Disclaimer: Cassandra Claire owns all, except for the kids!

Chapter 12

Lies:

*Clary POV*

"Clary," Lucille said as she plopped down next to me on the couch, two mugs in hand, "here." She handed me a mug of coffee before sipping at her hot tea. She laid her head back, her long pale blonde hair falling back, as she rested her mug atop her protruding belly. "Have you and Alec decided on any names?" I asked, she was almost seven months pregnant by now. Her face brightened at that and her pale blue eyes sparkled as she quickly sat up, her hair falling into her face. "Yes!" She said gleefully, "Alec and I were just talking about this a couple weeks ago. We want to stick with 'H' names, so I came up with Hayden Ross Bane and Hartley James Bane. Alec says he likes Hale Dawson Bane. I don't know, they're all just so hard to choose from!" She squealed.

"Mommy!" Hadley whined as she and Ethan stood in front of us, they seemed to have just appeared out of no where. ""Hmm," Lucille hummed as she turned her gaze onto her daughter. Hadley is a five year old girl who says whatever comes to mind and is never afraid to do anything. Hadley has her mother's slender frame and her father's height, and she has long, straight black that reaches her waist. She has her father's deep blue eyes and porcelain skin. "I don't want a little brother," she tapped her foot on the ground as she whined, "I want a little sister like Lil!"

"But Hadley, honey, you're going to have a little brother," Lucille smiled as she scooted toward Hadley. "But Mommy," she cried before grabbing Ethan's hand and running out of the room. Ethan followed, waving before he rounded the corner. "She's been doing this ever since we found out the gender," Lucille sighed, leaning back on the couch and taking a long swig of her tea, "I'm starting to think we should have just waited."

"Lucille," I said as I rubbed her shoulder, "Hadley will warm up to him soon, I promise. When Lillian came, Noah absolutely hosted all the attention she got. He didn't want anything to do with her, and then one night I caught him in her room. Lil had trouble sleeping through the night, so Noah was singing to her and and rocking her in her crib." I smiled, just remembering all those times he denied liking her, and yet he was always there to comfort her. "Don't worry Lucille, really," I smiled at her.

"I'm home!" A voice called from the front door, and soon Alec's dark head peeked peaked around the corner, followed by Jace's golden head. "Daddy!" I heard Hadley yell, followed by the thuds of her running feet, and then she flung herself at Alec. "Hey, Haddie!" Alec laughed as he lifted her up in his arms. Soon after Ethan and Noah came down stairs, and after spotting Jace, they were on him within seconds. "Dad!" Noah and Ethan yelled as they hugged Jace's sides. "How was the first day of school?" He questioned as he knelt down to their eye level, "Did you have fun?" "Yeah!" They yelled in unison.

*Jace POV*

"How did work go you two?" Lucille asked both Alec and me. 'Oh no, did they find out?' I thought to myself as I stumbled for a reply. Alec and I had been working at the same school, just in different grades, but after Valentine asked us to join the Circle full time we had to quit. We needed to work even harder now that the Clave is taking violent measures. I mean just look at Magnus, the Angel knows no one deserves that, especially not someone like Magnus. It was hard to do, missing my job every single day, but what I do to replace that is worth it, or at least will be worth it. Valentine managed to work out payment options for those of us who train the Circle members, which also helped with quitting my job. Alec teaches archery and sometimes firearms, while I teach hand to hand combat and weaponry. But the worst part of all this isn't the long, hard, and painful hours, or missing my job, which not too long ago I would have never even imagined doing, it was all the lies. I absolutely hated lying to Clary.

"Eh," Alec said as he made a so-so motion with his hand, "How about you Luc?" Alec walked over to Lucille, his face just lighting up as he took her in. He bent over, placing s kiss on her forehead and then her bulging belly. "Well, I napped, looked through paints for the nursery, and… you know what my day was boring," Lucille laughed as she rubbed her belly. It didn't look as if she was even aware she was doing it. "Oh, yeah, Clary, that's what I forgot to ask you," Lucille gasped, her mouth forming a round 'O', "Do you think you could paint the nursery, we were thinking a mural of sorts." "Oh course!" Clary exclaimed, "I've been wanting to do more baby things! Oh its been a couple years since I've got to do this! Just let me know when, okay?" "Okay! Thank you," Lucille laughed as the two hugged.

'Oh no, oh no, oh no,' I repeated over and over in my head. I felt dizzy just thinking about it. Another child, now? There is no way, no chance. I'm sorry Clary, but now is just not a good time for babies. I'm worried enough as it is when all my children and my wife are capable to leave at a moment's notice, but if Clary were to be pregnant… well that would be a different story.

*a couple hours later, at home*

"G'night Ethan," I whispered as I placed a kiss on his forehead, his eyes were already closed and his breaths were shallower. "Goodnight Noah," I whispered as I ruffled his hair. "Night Dad," was his groggy reply. I quietly left the room before heading into my own. I was in the middle of undressing when Clary walked in, pulling her curly, red hair up. A smile found it way on my mouth when I thought of the first time we had found ourselves in a situation like this. Clary had freaked out, and we both ended up getting hurt in the process. She has matured since then, and I'm not sure whether or not I like the new Clary, or miss the old one.

She had been so fresh, new, and clueless. We had to learn everything together, find out all the rights, even if it meant doing it wrong the first time. We had to go through so much and have shared so much. I hadn't thought it was possible to know so much about one person, and to be able to share everything with them. And now its like she can tell what mood I'm in, or what I'm thinking just with one glance. I guess we both grew, didn't we?

"What?" Clary asked as she crawled into bed. "What do you mean 'what?'" I replied after pulling my shirt over my head and then my pants. "You're staring," she answered. "Was I?" I laughed as I climbed into bed next to her. "Yes, yes you were," Clary sighed as she nuzzled into my side. "Hmm," I said, wrapping my arm around her and pulled her closer, "Now why would I be doing that?" I fiddled with a curl in her hair. Clary just hummed, tracing patterns on my chest with the tips of her fingers.

It was moments like this that made me feel even more guilty for all the lies. They just keep piling up, and its starting to be too much. "Clary," I whispered, still playing with her hair. "Hmm," she mumbled in and out of sleep. "You know I would do anything for you right? That I would do whatever it takes to keep you, Ethan, Noah, and Lillian safe?" I questioned. I could feel her head nod slightly and her hand started to slow until it just rested atop my chest. "I love you Clary," I whispered, "and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Clary had fallen asleep before I had finished what I wanted to say, but it was still a relief to have spoken it aloud to her. I don't need her to reply, I don't need her to know, or truly understand. This right here is enough for now, but someday soon it'll have to come out, I just pray it'll be soon.

Author's Note:

Hey guys! So iI apologize about this being a kinda boring chapter but there sshouldn't be too much longer till a lot. Also, would you guys mind if I have a POV for Magnus? I know I added Jonathan already, and I hope that change didn't confuse anyone but there will be times when what Clary and Jace are doing aren't as interesting. So if there are any complaints let me know or I will most likely be writing the next chapter from Jonathan and Magnus's POV. Welp, that's it for now so I guess this is bye! Love you guys and thank you so much for reading!

-Haybell