Three years later
Despite seeing it with his own eyes Jace wasn't quite ready to accept reality. Jace had witnessed the first ever so hesitant beginning with joy but now that the hesitation had turned into momentum he wasn't quite so joyful. Okay so that wasn't true. He took back the thought almost as soon as he thought it. Jace was joyful. His life was - as far as he was concerned - perfect. That didn't change the fact that his living room floor looked like a tripping hazard, there was peanut butter on the wall and toy blocks stuffed into all the shoes. .Long gone were the days when Jace could put Felix down and have him stay there. Now the pitter patter of tiny feet announced the arrival of chaos.
A great explosion of noise broke his concentration and Jace turned to see little Felix holding up a toy as if declaring that toy the winner of the entire universe. The sound that he was making weren't words but Jace knew if Felix chose he could string together a simple sentence. Jace had stopped counting how many words Felix had sometimes after his second birthday. Before that he'd tracked them quite diligently. He had a notepad app on his phone that contained Felix's first dozen or so words. Once he started making primitive phrases Jace had decided to quit while he was ahead.
Jace sometimes could hardly believe it had been so long. His little buddy was growing up so fast! Felix looked like such a little kid standing there in his t-shirt and pants holding up his toy in triumph. Jace could hardly believe he was the same baby that had once fit perfectly from his elbow to wrist.
Jace could recall as though it were yesterday the moment he'd first held his son in his arms. Annika had, naturally, held Felix first, but later when she'd been taking a very well deserved rest - somewhere between her biting his chest so hard he bled during a bad contraction and her screams during pushing Jace had decided that if men had to give birth the human race would have died out centuries ago - Jace had went over to the bassinet and picked up the infant for the very first time. He remembered so well how it felt. The warm love that had erupted within him had been new and wonderful. Jace could remember the peaceful expression on the newborn face so perfectly and though he knew this was still Felix he couldn't help but be in awe that this toddler before him was the same person as the newborn had been.
His once bald newborn, now had a thick head of blonde hair. Felix's eyes were changing colour, currently a light green. Annika was sure they'd be golden just like daddy. His face was very round and completely adorable, with chubby little cheeks and a slightly turned up nose.
"MA-MA" came Felix's extreme's loud cry as he decided the toy was no longer needed and chucked it across the room. He toy flew through the air with surprising speed. The kid was powerful!
Jace snapped himself out of his nostalgia and went over to pick up his son.
"This is dada time. Mama gave you to daddy so we could have some fun," Jace told his son.
"MaMA!" Felix repeated.
Jace decided he needed to up his game so he lifted Felix in the air and swung him around until the little toddler was giggling like mad.
"Weee!" Jace said as she swung. "Weeeee! Up, down, up down. Felix goes all around."
Felix's laughter was to Jace the most magical sound in the world. He found he would go to almost any lengths to get his kid to laugh. Everytime he lifted his almost thirty pound toddler in the air and spun him around, Jace was thankful for his upper body strength. Even his endurance was not endless however and eventually he had to stop the game.
"Again, Again!" were Felix's thoughts on the matter.
"Daddy's arms need a break," Jace told his son. "In a few minutes we can play again."
Felix clearly understood this though he in no way was happy about it.
"MAMA!MAMAMA!" he yelled with the sounds so close together that Jace wasn't sure if he was calling for his mother or just making noise.
Jace decided to try tickling next, which worked for a while rather like the air place ride. The trouble was that when the tickles stopped the toddler knew what he wanted again.
"Want Mama," Felix explained.
"Mama isn't here," Jace tried. "This is daddy time."
Little Felix didn't like this. He crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his chin in the air.
There was really only one thing left to try. Jace knew Annika was taking a nap at her place so he picked up the cranky toddler and headed for the front door. The weather was mild enough for them to avoid needing a coat and Jace knew his hard bottomed slippers would be enough for the short walk.
Felix liked outside. Even just taking him out of doors was already improving his mood, but Jace knew if he wanted 'Ma Ma' no one but Mama would do. Walking the few steps from his front door to Annika's, Jace walked in very quietly so as not to wake her. He carried Felix down the hall and into the bedroom on the left where he knew Mama lay sleeping.
