And what a special surprise for a very special day! Everyone's jaws fell to the floor, except for Izzy of course, they weren't waiting to hear something like that and it was some big news taking in consideration all the facts.
"Are you sure?" Alec was the first one to even dare to say something. Clary seemed to be frozen, Becky was beyond herself with so much joy and Simon… well, he sweated like a pig, he had liked Izzy but he had to admit that meeting that way in that certain morning had been kind of a mistake.
"Well, that's what grandma said! Actually that explains a lot…" Isabelle almost fell on the chair next to Clary; she looked like she wasn't breathing.
"Alright, congratulations then!" Becky approached Izzy to hug her excitingly, the Lightwoods must've been crazily happy about it but there was something hidden behind those worried expressions.
"Thank you, Becks. Thank you very much" Izzy hugged her back while her brother surrounded the table, you could even smell panic in the air.
"What a weird day" Simon whispered, Clary's cell phone rang suddenly but she could barely blink "Pumpkin, it's yours" he said.
"Clary, are you okay?" asked Alec, she was the most affected by the news with no doubt.
"… Oh God…" she said and answered the phone, for her good luck, it was Jace, and he was angry.
"Clarissa? Where the heck are you? And my cousins? You better tell me that you didn't escape from your morning classes because…" she didn't pay much attention to his scolding and said what was going around her mind.
"She is pregnant…" she said, Jace kept silent for a bit trying to process the information.
"What? YOU? But I haven't even touched you!" he defended himself.
"Not me, you dumbass! Your aunt!" she replied, Izzy shook next to her, it would take her some time to get used to it, to all of them.
"Are you on drugs or something?" he said clearly refusing to even listen or understand what she was saying.
"Grandma called Isabelle and told her right now, and you're there and you don't know? What kind of selfish and mean relative are you?" now it was her who was scolding him.
"I'm actually in a meeting with my father right now, and everyone's looking at me because I screamed… Thank you very much! You gave me a death scare!" he complained.
"Get to the point! What's going on?" Clary's nerves were about to explode.
"Well, it's good that you mention pregnancy and that stuff…" he began, but he lowered his voiced at the last word.
"What on earth are you talking about?" she was about to have a strong shock again.
"We also have to talk babies, see you later, carrot!" and he hang, the phone almost fell to the floor and broke in pieces, luckily Becky was there to grab it. Clary took a deep breath with her eyes to the floor, Simon knew what that meant.
"Oh, no. Pumpkin! You won't want to make a scene in here!" he said desperate, after all he was her best friend, he knew her perfectly. It's a shame it was too late for all of them.
"I knew this was going to happen! The prince is a complete pervert!" she shouted covering her face embarrassed, her friends were petrified by her insinuation, but what she didn't realize was that everyone had heard it. The whispers began.
"Oh, dear! That cannot be true!"
"Who does she think she is to say something like that?"
"Wait a minute… she is…"
"We're beautifully screwed…" said Simon getting ready to get away as fast as they could
"Princess Clarissa and also the Lightwoods!" then everyone started to approach them and started screaming and asking stuff and taking pictures with their phones.
"By the angel, this is an odyssey!" cried Izzy, Alec stood in front of the two girls protecting them from their crazy fans, Simon made his way to Clary and softly but fast grabbed her arm and took her out by the back door of the restaurant.
"Are you out of your mind, Clary? What was all that fuss about? Your cousins are going to become dust in there!" Clary didn't know how she managed to understand Simon's words completely.
"I freaked out; I didn't know what to do! But… wait, why do you care about them anyways?" she asked a little confused.
"Because… because I am worried as hell! You don't know how paparazzi are these days! Lucky you, you have bodyguards! But us the unprotected and yet famous have nothing! You wouldn't handle it!" what a sudden topic change, very suspicious. "Anyways, don't you ever do that again…" and just when he was about to continue Alec, Izzy and Becky came out.
"By the angel… What the hell was that, Clary?" Alec asked breathing heavily.
"Oh, you want to know? Three words, my friend! Jonathan Christopher Herondale aka living hell!" and she turned around angrily willing to leave the restaurant as nothing had happened.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you…" but Isabelle spoke too late, the reporters surrounded them in less than a minute.
"Highness, are you feeling alright?"
"When did Princess Isabelle come back?"
"Mr. Lewis could you tell us what were you doing there?"
"In my life I've had so much attention" Clary whispered.
"Ok, pumpkin. This is what we'll do… don't make any sudden movements" she tried even not to blink "take my hand" she did that as well " And now…" he took a deep breath "Run!" The five of them quickly got away from the reporters and when they got to an alley they stopped to rest a bit.
