Roommates & Soulmates

Clary's Cake

Since arriving home for the winter break, Clary had been happy to see her family welcome Jace even more warmly than they had last year. She suspected this was partly due to the fact that Jace's presences two years in a row was reassuring to them. Of course she was also glad to see her brother and parents again after so many months away at school. Jon was back from his Europe trip, though he'd broken up with his girlfriend Cassie. Her brother hadn't explained why they'd broken up, and Clary hadn't asked; though she couldn't say she was too surprised. Jon was always traveling, moving around, and that was hard on a relationship. Her parents were much the same as they always were, arguing in that playful way they always did. The biggest difference between this Christmas and the last one was the presence of Celine. She'd flown in a few days ago, and she and Clary had taken to baking sugar cookies, while Jace and Jon tried to eat them before they were iced.

Before getting out of bed on Christmas morning, Clary read her texts from Simon and Magnus, both had sent her Christmas greetings. As she set her phone down, Jace woke beside her. They were in her childhood bedroom, sleeping in the same place they'd been last year. Clary kept expecting to arrive home to find that her parents had repurposed the room and turned it into a gym or something, but they had yet to do such a thing.

Jace looked up at her, groggy from sleep, and she kissed him lightly on the lips as a hello. He smiled and pulled her down for a deeper kiss before either of them got out of bed. Jace was a little less nervous about her parents being down the hall now than he'd been last year, though she couldn't say he'd given up the notion all together.

"Why not just get dressed if you're going to change anyway?" Jace asked as she got up and changed out of the extra large t-shirt she slept in and into her jammies.

"It's tradition to wear pajamas on Christmas," Clary explained.

"If you say so," Jace chuckled before getting dressed in his regular clothes like a horrible humbug.

Together they went down the stairs to find most of the family already awake. Luke and Jocelyn were in the kitchen making the Fairchild traditional Christmas morning breakfast of german apple pancakes. Or she supposed her mom was making them, and Luke was hovering. Her father often cooked, though Jocelyn wouldn't let him take over the kitchen at Christmas. Jon was on the couch looking very much like he was waiting to be fed. Celine was trying to help cook, while Jocelyn kept insisting she be a good guest and relax. The whole situation made Clary smile. When her mother announced that food was ready everyone quickly gathered around the table. German apple pancakes were baked in the oven, then covered in applesauce and whipped cream. No one spoke as they ate, proving how delicious it really was.

Next they opened gifts, a modest haul this year, as there weren't any small children in the family anymore. Jocelyn wasn't the type of mother to spoil her children, but Clary quickly learned that Celine was. She'd gotten something for everyone, even those she hadn't met before arriving here. Before the day was out, everyone was remarking on how they should really have Celine come again next year.

One of Jon's gifts had been a new basketball, and Clary hadn't been surprised in the least when he'd insisted on trying it out straight away.

"Has my son abandoned you?" Celine chuckled, when she returned to the living room to find Clary suddenly sitting alone, Jace's arm having been wrapped around her for much of the day.

"My brother kidnapped him," Clary explained with a laugh.

"I see," Celine smiled. "Well, more for us then." And she pulled out a box of icing sugar coated sweets. Clary wasn't sure what they were, but she was sure Jace wouldn't want to miss them.

"Turkish delight," Celine explained when Clary asked. "The good stuff, not that cheap knock off kind."

"Oh, we are gonna make the boys so jealous," Clary grinned as she reached out to take one. And sure enough, when Jon and Jace returned an hour later to an empty box, the looks on their faces were priceless.