Life As Clarissa Morgenstern

Chapter Twenty-Five

Clary's POV

My birthday is today.

I have no idea what I want to do, or what I want as a present. This birthday is going to be stressful for me.

I missed my sixteenth birthday, only getting a half eaten cupcake and some bread crust for a present.

When you've been gone almost two years, you expect what you come back to, to have changed a lot. But, that's not the case in my situation.

My dad still looked and acted the same, just with a little more gray hairs. Jon was still the same mischievous boy he was before.

I was already dressed and ready to go. Jace said he wanted to take me to the mall and buy me whatever I wanted for my birthday. He will soon regret it.

"Clary, Jace is downstairs waiting for you."

Today, I just wore sweatpants because of my cast, a maroon sweater, and converse.

"Okay. Will you help me get down the stairs?"

"Well, of course." He smiled and picked me up, carrying me down the stairs and setting me down in front of Jace.

"Princess, look what I got you." It was a brand new phone. "The police said they'd need to keep your phone as evidence."

"Thanks, daddy."

"Alright, well, let's get out of here. I arranged to get you a wheelchair while we're shopping so you won't exhaust yourself by walking." I couldn't help but smile at his sweet consideration.

"Thank you, Jace. Let's go. Bye, daddy."

"Have fun, princess."

When we got to the mall, Jace pushed me around in a wheelchair, only letting me stand when I wanted to try something on. We were there for a few hours and the last store he took me to was a high end dress shop.

"Jace, what are we doing in here?" I asked, but he just smiled and crouched down in front of me.

"You will be spoiled today. I want you to get one dress from here and don't even try to look at the price tags." He chuckled.

"Okay, fine." Browsing the racks, I found a lot of beautiful dresses, but none that really tickled my fancy.

"Can I help you guys?" A pretty girl from the front asked us, discreetly winking at Jace. "I work here, I swear." She laughed. "It looks like you're struggling to find something."

"Yeah, I'm supposed to get a dress, but I don't see anything I really like."

She seemed to think for a second. "I think I have the perfect dress for you in the back." She disappeared for a minute and came back out, holding a beautiful green and black dress. "What do you think?"

"I love it. I want that one."

"Alright, it is all yours. I think you should try it on, though." I nodded and let her take over my wheelchair, leaving Jace behind. "I'll help you get into it, if you don't mind. The zipper on this one gets stuck if you don't do it a certain way." I nodded and she came into the changing room with me.

"You might see some bruises on me." I warned.

"That's alright." She helped me strip and then get the dress on. "It looks amazing on you!" She clapped. "You should just wear this for the rest of the day."

"Really? It's not too over the top?"

"No, it looks beautiful. Wear it out. I promise, you won't regret it."