"See look," he whispered to Felix. "There's Mama. She's okay. She's just sleeping."
Felix smiled a huge smile and reached out to touch Mama. Jace gently let him do so before pulling the toddler back.
"Mama," Felix repeated but a bit quieter. Jace liked to think that Felix always said this quietly because he understood that mommy was sleeping but Annika was unconvinced. She always said he was just copying Jace's whisper, but then Jace would point out that Felix never got quiet when Jace whispered anywhere else.
"Yes that's mama," Jace whispered. "And now we have to go back to daddy's house."
"Dada," Felix said.
"That's right," Jace smiled. He was already walking back out of the room, closing the door behind him. The first time Jace had tried this Annika - who slept like the dead - hadn't even stirred, but once in a while Felix actually woke her. Even so she'd agreed this was better than letting him cry for Mama while daddy was on duty. Of course, it only worked when Annika was actually home. On the nights Jace had Felix because Annika was out he had to come up with more creative distractions. Clary was actually quite good at this. More than once she'd made up games that had thoroughly entertained the little monkey. For his first birthday, she'd made him a velcro wall that was in Jace's living room right now. Felix enjoyed sticking stuff to the wall and then ripping things off it and throwing them across the room.
Speaking of Clary she was due to get off work any minute now. When Jace got back to his own side of their shared duplex he put Felix back down on the floor and went into the kitchen. Since becoming a part time homemaker, Jace had been trying to learn to cook. It was turning out to be a lot harder than most people made it look but still he'd managed to get good at making a couple of things. Jace did work but only three days a week. Despite everyone being on great terms, Jace and Annika had decided to create an official custody agreement to protect them both and Felix if his odd little family unit even stopped being on great terms.
Jace worked three days a week while Felix was with Annika officially. Annika worked three days a week while Felix was with Jace officially and they both had Sundays off together and shared Felix. Unofficially they switched quite a lot more than that since sharing a wall made the whole process pretty effortless. Everyone got their own space and Felix got to have all of his family under the same roof. As far as Jace was concerned it was the perfect set up.
It had taken him a while to come up with this plan. During Felix's first year it had been a lot more complicated. Annika had had to move out of her roommate filled place before the baby came. She'd needed more support postpartum and had lived with Clary and Jace for a few weeks before getting her own space. Jace's mom had volunteered to come stay with her for a few months after that. Celine had helped with the cooking and cleaning and anything else Annika had needed. In the end Celine hadn't wanted to go back home so she'd decided to move closer to her grandson. Felix saw grandma every week and Jace and Annika often relied on her babysitting skills when neither of them could cancel plans.
Today, Clary and Jace owned one side of the duplex while Annika owned the other. Jace had to assume one day Annika would want to move a partner into her side of the duplex but at the moment she was still trying to find someone worth sharing a mortgage with so it hadn't come up. It turns out soulmates aren't so easy to find. Jace still counted his lucky stars that he'd managed to find his soulmate without even trying.
In order to afford their perfect housing solution they had had to move a ways-away from the city center and each side of the duplex was only a one bathroom two bedroom space but still it was worth it, even if it meant Clary's office was in the living room.
By now Jace had started making dinner. Just a basic pasta dish with a hidden vegetable because Felix didn't like eating his greens if he could tell they were greens. Jace usually baked the carrots, zucchini, onion or whatever veggies he had on hand in the oven before putting them in the blender and adding them to the pasta sauce. Little cutie had no idea he was eating so much healthy stuff. Jace's other trick was making spinach brownies. Nothing like chocolate to hide nutrition. Clary had even commented that she preferred the hidden veggies to a normal side salad so Jace had been making almost exclusively hidden veggie style foods as of late.
Just then Jace heard the door open and the tell tale sounds of Clary arriving home. He called out to her so she'd know where to find them.
Before taking a step towards the fridge, Jace looked down to make sure he wasn't about to step on a toddler. It was a habit he had developed only as recently as Felix's mobility. The first time he'd accidentally knocked his son over, Jace had vowed to never again move in the house without watching his feet, especially while cooking as that seemed to be Felix's favourite time to be underfoot.
"And how are my two favourite boys doing this evening?" Clary asked.
