Chapter Text
Part 1: Baby Steps
Clary looked at her little brother expectedly. He wasn’t as little as he was when mom first brought him home, but he was still pretty little compared to the three year old sitting across from him on the carpet in her room.
“Are you going to do it?” Clary asked excitedly!! “Are you finally gonna walk? I hope so, I really wanna play tag with you, though, the doctor did say you can’t run yet, but he also said you weren’t my brother so he’s probably stupid.” Clary said with a smile. She knew she didn’t look like her brother, her hair was a bright red like her moms and her eyes were green, Rin's hair was white, and his eyes were blue. Clary had thought Rin looked cool since the first time she laid eyes on him seven months ago. Her mom had gone out to talk to a client late at night and had told the babysitter, much to the older woman's annoyance, that she was going to be a bit late. Clary was unsure why her mother would be coming home so late, until her mother finally came home in the wee hours of the morning, carrying a screaming baby in her arms. In her mother’s arm, was her baby brother wrapped in a soft blue blanket. Clary immediately went up and asked to hold him, only to be gently told that she was too young to do that. But her mom did crouch down so that Clary could look at him and once she did she knew she was going to love him.
She didn’t like some things about her little brother, for one thing he would cry at night, and she couldn’t play in one corner of the living room because her mom had to move her office there so Rin could have a room. But it was fun to put him in some of her old clothes, and it was cool seeing him learn how to talk and everything. Which brought her to where she was now.
Clary could tell that Rin wanted to walk, she would see him look at food or toys she would leave on the table like he wanted it, but he never walked to it. He only crawled, which is pretty cool to watch, but he couldn’t do that forever. So Clary thought she would help him. After all, it is what big siblings do, according to tv at least..
“Ready to start?” Clary leaned down to look at her brother with a smile. Rin just touched her face and smiled so she took that as a yes.
“Okay, here we go!! Watch me okay, you stand,” Clary said standing up very slowly, “and then you walk,” she walked around in a circle.
“Now you try.”
Rin stared at her for a bit before slowly standing up. He got a bit wobbly while he was doing it so Clary held his hands until he stopped. Clary and Rin shared a smile and Rin started to babble a bit.
“Good job RIn!!” Clary said excitedly!!
She was so proud of him for getting this far. “Now, I'm going to let go, are you ready?” Rin babbled again and Clary took that as a yes.
“Alright, here we go,” she then slowly let go of Rin’s hands and took two steps back- only to rush forward as Rin started to fall forward. Clary quickly caught him with an oof and Rin babbled again and tried to tug on her braids.
“Hey, I caught you, don't be mean,” Clary said as she pried her hair out of her baby brother's hands before he could yank on them again.
She tried doing it again and again, but every attempt would end with her having to catch Rin at one point or another. Clary felt herself getting kind of tired, and she could tell Rin was getting a bit cranky from the way he was pouting.
“Okay,” Clary said with a yawn. “One more time. One more time and then,” Clary trailed off at the end trying to think of what to do next. She looked around her room and saw some paper and crayons nearby. That would be fun, she thought.
“One more time and then we draw, okay?” Rin let out a grumpy noise.
“Please.” Rin let out another grumpy noise and smacked his legs. Clary huffed and thought on how to get him to try again. “I’ll hold your hands this time when you walk.”
Rin’s face lit up as he made a happy noise and made grabby hands towards Clary. She let out a laugh before grabbing Rin’s hands.
“Okay, okay. Now, are you ready?” Clary nodded her head and Rin copied the motion, his grin growing a bit more with each one.
“Okay then. On the count of five then. One, two, three, four, FIVE!” As soon as Clary said that they both stood up, Clary went a bit faster and accidentally dragged Rin a bit but he seemed okay. Clary let him stand for a bit before slowly walking away, her hands still holding Rin.
Rin didn’t catch on at first, his feet seemed to be dragging rather than actually moving. Clary stopped for a bit and just let him stand. She wanted to see if he would do anything.
She was about to give up when suddenly, Rin’s foot moved.
With a gasp, Clary watched as her brother slowly walked towards her. Clary smiled and let him walk towards her before wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
“MOM!! MOM!! COME QUICK!!!” Clary said happily, she couldn’t believe that work.
Their mom came rushing into her room after that. “What is it sweetie? Is everything okay?” She asked worriedly looking around the room.
“Rin’s walking mom, look.” Their mom gave a curious look and slowly sat on the ground so that she was facing them. Clary smiled and slowly walked a bit away from Rin, who eagerly followed after his older sister.
Clary heard her mom let out a gasp, turning around to see what was wrong, Clary saw tears in her moms eyes and a proud smile on her face. It was the same one she would give Clary when she gave her drawings or got dressed in the mornings by herself. Clary turned back to Rin and slowly made her way closer to mom.
When Clary got close enough her mom slowly entangled her fingers from Rin’s and sat her down right in front of her. Clary was confused. “Mom, why did you make me let go?” Mom gave her a smile.
“I wanna see something sweetie. I wanna see if he can walk by himself for a bit.” Her mom took her eyes off Clary and turned them back to her brother. Clary then looked at her brother and saw that he was staring at them. He let out a babbling noise again and reached out towards them.
“Come on sweetie. You can do it. You can do it.” Her mom let out a smile and Clary reached her hands out like she did before saying the same thing. “Come on Rin, you can do it.”
Rin stared at them and then slowly took a step forward. He stood there for a bit, and then took another step. Each step he took became more and more confident and everyone’s smile grew wider. Eventually Rin was right in front of Clary and mom. Rin let out a happy, cheerful laugh, “Mama” he said and let himself fall forward into their arms.
Clary and her mom let out a laugh as the two hugged her brother. Jocelyn, the children's mother, felt tears fall down her face as she watched her two children hug each other close. Clary kept telling him how good of a job he did and Rin let out a few babbles of words. Eventually the words were interrupted with yawns. Jocylen smiled down at them.
“Okay little ones. It’s time for your afternoon nap, okay?” Clary let out a groan and tried to protest but Jocelyn just grinned and put a kiss on her eldest child's head. Carefully, she picked them both up, a task that was not getting easier due to how big they were getting, and slowly put Clary in her bed and tucked her in best she could with one arm. After that she turned off the lights in her daughter's room and made her way down the hall and across the living room to Rin’s room. Once there, she carefully put Rin down in his crib and he, just like Clary, went down without a fuss and was out as soon as his head hit the mattress.
Joceyln found herself standing there for a bit longer reminiscing on things. She wondered how different things would have been if Jonathan were here. If he would have taught both of them how to walk or crawl. If Johnathan would have looked upon his siblings the same way Clary had all those months back, or if he would have done something else. She quickly shoved those thoughts aside. There was no point in wondering about what could have been. All she could do was focus on the wonderful little gifts she had been given and pray she could protect them from the same dangers that took their brother.