Chapter Eight

A/N: Thank you to Genius-626 for reviewing the last chapter, it means a lot to me!

Magnus descended the stairs at twilight, flexing his fingers to ease the magic crackle still sparking in them. He had barely reached the bottom step before Luke had reached him, his speed instinctively lupine, as if he sensed the significance of the warlock's news. Clary took only a second more to arrive, her panic causing her to trip over her feet in haste.

"How is she?" Clary asked, as Luke near barked "Is she going to be alright?"

"There's nothing seriously wrong with her." Magnus began, knowing the disclaimer would soothe both father and daughter's nerves. "She needs some rest, possibly a few bowls of chicken broth, but she'll be right as rain before long."

Clary breathed a heavy smile of relief, her beaming smile making her emerald eyes twinkle brighter. Luke, however, was not so easily convinced, his finely tuned instincts telling him that the whole story would not be so positive.

"So… do you know why she went to the lake?" Luke asked, the business-like tone of his voice disguising his fear of the answer. "I mean, she left in the middle of the night, didn't say anything to anyone. She must have had a reason."

"Jocelyn said she'd had a… bad dream." Magnus seemed hesitant as he answered, twiddling his thumbs; the warlock always fidgeted when he was nervous, although he didn't seem to be aware that this wasn't as much of a secret as he would have thought. "She said she just needed to get away for a little bit, to get some air, clear her head."

"Then how'd she end up unconscious by Lake Lyn?" Clary pointed out. Magnus shrugged his shoulders, struggling against the shoulder pads of his jacket.

"She doesn't remember." Magnus explained. "All she remembers is leaving the house, then waking up here again. Until she saw me she wasn't even sure she'd left at all."

Clary and Luke shared a glance, the confusion as clear in their faces as the fear in their eyes. Luke was the one to speak. "Could she have just hit her head? Or was this something else?"

"It's very possible that she just hit her head; it would explain a lot." Magnus' voice was encouraging, although it held a slight waver of doubt that Clary tried her best to ignore. "We'll just have to wait and see."

"Thanks, Magnus." Clary sighed, placing an appreciative hand on his arm. She was truly grateful for all the warlock had done for them all, especially for her mother. She just wished she could see him a little more often without disaster having to strike to accomplish it.

"It's quite alright, biscuit." the warlock replied, flashing her a dazzling smile. He then turned to Luke, his smile fading only a little. "Luke, I think you ought to go and see Jocelyn for a moment. She had something she wanted to talk to you about."

Luke blinked a couple of times, as if the instruction had been muffled by his own thoughts, before he complied, running for the staircase and taking the steps two at a time, struggling not to trip over his own feet in his haste.

He slowed down by the time he reached the bedroom door, knocking quietly and gently pushing it open. His wife was sat upright against the pillows, a haunted look visible in her eyes even from this angle. She quickly disguised the expression with a dazzling smile, but Luke had already seen it; he was used to Jocelyn covering up her fears to spare others' worry, just as he was used to noticing her fears before she had a chance to do so.

"How're you doing?" he asked, settling down on the edge of the bed and swinging his legs up to sit beside her. She smiled at the old familiar gesture, leaning her head onto his shoulder as his arm wrapped around hers.

"I've got a bit of a headache, but nothing really worse than that." she responded. It did not fill Luke with the confidence it probably should have done; true, Jocelyn seemed fine, but then again, would she really tell him if she was not? He liked to think the answer was yes, but he could never be absolutely sure.

"Magnus told me you didn't remember much." Luke began cautiously, not wanting to upset her if she did not want to talk about the previous night, but unable to entirely leave the subject alone. "He said you might have hit your head, which would explain the headache I suppose."

"Yeah." The word was not as dismissive as Luke had expected, more resigned than argumentative. She opened her mouth again, as if she were going to continue, but thought better of it. Her husband gently nudged her shoulder, another of his age-old tricks to cheer her up. This one seemed a little more successful, the sparkle returning to her eyes as she turned to face him.

"Luke, I've got something to tell you." She must have seen the expression of pure panic appearing on his face because she quickly continued. "No, don't worry, it's nothing bad. At least, I don't think it is, and I don't think you will either. I hope you won't, anyway."

"What is it?" True, the panic had dissipated somewhat, but Jocelyn was always one to downplay her own problems, making him doubt the magnitude of what she was about to tell him was as small as she was implying.

"Well, Magnus was examining me, just the usual magic, and he found something." Jocelyn reached for his hand, clasping his fingers in her own and stroking her thumb across them. "I hadn't thought about it- I don't think I even realised it was possible- but it all makes sense now."

"Joce, honey, you're making a lot less sense than you probably think you do." Luke pointed out, to which the woman laughed more brightly than he imagined she had done since the Dark War. It had been a long time since he had seen her this happy. Years and years.

"Okay, subtlety isn't working, so I'll just come out and say it." she stated, looking her husband in the eye. She slowly moved their hands, still clasped together, to rest over her stomach, the slight magical tremor from within only noticeable now that she knew the extent of its meaning. Luke's eyes glossed over with unshed tears as he realised the words before she even spoke them. "Luke, we're having a baby."

A/N: Who was expecting that? Possibly everyone but oh well! Please review!