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Shadowhunters Short Story #55. Toddler Mina Carstairs feat. Big Sister Mina.

It is a cool September afternoon in Devon 2015, a year and a half after Mina Carstairs was born, when Tessa Carstairs receives one of the biggest shocks of her life.

Over the past couple of weeks Tessa has been feeling odd, her main symptoms are getting light-headed and having dizzy spells, and while at first she wasn’t worried, after the symptoms did not ease after a few weeks, she decided to have Catarina book her in at the local hospital, where she now works part time, while teaching at The Scholomonce the other half of the time. Jem had wanted to come with her today but Tessa insisted there was no need and that he should stay at home with Kit and Mina so they wouldn’t have to ask Emma to come to Devon to watch Mina and keep an eye on Kit. Though Kit is almost 16, Tessa and Jem are extremely protective of him and are reluctant to leave him home alone, especially with Mina, not because they don’t trust him but because he is still vulnerable and probably still being hunted by someone from Faerie, even if The Riders are gone, there are others who want to get their hands on the lost heir.

So just half an hour ago Tessa had left Jem tutoring Kit on Shadowhunter history while Mina played with her toys, at their feet.

When she had told Catarina about her symptoms, the first thing Catarina wanted to do was a blood test, suspecting that her friend was simply low on iron, which can easily happen after having a baby. Thankfully it would only take a few hours or less for Tessa to get the blood test results back, and since she was Catarina’s last client for the day, she stayed in the hospital with her friend, helping her to clean up the exam room and set up for tomorrow.

“Is Mina walking yet? She was very close to it last time I visited.” Catarina asks her friend, as they change the paper on the exam bed.

“Not entirely, she’ll take a few steps on her own but then she seems to get scared and just plop back down, she’ll walk a good bit holding Jem, Kit or I’s hand and she loves to cruise along the couch but she’s not so keen on doing it on her own.” Tessa says in an amused tone, picturing her little Mina clutching tightly to her big brother’s fingers as he helps her walk across the room or down the driveway to collect the post.

“My Ephraim was the same, he didn’t walk on his own until he was 18 months, anytime I let go while he was walking while holding my hand, he would just fall down and start crawling again, they certainly know how to get what they want.” Catarina lightly says, still able to picture her son’s tiny little hand in hers, wobbling alongside her as they walked through the town.

“That they certainly do, Mina has Jem and Kit wrapped around her little finger, if she so much as coughs during the night, both of them are at her side in a minute flat.” Tessa laughs, knowing that Mina knows full well if she makes even the smallest noise, her daddy and brother will come rushing to her and give her whatever she wants.

An hour after Catarina sent Tessa’s blood sample to the lab, she goes to pick up her results and comes back with a look on her face that says she knows something.

“What? What’s that look for?” Tessa suspiciously asks, hoping that all is normal with her results.

“Has your cycle gone back to normal since having Mina?” Catarina asks, shutting the door behind her and sitting beside her friend.

“Not entirely, why?” Tessa asks in a confused tone.

“Oh it just explains why you didn’t figure this out sooner.” Catarina nonchalantly says, lightly shrugging her shoulders as she scans the clipboard with Tessa’s results on them.

“Figure what out? What are you talking about Cat?” Tessa asks, close to frustration.

“You’re pregnant.” A wave of shock washes over Tessa, she can hardly believe her ears. Like they had before Tessa got pregnant with Mina, she and Jem agreed that they weren’t going to try and prevent a pregnancy, but they weren’t going to actively try for a baby either, but they so rarely had the chance to be intimate anymore, with Mina between them most nights and both of them being extremely busy during the day, it had been at least 2 months since they had slept together, and Tessa had felt non of the symptoms she had with Mina.

“But it’s been months I... I didn’t think it would happen so soon.” Tessa quietly says, still in shock.

“2 months I’m guessing, since that’s how far along you are, and there is one more thing you ought to know.” Catarina says, looking at the results on her chart.

“W-what is it?” Tessa weakly asks.

“Your HCG levels are very high, which gives me reason to believe you’re having twins.” Catarina softly says. Tessa feels as if she may pass out from shock. Finding out she is pregnant was one thing, but finding out it’s twins is something else entirely.

“A-Are you sure?” She breathlessly asks.

“Well I’ll need to do an ultrasound to be sure but I don’t see why else your HCG levels would be so high.” Catarina explains.

“Can... can we do the ultrasound now?” Tessa weakly asks, needing to know for a fact if she is having twins or not.

Twenty minutes later, Tessa is trying to see as much of the screen of the ultrasound machine as she can, from her position on the exam bed, but she can’t make out much.

“There you have it, that’s Baby A, and that’s Baby B, everything looks perfect with all three of you.” Catarina gently says, pointing out the two little blobs on the screen. Tessa starts to tear up when she sees her babies, the shock wearing off, her heart swelling with love for these two new babies that she will soon be able to hold and kiss and snuggle, she can hardly wait.

When she arrives home, she finds Kit sitting on the sofa with Mina in his lap, her attention fixed on the T.V. where The Book Thief movie is playing.

“Read that book.” Tessa lightly says, standing behind the sofa Kit is sat on, leaning down to kiss Mina and ruffle Kit’s hair. Kit grins up at her in delight and instantly shoots back

“Saw that movie.”

“I have no idea what either of you are talking about.” Jem chimes in as he walks into the living room, grinning at his wife and children.

“Lies, I saw you reading the book last week!” Kit replies, as Mina reaches up for Jem to lift her.

“You caught me out, thanks to you, your old man is becoming quiet well versed in pop culture.” Jem lightly says, lifting Mina and settling her on his hip.

“Jem you still call every social media site ‘The Facebook’”. Kit laughs. Copying her brother as usual, Mina smiles widely, clumsily claps her hands in delight and giggles loudly, showing off the few teeth she has.

“Oh you think daddy’s ignorance is funny now too, do you? I don’t see you knowing how to work an iPhone either Mina mine.” Jem teases his daughter, lightly tickling her chest, causing her to shriek with laughter and wriggle away from him.

“Jem can I talk to you for a minute?” Tessa quietly asks her husband, laying a hand on his arm and smiling at he and Mina.