"You should call your guards or something… this will only get worse if you don't leave now" said Simon, Clary detected the disappointment in his voice, she felt sad that their little reunion didn't go as planned, everything had been so perfect until the Queen Mother called. 'Well, that's what always happens, don't you think? You think you have everything you ever wanted and then bum! The monarchy tales place and ruins it all. Welcome to the real world, Clarissa!' she scolded herself mentally, but still asked herself when were things going to change for good?
"No way, we cannot do that! I flee my morning classes, if I call the guards they'll tell Amatis, and Amatis will tell it to Grandma and Grandma will tell it to my father in law and maybe he could tell it to…" it wasn't until the last part of that huge speech that she remembered the reason she had a whole family in law, she had a husband. "Absolutely not, I'll take a cab if I have to but there's no way that my guards are coming here!" she was panicking terribly.
"And what about your maids, then?" suggested Becky, as helpful and sweet as always.
"Don't make me laugh! Do you know how insufferable Camille and Annemarie are? If we cannot trust in her guards we can't even think about those two!" said Isabelle, let's say she had her reason to hate both of them
"But if we stay here they'll find us, you really must go…" Simon seemed very worried, but Clary wasn't sure because of who was he worried.
"I guess we could… maybe we could… hum…" started Alec doubting a little.
"We could what?" said Izzy impatient, just when they were having problems Alec though it would be fine to shiver a little.
"Ok, I think we all agree that there's just one person in the whole palace that we can really trust in, right?" he replied, Clary and his sister nodded. "Magnus will be, then!" he took out his phone and walked away from them for a bit.
"Who is Magnus?" asked Becky, clearly there were many things about her own friends that she didn't know.
"He's my personal stylist" Clary answered naturally, Becky was really surprised.
"… And also my brother's bisexual boyfriend… though none of them admits it yet because they're so freaked out about what would my father think, but actually… If I were them, I wouldn't give a damn" and now Becky was more than shocked by Izzy's comment, but she knew that she always talked too much when she was nervous
"Ha! I knew it!" said Simon joyful.
"You knew what, four eyes?" asked Clary annoyed.
"Please, Clary! It's impossible that a guy that wears a more outrageous nail polish color than you can be not gay!" Clary covered her face with one hand in embarrassment.
"Well, technically he's not gay, he's bi …" reminded him Izzy.
"Yeah, tomatoe, tomato! So that means your bro… oh… Alexander is… OH!" Simon finally understood everything; another little piece of his jealousy was thrown away immediately. He had thought that the reason why Alec spent so much time with Clary was because he liked her, but actually… they really were just friends and family has she had told him.
"I am what?" said Alec returning.
"Incredibly hot, bro. What did he say?" Alec looked weirdly as Simon flushed and Clary and Becky forced themselves not to laugh.
"He said that… he would be here in like… 3 minutes" he couldn't get his eyes away from Simon and that only made it worse.
"Great, so here we'll stay" Isabelle was the only one who was calmed. So two of them were awfully uncomfortable and the other two were writhing with laughter.
"I didn't really say that…"Simon defended himself, Clary and his sister laughed even harder.
"Yeah, whatever. Sorry, but I'm taken" said Alec wishing to finish that unpleasant conversation.
"Let's just say that little Simon has a weird and exquisite taste" said Becky, Clary almost fell to the floor, the situation was far too funny to try not to laugh.
"You two will pay for this!" said Simon pissed.
Jace had never been so nervous before. Alright, he understood that he wascompletely crazy about Clary and that he wanted her badly, but this was out of his limits! 'Great, you're such a genius, Jonathan! What could she be thinking right now? You barely know each other and now you have to tell her that you're supposed to get her pregnant! You should've done it smoother! But no! You just tell her as it was nothing important! It's your first anniversary and you ruined it, totally! You're a hot mess, really' The day after that morning, Imogen had told him that the tradition of the first night had been rushed a bit, it first was supposed to happen after Clary's 18th birthday like it had always been done, but then they changed it to their first anniversary and now they had scheduled for within 5 days! But she hadn't really explained why. Of course he was going to blame himself, but the truth was that he hadn't made up the tradition of the first night; it was something that had to be done one way or another.
"Prince?" he had completely forgotten that he was talking with his grandmother.
"Oh, sorry, majesty. I'm just a bit worried about all this…" he started to play with his fingers and realized he was sweating terribly.
"I see; it was the same to all of us, my darling. Don't be frighten, you'll know what to do" you can't imagine how uncomfortable it must've been for him to talk "sexual relationships" with his grandmother, but his situation made it even harder.
