Chapter 16

Sweat trickled down the side of Clary's temple as she crossed the primary school oval to wait where all the other parents were waiting to collect their children once the end of school bell has rung.

Some of the parents stood in small groups, talking amongst themselves and discussing what they would be doing this coming weekend. Others stood to the side, their eyes glued to their phones, while a couple watched their smaller children play on the playground.

The sun was unforgiving as it beat down on Clary's bare shoulders. Her tank top not doing much to protect her fair skin from the sun's rays. Taking a seat on a nearby park bench underneath a tall oak tree supplied some relief from the overbearing heat of the day. Summer had come around quick. It almost felt like there was no transition from the sunny, but breezy weather of spring before the drier heat of summer came along.

Clary had taken the last half of her shift off. Normally Jace would be here to pick up the girls for her so she could work through until four o'clock, but today Clary wanted to pick the girls up. She was also picking up Skye as well. But she was hoping to talk to Skye's mother to see if she would be able to stay for the entire weekend, and Skye's mother just have to pick her up from school on Monday afternoon.

A ringing overhead alerted Clary to the fact that school had officially finished for the day, and that at any minute the children would start pouring out of the classrooms, eager to start their weekend.

She didn't have to wait long until she spotted the girls, giggling excitedly as they came down the steps from their classroom. Clary saw Phoebe raise her head, scanning her eyes over the sea of parents to find her. Clary raised an arm, waving at her to get her attention. A smile slipped onto Clary's lips without warning. Seeing the girls so happy and care-free, excited to be going home together pleased Cary. She was glad that the simple things in life, like a sleepover, could get her girls all ecstatic and thrilled.

"Hi girls!" Clary greeted as they both ran up to her. Phoebe threw her arms around Clary, giving her a tight squeeze before pulling back.

"Hi mum."

"Hi, Ms Fray."

Both girls spoke at the same time which issued another round of giggles out of them.

"Where's your sister?" Clary asked? Already looking ahead to search for the little girl that was her mirror image. Lexi's hair always stood out in a crowd.

"She was talking to one of her friends in the backpack room. She should be out in a second," Phoebe replied while Skye was looking around. It took Clary a second to realise that she was searching for someone.

"Who are you looking for sweetie?" she asked.

Her eyes flew back to mine briefly before they resumed their role of glancing around. "I'm looking for my dad. But he doesn't seem to be here yet."

Clary's stomach dropped. "Is he normally late?" she asked.

Skye nodded. "He always runs late, except for on Wednesday's. Wednesday's Jesse has soccer practise, so dad is always on time to pick us up so that he can drop Jesse off on time." She answered.

This infuriated Clary. Who was this guy and what kind of dark ages did he live in that he stilled viewed males as more superior? Even in his children?

Clary looked up just as she saw Lexi descend the stairs. Her little legs moving quickly as she ran over to where Clary and the two girls stood. Clary saw Lexi's teacher still standing there, casting a watchful eye over the kids as they were collected up by their parents. Clary raised a hand and gave the teacher a small wave of thanks. The lady smiled, and nodded her head back at Clary in return.

"Oh there he is now!" Skye exclaimed pointing to the opposite direction that Clary was staring at.

Spinning on her heels, Clary blinked against the bright sunlight, raising her hand to help shield her eyes from the penetrating glare of the UV rays.

Struggling to see past the bright white light that the sun seemed to cast over everything, Clary squinted at the sleek black Mercedes car parked in the disabled park. Clary rolled her eyes. Bloody typical. This guy seemed to think that the sun must shine out of his ass.

The driver's door to the car opened, and Clary saw a black boot step out of the vehicle before a tall and defined man straightened from the car. His black hair a mess on his forehead as he flicked it back with a quick flick of his head. The guy reached up and drew his sun glasses from his face. A shocked look crossed his face as he saw us standing in front of him.

Clary's throat tightened and her pulse accelerated as the man stood frozen, for once caught off guard, and unprepared for a situation that was out of his control.

"Hey dad this is –"

"Dad? What are you doing –"

Phoebe and Skye once again spoke at the same time. Cutting each other off as they looked at one another with wide, shocked eyes. The severity of the situation dawning on them as they stared back at the parents.

"Sebastian," Clary breathed. Shocked, and unsure of how to proceed with this situation.

For the first time ever in Clary's life, Sebastian was the nervous, and afraid one. She could almost see the thought that was running threw his mind.

Shit….

