A.N-I've been thinking about this for a while, and decided, why not. It's been 10 years since COG, 5 years since BD and Jace and Clary are married, and so are Simon and Maia. And let's pretend Maia can decided if she ages or not, okay? This is fiction, keep in mind. Clary is out with her and Jace's eight-month-old son
Clary breathed in the familiar Manhattan air she'd grown up with. She looked down into the coach at her sleeping son and was glad he would get to experience the joys that came with growing up in the Big Apple. Of course, he'd spent the first three months of his life in Allicante, but he'd been too young to remember that. Or was he? Clary came back to that question from time to time when she saw her son. Every Shadowhunter had some of the Angel's blood in them, but, thanks to his parents, he'd have just a bit more than normal Shadowhunters. Clary wasn't sure if that meant her son would have some extra abilities like her and Jace.
Stephen was her life. Him and Jace. Sometimes she would laugh at the choice of the name they'd given him. But she was glad they did, especially when she'd seen the joy and happiness on her step-aunt Amatis's face.
They'd thought of naming him Max, after Jace's adoptive brother who had died at a young age, but a year before his adoptive sister, Isabelle, had outraged her parents and surprised everyone else by announcing that she was pregnant. She wouldn't say who the father was, but she got a check in the mail every month, which led them to believe that she hadn't quite cut ties with her partner. But the baby turned out to be a boy, whom she named Maxwell Robert Lightwood, after her brother and father.
So they decided to name their son after his biological paternal grandfather. Unfortunately, Stephen Herondale had died even before his son had been born. To add to it, his mother had killed herself before her son was born, horribly enough. But Clary's father and a friend had been able to cut Jace out of his dead mother's stomach so he could live. And though Clary's father had done many wrong things and she hated him, she would forever be grateful for that one act, even if it was for his own needs, because now Clary knew she could not live without Jace.
Clary stopped in front of a window where pieces of art were being displayed, and she felt a rush of pride when she saw one of her own pieces. She had followed in her mother's footsteps and became an artist. All of her family (which included her mother and step-father, Jocelyn and Lucian Graymark who was like a father to her, and now her step-aunt who was like an older sister sort of, her best friend Simon Lewis and his wife Maia, a warlock named Magnus who was with her adoptive brother-in-law Alec, and Jace and the other Lightwoods) had said that it was beautiful. Clary wasn't quite sure it deserved all the praise it got, but it was pretty good. It was the Mortal Cup with the Mortal Sword crisscrossing over the Mortal Mirror, which was a lake. She'd called it Heritage. The producers hadn't gotten how she'd come up with that title for it, but didn't question it.
Clary now turned and had to stifle a scream, as she looked around wildly. Her son was...gone!
"Stephen? Stephen, sweetie, where are you? Stephen!" She ran around the corner, stopping everyone she saw and asking if they'd seen a gold coach with a baby in it. Somehow no one had. Clary was starting to have a heart attack. She quickly called Jace and her mom and Luke, only to get voice mail.
And as she tore through the city, trying to find her son, she thought,
Oh God, don't let my son be hurt. Lord Raziel, please let me find my son, please!
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In the woods at the park...
Esme's P.O.V
My family and I, minus Carlisle, Rosalie and Emmett, were going into the woods to hunt. Nessie had school (We decided that since it was only two years left, we could risk it. Besides, people would just think it was a growth spurt), so she wasn't with us either. I looked around at the unfamiliar woods and sighed, wishfully thinking of Forks and all the happy times we'd had there.
It had been time to move, though, unfortunately. We had stayed in Forks for almost eight years. I felt bad for Bella and Charlie and Nessie. Bella and Nessie had been very sad, but understood it. Charlie did too, once we explained, but was not any more happy with it then his daughter and granddaughter. He'd requested to spend the whole few days we had left with them, and they happily agreed. We all let them have their time.
For some reason, though, the only job my darling Carlisle could get was in New York City. New York City! It wasn't very cloudy, and there weren't that many forests. Carlisle was looking for a rainier place to work, with more wild life, but this would have to do for now.
