So, everyone has read a story of Clary being a single mom because something or another happened with Jace, right? And that got me thinking...what if Jace was the single parent? What if Clary was the one to make the mistake, and Jace was the superhero parent. Well, I decided to write it. I know I've got Aftermath, but I really wanted to get this out there. Hope y'all like it and be sure to read my other stories.

~Eight Years Ago~

Jace sat in his apartment rereading his favorite book for the fiftieth time, To Kill a Mockingbird. Yes, he knew it was basic for a favorite book, but nonetheless he loved it. And he had ever since he read it for a school project in eighth grade. He was nineteen now and that felt like ages ago. He supposed that it was.

Breaking him away from the story, the doorbell rang. Jace set down the book and answered it. To his surprise, nobody was on the other side. He furrowed his eyebrows. Did someone really just ding-dong ditch him? It was only when Jace heard a coo from below him that he even thought to look down. When he did, he felt his heart stop and his face pale.

Picking up the basket, he stepped back inside his apartment. He set the basket down on his kitchen table and took the note out to read.

Dear Jace Herondale,

I have my whole life ahead of me. School, work, the lot. It's looking bright so far. So, honestly, I don't need a baby screwing it up.
Instead, I trust that you'll take care of her. She's exactly one month old today. Her name is Anna Catherine Herondale. Yes, it says Herondale on her birth certificate. Take a DNA test if you want. She's yours.
Good luck, I hope you won't need it.

Once he finished reading it, Jace immediately pulled out his phone and texted for Alec to come over immediately. The boy literally lived across the hall so it shouldn't take long for him to get there. While he waited, Jace thought back to every girl he'd been with around ten months ago. That point in time was difficult, though, because it was right when he and the only girl he'd ever actually loved broke up. Basically, he was heartbroken and really slept around.

When Alec entered the apartment, he started to ask what was so important but was cut off when Jace picked the baby up out of the basket and held her in a less than correct manner. Meaning, his hands were under her armpits.

"Meet Anna," Jace said with an apparent lack of humor in his voice.

"Holy shit," Alec replied. Each syllable was emphasized. "We're gonna need Izzy."

~Present Day~

"Girl, if you don't get out here dressed and ready to go to school, I'll take away your pizza privileges for a month!" Jace had his arms crossed over his chest and his foot tapped on the floor as he impatiently waited.

"No!" There was a clatter after the shout and then the blonde girl was running out of her room. "I'm ready! I'm ready!" Her face was covered in freckles and her eyes were bright green with little flecks of gold here and there.

Jace held out the backpack and she snatched it from his hands. For an eight-year-old, she was very feisty and stubborn. But if Jace had learned anything through his years of raising her, it was to not get in between her and junk food. He smiled down at his daughter, glad to have won this battle. There were, in fact, few that he ever won.

"Don't want to be late to your first day of school," he taunted and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Whatever," she sighed. "If third grade is anything like second, I'll be dead before I'm home." Jace gaped at her as she opened up the door and went out into the hallway. At the same time, Alec was exiting his own apartment.

"Hey, Anne, how you doing?" He asked with a sweet smile.

"Terrible," she replied, walking past her uncle.

"Ouch." Alec put a mock hand of hurt on his chest as he and Jace fell into step together and followed the little girl downstairs. "What's her problem?"

"School," Jace said, "she's like a carbon copy of me, I swear."

"Well, aside from the eyes and the face structure and the intelligence." Jace glared at him at the last one. "And a few other little details I won't throw in." Alec chuckled sounding a little scared, then continued. "Because when it comes to those features she's exactly like-"

"Don't say her name." Jace put his hand up cutting off his best friend. "That's not her mother. If she was her mother she would've told me. There is no way that she ever would've kept a secret like that from me."

"She did leave rather abruptly though," Alec pointed out. He stopped talking when Jace looked at him with pain written across his face. "Sorry."

"It's fine."