"Well, that's funny Sebastian. You're two other children weren't mentioned in the court case were they? In fact, I quite remember that your lawyer was very quick to shut me down when I started saying that you were the unfaithful one in the marriage." Clary paused to grin at him before raising her hand to her chin in the pretence that she was thinking. "What was that punch line they used again?" Clary clicked her fingers as she stepped towards Sebastian. All her previous fear towards him gone as fury over took her. "Oh! That's right! Now I remember. Mother's baby, father's maybe. The judge seemed to eat right into that one."

Sebastian didn't say anything, knowing that he had been caught out. A muscle thrummed along his jaw line, and his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides as he stared at her. In the past, the obvious signs of his anger would have frightened her. Would have made her cower and quieten down into submission.

But not today.

Today the ball was in her court, and they both knew it.

"So when were you going to tell me that you had other children, Sebastian?" Clary asked.

Finally, Sebastian seemed to come out of his frozen stance. "I don't think that is any of your business!" he hissed, leaning down until he was right in her face.

Clary met his glare and didn't back down. "Not any of my business?! I think the law system would disagree with that when our kids are in fact half siblings!" Clary yelled.

A few nearby parents looked over. Their stares curious as they took in the obvious tension between the two people.

"I was going to ask if I could take Skye home with me for the weekend, and that Camille just pick her up from school on Monday after noon. Skye said she wasn't feeling comfortable at home, but now knowing who her father is, I can see why!" Clary hissed through her teeth so that the parents near them could not hear.

"I haven't touched the little brat, so you can stop thinking that immediately you little bitch." Sebastian spat.

From behind Sebastian, Skye's brother Jesse came up, standing behind his father as he took in what was going on.

"You don't have to hit her for it to be abuse Sebastian. You just ignore her, and undermine her. Favouring your son over her just like you did with our kids. I'm glad to see that you have at least kept that as a constant." She growled, her anger finding a new level. A level that it had never ever reached.

It was several seconds before Sebastian spoke. "No."

Caught off guard, she blinked. "No?" Clary asked.

Sebastian pursed his lips. "No, the little brat cannot stay at your disgusting place."

Clary clenched her fists. "Well surely Sebastian since you keep referring to her as a brat that you can't seem to care about her too much. You obviously won't miss her if I take her home with me and my kids." She threw in the last statement just to grind on his nerves.

"Mum will be glad that she is gone," Jesse spoke up. Skye looked at him with a hurt expression on her face. That just solidified Clary's choice even more. "Mum says she just gets in the way and whines too much when she is home."

Sebastian grinned at the obvious hurt on Skye's face that Jesse's words had caused her. Phoebe reached out and gripped Skye's hand. Giving it a squeeze for support. In that moment, Clary was proud of her daughter.

"I'm taking Skye home with me, and she is staying with me until I deem that her home is safe and loving for her to live in. tell Camille that if she has a problem with it that she can contact me directly. She has my number."

Sebastian glared at her, his hand flashing out to grip Clary's forearm tightly. She heard a small gasp come from Phoebe. "You can't just take my child home with you without my permission, Clarissa."

Clary ripped her arm out of Sebastian's hold. Her arm stinging slightly from the friction. Looking down briefly Clary saw that there was already a red mark from where he had gripped her.

"Just try and stop me." She glared. Stepping forward she stopped when she had to tilt her head back to look up into his harsh face. But the height difference didn't frighten her. For once, he didn't frighten her. "Try and stop me in front of all these parents. Let them call the police, and I will tell them all about our history and about your tendencies."

With that Clary spun away from him. Taking Lexi's hand as she started walking. The girls ran to catch up to her as she stormed away.

"I'm really going home with you?" Skye whispered looking back over her shoulder to see Sebastian glaring daggers into my back.

"Yes sweetie, you are really staying with us now." Clary answered.

Hello my lovelies! I'm back!
I know updates are a bit slow and far and few between, but let me share something exciting! I have wifi in our new house now! So I will have access to Fanfiction on a computer again. So hopefully I will be able to update a bit sooner for you guys.

So this chapter was a bit shorter than normal, but I had to stop it there because otherwise it was going to go into the next chapter. What a turning point this was!

As always, shout out to my girl Nicia, who without her I would not have the inspiration to write this story.

Please, please, please, review for me. They honestly make my day so much better. Let me know what you think is going to happen now, and if you saw this cliffy coming. I would love to hear your thoughts.

~Until next time xoxo