AN: To anyone rereading or just starting this fic, I have begun editing all of my chapters to clean up a few mistakes and help get myself in the mood to write once again. I don't plan to change any major details of the story, so rereading isn't necessary, but I will probably add a bit more description and elegancy. Hope to finish a new chapter by the middle of December 2017.

Hi people, okay so this is my first fanfiction and I'm kind of nervous to see how it turns out, so wish me luck. Make sure to review if you guys have any comments or constructive criticism. I hate long author's notes, so I'll cut this one short. Enjoy! :D

Also, DISCLAIMER, I do not in any way own any rights to The Mortal Instruments, or the characters as much as I would love it. That is all credited to the brilliant Cassandra Clare. I am simply using her characters for my own plot.

"-Make sure you listen to Jonathan. Just because you're almost 17 doesn't mean that you don't have to do what he says. And make sure you can get a ride to church every Sunday or call me and I can come get you. Just because its summertime doesn't mean you don't have to make time for God, Clarissa," Mom finished her 10-minute lecture and looked over at me.

"Are you even listening to me, Clary?"

"Yes." I fought back a groan and rolled my eyes, staring out the car window.

"Then what did I say?"

"Listen to the adults, don't be mean, watch the kids carefully, go to church, don't stay up too late, call you every once in a while, be respectful, don't be a coach potato, tell someone before I leave," I let the sentence fall short, assuming I had proven my point.

"And most importantly, do not sneak out or sneak anyone over." I purposely left that one out, seeing as that would probably be the first rule to go out the window.

"Got it. Have no fun whatsoever this entire summer." I sighed and put my other ear bud back in, cranking up the song. Almost immediately I felt a tug and I watched my blue earbuds fall to my lap. I paused my iPod touch and looked at the culprit.

"That's not what I mean," Mom exhale heavily and looked at me before smiling and turning her eyes back to the road. "It's not that I don't want you to have any fun, I just want you to be safe."

"I know, I'll try to tone down on the melodramatics." I smiled back for the first time in what felt like forever. Mom and I have been fighting a lot lately.

"For Jonathan's sake." We both laughed, and I felt all the tension in the air seem to evaporate. It reminded me of how close we used to be, back before hormones and the need for independency cracked our friendship. Maybe I would miss her.

"So, what are you going to do with your childless summer?" I questioned, playing with a loose string on my jean shorts.

"Well, Luke and I were thinking of visiting lots of art museums and bookstores. We also might be taking a short trip to Tennessee to visit his side of the family for a few days since Amatis is getting married in June."

Luke was my adoptive father, but for all intents and purposes he might as well have been blood. Mine and Jon's birth dad, Valentine, walked out on us when I was two and Jon was six. Last time I had tried to contact him, he was a drugged out, drunken mess living in New York and he didn't want anything to do with his past or his daughter. Mom swore off men after he left, but Luke's persistence eventually led to my mom caving and introducing us to him when I was eight. They got married a year later and he legally adopted us shortly afterwards.

"That sounds cool."

"What about you? Are you nervous to see Jonathan and the kids?" She said it casually, but I knew she really wanted to know if I was okay with our arrangement.

The deal was that, for the summer, I would be living with my brother Jon and his kids. While Jon was only 5 years older than me, he had made a few bad choices in high school and knocked up his girlfriend at the time, Aline, who had complications during the delivery and passed away soon after the twins were born. The whole ordeal caused a huge falling out with Mom and he ended up moving out at 17 to live with my birth dad's brother for a while. I tried to stay in contact with him, but due to my own busy schedule and lack of transportation, I usually only saw him at holidays and certain family events.

In a last attempt to salvage our strained relationship and let the kids have a semi-functional family, Jon had asked me if I would watch them for him this summer to save him money on a daycare. In return, I would be living at his house for the time being, eating his food, and following his rules. I gladly accepted the chance to get to know my beautiful nieces, Ashlynn and Brooklynn, and my adorable nephew, Trey, who was Jon's youngest with his fiancée, Marie.

"Yeah, a little bit." I admitted. "I hope they like me; the kids, I mean."

"I'm sure they will love you. You always have fun chasing them around at our little gettogethers and playing fantasy. Besides, you practically get along with children better than people your own age." She chuckled, and I couldn't help but agree. My only real friend my age was Simon, who had been my best friend for as long as I can remember.