“Of course, you go back to your big brother Mina, Kit maybe you could put something a little more child friendly on?” Jem lightly asks, passing Mina back to Kit.

“If I have to watch one more episode of Peppa Pig I’m going to loose it, how about we facetime Clary and Jace instead Min-Min?” Kit says, holding his sister with one arm and fishing his phone from his pocket with the other.

“Ace!” Mina exclaims in delight. Being only one and a half, Mina hasn’t mastered talking yet and can’t pronounce ‘J’ or a lot of other letters, which has led to some rather adorable nicknames. She calls Jace ‘Ace’, Simon ‘Imon’ Emma ‘Memma’ and Julian ‘Ules’.

As Kit and Mina wait for Clary and Jace to pick up, Tessa and Jem head into the kitchen, which is just opposite the living room.

“How did everything go at the hospital?” Jem asks, leaning back against the kitchen table. Tessa slips one of the ultrasound pictures from her pocket, that Catarina had printed out for her, and passes it to Jem.

“Do you know what this is?” She asks, watching Jem screw up his face in confusion.

“Something Mina painted with Julian?” He guesses, not able to decipher any particular shapes or images, just seeing a mass of blurry black and white. Tessa laughs and shakes her head.

“No James, you’re going to find that hilarious when I tell you what it actually is.”

“Then what is it?” Tessa beams up at Jem, takes his free hand and presses it to her stomach.

“Its an ultrasound, I’m pregnant.” Jem’s face immediately lights up with delight, before he pulls his wife closer to him, hugging her tightly and laughing with joy.

“Really? So this is a picture of our baby?” He eagerly asks, pulling back and looking at the image in his hand, now trying to make out their baby.

“Actually, it’s a picture of our babies.” Tessa softly says. It takes Jem a moment to register what Tessa has said, but when he does, his eyes widen in disbelief.

“Babies? Twins?” He asks in a breathy tone. Tessa laughs lightly as she laces her arms around the back of his neck and nods.

“That’s right, twins.” Jem shakes his head in disbelief, though unable to wipe the smile from his face.

“Oh my god, oh my god we’re going to have four kids, three of them under three, I’m going to be a dad of four!” Jem says in a tone of shock and disbelief. Tessa laughs and leans in to kiss his cheek.

“Yes you are, lets go tell the other two shall we?” Jem grins broadly and nods, taking Tessa’s hand in his as they walk back out into the living room, where Mina is sitting in Kit’s lap, facing him, smiling and giggling as she listens to him tell her stories about when she was a baby, like the time he tripped over her blanket and almost dropped her and then cursed in front of her.

“Reminds me of when Lucie would crawl into James’ bed in the middle of the night when they were little, and tell him stories to help him fall asleep.” Tessa softly and quietly says to Jem, remembering the mornings when she would go to wake her daughter only to find her bed empty, and Lucie snuggled up next to her big brother in his bed.

“Kit and Mina have just as special of bond as James and Lucie did, I remember coming to give Lucie her three week check up and James was lying on a blanket on the floor by her bassinet, when I asked him what he was doing, he told me he was protecting his sister.” Jem replies, his heart aching for James and Lucie, the first two children he ever loved and who will always hold a special place in his heart. They are as much his children as they are Will and Tessa’s and Mina and Kit are as much Will’s children as they are Tessa and Jem’s.

“Ugh they’re so soppy aren’t they Mina?” Kit teases, grinning at his parents as he holds Mina up and blows a raspberry on her cheek, which makes her scream with laughter.

“Mina you are going to burst somebody’s eardrum with your squeals, is this an indication that we have a little soprano on our hands hm? Are you going to be a musician like daddy?” Tessa coos, taking a seat next to Kit and kissing her daughter’s cheek.

“Of course she is, and a bookworm like her mummy and big brother James, and a writer like her sister, and probably a painter too if Julian and Clary have anything to do with it, and how could I forget that this one here will probably have her picking locks before her second birthday.”Jem jokingly says, ruffling Kit’s hair as he takes a seat next to his wife and children.

“She can already climb out of her crib. I wonder who taught her that?” Tessa teasingly says, taking Mina from Kit when she reaches for her.

“Actually I think that was Anna.” Kit says, settling back against the couch cushions, referring to Magnus and Alec’s two year old daughter who they adopted at a few months old, just after Mina was born.

“And I’m sure you’re teaching her how to be a good big sibling.” Tessa softly says. Just a few weeks ago Magnus and Alec had adopted a little Shadowhunter boy they named Henry, and his siblings are infatuated with him, especially his sister.

“What would you think about having another sibling Kit?” Jem carefully asks, stopping Mina from climbing up on to the back of the sofa.

“I wouldn’t mind, I think Mina would be a great big sister, but I don’t think she’d like having to share our attention, especially not mine.” Kit grins, loving how attached Mina is to him and how close they are.

“What about having two new siblings?” Tessa asks. She is not sure how she and Jem should go about telling their teenager that she’s pregnant, Jamie wasn’t even a year old when Tessa had gotten pregnant with Lucie, and when Tessa was pregnant with Mina she and Jem assumed Emma had told Kit about her, so didn’t make a point of specifically telling him, when they offered for him to move in with them.

Kit laughs and says

“You guys are getting ahead of yourselves aren’t you? What, are we going to be like The Von Trapp family?” Tessa smiles weakly and says

“Haven’t read that book because there is no book version, but I have read the movie script.” Kit smiles and shakes his head.

“Of course you did, you would read the back of food cartons for fun.” He teases.

“Your mother could write a book about her life and with all the books she’s read she’d be able to do it in her sleep.” Jem says, putting an arm around his wife.

“You could, and should, it would be a hit! You could write the first book about your life in London and about how you met Jem and Will and stuff and then you and Magnus and Catarina and Ragnor could write a sequel about your life after all that, then you could write a third book in a few years when Mina and I are older and have given you a few more gray hairs.” Tessa smiles at her son, her heart warming at his enthusiasm for her to write a book, and his belief in her.

“I could but it’s going to have to wait a while if I want to start this year, I don’t fancy trying to write and edit a book while pregnant with twins.” Tessa tells him, her hand coming to rest on her stomach. Kit’s eyes widen and he sits up straight, looking from Tessa to Jem in disbelief.