They walked the rest of the way to the elementary school in silence. When the three got there, Jace squatted down in front of his daughter. Her mood had seemingly brightened during the walk over.

"Have a good day at school," he said and felt generic. "And remember, if anybody tries to hit you I one-hundred percent support you hitting them back but I will definitely throw you under the bus in the principal's office."

Anna smiled. "Who says I won't throw you under the bus first?"

"Who are they going to believe? A twenty-seven-year-old man or some little kid?" Anna raised her eyebrows at him, and he sighed. "You're right, they'd probably believe you. Alright, go on now. Aunt Izzy will pick you up when school's over."

She nodded. "Bye, dad!"

"Bye Ace!" He called back as she ran off towards the school. Jace watched as she slowed to a walk beside some other girls and they all entered together. He smiled and walked back to where Alec stood, waiting.

"I still find how the initials work cute," he said when Jace was in earshot. "You know, you're Jonathon Christopher aka J.C. and she's Anna Catherine aka A.C."

"Yeah, but I still think all the different nicknames we have for her are gonna give her an identity crisis when she's older." The two started walking back to the apartment complex. Jace had work today but he didn't start until ten. That was why Isabelle usually picked up Anna from school. "You call her Anne, Magnus calls her Cat, Isabelle calls her Anna-Cat, Simon calls her bug, and I call her Ace. That's five names on top of her actual name."

Alec shook his head. "I still think it's unfair that Simon's the only one whose nickname doesn't revolve around her real name. Instead, his has backstory to it."

Jace rolled his eyes. "You all individually gave her your own nicknames. It's not like I assigned Anne to you."

The other boy smiled at that and they both ended up laughing. "Okay, well I've got to get going to work. I'll see you tonight. We still doing dinner?"

"As long as everyone else shows up, yeah."

Alec shot Jace a thumbs up as he started off in the other direction. Jace himself headed back to his apartment. Inside, he turned on his radio and blasted the music. Usually, he would yell at Anna when she played her music too loud. But what she didn't know wouldn't hurt him... Jace started cooking himself some breakfast. All summer he'd been longing for school to start again. He loved his little girl with all his heart, loved her more than anything else, but it felt like the last time he'd had a minute to himself was years ago.

After that, he went off to work. He worked as the manager for the Mets. Yup, real big shot. And Jace would've loved the job completely if it weren't for the fact that he had to travel with the team sometimes. For the most part, he had a contract that allowed him to stay in New York and his co-manager would go off with them by himself, but a lot of the time Jace also had to travel, and he hated those trips. They meant being away from Anna. He tried taking her with him once but she got bored fast. Not to mention she had school. So, in the times that Jace was gone, Alec watched over her.

The day went by fast enough and soon, Jace was back home. It was almost six and everyone was eating over at Alec's in about half an hour. So, Jace quickly showered and got dressed. Then, he pushed open the door to his daughter's room and grinned toothily.

"How's my favorite girl doing?" He asked fully entering.

"Pretty good, thanks for asking." She gave him the same smile back. Jace looked down at what she was doing to find that she was drawing. His heart leaped a little, but he quickly pushed the feeling away.

"Ready to go to Uncle Alec's?"

Anna nodded and pushed her things to the side. Her room was a little messy, Jace would have to mention that to her later tonight. She exited her room and walked ahead of Jace as they headed across the hall. The two entered without knocking and Anna's face lit up when she saw who else was already there.

"Uncle Magnus!" She exclaimed and sprinted towards him.

"Cat!" Magnus shouted back with the same enthusiasm. He scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly. When he put her back down, he frowned. "You're not sparkly."

She shrugged pointing back to her father. "Blame it on him."

"No sparkles in my house," Jace said at that queue. He smiled at Magnus who returned the smile but with loathing in his eyes. Jace had to hold back a laugh.

