Author's Note: Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews. To my anonymous reviewer, I am just happy you come back to read. I hope everyone is enjoying this. As always, thanks for reading. Enjoy this chapter. I thought up a certain scene for it and giggled immaturely the entire day. I hope you enjoy everything. Please review!

Chapter 16

Will walked into the Institute and closed the door against the gale force winds. He took the steps two by two and arrived on the second floor just as Henry walked out of the Infirmary with Consul Wayland. Will opened his mouth to say something but found his words suddenly missing from his mind. Henry hurried down to him.

"Just after we left Magnus's house, three men on horseback galloped up beside the carriage. Our horses got spooked and took off…" Henry began. Will could imagine the scene. It had started snowing not long before Magnus had come upstairs. The temperature had dropped, and everything that had melted would have frozen, making the roads treacherous. "We slid off the road, into a ditch. I broke my arm. Tessa is bruised and shaken-"

"Sophie," Will said.

"She's resting," Henry said. His eyes shifted to the right. He was lying.

"Sophie!" Will exclaimed. "Sophie!" Will's eyes welled up with fresh tears and he looked around. "Sophie. SOPHIE!"

He hadn't had to care about Sophie before now. Sophie had given the impression she could take care of herself. Even when Sophie handed down her ultimatums to Will, he had been frightened of her and all she had the potential to do. Now, she was somewhere in the Institute, no doubt hurt. Jem would have wanted Will to protect Sophie, and he had not. Will was supposed to protect humans like Sophie from the dangers of the Shadow world. He had failed Sophie in the same way he had failed Tessa.

"Sophie," Will said. "I need to see her. Now." Henry took Will by the arm and pulled him upstairs. They went to Sophie's room and pushed open the door.

The room was lit dimly with candlelight. Charlotte was beside the bed, her right hand resting on Sophie's stomach. Tessa stood on the other side of the bed, tending to a cut on Sophie's forehead. Sophie lay in the bed between them, bloody, bruised, and unconscious. Will staggered across the room and fell to his knees beside Charlotte. A strangled cry came from his lips.

"Charlie!" The hysterical tears started then, Will was aware of making a spectacle of himself, but his thoughts were instead on Sophie and the baby in her stomach. "How is she? What happened? Oh, Angel, is he… is the baby dead?"

Tessa walked around the bed and knelt beside Will. She put an arm around him and Will moved close to her, letting her hold him tightly. Tessa took away some of the sorrow Will was feeling, in the way she always did. It felt good to be this close to her in such an awful moment of time. If Will was to be given bad news, he wanted to hear it in Tessa's arms.

Tessa moved her head close to Will's and whispered in his ear, "Sophie took a bad bump to the head. She's unconscious. The Silent Brothers are on their way to see if they can do anything for her." Will nodded and dug his fingers into Tessa's back. He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. "Charlie was moving around before the accident. It's been about two hours since he last moved." Will moaned.

"He's gone. He has to be. Just tell me he is," Will whispered.

"His mother was in a carriage accident. She's unconscious. He might just be in shock," Charlotte said. "Her body was made to protect him, Will." Will envisioned the blankets he had burrowed in this morning and thought about how little protection muscle and skin could provide to a tiny baby. He thought about Tessa's arms around his body. Even she couldn't protect him from the worst hells this life had to offer.

"Charlotte, please leave," Will said. "Tessa, I need you to stay." Charlotte stood up and left the room silently. Will kicked off his shoes and crawled into bed beside Sophie. Tessa nodded and climbed in as well, lying on the side opposite Will. They moved their hands beneath the blankets and rested them on Sophie's stomach, so that if Charlie moved, one of them would be the first to feel it. Will rested his head on the pillow, and drifted to sleep.

Hours later, Will awoke when Tessa sat up in bed. There was a candle nearly extinguished on the table. Tessa's mouth fell open. She didn't say a word; she just grabbed Will's hand and moved it over to a place on Sophie's stomach where a tiny foot insistently tapped from the inside. Will let out a breath and lay back down. He laced his fingers with Tessa's and cried himself to sleep with measured relief.