“Woah woah woah back up, is this why you were asking me all those questions about having another sibling? You’re really pregnant? With twins?” He asks in a shocked tone. Tessa nods and says

“Yes I am, that’s why I’ve been feeling off lately, dizzy spells are a symptom I always get when pregnant, but I never get it this early so that’s why I didn’t realize until I got the blood test results back this afternoon.”

“Damn, you guys really don’t mess about, Mina’s not even two yet and you’re going to have two more, and James was one when Lucie was born, you must love having kids with a small age gap.” Kit says, his heart fluttering with excitement at the idea of being a big brother again.

“Well actually this last year and a half we’ve both come to realize we really enjoy having a bigger age gap between our kids, we were thinking of waiting until Mina is at least three if not four, before we had another, but that just wasn’t meant to be it seems, and now we’re going to have three under three, which is quiet daunting.” Jem says in a nervous tone. He and Tessa will have to speak to Magnus and Alec, last year they adopted Anna and then just a few weeks ago they adopted Henry, they have 4 kids under 7, they’ll be able to give them some good advice on how to cope with all the little ones they’re about to have in their house.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be here to help out all the time, and I’m sure Emma is going to practically move in when the babies are born, like she did when Mina was born, and Min-Min is going to be a great big sister, she’ll love the babies so much, you guys aren’t going to be on your own, I’m always going to be around to help out with my siblings, weather the twins are the last or you have 10 more, being a big brother is the best thing I’ve ever done and I’ll never stop loving it.” Tears well in Tessa’s eyes at Kit’s heartfelt promise and they soon start to trickle down her face. Jem, knowing how emotional his wife gets in early pregnancy, pulls her closer, kisses her cheek and rubs her back.

“It’s alright love, don’t worry about getting upset in front of Mina, she needs to know it’s okay to be upset and cry sometimes, right?” Jem softly and quietly says.

“Tessa are you okay? Did I say something to upset you?” Kit asks in an anxious tone.

“Oh no, no baby you didn’t upset me, I’m not upset at all, these are happy tears, I’m so happy to have you and I feel so honored to get to raise you and love you, you’re such an amazing young man and I just could not be more proud of you.” Tessa quietly says, wiping at her tears.

“Stop it you’re going to make me feel things too, I hate feeling things.” Kit jokes, holding back his own tears of joy, taking Mina from Jem and holding her in front of him so no one can see if he does start to cry.

“What do you think Mina mine, are you excited to be a big sister?” Jem asks, running his hand over Mina’s dark curls. Mina nods enthusiastically, gripping onto Kit’s shirt tightly. Kit kisses Mina’s cheek and jokingly says

“Two more of you huh? How am I going to cope?” Mina giggles loudly and pats Kit’s face with one hand, reaching up to grab a handful of hair with the other, causing her brother to hiss in pain and try to untangle her hand. “Ah Mina let go, you’re going to rip my hair out, if I have to show up to my date with Ty bald, I’m going to blame you, you’ll have to explain to him why his boyfriend is balding at sixteen.” Kit teases, tickling Mina’s stomach, making her release his hair and squirm away.

“You won’t tell Ty or anyone else about the twins just yet will you? It’s still early and we want to be sure everything is okay.” Tessa quietly asks.

“No of course not, believe me, I love you guys but the last thing I’m going to discuss on my date, is your pregnancy.” Tessa smiles and leans over to kiss her son on the cheek.

“You’re such a sweet boy.” She softly says, causing Kit to blush furiously.

“I am not, I am a tough, moody, sarcastic, angsty man.” Kit firmly says.

“It’s like living with a blonde, American Will.” Jem says to Tessa.

“Will says he always thought he’d look good as a blonde but Tess told him if he dared to dye his hair blonde she’d leave him.” Kit says, passing on the message Will’s ghost (who often hangs around to see Mina, who can see him) had given him.

“I most certainly did, and James and Lucie said they would disown him, as did Cecily. James was ready to ask Henry to adopt him, as was Lucie.” Tessa says with a smile. “I better go call Magnus and tell him he’s going to be an Uncle again.” Tessa then adds, getting to her feet and heading upstairs, leaving her boys and baby girl to have some quality time together.

The next few months are hectic for The Carstairs’, Tessa’s pregnancy is not as smooth and easy as it had been when she was pregnant with Mina. This time she has many more aches and pains and is much more uncomfortable, when she was pregnant with Mina she nursed Shadowhunters and Downworlders who had fought against The Cohort and their allies in the Unseelie Court, this time around she can hardly get up the stairs and dress Mina. Kit is an amazing help, always willing to feed and dress Mina and play with her, while Jem tends to Tessa.

On top of that, this last week, Mina has been sick with a cold and is being extremely clingy toward Jem and extra fussy, she’s off her food and finding it very difficult to sleep at night, Jem is usually up walking the floor with her at all hours, while Tessa lies awake with hip pain, wishing she could do more to help her daughter feel better.

Right now, Jem is lying on his and Tessa’s bed, with Mina curled up on his chest, sucking her thumb and dozing in and out of sleep. Jem’s heart is breaking into pieces, seeing his daughter so unwell and miserable, he would do anything to make her feel better, which is why he’s more than willing to get up with her at all hours of the night, he never thought he’d get to be a father, his Mina is his little miracle and he will forever be grateful for her and do anything he can for her.

“Daddy.” Mina quietly whines, snuggling further into Jem, wiping her nose on his shirt.

“Daddy’s here Mina mine, it’s alright.” Jem softly says, rubbing her back gently.

“Story?” Mina hopefully asks, looking up at Jem and batting her long dark lashes at him. Mina loves to listen to her mummy and daddy tell her stories about her brother and sister, about her aunties and uncles and about her cousins, she specifically loves hearing stories about her daddy and Uncle Will and how her Uncle Will would always do silly things to summon her daddy when he was a Silent Brother.

“What story would you like to hear?” Jem asks. Mina contemplates this for a moment, before saying

“Ucie.” Jem smiles at Mina’s adorable mispronunciation of her sister’s name and starts into a story about some of the mischief Lucie had gotten into when she was young.

