Chapter Twelve

A/N: Thank you to Veridissima for reviewing the last chapter.

As her stomach swelled and the baby began to move, Jocelyn could not have been more thankful for her husband's intervention. True, she was still terrified about the outcome of Valentine's experiment, but if it had not been for him, she might have destroyed the child she had come to love so much.

She was not the only one who had come to love the baby. Every trip she took to New York, Clary returned with another armful of baby clothes, even sketching designs herself onto plain white sleepsuits. Jocelyn winced every time she opened the cupboards, seeing the colossal piles of clothes leaning towards her, but she did not begrudge Clary the gesture. The girl had always wanted to be a big sister and after all they had been through, it was a relief to see her happy.

"Do you want a cup of lemon?" Luke called from the kitchen. The smell of coffee teased her nostrils, just another thing she longed to still have.

"Thanks, Luke." she called in response, smiling gratefully as her husband brought a steaming mug from the kitchen, placing it down on the coffee table and settling down on the couch beside her, resting his palm gently over her stomach. It was a familiar routine for her by now- Luke would stop what he was doing at any moment simply to fawn over her and their baby- but Jocelyn still found it gave her the same rush of adoration it had done the first time.

"I'm so excited." Luke told her, smiling down at the bump protruding beneath her heavy cardigan. "I just can't wait to meet this little one."

"I feel exactly the same," Jocelyn agreed. "Though probably not for the same reasons. I'm just excited to get my body back. It's been so long, I've forgotten how much strain it is being pregnant."

"Well, it's only a couple of months more." Luke reasoned. "And then think of the pay-off."

"It's easy for you to say." Jocelyn teased, smiling. "You don't have to do the work to get it."

"Well, you know I would if I could." From many men those words would be empty comforts, but not from Luke. He had proved countless times that he would move heaven and earth if that was what it took to keep his wife and children safe.

It was almost as if the baby had overheard their conversation, for they landed a swift kick to the hands laid across Jocelyn's womb, as if approving their father's offer. The two laughed, bringing their hands closer together.

"Something tells me Clary is going to seem like a piece of cake after this one." Luke chuckled. Jocelyn might have laughed as well, had she not been so suddenly caught up in her memories.

The night Clary was born had been the most frightening of her life. All alone in a strange city filled with bright lights and countless people, Jocelyn had no one to turn to for help. The Downworlders would never support Valentine's wife- she could not find the courage to ask so soon after the Uprising regardless- and if anything went wrong at a mundane hospital, her blood would have her locked away for experiments within an hour. The only friend she had in the world was Luke… and she had left him. With no one else to turn to, there was no option but to be alone.

It was not the pain she had feared the most. Jocelyn had endured childbirth once before, and the only acceptable pain relief in the strict warrior's culture of Idris was that of her mother's hand squeezed in her own. It was the knowledge that, even once her baby was born, she might still be alone. Even worse, that she would be faced with another monster like Jonathan.

Clary's tiny green eyes were the most beautiful thing her mother had ever seen. They were the thing that made it all worthwhile.

"What if there is something wrong with the baby?" The question had been burning inside of her, searing a path through her heart. She had tried to keep it quiet for so long, not wanting to mar everyone else's happiness, but she could not hold it in any longer. The very idea was tearing her apart.

Luke looked up at her, his eyes knowing. He had always known when something was wrong with her, and he always waited until she was ready to tell it to him. Sometimes it was days, sometimes weeks. Some secrets she still had not told.

"No matter what that experiment did, Jocelyn, that baby is ours." Luke's voice was just as emphatic as when he spoke up to the Clave, trying to protect the interests of his old pack and his family. "We are going to raise them and we are going to love them, just like we would have done if he had never interfered."

"I should never have let him near me." Jocelyn whispered, her eyes glassy. She had moments, every so often, where she was just that innocent teenager again, too trusting to ever expect she could be used the way she was. "After everything he did to me, everything he did to my children, I should have tried harder. I should have known."

"No, you shouldn't." Luke assured her, placing his palms on his wife's cheeks. Their baby lay between them, a comforting reminder of the way things were different this time. "You shouldn't live your life expecting to be hurt, Joss, just because it's what happened in the past. This baby isn't Clary, but they aren't Jonathan either. They are a completely different person, a perfect mix of you and me. And I'm going to be here for you every step of the way."

Jocelyn smiled, wrapping her arms around her husband's waist and resting her head on his shoulder. The fears still bubbled beneath the surface, just as they did every waking moment, but they were quieter now, as if someone had dialled down the volume of the radio. For now, it was simply the two of them.

Clearly irritated at having been ignored, the baby landed a sharp kick to their mother's gut, causing both Luke and Jocelyn to wince in pain. The pain lasted only a moment though, before the two of them chuckled in unison. Alright, so they were not entirely alone. They had Clary, their doting daughter, and a wide group of friends who they would give their lives for and who would do the same in return. Most of all, they had a beacon of hope, drifting into slumber beneath their mother's heartbeat.

Perhaps the future would not be so dark after all.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm afraid it won't be this happy for long. Please review!