Early the next morning Will woke up to find Tessa already tending to Sophie. The cut on her head had reopened during the night, so Tessa had cleaned the blood out of it and was now wrapping Sophie's head in gauze.

"Breakfast was hours ago but I thought you might need your sleep," Tessa said. Will moved his hand beneath the covers and felt Charlie kicking. Sophie once reported that he was most active when she was trying to sleep.

"You need your rest as well," Will said.

"Who do you think is going to sit at her bedside?" Tessa asked.

Will looked down at Sophie. Twelve hours before this moment, she was standing less than a foot from him, making demands. Now, she was unconscious in bed. If she had been a Shadowhunter, she could have had runes applied to help her heal. There were other runes that would have helped to protect the baby, but Sophie was only a mundane. She hadn't been made for the world Will lived in. She was just lucky, or unlucky enough to see it.

"Tessa," Will whispered, his voice cracking, "Tess, what if she dies?"

"She just hit her head," Tessa said. Will took Sophie's hand and held it to his cheek. He couldn't define what he was feeling but knew that if Sophie died, and if Charlie went with her, life wouldn't be worth living. He hated pinning his hopes and dreams onto the life of an unborn child. At the same time, he knew that this child would remind him of fond memories shared with Jem, and one day, Will could tell Charlie those memories. If Charlie died, everything good in the world in both the past and present would disappear forever. "She's going to be fine, Will, and so will Charlie. She just needs her rest. I'll be here for her. So will you. Everything is going to be alright." Will shook his head. Nothing would be right again.

Tessa finished wrapping Sophie's head and moved on to propping her up on some pillows. She tried forcing Will from the room to get some breakfast but Will wasn't ready to go, just yet.

"You're such a good nurse," Will said. Tessa was moistening Sophie's lips with a damp cloth.

"I'm just good at putting people back together," Tessa replied. "Nate always used to go out and get in fights. My aunt and I always had to patch him up. Come hell or high water, he would be back out the next night, looking for more trouble. We would patch him up again. At least this will only happen once to Sophie."

"Angel willing," Will murmured. He looked down at the tiny hand in his, then back up at Tessa.

Tessa would make a good mother, Will thought. She cared about people who did nothing to deserve her care. She would love anyone until they gave her a reason to feel otherwise. Will had seen something romantic develop between Jem and Tessa. When Jem chose Sophie instead, Tessa hadn't walked away from him. She had encouraged he and Sophie's relationship, no matter how small or short lived it was. Now, Sophie was pregnant with Jem's child, and Tessa was at her side. Even Will had hurt Tessa time and time again, yet she was there for him whenever he needed her. Tessa loved unconditionally, the way a mother should.

"Your stomach is grumbling," Tessa said. She even cared that Will was properly fed. "Go get some breakfast. Take a hot bath. Shave. I'll let you sit in here all day if you want, but I won't let you starve while doing so. Go, now. I'll be here when you get back."

Will did go downstairs, where he pilfered the ice box and came up with leftovers from dinner the night before. He fed himself to full on chicken and peas then went back upstairs, where he poured a glass of brandy from a dwindling bottle which had belonged to Jem. Will ran a hot bath and slipped beneath the water.

When he felt warm inside and out, Will climbed from the bathtub, dried off, and set to work shaving the two day old beard which had appeared on his jaw line. The night before, Will noticed Magnus looking unshaven. They were lazy together as lovers. Magnus took care with his appearance. It had been nice to see him more relaxed than usual. They were comfortable together, after months of discomfort. Now, Magnus was gone. Will was alone.

"Do you ever cut yourself?" Tessa asked. Will gasped and staggered two feet to the left, slicing his neck in the process. Will dropped the razor and pressed his hand to the side of his neck, where blood gushed freely. Tessa was standing beside the bathroom sink, having appeared out of nowhere. She looked down the height of Will's lean body and turned her head. "Does it get any bigger?"