A few days later Mina is feeling much better and is back to her normal self, much to everyone’s relief. Tessa, however, is still feeling pretty awful and has started getting some bad headaches as well as all her other aches and pains. She is 36 weeks this week and has an appointment with Catarina today. Normally Tessa drives herself to her appointments while Jem stays home with the kids, however these last few weeks, Tessa has not been able to fit her bump behind the wheel, so Jem is going to drive her, then do some shopping with Mina and Kit, go home for a while and pick Tessa up when she’s finished at the hospital.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to wait in the car for you?” Jem asks Tessa, as they walk out to the car where Kit is already strapping Mina into her car seat.

“I’m sure, you know how much Mina hates being in the car, I could be hours here and she won’t tolerate being in the car longer than 20 minutes, I’ll be with Catarina, I’ll be just fine.” Tessa assures her husband in a soft tone, as he helps her into the car.

“How come you have an appointment every week now Tess? You didn’t have this many with Mina.” Kit curiously asks, as Tessa tries to fit the seat belt around her swollen stomach.

“Well because things can be more complicated with twins, this pregnancy is high-risk because of the complications I had early on and because it’s twins, with multiples the chances of premature birth and complication are much higher, so now that it’s drawing closer to my due date, it’s essential to keep a closer eye on them.” Tessa explains, as Jem pulls out of the drive.

“Oh, oh you know Helen had the baby? Dru text me this morning.” Kit says, having just read the text from Dru telling him that Helen and Aline’s baby had been born last night, healthy and full term.

“Boy or girl?” Jem asks, looking at his son in the rear view mirror.

“Girl, Delilah Eloise Pennhallow-Blackthorn.” Kit tells them, while quickly typing out a reply to Dru.

“Her that Mina? You’ve got a new cousin.” Tessa says in an excited tone, turning around to smile at Mina, who claps her hands clumsily and smiles widely.

Half an hour later, Tessa is sitting in the exam room with Catarina, listing off the symptoms she’s been having since she last saw her.

“I have to say I’ve been feeling quiet awful these last few weeks, this week specifically I’ve been dizzy and getting awful headaches, and my ankles are so swollen I can hardly fit into my shoes anymore.” Tessa tells Catarina, running a hand down her stomach. Catarina looks at Tessa with eyes full of concern and says

“That’s not good Tess, surely you know that?”

“It’s not great but it’s not awful.” Tessa nonchalantly says.

“Tessa you worked as a midwife for years, surely you know that all these symptoms your having are all warning signs of preeclampsia?” Catarina softly asks, not wanting to frighten her friend but needing her to realize how serious this is. Tessa’s eyes widen and fill with fear and dread.

“Oh my god, I-I forgot, it’s been so long and I’ve constantly been comparing these symptoms to the symptoms I had the last three times, I had headaches with Mina and dizzy spells with Lucie and my ankles were swollen with all three.” She quietly says.

“Lets check your blood pressure and do a urine test, those two things will tell us for sure.” Catarina gently says, squeezing her friend’s hand encouragingly.

Twenty minutes later, Jem and Kit are walking through Aldi with Mina sitting in the trolley, taking in her surroundings. They’ve only been here about 20 minutes and already they’ve been stopped multiple times by people admiring Mina.

“Do you need anything in particular Kit?” Jem asks, as they walk through the aisles of the shop.

“A good night’s sleep would be great.” Kit says in a flat tone. Jem chuckles and says

“I’m afraid they don’t sell those, anything that you can buy that you need?” Kit shakes his head.

“Nope, is it okay if I go to LA later to see Ty and meet the new baby? Magnus said he’ll open a portal for me, so Tessa won’t have to ware herself out doing it.” Kit asks.

“Of course. Do you think your mother already has this book or should we get it for her?” Jem asks, picking up a mystery novel that’s on sale for £5.

“Even if she already has it she’ll be more than happy to have a second copy, I can’t count how many copies of A Tale Of Two Cities she has.” Kit says, picking Mina’s dummy up from where she dropped it on the floor.

“Good point.” Jem says, adding the book to the trolley. Just then he feels a vibrating in his pocket, his phone going off. He fishes his phone out and quickly answers it, not looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?” He answers, as Kit takes over the trolley for him.

“Jem, its me.” Tessa’s voice comes through the line.

“Oh are you finished? Kit, Mina and I are almost done shopping, we keep getting stopped by people admiring Mina, our daughter just gets more and more popular, we should be there in about 20 minutes.” Jem calmly says, having not noticed the wobble in Tessa’s tone when she answered.

“No, James listen to me. You know how I’ve been having headaches and dizzy spells and my ankles have been swollen?” Tessa asks, trying to keep her voice steady.

“Yes.” Jem says, not sure where she’s going with this. Tessa sniffles and says

“Well um.. turns out those were symptoms of preeclampsia, which I have. Catarina contacted the London Institute had them send for a Silent Brother, and in Brother Enoch and Catarina’s opinion the best thing to do is induce me, and that’s not all. Baby A is breech, they might have to do a C-section.” Jem almost drops the phone in shock, he feels as if his world is about to come crashing down at any minute. His wife is seriously ill, she may have to have major surgery and they’re going to have two premature babies.

“I’ll be right there.” Jem firmly says, before hanging up and turning back to Kit, who is looking at him with eyes full of worry.

“Is everything okay?” He quietly asks. Jem shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair.

“Tessa has preeclampsia, it’s extremely dangerous and could kill her and the babies, Brother Enoch and Catarina are going to induce her, but one of the babies is breech so she might need to have a C-section.” Jem explains as calmly as he possibly can. “I need to get to her, on the way to the hospital can you text or call Emma and ask her to come to Devon to stay with you and Mina at home? I don’t know how long your mother and I will be staying in the hospital, especially since the twins are a month premature.” Kit nods and quickly unbuckles Mina from the trolley, lifts her into his arms and follows Jem out to the car.

40 minutes after arriving at the hospital, after changing into a hospital gown and being assigned a room, Tessa begins to feel contractions, as if her body knows how essential it is to get these babies out soon. The contractions are slow and far apart, but very painful.