"True." Just then I could see his ginormous light blue house from around the curve. I still wasn't sure how he managed to afford the payment for a house like that. It had a huge garage that was split in half and was practically bigger than my entire house.

The actual home itself was twice as long as the garage and had high ceilings with 2 bathrooms, 6 bedrooms, along with a huge den, kitchen, dining room, and laundry area. Suffice to say, I wouldn't mind living here myself.

As we pulled up to the extended driveway, I saw that they had put in an above ground pool, possibly the largest I have ever seen, with a wraparound deck since the last time I had been here.

"Aunt Clary!" I climbed out of Mom's embarrassing boxy white Scion and was immediately ambushed by a group of little kids, only half of their faces recognizable. She bid a quick farewell, claiming she had errands to finish before Luke got off work. I knew she really was just uncomfortable.

"Hey!" I smiled at everyone and picked up my closest niece, Ashlynn, and kissed her on the cheek. She had slightly red, almost auburn hair with beautiful sea green eyes and a face that was a perfect replica of Aline's. "What are you guys doing?"

"Daddy told us to wait outside until you got here." Brooklynn practically screamed before dashing to the front door and throwing it open. I looked at her matching face, but with black eyes and matching ebony locks, and watched as they bouncy around before she disappeared inside. Ashlynn slipped out of my hands and chased after her.

"Daddy! Daddy, she's here!" They both shrieked and I slowly followed them in. I took a look around and saw he had updated the décor. The walls were a pale cream color and the kitchen was done in John Deere, while the den and dining room were done in a patriotic, old country theme.

This must be Marie's doings; Jon was never the country type.

"Clary!" My two-year-old nephew plopped off his father's lap and surprisingly greeted me with a small hug around my leg. I bent down and picked him up, kissing him on top of his head. He looked just like his father. He had bright blond, almost white hair and the same high cheek bones and nose as Jon, but his blue eyes resembled his mother.

"Hi, mister." I hugged him close to me before turning to the rest of the crowd heading towards me.

Among them were my brother, a curvaceous dark headed girl, a similar looking boy with piercing blue eyes, another Latina girl standing close to a skater boy styled guy, and a breathtakingly stunning boy with golden blonde curls and matching swirling eyes.

"Hey." I choked out as they surrounded me. I felt my cheeks flush with color and cursed my shyness.

"What's up, little sis?" Jonathan ruffled my curly flaming red hair and I glared at him, but couldn't hide a grin. He's always greeted me like that. "These are my friends and a few of my roommates."

That's how he affords this place.

"This is Mia and her husband Jordan," he pointed to the Latina girl with the vivacious smile and quirky skater boy. "Their kids are Kylie and Devyn, they live down the road." He motioned towards the two dark headed children pursuing Brooke around the kitchen island.

They both greeted me cheerfully and Jon moved on to everyone else. "The others are Isabelle, Alec and Jace. You'll be seeing a lot of them this summer, since they live here, too."

They each shook my hands and welcomed me, but I zoned out as soon as Blondie, Jace I think, shook my hand. His fingers were long and slender, and I itched to draw them. He was a lot taller than me, they all were, and his muscles flexed as he gripped my hand in his.

"Hey." He said, holding on a bit longer than necessary before winking as a crooked smirk appearing on his face.

"Hey," I managed and turned a light shade of pink. I quickly looked back at Jon. "Where's Marie?"

"She's at work, but she and Magnus should be back soon. Why don't I show you to your room?" Jon strolled down the hall, passing several doors until he stopped at a baby blue door with the words "Trey Kenneth" scrawled on them in a curling fashion. "You'll be staying in Trey's room, since he is hardly ever in here."

I scanned the room and found a dark blue dresser with a matching side table, TV stand, bookshelf, toybox, and a twin-size bed. Off to the side were two doors, one I assumed was for storage as Jon opened the other, revealing a walk-in closet.

"Sweet." I muttered as I put my suitcases and bags along the side until I could unpack them later.

"So, be honest, what do you think of everything?" He questioned me with a hint of a smile on his angelic face.

"Well, I'm certainly not going to get bored very often with all these people and so much space."

He laughed at that and winked at me. "Trust me, it's never boring around here."