"Yes, grandma, I know what I have to do…" he said sarcastically, Imogen's face turned pale. "I mean that… uh… I perfectly know what the tradition consists in, but I'm not quite sure that the princess does" he tried to cover up his mistake as best as he could.
"Oh, I understand. But don't worry much about it; I'm sure that Lady Amatis explained it to her very well…" Jace didn't know how could she keep herself so calm and firm always, his nerves were about to explode and his grandma only smiled about it.
"I guess she did but hum… Grandma?" he decided to leave the protocol aside for one moment and open himself to somebody, he needed to be heard.
"Yes, honey?" she took his hands in hers.
"Leaving aside the tradition and all that matter about the anniversary, I think that… oh, how do I say this? … Maybe… I might be…" Jace was lost; he had never said those words before.
"You might be what, darling?" Imogen asked patiently.
"I might be… perhaps I am…. I mean, Clary is… Oh, by Raziel! There must be an easier way to say this!" he was about to lose his head.
"Don't think about what you're going to say, just say it, dear" she advised him.
"Alright, I think that maybe I am… Hell, I can't!" and that's when they both exploded.
"Oh, please, Jonathan! Just say it out loud! You won't take it out of your head until you admit it! It's just one sentence! And believe me! I f you think that no one has noticed, you're completely wrong, darling! Everyone knows it except the only person who must really know! If you can't even tell it to me, what will you do when you have to tell her? Are you a coward or what?" Jace was shocked; he definitely didn't know something that Imogen did know.
"Ok, fine! I'm not a coward! I'm going to say it! Right now in fact!" he stood up from the couch "Take out the camera if you want, grandma!" he was decided to finally admit it.
"That's my boy, c'mon, darling! Just say it!" Imogen encouraged him. He took a deep breath.
"No, sorry, I can't" he sat next to her again.
"Be a man, Jace! What would your ancestors think if they saw you like this?" she scolded him.
"Don't start, grandma!" he begged.
"Are you a chicken? Uh, are you? Or maybe something worse…" Jace started to shiver.
"No, please don't…" he said.
"Oh, you know I would… the word that started with D?" finally the panic won over Jace's pride.
"Fine! I like Clary! I like her insanely! In fact, I might be falling in love for the first time and I think that she hates me! I'm never right with her! When I'm nice she thinks I'm pretending and when I'm not nice she thinks I'm a jerk! And I'm so confused but I want her so badly and she's completely blind when it comes to me and my emotions" and that was it for him, goodbye pride.
"Oh, now I get it. That seems to be a problem…" she suddenly felt guilty for pressuring him so much, but he was the crown prince, he had to be strong for the sake of his people, and also for his wife.
"A huge problem, grandma! I can't handle it… and oh! That reminds me something… about aunt Maryse?" he remembered why he had gone to meet Imogen to talk about Clary, it was because all the mess she caused with a certain rumor.
"Oh, right. She's three months pregnant, dear! You're going to have a new cousin!"Her worried expression turned into a joyful and warm smile, Jace also tried to smile but then he realized something suspicious.
"I know that! Wait a bit…" Imogen started to shiver when she noticed that he had discovered her little plan "By the angel, grandmother! You're a cheater!" he accused her.
"Who do you think you're talking to? Be nicer with the woman that gave you your life indirectly!" replied her trying to change the topic of the conversation.
"I'll do it when you don't try to get involved in my marriage!" Jace didn't really want to be rude with her, but he was tired of being treated like the fragile and dependant little prince that everyone had to take care of. And why was he so mad about it? Because Clary had said it like a hundred times.
"Helping you is not a sin, sweet child of mine" she said with an annoying smile.
"Grandma! Just because aunt Maryse is having another baby doesn't mean that we also have to do it!" so the reason of his uncomfortable situation was his grandmother, how cute.
"Yes, it does! Your aunt is almost 50 and she's having a baby! Your wife is turning just 18 soon and you haven't taken advantage of the situation! Believe me, if you don't have kids right now when you're my age you'll regret it! And I want great grandchildren! You're the only one of my grandchildren that can give them to me, at least… for now… I have plans for my little Isabelle and Alec too" he had to admit that was kind of wicked, but he only though: 'I think you shouldn't worry about Alec so much, grandma' only Izzy, Clary, him, and of course Magnus knew about Alec's preferences. And there were obvious reasons why they couldn't tell it to anyone else.
"Grandma! That's awful! We're supposed to plan our lives on our own, you cannot just decide when we have children or not!" it was really weir for him to talk about babies, but he had to stop her from ruining everything he had built, some kind of friendship, with Clary because of her whims.