As Tessa lies on her side in the hospital bed, gripping the handle that stretches from the side to the head of the bed as a contraction tears through her, she hears fast approaching footsteps, followed by Jem’s voice.

“Tess! By The Angel, are you okay?”He asks, dropping to his knees beside her and clasping her hand in his.

“As okay as I can be.” Tessa says in a taut tone, scrunching her face up in pain. “Where are Kit and Mina?” She asks, once the pain has passed.

“In the waiting room, but Magnus is opening a portal for Emma, she’s just packing a bag, she’s agreed to stay and watch Mina and Kit for as long as we need, she’s going to portal here and drive the kids home in our car.” Jem calmly explains, smoothing Tessa’s hair back. “What’s going to happen?” He adds.

“C-Catarina and Brother Enoch think it’s best that they’re the ones who handle this the rest of the way, t-they’re willing to let me try and have a natural birth b-but they think it’s best we go to the OR anyway, that way if I do need an e-emergency C-section, they can do it faster and get the babies out as soon as possible.” Jem nods his understanding and agreement and asks

“Have they induced you yet?” Tessa shakes her head.

“I-I went into labor on my own, my waters haven’t broken but I’ve been having steady contractions for a while now.” Jem bends to kiss his wife’s forehead and softly says

“It’ll be alright, I won’t let anything happen to the three of you.”

Over the next few hours, both Tessa and the babies are constantly monitored and checked on frequently by Catarina and Brother Enoch. Catarina has arranged for a few people from NICU and pediatrics to be at the birth too, just in case the babies need to be taken straight to NICU or anything like that.

After 6 hours of grueling labor, Tessa is ready to give birth. Her bed is wheeled into the OR, and while Jem scrubs up, Catarina helps her onto the table and to get comfortable. When Jem comes in wearing green scrubs, a surgical mask and a surgical cap, Tessa can’t help but laugh and pull him in for a kiss.

“You look adorable.” She giggles. Jem smiles and pecks her cheek. “So do you, and so will our babies.” He slips his hand into hers and squeezes it lightly.

A few minutes later, Tessa begins to push. She only pushes for about 20 minutes, before Baby A makes their way into the world, feet first. The baby immediately starts to cry, and is whisked away by an assisting nurse, to be weighed and checked over.

“Oh are they okay?” Tessa asks, straining to get a glimpse of her baby.

“It seems so, you have a girl Tessa.” Catarina softly says.

“Mina’s going to be thrilled.” Jem quietly says, stroking Tessa’s hair back from her face. The odd time Mina has shown an interest in having new siblings, she has made it very clear she wants at least one of them to be a girl.

10 minutes later, after another round of pushing, Baby B enters the world, kicking and screaming.

“Well this little one certainly has a good pair of lungs!” Catarina laughs, handing the baby over to the assisting nurse, to check them over.

“Boy or girl?” Jem excitedly asks. Catarina grins and says

“A girl, two beautiful, healthy little girls.” Tessa laughs lightly and quietly says

“Kit is going to be so thrilled that he’s still the only boy.”

“And Mina is going to be so happy that both babies are girls. I can’t believe we have three daughters, you did amazingly today Tess, you’re like a superhero from those movies Kit likes.” Jem softly says, focusing all his attention on his amazing wife, who just a few hours ago was diagnosed with one of the most terrifying aliments, and then went on to deliver twins, one of which was breach.

“Are the babies okay? Do they need to go to the NICU?” Tessa asks in a tired voice, hardly able to keep her eyes open but desperate to see and meet her babies.

“Both girls are very healthy, Baby A is 5 pounds 10 ounces and Baby B is 5 pounds 8 ounces, we’ll need to take them for some tests later but for now you should have some quality time with them, they don’t need to go to NICU so they can go back to your room with you.” Catarina informs Tessa, causing a wave of relief to wash over her, and all the stress she had been feeling since she was diagnosed that morning, lifts from her.

Just half an hour later, Tessa and the babies are back in the hospital room where Tessa had labored, both babies are snuggled up inside Tessa’s gown, happy and content as can be.

“You’re one happy mama aren’t you?” Jem quietly asks his wife, gazing at her and their babies in awe. Tessa smiles softly and nods.

“Of course I am, I have my babies at last.”

“Do you still like the two girls names we chose before they were born?” Jem softly asks, stroking Baby A’s dark tufts of hair. Tessa nods and quietly says

“Jade Ai Ke Carstairs for Baby A, and Charlotte An Ke Carstairs for Baby B.” Jem grins and leans down to softly kiss each of his daughters on the forehead. “I should let Emma know these two are here safe and sound, she and Kit are probably worrying themselves silly.” Jem says, picking up his phone from the tray beside Tessa’s bed.

At The Carstairs’ home in Devon, Emma is sitting on the floor with Mina in her lap, trying to distract herself from worrying about Tessa and the babies by face timing Cristina and Mark (Kieran is in Faerie) who Mina adores. Meanwhile Kit is on the sofa on his phone, probably texting Dru and Ty.

“Any news about Tessa and the babies, Em?” Cristina asks, having heard all about Tessa’s preeclampsia diagnoses from Emma, before she rushed off to Devon this morning.

“Not yet, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing or if Jem just forgot he has a phone, again and can contact me or Kit in a few seconds.” Emma replies in a weary tone. She adores Jem, but sometimes she despairs of his technological ignorance, she and Kit have tried everything to get him to use his phone but he keeps forgetting, he started writing out a birth announcement two years ago when Mina was born, before Tessa and Kit reminded him that they could just text everyone.

“My mother had preeclampsia with Dru, she was born a couple weeks early too but everything was perfectly fine with both of them, I’m sure Tessa and her babies will be just fine too.” Mark gently reassures Emma. Just then Emma receives a text notification from Jem and her heart skips a beat.

“I just got a text from Jem, I’ll call you guys back in a bit okay?” Emma quickly says, hanging up before either of her friends can answer her. When she opens the message the first thing she sees is a picture of Tessa lying in a hospital bed dressed in a hospital gown, which is open at the top. Inside the gown are two little bundles of pink and white, and Jem has captioned the image ‘Jade Ai Ke Carstairs and Charlotte An Ke Carstairs were born at 4:23 p.m and 4:30 p.m. this evening, Tessa did an amazing job and was able to deliver them naturally like she wanted, both babies and Tessa are doing perfect, I’ll call you tomorrow to arrange for Mina and Kit to come meet the girls, and you of course.’

