Goodbye Agony

Chapter 4: Baby

*5 months later*

I woke up one morning to figure out that have wasn't in bed with me. I went downstairs in search of Jace. And also food.
"Jace?" I called out. I found a note on the counter addressed to me. It said,
"Clary, if you wake up and I'm not there, don't freak out. Alec, Izzy, and I went to do some training down in Central Park. We should be back sometime tonight. I love you. -Jace"
"Dammit, Jace. Why didn't you tell me you would be gone today?" I muttered to myself.
I sat down on the couch and turned on the tv. Then, unexpectedly, I felt a gush of water between my legs and serious cramps in my stomach. My water just broke. Great.
I debated whether or not to call Jace. When I did, it went right to voicemail. Same for Isabelle and Alec. All I know is, my contractions were getting worse.
I screamed in pain and clutched my belly.
"Now really isn't a good time, you know that right?" I said to the baby. He answered with a kick. I tried calling Jace again.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Jace, thank god. I've been trying to call you and I only got your voicemail."
"I see that now. What's up?" He asked.
"Do you think you can come home early?" I groaned as another contraction hit.
"Why?"
"My water broke, Jace. The baby's coming and I'm in a lot of pain." I bit my tongue to keep myself from screaming.
"Shit. We'll be home in ten minutes, Clary, do you think you can make it?"
"Yeah. I'll try. Just hurry, please." He hung up the phone and left me to my agony.
I closed my eyes and tried not to think about what awaits me in the next few hours.
The door to the Institute opened and in came Jace and Alec and Izzy. Jace ran up to me and held my hand. I squeezed it as hard as I could because of a contraction.
"Easy, honey. Just breathe." He instructed.
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who's in constant pain." I gasped and held my stomach.
"Izzy, should we take her to the hospital?" Jace asked, worry clear in his voice.
"Yeah. I think we should. Unless one of you two know how to deliver a baby," she smiled at them and came over to help me stand up.
Once standing, my pain seemed to get worse.
"How is it possible for something to hurt this much?" I complained as I walked to the car. Jace kept pace with me and helped me sit down.
"Jace, we need the overnight bag," I breathed.
"Where is it?" He asked.
"Upstairs in our room. It should be right inside the door."
"Where's he going?" Alec asked
"To get the bag I packed for the hospital." I mumbled.
Alec started the car and took a deep breath. I guess I'm not the only one that's nervous.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Jace came back with the bag and we were able to leave. It took about twenty minutes but we made it.
A nurse came out with a wheelchair for me and led us inside. I grabbed Jace's hand and groaned in pain. The nurse brought me to a room and helped me onto the bed.
"Once you're settled in, I'll do a pelvic exam and we'll see how long it will take until we can get this show on the road. My name is Dr. Marsh, by the way," she smiled. At least she's cheery.
"Ready?" She asked
I nodded my head and waited for her to start.
Once she was finished, she said, "Alright, Mrs. Lightwood, you're about 2 centimeters dilated, and seeing as how this is your first time being pregnant, it could take anywhere up to an hour or more until you're ready to have the baby."
"Can I have any pain medicine yet?" I asked between contractions.
"I thought you were going to do this without pain meds, Clary," Jace said.
"Yeah, well, that was before I knew how bad the pain actually was. The doctor laughed and looked at me.
"You can have meds, but you're not dilated enough yet." She wrote something on the clipboard hanging on my bed and left.
The room got quiet after she was gone.
"Jace, can you call my mom? She said that she wanted to be here when the baby is born," I grit my teeth together.
"Yeah. I'll be right back." Ten minutes later, he walked back into the room with my mom trailing behind him.
"Hey, baby. How do you feel?" My mom asked me.
"Shitty." Was all I could say before I screamed in pain. Jace held my hand and pushed my hair out of my face.

*Time skip; several hours later*

"Alright, Clary, you're fully dilated now. Are you ready to have your baby?"
"Yes," I panted, wrapping my hands around the rails of the hospital bed.
"Okay, when I tell you, you're going to push for as long as you can okay? Ready, push!" I pushed and felt someone hold my hand.
When I was done, I exhaled and laid my hand back against the pillows. After fifteen minutes of that, the doctor was holding our son in her hands. He was a carbon copy of Jace. I left a few tears fall down my face as the doctor handed me our son.
I looked up at Jace and said, "he looks just like you. What should we name him?"
Tears welled in his eyes when he looked down at the baby. "What about Christopher?"
"I love it. Do you want to hold him?" He nodded and I passed Chris over to him.
He cradled his arms to hold the baby and smiled.
He was perfect.