"My palace, my children, my rules!" she answered annoyed "Now, you go prepare everyone for lunch. I'll be there in ten minutes" that meant that their reunion was officially over. Jace got frightened when Imogen said "everyone", when he had called Clary he didn't have time to ask her where the heck were they! Isabelle had told her family that she had gone to visit a friend of hers and he knew who she was, but nobody knew that Alec and Clary were also gone with her. He didn't even say goodbye and got out of the room, he took out his cell phone shakily and thought about calling his wife, but he knew that she probably wouldn't answer. And when he was about to call Alec, he appeared in front of him.
"You, little piece of…" he began when the two other girls came into the hall by the back door followed by Magnus.
"Is something wrong, highness?" he said with a playful smile, Alec also knew about Jace's feelings for Clary, he obviously wouldn't dare to say anything that would cause a bad image.
"I was worried about you all, that's it" he lied annoyed by the power that Alec had over him "Grandma says that we're having lunch in ten minutes".
"Oh, right. We'll go check on mom and be back in five, ok?" Izzy understood what that meant and took her brother by his arm while they ran to their parent's bedroom
"I… still have to finish the design of your birthday dress, highness. Excuse me" Magnus made a bow and left with a huge smile on his face, privacy wasn't just required, it was a need! But Magnus's excuse was a little foolish, as Clary's birthday was on August
"So… how did it go?" Jace asked nervously, Clary was looking at the floor.
"Pretty well until we realized we had cell phones and families…" she answered, he was kind of hurt.
"I'm sorry that you didn't have much fun…" he said honestly, but how could she have noticed?
"Fun isn't a word included in my dictionary anymore" she sighed.
"Listen, about what I told you earlier…" he had to explain himself, but there was no way she would want to hear anything more.
"Look, I really don't want to talk about it… I don't know why they rushed things so much and I don't know if I want to know, anyways knowing the reasons won't help to deny the fact that it is actually happening. That's what I've learned in here, and I've decided to take your advices" she said with a long sigh.
"Which advices?" he asked, his mind wasn't focusing on the problems they had, and he just couldn't stop thinking about her.
"You know… when you said that I should just say and do what was necessary? When you told me to follow the lead? I will, Feelings have done no good for me, Jace. I really had high hopes when I came in here, but I guess that I'm… not part of it actually, just the monarchy's pretty accessory" and where had he heard that before? Oh, right! He said it all the time.
"I know how you feel, but I don't think it's time for you to give up" and when he said that, she finally looked into his eyes making him shake to his bones.
"What should I do then?" she asked still sounding disappointed.
"I don't know, I guess you… Here's the thing, Clary, I don't want you to give up because that just wouldn't be like you, and you're a lot stronger that most of us thought you were. When I met you, I honestly thought you were one of those annoying girls who always made a drama about everything, but then I realized that… you are nothing like the rest. You're brave, you're determined, you sacrificed your own future for the sake of your loved ones, you married someone you didn't or maybe don't love and know because you wanted to help your people, you've treated us like your family, you've been so nice, attentive and obedient, you've done every single thing they told you to do without complaining, you've handle my temperament better than anyone, you've been so lonely all the time but you never said a thing about it… and you're still here, standing here, facing the issues that are always around, you might be broken on the inside but you don't show it… so, maybe I was right with some of the stuff I told you, but in the end… it's all up to you…" and when he said that, he didn't just meant the fact that she was the Crown Princess, he also meant the fac6t that he was falling in love with her. He could love her all that he wanted to, but it was her decision to love him back or not.
"I... "She was going to explain why did she do all those things, but she thought something better "Thank you… for noticing all of that. Most of the time I think that no one really cares about what I do… it means a lot that you… understand" it was all she could say, maybe Jace was starting to get into her heart, but it wasn't time to have false illusions.
"I try to… but to be sincere, you're like a puzzle, pumpkin…" he didn't really realize what he had said, but she did.
"You did it!" she smiled to herself.
"Do what?" he asked confused.
"You said it… you know what? Never mind" she decided to keep that cute memory for herself. "So… congratulations on your new cousin!"
"Oh, yes, right… thank you, but I think he or she'll be your new cousin too" he reminded her joyful, his family was her family, he tasks were her tasks, his problems were hers, but his feelings? They might've not been hers. They shared their lives, it's true, but they didn't share their hearts.
"You're right, so you think he or she will look more like Izzy or Alec?" she asked while they walked down the hall.
"I think we should think about if the baby will look more like Maryse or Robert" he replied, she looked at him sarcastically and giggled.