Emma immediately sets Mina down and quickly makes her way over to the sofa and hands her phone to Kit. Kit furrows his brow in confusion but then he quickly scans the message and a smile breaks out over his face.

“Oh thank god.” He quietly says, pulling the earphones from his ears. “Two more sisters, I’m gonna go broke spoiling these three.” Emma smiles and lightly shoves his shoulder.

“How do you think my bank account is going to cope? I have Mina and the twins to buy for, and Delilah, and I can hardly forget The Lightwood-Bane kids and Stephen and Lucie.” She says, thinking of Clary and Jace’s 2 year old daughter Lucie and their 5 month old son Stephen.

“And me, don’t forget me.” Kit teases, lifting Mina into his lap when she comes toddling up.

“My gift to you is stopping Julian lecturing you about treating Ty right.” Emma smiles, knowing how worried and protective Julian is of his siblings.

“Fair enough, hey Min-Min, you want to see a picture of your sisters?” Kit asks in an excited tone, lightly bouncing Mina in his lap. Mina’s eyes widen and she nods enthusiastically. Emma pulls the picture back up on her phone and holds it out for Mina to see.

“Mama!” Mina exclaims in delight, pointing to Tessa in the picture, hardly noticing the babies.

“Yeah that’s mama,and your sisters.”Emma softly says, running a hand over Mina’s silky dark hair.

“Ove mama, Ove babies.” Mina says in a wistful tone, clearly missing her mama very much. This is the longest Tessa has been away from Mina since she was born, when Mina was smaller, Tessa would often tuck her into a sling or baby carrier and take her to The Spiral Labyrinth with her, where she was always met with love and adoration. Though now she’s older and walking and getting into everything, Tessa has opted not to take her to The Spiral Labyrinth when she has work, because if she takes an eye off her daughter for one second, Mina will have the place in chaos.

“They love you too Min-Min.” Emma softly says.

Later that evening, just as Emma has put Mina to bed and Kit is reading her a story, she gets a call from Jem. He gives her updates on Tessa and the babies and they arrange a time for she, Mina and Kit to come meet the babies tomorrow. Jem also tells her that he’ll be staying at the hospital with Tessa and the babies tonight, mundanes don’t usually allow it but Catarina has managed to persuade the Matron to allow Jem to stay just for tonight.

Early the next morning, Emma wakens first, she has a shower then wakes Mina and goes downstairs to get breakfast for them both. An hour later Kit is just coming down, when Emma is strapping Mina into her stroller, ready to take her with her for a walk.

“I’m going to take Mina with me on my walk, there’s pancakes on the stove and porridge in the microwave, I’ll have my phone so call me if you need me, we’re going to the hospital at 11 to see Tessa and meet the babies.” Emma informs Kit, checking that Mina is happy and secure in her stroller. Kit simply nods, still half asleep, not understanding how anyone can be this awake and chipper so early.

While out on her walk, Emma decides to go the bakery Jem has taken Mina to all the time since she was born, and pick up some breakfast for he and Tessa, she can’t imagine hospital food is very nice, if it’s anything like the food served in The Basilias, (Which is now located in New York, since The Shadowhunters no longer have access to Idris.)

When Emma steps into the bakery with Mina on her hip (The buggy was too bulky to fit inside the small shop so she left it outside) the two ladies working there, smile brightly at her.

“Hello again little Mina! And Emma right? Jem’s sister?” The lady with the name tag that reads ‘Catherine’ asks. Emma smiles and nods as Mina claps her hands in delight.

“Yeah that’s right, I see my niece is still a very popular little girl.” Emma lightly says, smiling at Mina.

“So Jem tells us, he tells us he and his wife are constantly stopped by people fussing over Mina. Where is Jem today?” Catherine asks.

“He’s at the hospital with Tessa- his wife- she just had twins last night, a month early so I’m watching Mina and Kit and I thought I’d come in here before we head to the hospital to see the babies, and pick up some breakfast for Jem and Tessa.” Emma explains.

“Oh I knew it wouldn’t be long, the last time Tessa was in here she looked completely ready to have those babies, poor girl was in so much pain.” Catherine says in a sympathetic tone.

“She was actually diagnosed with preeclampsia yesterday, that’s why the babies are early.” Emma says, shifting Mina in her arms as she starts to get cranky and fussy.

“Oh that’s awful, are she and the babies alright?” The other lady asks.

“Yeah thankfully all three are fine.” Emma says.

“Would you like Jem’s usual order?” Catherine asks. Emma isn’t exactly sure what Jem’s usual is, and she hadn’t really though of what she was going to get for her and Tessa, she just knew Tessa wouldn’t want anything with chocolate, and Jem would probably be happy with anything, you could hand Jem a pile of dirt and he’d thank you.

“Sounds good.” Emma says.

“So two girls, two boys or a boy and a girl?” Catherine asks in an excited tone, as the other lady bags up Emma’s order.

“Two girls, Jade and Charlotte.” Emma replies.

“Oh how lovely! Are you excited to be a big sister Mina?” Catherine softly asks Mina, who has looped her arms around the back of Emma’s neck now. Mina smiles broadly and nods.

“Here you are, and I put in another apple turnover for Tessa, she deserves it after giving birth to twins.” The other woman says, passing a brown paper bag to Emma, over the counter.

“Thanks, she’ll appreciate that, I’ll just have to make sure Kit doesn’t get his hands on it first.” Emma jokes, holding out a 10 pound note.

“Oh no, it’s on us, your brother and sister-in-law are so kind to us and such loyal customers.” The woman says in a kind tone.

“Really?” Emma asks in surprise.

“Absolutely, they’ve done so much for us, we’d like to do something for them.” The woman says.

“That’s so kind of you, thank you. Can you say bye-bye Mina?” Emma coos, clutching the bag of pastries in one hand and holding Mina with the other.

