Authors Note:
It's been so long, but I just didn't know where I was planning on going with this, but alas! And idea hit me last night, and this was the result! I hope you enjoy it because I think this chapter is really sweet, and different! Let me know what you think, and leave a review! :)
Chapter Forty Two
Time Jump – Two Months Later
Clary POV:
We were well into the fall session, and I was still getting used to everything. I know I didn't see my mom all that often, but it was still weird to know that I wasn't going to be getting a phone call every now and than from her. Thankfully Sammi had been doing such a great job with the administrative part, that I didn't need to dive back into work as soon as I got back, and I was taking full advantage of that.
Since it is the fall, Karina started school again, and since I wasn't swamped with work, I decided that I was going to take her and PJ today. It was weird, because I haven't had to drive Karina to school since preschool, but I was looking forward to it and spending a little extra time with them in the morning. When I pulled up in front of the school I put the car in park and looked back at the kids.
"Have a good day you two. I'll be here at the end of the day to pick you up." I said and they nodded. "I love you both."
"I love you too mom." Karina said and I smiled.
"I love you too Nanna." PJ said and I smiled. They both got out of the car and I watched them walk into the school. I put the car in drive and made my way home. When I got into the house I went straight to the kitchen, and started to clean and figure out what I was going to make Jace and I for lunch. I was standing at the sink when I felt hands snake around my waist. I turned around and there was Jace smiling at me with that gorgeous smile.
"I love you." He said and I couldn't help but smile.
"I love you too." I said and he pressed his lips to mine. I was still upset about losing my mom, but I had such a wonderful support system, that I knew I was going to be okay.
Karina POV:
I walked into school, and PJ and I went our separate ways. I walked up to the middle school hallway and got to my locker and started putting my backpack away when I heard someone start talking.
"How was your summer Karina?" Pamela said and I wanted to roll my eyes. I didn't like her, and she didn't like me, so I don't know why she was asking about my summer.
"It wasn't the best, but it was okay." I said. "It's been like a month since school started, why are you just asking thins now?" I asked
"What did you do?" She asked. Completely ignoring what I just asked.
"I spent the summer with my sick grandmother in America." I said and she looked surprised, and it was funny to see the shocked expression on her face.
"Oh. That sucks. Is she okay?" Pamela asked.
"No. She died." I said.
"That's terrible." She said.
"She was sick, and in pain. It was hard, especially seeing how upset my mom was, but I'm glad she isn't suffering anymore." I said and she nodded.
"So, I came over here to see if you wanted to have a sleepover with me and my friends." She said and that really threw me off.
"Why?" I asked. "You don't like me."
"That's not true K." She said.
"Don't call me that." I said. "Only my friends can call me that."
"But we are friends." She said and I laughed.
"No we aren't." I said. "Why would you want me to come to your sleepover in the first place?" I asked.
"Well, I was wondering if we could have the sleepover at your place, since nobody has ever seen it." She said, and now I understood her underlying reason for talking to me.
"We can't. It's the fall session." I said as I finally closed my locker.
"That doesn't really seem like a fair reason." Pamela said and I noticed that a lot more of her friends were making their way over to where we were standing.
"Do you even know what my parents do for a living?" I asked and she just stood there. "They run an Olympic Training Facility all year round. There are upwards for 100 kids at my house all year round. So sorry that I don't invite anyone over when my parents are running a business."
"Ashamed you aren't as good as your family?" Randy jumped in with that stupid smirk he always had. "How does it feel to be the black sheep of the family K?"
"Don't call me that." I said.
"What? I'm not saying anything wrong. You are the loser of a family full of Olympic medalists. Must suck to be the disappointment." Randy said and I had enough.
"Friday, 4 pm, be at my house. I'll show you all just how much of a disappointment I am." I said and I walked away. When I got to my classroom it hit me. I just invited nearly the whole 6th grade class to my house. I have no idea how my parents are going to handle this, but I can't back down now, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it.
Time Jump – After School
Karina POV:
I grabbed my backpack and made my way over to where PJ normally waits for me. When I got to him, we made our way to the parking lot where I instantly spotted my mom. We got into the car and PJ just kept rambling on about his day, and I was glad because that meant that mom wouldn't ask me.
When we got home I walked inside and put my stuff down and went to the kitchen to get a snack. When I turned around my dad was standing behind me and I nearly jumped out of my skin. He was always really good at being quiet, and sometimes that really sucked.
"You okay princess?" He asked and I just shrugged. "What's wrong?"
"I need to talk to you about something." I said and he nodded. "But I don't want to talk unless mom's here."
"Did I hear my name?" I heard my mom say as she walked into the kitchen.
"Karina want's to talk to the both of us about something." My dad said.
"Does it have to do with why you were so quiet on the way home from school?" My mom asked and I nodded. "Come on, let's go into the living room and talk." She said and we all made our way into the living room. We all took our seats, and I took a deep breath before I even looked at them.
"What's wrong K?" My dad asked.
"I was at school today, and Pamela started asking about my summer." I said.
"Don't you two not get along?" My mom asked.
"Yes, which is why I thought it was weird. Anyway, she asked me if I wanted to have a sleep over with her and her friends, and I asked why because that's just weird right?" I asked and my parents nodded. "So, she asked if we could have it here, and I said no because you guys run a business here, and I wasn't going to bring people here while a session was going on."
"That shouldn't stop you from having friends over baby." My mom said.
"I know, but it was a good excuse to never invite her over." I said and they laughed. "Plus, I'm friends with the kids who actually attend here, more than I'm friends with the kids at my school." I said and they nodded. "Anyway, she didn't think that was a good enough reason and than Randy came over and started laughing at me, and told me that I was the black sheep of a family filled with Olympic medalists." I admitted and I looked down at my hands.