Just when we reached the edge of the forest, Alice stopped dead; the look on her face telling us she was in the future. Jasper hovered near her nervously, while Bella was looking at Edward, who looked surprised.
"Are you sure?" He asked Alice after she came out of her vision. She nodded.
"What is it? Are we in danger?" Bella asked, looking between her husband and sister-in-law. Edward shook his head. I sighed with relief at that, but why wouldn't they tell us? Edward smiled at my thoughts as Alice was warning us not to hunt, not right now. We were surprised.
"Why not? Are there humans in the area?" Jasper asked, backing away as he said this. We all knew he wasn't the best at his blood lust, but he was better then before, of that I was confident in. Alice answered,
"Because...because we're going to find a baby."
"What?!" was the chorus. Just then we heard a squeak of wheels. We all turned, tensed, but all there was was a gold-colored baby carriage.
"What in the world..." Bella murmured. She and I approached the carriage carefully, only to see a little baby boy staring up at us. He had whitish blond hair and green eyes, and when he saw us he smiled. I smiled back as Bella lifted him out and sniffed him. We tensed again at that, but my daughter-in-law just cocked her head, obviously confused. When we smelled the air, we found out why. The baby smelled good, very much so, but there was something underneath the smell, something like a warning. I understood why Bella was confused.
"What should we do with him?" Edward asked. Yes, that was the problem. I said,
"Well, we can't just leave him here, but we should probably look for his parents." Alice frowned. That usually didn't happen, so I knew she really disagreed with me.
"What if they just left him here? There wouldn't be much sense in giving him back to those who abandoned him." I was immediately sorry for my happy-go-lucky daughter. Her own parents had locked her in an asylum. She didn't have much for paternal support until she found us. Edward shook his head.
"He's too well-fed for that. And he obvious isn't afraid of us. Look; he's even sleeping in Bella's arms." We looked. He was right, Bella was humming a lullaby for the baby. I'd never heard it before, so it wasn't her lullaby, or even Nessie's. Maybe it was something her parents had sung to her.
"Maybe we should take him back to the house," I suggested. As every mulled it over, I asked Bella if I could hold him. She smiled and held him out to me. I looked down and his sleeping face and then almost dropped him. I thrust him back in to Bella's arms and backed away, trying to hold in my sobs. That little baby reminded me so much of my own baby boy, who had died after just ten days of life. Bella's eyes softened and Alice came over and kissed me on the cheek.
"Let's go to the house," Jasper said. We nodded and then walked back to the house, so the little boy wouldn't be hurt or upset or something.
When we got there, Emmett and Rosalie were very surprised when we came back with a baby. But Rose didn't really care about how we found him, she was cuddling him and singing to him, with all the love and devotion only a mother can give. I felt so sorry for her. Rose had always wanted a baby, but female vampires can't have one. But she was thrilled when Bella became pregnant, because that meant she would have a baby to take care of.
Emmett gently put his hands on his wife's shoulders. She turned and beamed at him, as if he was their child. Poor Rose.
"Isn't he adorable, Em? And he doesn't even mind how cold I am!" I could tell Emmett hated to have to burst Rose's bubble. I knew I wouldn't have had the heart for it.
"You know we can't keep him, Rose," he said gently. Just like that my eldest daughter's face fell from the proud, happy face to one of pure sadness. My heart went out to her. If only female vampires could have a baby! Then Rose would have everything she could ever want.
"I know," she said softly. She looked up at me. "Are you going to look for his parents?" I nodded. She looked down at the boy and her lips lifted just a bit when he smiled at her; completely unaware of how much wound re-opening he was doing.
"Can I come with you? I want to hold him a little bit longer." I put my arm around her and she laid her head on my shoulder. Rosalie's body starting shaking with tearless sobs. Emmett looked dejected seeing the love of his life like this. I murmured comforting things in her ear.
"Come on, Rose, let's go." Edward said. She got up and nodded. Putting on a brave smiled she looked down at the baby.
"Don't worry, little guy, you'll be with your mommy and daddy soon," she said, tickling his chin, getting a giggle out of him.