“Here, something for our most adorable customer.” Catherine says, handing Mina a chocolate bun. Mina’s eyes light up and she immediately starts wolfing the bun down, and Emma has to hold back a sigh knowing how much of a mess Mina is going to make with that bun and how hyper the sugar will make her.

An hour later, Emma is walking through the halls of the local hospital with Kit at her side and Mina on her hip.

“I hate the smell of hospitals.” Kit grumbles, as they walk toward the maternity ward.

“It does smell awful in here, shouldn’t a hospital smell clean?” Emma asks.

“It’s the food, whatever you do don’t eat the food here, I had my appendix out when I was 12 and was kept in for a few days, the food they gave me was the worst thing I have ever tasted and I swear it made me feel worse.” Kit says. shuddering at the memory.

“The food they serve at the Basilias isn’t great either, I was there yesterday morning actually, before I came here, visiting Helen, Aline and Delilah, they need to work on their menu.” Emma says, as they turn the corner to the room Tessa is in. When they step into the room, they see there are two giant pink balloons in the corner by the window, as well as various pastel colored baskets scattered around the room, overflowing with baby stuff.

“Did you panic and buy the entire gift shop dad?” Kit teases, setting his backpack down and walking over to embrace Jem, who laughs lightly and pulls his son into a tight embrace.

“No this is Magnus’ doing, he arrived here first thing this morning with more gifts than we know what to do with.” Jem replies, taking Mina into his arms and holding her close, pulling Kit close with the other. “Oh my babies, I missed you two so much.” He softly says, kissing Mina’s cheek and ruffling Kit’s hair.

“Jem you are so embarrassing!” Kit exclaims wriggling out of the embrace.

“That’s my job Christopher, you know that.” Jem jokingly says, embracing Emma tightly. “Thank you so much Emma, for looking after Mina and keeping an eye on Kit, it really put Tessa and I at ease, knowing that Mina and Kit were with family.” Emma smiles up at him and tells him

“It was no problem, that’s what sisters are for. Where are Tessa and the babies?” The two plastic cribs by the side of the bed are empty and Tessa is nowhere to be seen.

“The babies are having some tests done and Tessa’s in the shower, she should be done soon and the babies should be back soon.” Jem replies, holding Mina closely as Kit settles into a chair by the bed. “Did the nice ladies at the bakery give you another treat Mina mine? We’ll have to clean that chocolate off your face before you can meet your sisters.” Jem says in amused tone, lightly tapping Mina on the nose causing her to giggle loudly and grab at his hand.

“I tried to get it all off but she wouldn’t stay still long enough.” Emma says, while rooting through her bag for the pastries she got for Jem and Tessa. “I got these for you and Tess too, the ladies at the bakery gave them to me for free.” Emma holds the brown paper bag out to Jem.

“That was so thoughtful of you Em, thank you, is it thanks to Mina you got them for free? I swear every shop we go into, someone always gives us something for free because of how adorable Mina is.” Jem smiles, taking the bag from Emma.

“They said it was because you and Tessa are so good to them, they wanted to do something nice for you in return, though I don’t think Mina’s cuteness hurt the situation.” Emma tells him.

“I’ll have to make sure to go in and thank them when Tessa and the babies get home. How was Mina for you? Did she give you any trouble?” Jem asks, a tinge of worry seeping into his tone. Mina can be quiet the handful sometimes, she has a hell of a temper, like Will. Jem and Tessa like to imagine she got her temper from Will, even though he has no biological relation to her, it brings them joy and makes them feel closer to him.

“No she was good as gold, I took her on a walk this morning and she loved it, she pointed out every dog along the way, I think you’ve got an animal lover on your hands.” Emma says, gently tickling Mina’s cheek.

“Or it’s because a certain someone is always showing her what he calls ‘Dog memes’.” Jem says, making air quotes with the one hand that isn’t keep Mina secure on his hip. Kit grins proudly and says

“It keeps her happy doesn’t it? I could be worse, I could be teaching her about demon pox like Will.” Jem sighs and shakes his head.

“Just what are we going to do with your Uncle Will, Mina? Teaching my baby about STDs, I’m sorely tempted to bring him back just so I can kill him again for that.” He jokingly says. “And don’t you dare say you can help with that, Kit.” He adds. Kit grins and laughs.

“You know me so well.” He says. Just then the door to the bathroom swings open, and Tessa steps out, dressed in a blue hospital gown and a dusty pink robe, her hair tied into a bun at the back of her head.

“Mama!” Mina squeals, the minute she sees Tessa. Tessa’s eyes light up and she crosses the room and takes Mina from Jem, peppering her face in kisses.

“Oh hi baby, I missed you so much.” She softly says, holding Mina close and breathing in her scent, so glad to have her daughter back in her arms again.

“Did you miss me too?” Kit asks with a hint of anxiety in his tone, anxiety that Tessa will push him away and only want to be with Mina and the twins right now. But instead she smiles widely at him and pulls him into the embrace with one arm and plants a kiss on the top of his head.

“Of course I did my sweet boy, so much, it killed me being away from you two.” Tessa softly says, as Kit lays his head on her shoulder, enjoying the feeling of being embraced and loved and cared about.

10 minutes later the babies are back in their bassinets by Tessa’s bed, having finished all their tests and being declared perfectly healthy, which Tessa and Jem are so relieved about, seeing as the twins were a month early, they could have had all sorts of complications.

“They’re so tiny.” Kit says in a tone of awe, looking between the two bassinets that contain his youngest sisters. He thought Mina had been small, but compared to the twins, she was a giant baby.

“Well they were premature, and Mina was full term, I almost went over with her.” Tessa says from her position on the bed, with Mina in her lap, Jem at her side and Emma at Kit’s side.

“Ty and Livvy were early too, not by this much though, but they were still tiny.” Emma says in a nostalgic tone, her heart aching at the thought of Livvy.

“Do you guys have any baby pictures of Ty?” Kit asks in a curious tone, turning to look at Emma.

“I think so, I think Julian has an album that was his mom’s, why?” Emma replies. Kit grins mischievously and says

“I want to see all my boyfriend’s baby pictures, especially the embarrassing ones.”

