Shadowhunters in loco parentis for him. As Ros entered the library, Charlie looked up. Seeing her girlfriend, she bookmarked the point of the novel she had reached, put it down and stepped over to the French girl. The couple greeted each other with a hug and a kiss on each cheek, as per the French tradition/stereotype.
"Hi. I missed you today." Charlie commented, making Ros smile apologetically.
"Sorry. I just had a few errands I realised I had to run." Ros remarked. The pair walked over to one of the library's sofas and sat. Their hands intertwined, and Charlie lay her head on Ros' shoulder. The two stayed in comfortable silence for a few minutes, until Charlie's curiosity got the better of her.
"So, what were you out buying?" Charlie asked Ros, looking up at the dark haired girl, who looked back at the blonde with equal adoration. However, after Charlie asked the question, she noticed that Ros looked slightly nervous about her answer.
"It was a gift for you." Ros confessed "I was going to wait until the 'perfect moment' as you Americans put it, but as you asked so nicely..."
Ros trailed off as she stood.
"Wait here. I will be right back." Ros instructed Charlie, who nodded. Ros left the library and returned a few minutes later, holding the gift behind her back. She walked up to Charlie who still sat on the sofa.
"I know that usually the tradition is to give the family ring, but I wasn't sure whether I'd have the courage to tell my parents yet, but I also felt I needed to ask you. So, this is my compromise." Ros blurted.
"What tradition?" Charlie asked, though she was nearly completely sure about what Ros was talking about. It was at that moment that Ros revealed the gift. It was a beautiful necklace with a silver heart encrusted with various precious stones.
"Charlie, I want to marry you;" Ros confessed. "I don't just love you, I'm in love with you, and I want to spend every moment of every day by your side and for you to know how complete my love is."
By this point, Charlie was already in tears. After Ros had finished her proposal, Charlie kissed her. After they split for breath, Charlie became conscious that she hadn't responded verbally to Ros' proposal.
"Yes." Charlie said simply.
"Yes?" Ros queried, slightly confused.
"Yes, I will marry you. I love you with all my heart, my rose." Charlie remarked, trying out the new nickname. Ros seemed to like it as she grinned from ear to ear. Charlie allowed Ros to put the necklace on her before she kissed her new fiancé again.
March, 2031
Charlie's hand subconsciously went to the necklace that still hung around her neck as she remembered this, and retold some of the more innocuous events to Will and Cecily. She and Ros had agreed that they would tell their parents together, when the Arcargents visited again in slightly under 6 months. Before then, the pair would secretly try to make some arrangements, such as the when and where. At that moment, Clary entered the room, giving Charlie an excuse to finish her conversation with Cecily and Will before she accidentally revealed information about the proposal. Cecily and Will let her pass. Just as Charlie walked to talk to Clary about something or other, Amatis and Jordan entered the room, looking slightly flustered. Will whispered something into Charlie's ear that made her smirk as the two Shadowhunters walked over to the Shadowhunter and werewolf.
"So, what have you two been up to?" Cecily asked her younger brother, making said brother blush bright red. Both Amatis and Jordan adjusted their clothing without quite realising that they were doing it.
"Nothing." Both blurted simultaneously, only embarrassing themselves more.
"Hey, it's none of our business." Will commented, reassuring the couple, and scolding Cecily slightly. "What you get up to in private is down to you, and should stay private. However, I would work on making sure that you have an alibi, or you're not gone long enough to require an alibi."
Whilst Will was trying to be reassuring, all this achieved was to slightly lessen Amatis' and Jordan's embarrassment by a single notch. The four continued to chat, and eventually Amatis and Jordan's awkwardness and embarrassment faded away. An hour or so passed, and the Garroways decided to head home. Jem and Tessa had already left, as well, having a 'special appointment' with a doctor. Will, who had been by Cecily's side pretty much all day, told the Lovelace that he quickly needed to do something and to meet him in the greenhouse that evening. Cecily nodded, and Will moved off, going to get something from his room. Cecily talked with Jordan and Cecily, who both also seemed to be hiding secrets. Jordan was keeping what he and Amatis got up to, whilst Cecily could tell that Charlie hadn't said about everything that happened in Paris. However, as much as she wanted to know the whole truth, Cecily respected that the pair didn't want everything they did out in the open all the time. She agreed with this, having had such events in her own life. The trio continued to chat into the evening, when Cecily stood and walked to the greenhouse for her meeting with Will.
A/N: Hi! Sorry if that ending sucked, but I couldn't think of anything better, which would leave some content for the next chapter. This is the longest chapter in the story, so far, so well done for slogging through it. Anyway, please remember to review. After this marathon chapter, the next may seem insufficient, but I'll try my hardest to make it worthwhile. And, as always,
Keep on Reading
-ToAC