Will shrieked and grabbed a washcloth to cover himself. The wash cloth covered him, just barely. He could have been wearing a three piece suit under a wool coat and still felt exposed.

"It gets much bigger!" Will snapped.

Tessa giggled. "But it's so tiny," she said.

Will's face burned. Tessa was completely dressed in a dress with pants underneath for added warmth. Will had only the wash cloth, nothing more. His towel was across the room on the side of the bathtub. He didn't want to ask why Tessa was in his bathroom, or why she found it acceptable to look at his naked body. She was still looking. She didn't dare bother to care about his modesty. Now, she was asking about...

"It's cold!" Will cried. He adjusted the washcloth, bent over, crossing his legs, and kept pressure on his bleeding neck.

"I bet that's what you tell all the girls," Tessa said, rolling her eyes. "It's perfectly fine, Will. You always strut around like your cock is leading the way. Nice to see… that's… just not possible!" Tessa covered her mouth as she giggled shamelessly. Will moved the washcloth and saw blood drip onto the floor. "You do have the birthmark Magnus told me about!" Tessa poked Will on his lower back, just over the star shaped scar. Will screeched and stepped away from her, dangerously close to exposing himself again.

"How can you be here!" Will cried. "Tess!"

"Everyone else has seen your naked body, why can't I?" Tessa asked. "Forgive me for wanting to see what the great Will Herondale has to offer!" Will considered crying from embarrassment.

"Get me my stele and my dressing gown," Will said. "They're in the bedroom. Now, please, Tessa?"

"As you wish, Master Herondale," Tessa said. She skipped into the room and returned a moment later with his dressing gown and stele. Will drew a haphazard healing rune on his neck, and then reached for the dressing gown. Tessa stood close by, her eyes looking over his body. What she was doing was horribly embarrassing. She certainly wasn't turning away. They would never have sex together, Will knew this. Tessa wouldn't tell anyone about this encounter either. It was like the conversation they had shared in the drawing room. Their secret to keep.

Tessa turned her head. Will summoned the nerve to drop the washcloth.

"What's this rune for?" Tessa demanded. She stabbed Will in the hip with a finger and made no secret about ogling his body.

"Stamina!" Will exclaimed. His voice cracked, which humiliated him further. "Tessa-fucking-Gray stop touching me!" Tessa cackled and wiggled her fingers close to Will's waist.

"Strategically placed," Tessa said. She gave Will's body another leering once over as he hastily covered himself in the dressing gown.

"Why are you here?" Will asked quietly. "You shouldn't be here, in my quarters… I'm nude, Tessa."

"And tiny."

"Average." Tessa snorted. "Why are you here, Tessa? I thought you were staying with Sophie until I returned." Will said.

"Charlotte is in with her now," Tessa said. She hopped up onto the sink and watched as Will resumed shaving. His heart was pounding. He tried to forget the humiliation but wouldn't for some time. "I wanted to know where Magnus is. He's your lover. He should be here in your difficult time. You need someone for you."

Will stopped shaving and looked at Tessa. She wasn't accusing him of anything, the way Sophie had with Jem and Magnus. She wasn't attacking him or demanding reasons why. She was merely stating fact.

"How do you know he's my lover?" Will asked.

"Earlier, yesterday. When you walked into the room, he looked at you, and I looked at him," Tessa said. "He stops breathing when you walk into the room, you should know. He starts breathing, of course. But he stops. Like you're more important to him than breathing. He's obviously in love with you, so I have to think, the feeling is either mutual, making you lovers, or you have a warlock who would give the moon and stars to be with you." Will thought of the ring Magnus had given him that was covered with tiny ruby stars.

"We've parted company," Will said.

"Do you love him?" Tessa asked.