“Speaking of babies, do you want to hold your sisters Kit?” Tessa asks, setting her apple turnover slice down on the tray in front of her. Kit’s eyes widen and he stammers

“A-are you sure? I might break them.” Tessa laughs as she reaches into the bassinet nearest her and lifts the baby out.

“You never broke Mina, you can hold them one at a time if that makes you feel better.” Kit thinks about it for a minute before nodding, plonking into a seat beside Tessa and holding his arms out.

“This is Baby A, Jade Ai Ke Carstairs.” Tessa softly says, lowering Jade into Kit’s arms.

“Emma would you like to hold Charlotte?” Jem asks, as Kit gazes at Jade in awe and fascination.

“Oh I’d love to!” Emma says in an excited tone, holding her arms out for Jem to pass little Charlotte to her. Emma cradles the baby close and smiles softly down at her. From underneath her little white cap, there are a few curls of brown hair poking out, her skin is tanned like Jem’s and she has his eye shape and bone structure, while she has Tessa’s mouth and nose.

“Wow, Min-Min, Jade looks just like you.” Kit says, smiling up at Mina.

“She certainly does, she’s like Mina 2.0 with grey eyes, Lottie has Jem’s eyes but I’m just happy that finally after 5 biological children one of my babies got my eyes.” Tessa says in a proud tone.

“You wanna say hi to your sisters Mina?” Jem gently asks, noticing Mina starting at Emma and Kit. Mina nods wordlessly. Jem scoops her off the bed and takes her over to Emma and Charlotte first.

“This is Charlotte, she looks like mama, doesn’t she?” Jem softly says, stroking the baby’s soft little cheek. Mina stares at her sister in awe, her mouth hanging half open. She nods her little head, her dark curls falling into her face. “You want to give her a kiss? Tell her you love her?” Jem encourages, while clipping Mina’s hair back from her eyes. Mina stands on her tiptoes and leans over to carefully kiss Charlotte’s head, though she more so gets her eye.

“Love oo Lottie.” Mina quietly says. Her eyes light up then and she smiles widely and points at her sister. “Daddy, Lottie, like Aunty Lottie!” She exclaims.

“That’s right my clever girl, she’s named after your Aunty Lottie like you’re named after your Uncle Will and your cousin Rosemary.” Jem tells her. He and Tessa want Mina to know about the woman she was named for, but she’s too little to understand that Rosemary is both Kit’s birth mother and related to Mina in some way, making Kit biologically her cousin, not her brother, so they simply tell her that Rosemary was her cousin.

“You wanna come over here and say hi to to Jade, Mina?” Kit asks, wanting to steer the conversation away from the topic of his birth mother. Mina nods and bounds across the room to his side. She stares at Jade the same way she did Charlotte, full of curiosity and fascination.

“Ade.” Mina says. “Lottie, Ade, sistas.” she adds, pointing from Emma and Charlotte to Kit and Jade.

“That’s right Mina mine, they’re your sisters.” Jem softly says, placing a hand on her lower back. Mina leans forward and places a sloppy kiss on Jade’s forehead (again more so getting her eye than her forehead) and says

“Love oo Ade.” While Mina, Kit and Emma fuss over the babies, Jem takes a seat next to Tessa again and slips his hand into hers.

“We have a beautiful family.” He quietly says.

“Yes we most certainly do, we’ve really been blessed.” Tessa replies, laying her head on her husband’s shoulder.

“I only wish...” Jem trails off, his throat closing up and tears welling in his eyes. He knows Tessa knows what he is trying to say, so he focuses on calming down and not crying and getting upset in front of his children and sister.

“I know, I do too, I wish all our family could be here right now. I wish Sophie was here to knit blankets for the babies, I wish Charlotte was here to fuss over them with Cecily while Henry builds them cribs and toys, Gabriel would teach them to spar and Gideon would be the most wonderful tutor, Lucie would write so many stories about her sisters and James would read to them everyday, Christopher would be fascinated by them and the fact they’re twins, Anna would buy them the most amazing little outfits, Thomas and Cordelia would insist on helping out with them while Matthew would argue with Charles over whose turn it is to hold them. I wish all our family could be here but the family that are here and that we have now are just as amazing, Magnus is the fun uncle who lets them break the rules, like he always wanted to be to Jamie and Lucie, they have a perfect family around them right now.” Jem laughs lightly and wipes at his tears as he imagines Henry presenting he and Tessa with two beautifully carved cradles that do all sorts of ridiculous things, like the self-rocking cradle he had built (and broken) for Charles before he was born.

“You’re right, of course you are my beautiful Tessa, you are always right, I’d be lost without you.” Jem quietly says. putting his arms around her shoulders.

“And I you.”

The next day the babies and Tessa are discharged from the hospital. Emma happily agrees to stay for another few weeks to help out with the twins and Mina and help with training Kit.

When Tessa, Jem and the babies arrive home from the hospital, the babies are fast asleep and Tessa and Jem can hardly keep their eyes open. So with Kit happy and safe on a date with Ty in LA and Mina happy with Emma, they put the twins in their bassinets and fall into bed, fast asleep before their heads hit the pillows.

While they sleep, Tessa and Jem are oblivious to the crowd of ghosts coming in and out of their room to see the babies. The last to come to see the twins, is of course William. He takes a minute to just stand and look at the two beautiful little girls who are a mixture of two of the people he loves most in the world.

As he stands looking at the babies, Jade blinks her eyes open and stares up at Will, her eyes wide and bright. Will smiles softly and reaches down to stroke her cheek.

“Hello little Cariad, what are you doing awake hm? You’re meant to be asleep.” He whispers. Jade blinks up at him, totally unfazed by him, just like Mina had been. “Sweet girl, go back to sleep Jade, let your mummy and daddy sleep some more, and don’t wake your sister. If you’re lonely I’ll stay with you, I always stayed with Mina, you close your eyes and go back to sleep and Uncle Will is going to stay right here.” As though soothed by these words, Jade closes her eyes and soon falls asleep in no time, clutching Will’s hand.

Tessa and Jem always speak of how they wished their family from London could be a part of their children’s lives, but they’re totally unaware of the fact that their wish has already come true. Everyone from Charlotte to Cordelia to Gideon to Jesse watches over the little family, and loves them.

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