"So, before Magnus stabs Jace," Alec said approaching them. "Let's turn on the game and wait for Izzy and Simon to arrive." He put a hand on Magnus' shoulder and separated him from Jace just a tad. He then grinned at the two and headed towards the couch. Anna waited a moment then gestured for Jace and Magnus to follow Alec.

"Bossy." Magnus pouted.

"What was that?" Anna demanded. The words being spoken in her high voice sounded hilarious but Jace knew better than to laugh at her. Like he said earlier, she's feisty.

"Nothing." Mags put up his hands defensively as he plopped down beside his boyfriend. Jace sat down on the other side of the couch and grabbed Anna, placing her down in between him and Alec.

The group watched the game for a little while. It wasn't a Mets match so Jace didn't have to be there, thankfully. Although, usually he invited the entire group to games and they always had fun. Anna liked baseball, she was even on the softball team, she just didn't like it when she had to travel and sit around for hours at a time when they went to out-of-state games.

Eventually, Simon and Isabelle arrived with their three-year-old son. Jace had been happy when they married. He had also been reluctant to go to their wedding because he knew that a piece of his past would be there. Clary. He had sucked it up though and gone. Anna had only been three at the time so he left her at home with a babysitter. That day, when Jace saw Clary, she hadn't even seemed to notice him. Even when he gave a speech, she didn't pay attention. Simon and Isabelle had put the two at different tables. Understandably so, it probably would've been awkward had they been at the same table. But the years had passed and Jace hadn't seen Clary since that event. He hadn't spoken to Clary since... since they broke up.

Enough of that, Jace thought to himself kicking the memories of Clary from his mind. He ate dinner happily with his friends and, afterward, sat in the living room with them just talking. He was more so paying attention to Anna sitting on the floor with Nathan, Isabelle and Simon's son. He smiled to himself as she made little faces and acted out scenes with the dolls for him. For still being a kid herself, she was really good with kids.

At some point, Simon's phone rang and he excused himself, stepping out into the hallway. Jace figured it was probably one of his bandmates. The boy had never given up on his music, which Jace idolized him for. As the years passed, Simon's group was actually becoming more and more recognized. A few of their songs had even been featured in some movies, and they were getting bigger and better gigs. It was really great.

"Hey, Anna-Cat," Isabelle said, "do you wanna do me a favor?" The girl nodded her head and her golden curls bounced around her shoulders. "You know that book you have? Good Night Moon? Do you think you could get it from your house and read it for Nate? It's about his bedtime."

Anna began to stand but furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't know if I know where it is." She frowned.

"Probably because your room's such a mess." Jace smirked at her, dropping the little- or rather, big- hint. "But don't worry, I know where it is. I'll get it." He headed out the door and was walking over to his own apartment when something that Simon said around the corner caught his attention. Normally, Jace wasn't one to eavesdrop, but... well, who is he kidding? He loved to eavesdrop.

"Two months?" Simon sounded happy. "I'm so excited. I can't wait to see you. No, of course, I won't tell anyone. Wait, not even Isabelle? Okay, good. You know I can't lie to her. Do you want me to pick you up from the airport? Okay, then I'll just meet you at the office." Simon was quiet for a little while, then he hesitated. "Yeah, okay. I'll see you tomorrow, Clary. Bye."

Jace's jaw dropped and he froze in his spot. Then, he realized that Simon was about to start coming back in this direction and he whipped back to his own apartment. He was opening the door just as Simon came into view.

"Oh, hey, Jace. Weird question, but you didn't hear any of my conversation just now, did you?" Simon was fidgeting with the wedding ring on his finger. A sign that he was nervous.

"No." Jace shook his head. "I just came from Alec's. I'm going to get a book for little Nate."

Simon smiled and nodded. "Okay. Yeah, it is about his bedtime."

Jace smiled back, thankful that he was so good at lying. The moment he closed his apartment door behind him, he had to hold onto the wall to keep himself from collapsing. Clary was coming back.