"I never stopped," Will said. "It's just better that I be with Sophie. She's having a baby, she needs a husband…"

"Better for who? Sophie? She wants a husband, Will. She doesn't want you to be her husband," Tessa said. "If she wants a father for her child, you will be a father to Charlie. She doesn't need a husband. There are enough of us here at the Institute, Will. Charlie isn't going to go without anything. He'll have more than enough love and attention."

"That's at the Institute," Will mumbled. "I didn't want to live at the Institute." Tessa folded her arms. Will looked in the mirror and continued to shave. "Magnus asked me to move in with him. I can bring Charlie and Sophie. Sophie doesn't want to go. My place is here at the Institute."

"Your place is where you're happiest!" Tessa exclaimed. "You need to be with Magnus, Will. You love each other. It doesn't matter why or how, you just do. We'll figure things out. Magnus can give you a lifetime of love. Never mind he'll always be there for Charlie."

"I can't be with him," Will said. "To much has happened between us. He's taken me back countless times. It's never going to work."

"You won't know that until you try again, and again," Tessa said. "You need to take a chance on love and happiness, Will. Do you love him?"

Will felt his eyes get hot with tears as he looked down at his bloody hands.

"I never stopped," Will said. "Anyway. Anyhow. Anywhere. I'll love him, until death."

"That's what I thought," Tessa said, and left the room.

Will spent the afternoon in Sophie's room before he grew tired of watching her sleep. He left her under Tessa's watchful eye. Will considered going to his room to nap, but something pulled him to Jem's room. He went in to find the bed made. Sophie would sleep in the room after Charlie arrived, or, perhaps, Will would. He couldn't imagine sharing a bed with her.

In the corner, a crib was already set up. A mobile dangled over it, decorated with metal cut outs of protective runes. Since babies couldn't have runes placed on their bodies, every precaution was taken to protect them.

Next to the crib, several boxes were partially opened. Will walked over and opened one to find it full of clothing. There were tiny blue pajama sets, plenty of little white undershirts, and an abundance of hats and socks. Everything was small. Charlie couldn't possibly fit into everything. There was no note, meaning that someone had left this gift anonymously, though Will had an idea who had passed on their newborn sized baby clothes.

Will heard the sound of something rattling. he thought it might be the box and moved it to find the source of the noise. A moment later, Will heard it again. He turned his head and saw Magnus standing at the doorway, holding something silver in his hand. As Will watched, Magnus lifted his hand and shook it to create the noise.

"It's called a rattle," Magnus said. "I guess mundane babies love them. I thought Charlie might as well."

"Cecily had one," Will said. He climbed slowly to his feet and walked over. "Are you really here?"

"Where else would I be?" Magnus asked. Will looked up into Magnus's green eyes and pondered the thought. Magnus could have gone anywhere, and yet he was standing in the London Institute holding a mundane baby rattle.

"How did you know I wanted you come back? How did you know that…? I would accept you back?" Will whispered.

"Tessa summoned me and told me to come back," Magnus said. "She said you never stopped loving me." Will nodded, slightly dumbfounded. He stepped forward and seized Magnus by the arms, feeling warm skin and bones under his hands. Will pressed his body close to Magnus's chest. Magnus put his arms around Will and held him close, resting his hands on Will's waist. "As for you wanting me to come back, I told you I would be here for you. Even when you begged me to leave. Even when you made it clear that you wanted me to be gone. I would always be here for you. Anyhow. Anyway. Anywhere."

"I didn't think you would take it seriously," Will said. He looked down to see Magnus still wearing the ring he had given to Will.

"I do," Magnus said. "I take everything about us seriously. Just do me one favor." Will looked up. "The next time you try to break up with me, be a bit less dramatic. I almost believed you this time." Magnus lifted Will's hand and slid the ring back onto his finger.

"I'll do my best," Will said. He closed his eyes, kissed Magnus, and let himself take a chance.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this! Please let me know what you think. I couldn't really do a teaser because the next chapter isn't written, but here is a tiny summary:

Chapter 17: In which Will acquires something we never thought he would, and a baby shows up.