"Sweetheart." My dad said but I cut him off.
"I mean, I don't care that I'll never get an Olympic medal, that's never been my dream, but he called me a disappointment, and I just lost it." I said. "I might have invited the whole 6th grade class here on Friday to show them that I'm not." I looked up at them and they didn't look mad at all. My dad got up and went out onto the balcony and grabbed the bullhorn.
"HERONDALES!" He shouted into it. "Family meeting!" He called out and than he came back inside. He took his place next to mom but didn't speak. We sat there in silence until Jack, Tucker, Pat, and Sammi all came inside and sat around us.
"What's the with family meeting?" Pat asked.
"Karina just informed us that kids at her school think she is the disappointment of our family, and she invited them here on Friday to show them how wrong they are." My dad said. "So we need to figure out what we're going to do to show them how much of a badass Karina is."
"You're not mad?" I asked and my dad laughed.
"Why would I be mad for you defending yourself?" My dad asked and I just shrugged. "Karina, you aren't a disappointment. You didn't want to be an Olympic athlete, and we supported your decision. Jack and Pat wanted to train their lives away in order to get to that point, just because you didn't want to, doesn't make you any less to this family."
"Seriously K, you're a badass boarder, and skater. How many times have Pat and I taken you out on the half pipe, or on the ice just to have fun?" Jack asked.
"More times than I can probably remember." I said and she smiled.
"Exactly. You were boarding and skating before you could properly run around. It's in your blood to be an amazing athlete, its just not something that you wanted to pursue, and I can't blame you for that. You want to have a life, that's completely understandable." She said and I smiled.
"I didn't mean to invite them over, it just kinda slipped out in my little fit of rage." I said and my mom smiled.
"They can come, we'll give the kids the night off, and if they want to come and help, they can do that as well. I'll order a ton of pizza for dinner, and we can shove in those kids face." My mom said and I laughed. I got up and hugged them both.
"Thanks guys." I said and they smiled. The family meeting was dismissed, and I grabbed my stuff and started doing my homework. I was glad that my family was willing to help me show those stupid kids that I wasn't the disappointment, and I was pretty excited to show them how wrong they were.
Time Jump – Friday
Clary POV:
I had gotten a lot of phone calls from parents who were concerned about their children coming over here today, which I understood. They didn't really know who I was, and for their children to just say they were coming here was kinda out of the blue, but I had assured them that they were coming over to watch a training session, and have some dinner. They could be picked up at 9, and that seemed to be okay with the parents, so 'operation show em whose boss' was in full swing.
When we talked to the athletes here, they all wanted to be around to see the shocked looks on their faces when they saw just how amazing Karina was at boarding and skating. It was nice that we had a really supportive community here, and it helped that most of these kids knew Karina for years, so they were all ready to show those annoying kids just how badass Karina was.
Cars started pulling up and I was standing at the front ready to greet them. I was assuming they were all just being brought over after school because it was just a line of cars dropping kids off, which was actually nice because at least we didn't have to wait too long for these kids. Once everyone was here, I whistled and they all quieted down.
"Many of you don't know me, but my name is Mrs. Herondale, and I'm Karina's mother." I said and a few of their faces turned to a fearful expression. "Today you are all here to witness just how amazing of an athlete Karina is." I said and a few girls laughed. "Think it's funny?" I asked and they stopped immediately. "The first half will be Karina and the half pipe, the second half will be Karina and figure skating. Than there will be dinner in the dining hall, and than if I'm feeling generous, you all can hang out in the rec room until it's time for our parents to pick you up. Understand?" I asked and they all nodded. "Wonderful, follow me." I said and we started walking towards the half pipe.
The whole family was standing there, and a bunch of the kids from the fall session. They were all super excited to witness a little competition between our family, it was something that didn't happen often, or hasn't happened since Sammi called out Jace all those years ago, so this was an amazing treat. When we got in front of the half pipe, I made my way over to Jace and Karina walked away from the group and stood in front of her class.
"Glad you all made it. Let me introduce you." She said. "I'll start at the left." She said and all their eyes travelled to Patrick. "That's my brother, Patrick Herondale, silver medalist in men's figure skating." She said. "Next to him is his girlfriend, Sammi McAvoy, bronze medalist in the women's half pipe. Next to her is my brother-in-law Tucker Lawson, gold medalist in the men's half pipe. Than my sister, Jacqueline Lawson, silver medalist in the women's half pipe." Karina explained. "Than my parents. Jace Herondale, gold medalist in the men's half pipe. And my mom, Clary Herondale, gold medalist in women's figure skating."
"Who is the little guy?" Someone asked as they all looked at PJ.
"That's my nephew, PJ." Karina explained. "He's currently taking up lessons in both boarding and skating here."
"Isn't figure skating for girls?" One boy asked and Patrick stepped forward.
"You might want to keep your gendered ideas to yourself." He said and the boy wasn't fazed.
"I'm just saying it's girly." He said.
"And I have a silver medal, what to you have beside cavities, and body odor?" Patrick asked and the kid shut up.
"Okay, why doesn't everyone take a seat, and we'll begin shortly." I said and the kids nodded and made their way over to the bleachers and took a seat. Patrick, PJ, and I made our way to the bottom of the half pipe while the rest of the family made their way up to the top.
"Show em whose boss K!" One of her really good friends, Gallagher, shouted from the sidelines, and the rest started cheering just as loud. I kept the kids from her class, and the kids that attend this session separated, I didn't want a brawl to break out. I would have a hard time telling the parents if their child had a black eye. I looked up at the top of the half pipe, and there stood Jace, looking just as good as he always did when he was in full gear. He dropped in and the day began. I was pretty pumped to see Karina show her classmates that she was just as badass as the rest of our family, and she didn't need a medal to prove that.