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Back on the street with Clary
Clary ran around wildly still, feeling hope draining away from her with each step. Then she saw a pale woman with beautiful golden hair standing next to another equally beautiful, pale woman with caramel hair. A boy with the same characteristics, only with bronze hair, was with them. But what really got her attention was the blond woman's arms, in which she held
"Stephen!" Clary yelled, running full speed. Her baby looked away from the blonde's smiling face to her, smiling and stretching his little arms out to Clary. A part of her relished in the fact that Stephen knew her and was excited to see her, but that was eclipsed by the absolute joy and happiness at seeing her son alright.
Clary took Stephen out of the woman's arms and hugged him to her, not ever wanting to let him go. When she looked up she must have said 'thank-you' a million times because the boy was looking intimidated. When she ran out of breath, the caramel haired woman smiled.
"You're very welcome. I'm just glad he's safe. I'm Esme Cullen, and this is my daughter Rosalie and my son, Edward." Esme held out a hand which Clary shook.
"I'm Clary Fairchild. And you've met my son, Stephen." Clary said, smiling. The blond, Rosalie, was looking longingly at Stephen. Clary guessed she wanted a baby of her own. Rosalie looked up at Clary and scowled.
"Care to explain why your son was in the woods?" Clary scowled back at her. She knew what the girl was getting at. She thought Clary didn't love her son and wasn't a good enough mother. Clary did admit that she let her eye stray away from Stephen a few times more then it should, but she was not a negligent mother.
"If you think I abandoned my son or in any way tried to hurt him, then you are very much mistaken," Clary said through clenched teeth. Edward shot his sister a look and smiled at her.
"I'm sorry for Rose's behavior, but she just really likes babies. She doesn't mean any harm." Clary was about to respond when a pull on her shirt brought her attention to Stephen. He was opening his mouth and clutching her shirt. His mother smiled at him. She looked apologetically at Esme.
"I'm sorry to have to go, but it's his lunch time," she said. Esme smiled and nodded. Just then Clary's phone rang. She took it out and saw that it was Jace. Of course! She forgot that she had called him. He must have been tearing his hair out with worry.
"Clary! Did you find Stephen yet? I got your message, and I was so worried and-" He was cut off by Clary's laugh at his rush of words.
"Yes, Jace, I found Stephen, and he's happy and healthy as could be." Jace sighed with relief on the other side of the phone.
"Thank God. Thank the Angel, that's great."There was a pause, and then Jace said, almost shyly,
"Can I...can I talk to him? I mean, if he's awake." Clary laughed again at her husband's words. When she first announced she was pregnant, he had been super happy, but didn't really think he'd be a good father or not. So, when he had time, he played with Stephen the whole time. Stephen absolutely loved it when his father played with him, and Clary absolutely loved seeing her two favorite boys so happy together.
"Sure. Here he is." Clary sifted the phone towards Stephen, careful not to let him get his hands on it. Then she'd have to pay for a new phone she knew.
"Hey buddy. You gave Mommy and Daddy quite a scare there. But you're safe now, and that's what matters. But don't do anything like that ever again, kay?" Stephen, upon hearing his beloved father's voice, reached for the phone, babbling happily. Jace laughed when he heard it.
"That's cute. Look, Clary, I would really love to stay, but..." Clary sighed. There had been more demon activity going on lately, and she assumed that was why Jace hadn't picked up the phone when she had called earlier.
"It's okay, Jace, really. Go do your job. I love you," she said.
"I love you, too, Clary. See you soon."
"I'd better," she said, but he had already hung up. Clary put her phone away and turned toward the Cullens.
"Once again, thank-you so much. I can not tell you how grateful I am. If you need anything, anything at all, just call, okay?" Esme smiled and nodded. Clary wrote down her home and cell number on a stray piece of paper from her sketch book she had in Stephen's carriage. Then they exchanged good-byes and went their separate ways.
Clary looked down and smiled at her son. She would keep him in her sight from now on.
A.N-I know it's hard to believe that no one saw a baby rolling down the street, and even harder that he would end up in a forest with no one noticing, but just please go with the flow. And I know next chapter will be a bit hard to with the Cullens staying in New York for a while, but please bare with me.