"Well, you uncle and aunt have their problems so… I rather think about our cousins" he absolutely loved when she did that, when she recognized that they were together, when she laughed softly and smiled at him, when she didn't try to push him away, when they could talk like normal people and not royals. Because he wasn't in love with Crown Princess Clarissa Herondale; he was in love with the adorable, dreamy and a little vexatious Clary Fairchild.
"You're right… I bet the baby will be as cute as Isabelle and as dumb as Alec" he answered proudly, Clary chuckled.
"The dumbness comes from your side of the family, Jonathan" she hit his arms softly and he grabbed her by her arms as they walked.
"And that's why you couldn't resist the opportunity to marry me!" he said playfully.
"Ha! You'd wish I would've been dying to marry you" but between joke and joke truth looms.
"Say whatever you want to… but deep inside you, you know that…" but a suspicious scene shut his words, he tried not to make a sound while he took Clary behind one of the hall's wall and took a look.
"What are you…?" but he put his hand on Clary's mouth and told her to see what was in front of her.
"…so… are we going to go away soon?" Annemarie asked as Robert covered her nick with kisses. Both Clary and Jace were shocked
"Once I'm sure that my coward son gets the throne, then we'll escape as far as you want us to" he answered as her lips looked for his.
"You promise?" she asked in between kiss and kiss, in that moment they seemed more a couple than Robert and Maryse seemed to be.
"I swear on the angel, darling" he answered with his hands running through her body carelessly, Annemarie moaned on his mouth.
"Oh, your highness, you're such a terrible person…" she giggled with pleasure and Robert followed her.
"I know, but I rather being mean than being a fool like all the rest in here…" he said and Jace was so disgusted that he couldn't hear any other word coming from his mouth.
"Oh, by Raziel… how could he do this?" Clary asked, Jace noticed she had tears in her eyes, he would've liked to wipe them, but that wouldn't have been any good.
"I knew that Robert was a jerk, but this? This is just cruel…" he ran a hand through his head ruining his perfect hairdo. He felt so bad, for Maryse and the baby, for Izzy and Alec, and for them both… because now they had a terrible secret on their hands.
"But… he's going to have another baby! Why would he cheat on Maryse?" Clary started to sob softly.
"He must not know yet, Grandma said that he had gone visit father after that ridiculous meeting we had this morning" he answered.
"Well, that only makes this worse! I bet that he'll run away with her as soon as he find out" she said angrily trying to wipe her tears, it was embarrassing to cry like that in front of her "not so jerk" husband, but Jace though that she looked pretty and that she cared about her in laws.
"I won't let that happen… they're my family after all, I'll take care of them…" he promised and Clary finally got a hint to solve all her troubles.
"Swear it on the angel, promise me that they'll never know about this and that Robert will stay with Maryse and the baby" she asked it, she didn't want to see the Lightwoods suffer that kind of injustice and if they were the only ones who knew about it, it was up to them to stop the disaster from happening.
"Alright, I swear by Raziel that I will" he took her hand in his and stroked it gently so she didn't notice how wonderful it felt for him.
'I hope you do, Jace Herondale, I really do. You believe in me somehow, I also want to believe in you… please… don't let me down now' she thought to herself, that was Jace's first test, if he proved her that he wasn't as bad as she thought, maybe they would also share their hearts someday.
To be continued...
Dreamer.
Hello, my sweet nefilims! In first place, I wanted to say sorry for not uploading any sooner, I'll explain myself, on November 15th I turned 15! Haha so I had my "Quinces" Party like we would say here in Ecuador and so I had to prepare everything and it was so hard! But anyways I've also been tied up with homework and projects and talent shows and stuff! Apart from being in the school's student council so… yeah, let's say I'm a busy person! So I'm very very sorry! Please forgive me, haha! Oh, and guess what? The Spanish copies of CoHF are here! (BTA! *By the angel*) so I bought one of the first ones that came to my country and, by Raziel, I haven't reached page 100 yet and I'm crying as much as I did when I first read it in PDF, so heartbreaking. Seriously! Anyways I hope you liked this chapter, I've been working all this week in it, and remember the hints and clues I gave you, and the next chapter will be super exiting, I promise! You all pervs must know why! Haha, no spoilers! And something else I had to change the time line a bit because I realized that Clary's birthday was on August (because I have this huge birthday party chapter planned for her!) and Jace's is on January and who knows when was Max born, so yeah… I'll have to work on that, so you should cheek the first chapters again (the first one when Clary entered the art class and the third one is Sebastian's letter) so you won't get lost. Anyways thank you for reading, guys! I love you all, bye!