Heart by heart. (TMI)

18) Together.

Jace placed Clary down when they reached the nursery and she pushed the door open with her good arm. He tucked the chair under her and she leaned over the edge of the crib to peer at her daughter, who slept peacefully.  A wave of adoration washed over her. This room contained everything Clary ever needed.

She looked up and Jace to see his gaze cast over Valerie before her attention caught his and he turned, placing a hand on her stomach. She wondered what he was thinking. He was smiling but his eyes seemed sad so she placed her hand on top of his.

Although Clary hadn't been in the nursery for a while, Jace had spent many of his nights there. It had reminded him of Clary and Valerie during the time they had been away. His heart seemed to beat faster and he could hear the blood pounding through his head. Valerie had grown so much and he was sad to have missed so many months of her life, but his twins were on their way and Clary was back in his life. He felt complete again.

If only he wasn't very aware of the skeleton in the closet.

He tried to focus on something else and sat beside Clary. "What are we going to call the twins when they're born? Do we know their sex?"

She nodded and smiled "It's a girl and a boy. I was thinking maybe we could call one of them Max for you."

A tear fell from his eye and he nodded his head, smiling. "I would love that, Angel. And do you have any ideas for our second little girl?"

"I was thinking we could call her Joanie, after-" Her voice cracked and he squeezed her hand. "-after the brother I never got know." He pulled her head to her chest and let his hand run through her orange curls. "I know he killed Max and we can never forgive him for that but that was Sebastian not Jonathan- the darkness within him was too strong and I'm so sorry. That is why I decided to give you a second chance." She was crying now. "Because I know that we need to fix things  and he never got the chance to do that." 

He hugged her tightly and she flinched pulling back, her bandages seeping blood. Even in this perfect moment, there was something to be fixed. But that was what they did best, and they would fix this.