After COHF

Chapter 2

Charlotte, being one in a long line of herondales, had a soul like no other. There were many things that had happened in Jaces childhood that he had not told Clary, had she asked he would (even reluctantly).

The only person Jace seemed to tell these things was Charlotte, merely an infant. Jace never told Clary what it was that haunted him at night, never told her the things his father had done to him, such as applying his First Runes when he was only 9.

That's when the nightmares started, some nights were not so bad, he would dream of a lost battle one night and a won battle the next, he would have nughtmares of his childhood even though he wasn't tortured, the thing is: Jace didn't have a bad childhood. In fact, he had many things he could look back at fondly.

'Times twist our memories, time twists the truth' his own nanny had told him. At the time he thought his favorite playmate was making a joke, he'd laughed an bobbed his head then ran down the hall calling back, 'Nanny Martha can't catch me!' And she would run and try to catch up to him and he would hide underneath the elegant stairs everyday and she would walk by and say, 'where's Jace?' To every maid who walked within hearing distant of jace. Eventually to get him out she would call, 'Jonathan!' And he would jump out from under the stars and yell 'my names Jace!' Then take off down the hallway, hoping his father didn't catch him playing with the person who was supposed to be watching him.

Nanny Martha was Jaces only secret from Clary. He'd never told her that he had a Nanny, not because he was afraid it would make him sound like a baby, but because telling her of someone he had cared so dearly for then never seen again was too painful. He wanted to know what had happened to her. Surely she was cast off or made into a general maid after Valentine had showcased his death (although when he and clary had snuck into the wayland manor the home was in shambles, maids must've been gone for a long time).

Some things were just too painful to re-tell.

He just hoped upon hope that Lottie wouldn't have to deal with his haunting memory.

He lie awake that night, Clary deeply asleep beside him, thinking that he would do anything to protect his baby. He had done so before she was born, Clary had had an extremely taxing pregnancy, not only was she sure that raising a child would be hard but she also had had a physically straining eight months, and before she could even hold on for another month she had gone into labor.

Three days of it.

Jace rolled on his side and watched clary sleep, she was on her side facing him and was smiling at her dream.

'What could be going on in her dreams?' Jace thought with a smile.

He looped his fingers through one red curl that had escaped her messy bun just as the baby began to cry.

'Right on time' jace thought getting up, not caring that he only had on underwear and long black pajama bottoms.

"Maybe next time you can cry when I'm not having an important moment with your sleeping mother" he laughed as he grabbed the baby from the crib, she was no more than a week old, six days, yet he didn't know what he would do without her.

He changed the child and was about to put Charlotte back in her crib when he thought better of it and took her to the former reading chair that was shoved in the corner of the pastel pink room (having been painted by magnus), as the baby stared up at him with the gold eyes she'd been born with he felt like she was waiting for something.

"What?" Jace teased the baby, "do you want a story?"

Charlotte only blinked, but apparently it was pretty damn encouraging because Jace began his favorite story.

"....

~~~ what do you think? Enough baby time? I think he's going to be so loving!!! I think I'll do a Malec chapter, then a Sizzy chapter then I'll post the story Jace tells the baby! I don't know when they'll be up, but I'm hoping soon! maybe tomorrow~~~