I sighed, knowing there was no way Jace would allow me to fight the Forsaken with our babies still in my womb. I turned on my heel and headed towards the staircase while everyone stared at the window.

"Well," I said, "I'm just going to run up the stairs, grab some seraph blades, and when I come back, I expect you all to have a game plan. Alright?"

I quickly ran upstairs, grabbed seraph blades, checked the names, and grabbed a few extra steles as well before running back down. I handed them out and told the others what to do.

"I'd say the best plan of attack would be to kick ass," I suggested.

"As opposed to what?" Simon asked sarcastically.

"Getting your asses kicked, of course," I responded cheekily.

"Smart ass," Simon mumbled.

"Alright," Isabelle said, "Enough talk of asses, even if mine is amazing. Can we come up with an actual plan?"

"We could do it the old-fashioned way and take them down one by one," Jocelyn suggested.

"That takes too long," Jace retorted, "And there are too many of them."

"Why don't you use the 'Open' rune that I used on Valentine's ship six years ago?" I asked.

"That might work," Magnus offered.

"Forsaken carnage littering the streets? Awesome. Let's do it," Simon said excitedly.

I watched as my family lined up in front of the door, ready to burst out then start killing Forsaken. I suddenly knew how Army wives felt, and tears pooled in my eyes. I guessed I should get used to it though. I wouldn't be able to go on hunts with the others anymore, because of the babies. Jace looked at me, and our eyes met.

"Pregnancy hormones," we said at the same time.

"If you get hurt, Jace, and you're not dying, I'm not going to use a rune on you," I warned him.

"I wouldn't want it any other way, Clary," my husband replied and then kicked the door open.

Everyone filed out of the house, leaving me with my worries. I pulled the curtain back from the window and watched as each of my family members took down a Forsaken. At one point while watching the fight, I almost turned around to get a tub of ice cream from the kitchen but stopped myself in mid-step to ask myself what I was doing.

I continued to study the Forsaken's movements, occasionally calling out to one of them to warn them of a Forsaken that they were too busy to notice. I, myself, was too busy to notice the Forsaken that had sidled up to the window to the right of me.

I had just witnessed Jace and Simon working together to take down a Forsaken when the window I'd been looking out of exploded inward, towards me. I shielded my stomach as best as I could but I felt some glass tear through the skin of my arms.

I was blown back by the force of the window breaking and landed painfully on my back. I heard someone scream my name and I quickly scrambled to my feet, being careful not to put too much pressure on the twins. The Forsaken reached into the window and searched blindly for me. I yelled Jace's name and looked around for a weapon of some sort.

The Forsaken suddenly fell backwards, its arm flying out of the window as it did so. Jace peeked his head into the opening to check on me. Once he was assured that I was okay, he disappeared and the fighting resumed. I stayed away from the opening where the window once was and waited.

The sounds of Forsaken hitting the ground continued to reach my ears for the next few minutes. I heard one last loud thud and then only silence rang through the street outside. I waited anxiously for my family to return.

Jace was the first to rush back into the Institute and wrap me in his arms. I sighed in relief and hugged him back tightly.

"Are you alright?" I asked frantically, searching for any serious wounds.

"Hardly a scratch, Clary," he answered.

"And the others?" I questioned.

"Just cleaning up as best as they can. We don't want these mundanes freaking out, do we?" Jace grinned.

His hands lightly felt along my baby bump, checking to see if it was injured in any way.

"Did that Forsaken hurt you in any way?" he asked seriously.

"My arms are just a little cut up, that's it," I answered.

He nodded and lifted his stele, drawing an iratze on each arm. He smiled as the cuts healed. I took his stele from him and did the same for him, drawing healing runes where he'd gotten hurt.

The others silently returned to the Institution and I went to each one of them, drawing iratzes and making sure they were okay. Once everyone was healed, we agreed to head up to the second floor and discuss recent events.

I cooked macaroni and cheese to start with, placing it on the table so the others could start eating while a pot roast cooked in the oven. Everyone was quiet, trying to avoid the long conversation that no one really knew how to begin. Once everyone was settled around the table with food on their plates, I studied everyone's faces.

"Okay, so who's going to present their theory first?" I asked, just wanting to figure out a way to protect my babies in whatever way I could.

Sorry that this took forever