"Uppy! Uppy!" Felix said, running over to his step mother and asking to be picked up, lifting his arms towards her.
Without really thinking about it, Clary reached down and picked up the toddler.
"We are doing good," Jace said. "Little Felix here is trying to make daddy trip while he cooks. Annika said he had a rough night. Woke up three times. She came home early from work today to take a nap."
"Wise woman," Clary smiled. "Do you think it's his teeth again?"
"Most likely," Jace replied. "Google says this is about the right age for the two year old molars."
"I dropped by the drug store on my way home," Clary continued. "And they finally have the kids Advail back in stock. It lasts longer than kids Tylenol. I think we should try it tonight."
"Brillant!" Jace exclaimed, reaching over to kiss her. "Best stepmom ever."
"Okay well I also bought myself a few things so it wasn't like I only went for Felix or anything," Clary replied, trying to be humble.
"Hey you thought to check," Jace exclaimed. "Which means I might sleep tonight so I'm ecstatic!"
"Happy to help," Clary chuckled.
"It might be real dramatic to kill for your love or whatever," Jace commented. "But people undervalue the level of dedication it takes to take care of a toddler for them."
Clary just laughed. "Thanks," she smiled at him.
"How was work?" Jace asked.
"My boss is trying to design a logo for a new client," Clary began. "And they keep telling us to start over. They clearly know what they are looking for but don't know how to explain it so they keep making us guess and I'm guessing wrong. It's so frustrating."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough," Jace assured her.
"I hope so," Clary said. "On the plus side, her being stumped does mean she's listening to my ideas more. If I can just come up with an idea that the client likes I think it will do wonders for my career."
"I'm on board with this," Jace said. "As the breadwinner in this relationship your career is important to me."
Clary's working full time had done wonders for their finances. Between his part time job and her forty hours a week they were able to get by rather well as far as Jace was concerned. Jace hadn't asked her directly but he was pretty sure Annika had had some help with her downpayment from her mother, even so her accounting job paid way better than either Jace's or Clary's job and she did often work from home with Felix. Jace had no idea how she managed this however. A day with Felix for Jace was far more work than two days at the office. The concept of working while watching him sounded like a superpower.
"Ah so it's all about making money so I can buy you pretty things?" Clary replied in a flirty tone. She was still holding Felix so the flirting remained rather tame but it was nice all the same. Adult fun was scheduled for after Felix went to sleep.
"Hmmm Jace likes pretty things," Jace flirted back. "Prettiest of them all is my future wife."
Clary laughed. "How long have we been engaged now?" she asked.
"Three years and forty-five days," Jace chuckled. "But who's counting."
"You apparently," Clary answered. Jace just shrugged and announced that dinner was ready.
Clary set the table while Jace put Felix in his high chair. Jace served his hidden veggie pasta dish then placed the home cooked meal in front of his family. Felix's bowl had a suction cup on the bottom to stop him from tossing it across the room. He began by poking it a few times with his thumb before scooping up a few noodles in his fingers and taking a bite. Felix was anti-cutlery at the moment. Jace had tried giving him a baby spoon but he just threw it on the floor. Food on the floor had become a normal part of meal times since Felix had begun weening.
Turning his attention to the other person at the table, Jace watched as the love of his life ate the meal he'd made. Jace wasn't sure why but making a dinner his family enjoyed always brought him joy. There was a great happiness to be found in the small moment's and Jace had long ago promised himself that he'd never take the moments for granted. By some fluke of luck Jace had everything he wanted when once that had felt impossible. Thanks to Clary he'd even repaired his relationship with his mother. Jace couldn't imagine a world in which his mother and son didn't know each other. All was right in Jace's world, even if he hadn't quite gotten around to getting married yet.
This one is a bit short but I think I covered everything I wanted to. In my head Annika finds her soulmate who gets along great with Jace and Clary and becomes part of their adorable family. She probably even had more kids. I just didn't want to make a time gap that far ahead. Just these one year time gaps feel weird to me. Any longer a gap and I think I'd be lost. lol.
Next Epilouge is Simon pov but the two following that will be new povs. ^_^ Any guesses who they might be?
