Amedeo had gone shopping with Dante the next day; he had the opportunity to keep an eye on the shopping list. He couldn't really read it, but he should hold it up to Dante regularly so that the older one checked whether he had everything. His mother said it would be good for him to get to know people more. He had kept close to Dante the whole time, sometimes he even just melted into the shadows when someone came too close to him. People somehow hadn't even noticed, which he'd found pretty amazing.
"Why didn't they notice that I wasn't there anymore?" that's why he asked Dante who grinned at him in amusement.
"Why should people? They are far too busy with themselves. I could probably walk around here as a demon, that wouldn't even put some off."
Amedeo had observed the people more closely after the words. The time he had spent on earth was really very limited. It was only after his mother had fled and Amdusias had told him to watch his mother that he had really spent a lot of time here.
It happened to him often that he merged with the shadows, so many people in one place he felt uncomfortable, but he wanted to fulfill the task of his mother.
"Where do we get everything mother wants?" he asked Dante and he pointed to the big shop they were heading towards.
"In the supermarket, there is everything we need." Ame nodded and watched the whole crowd as they left the shop with a full shopping cart, would their cart look like that too? The list was long from her mother, it was good that he had been sent along to help. He wanted to make himself useful. Before they left, he and Dante even emptied the small refrigerator in the office, of all the alcohol that was still there. Dante had meant that they probably needed it, since Vergil had written down a list for an apocalypse. Was the list really that long and exaggerated?
"So take a shopping cart with this then let's make Vergil's wishes come true." Dante pressed a small chip into his hand and he had to watch people first get a cart before he could understand and do it. He proudly pushed him now next to Dante and watched as Dante pushed himself confidently through the crowd. Amedeo was glad that the shopping cart was in front of him, so nobody could bump into him from the front.
"Now show me the list." Dante asked him and Amedeo stopped, took out the list and showed it to him Dante.
"Okay more meat, fish, rice, vegetables ... Vergil is exaggerating, I don't eat that much and neither do the rest." Dante grumbled and Amedeo watched as he packed everything into the shopping cart that his mother probably wanted. In addition, he saw how other things were thrown into the cart that were definitely not on the list.
"What's this?" he asked as he looked at a large pack of marshmallows.
"Your mother's favorite sweet dish, the supply is running low. And before someone can complain that it isn't there, I'll buy something. Ah, that's what I'm looking for." Dante mumbled the last few words and put a can of colored worms in the shopping cart.
"And this is?" asked Amedeo and looked at the motley worms.
"Also sweets, Nero likes them. Lady had brought some with her last time, ever since Nero devours them whenever he sees them." Dante explained and Amedeo nodded and took another closer look at the colorful worms. They didn't look really tasty.
"And what do you like?" Amedeo asked while Dante continued to walk past the candy shelf and apparently looked for something specific.
"Your mother ..." was Dante's absent reply and Amedeo looked at him confused, was his mother a candy too? He clearly had to learn a lot, and he came to the conclusion when Dante bent down and apparently had found what he was looking for.
"Ah perfect, there is still a lot left. I'll take them all and before you ask Ame, this is Strawberry Cheesecake chocolate, the best there is." explained Dante and let ten bars of chocolate wander into the cart. Amedeo just nodded again and took a closer look at all the sweets on the shelves, would he find something he liked there too? He probably had to test, so he grabbed the shelf at random and took a pack after Dante nodded in agreement.
"They're delicious too, if you don't want them I'll eat them up." Dante grinned at him and he instinctively hissed at him, the package was his. Dante laughed and patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, really only if you don't want them. Let's move on." Amedeo nodded and together they managed the shopping and he really noticed that his mother had really written a long list, the cart was full and they had to pile up in the end to get everything under.
"Damn it, how am I supposed to get a tree under? Vergil really exaggerated, I have to get one tomorrow let's get back." Were Dante's words when he put the last shopping bag in the car.
Amedeo had simply handed them over and otherwise just watched how Dante had tried to accommodate everything. But then they drove back to the Devil May Cry. His mother and brother had already greeted them inside and helped to put everything in the cupboards and in the two refrigerators. Later they all had a quiet evening together. Actually, it was planned to go to the park together, but they had postponed that until the next day because the shopping had taken longer than planned.
The next day, the time had come, they all went to the park together. Everyone had put on warm clothes, even Dante and Amedeo had been ordered to do so by Vergil. Without hesitation, Amedeo put on a beige turtleneck sweater with a warm brown leather jacket and a simple jeans. Dante and Nero had bought when they were shopping for clothes when Amedeo was unconscious. Dante had complied too and simply put on the horrible Christmas sweater that Vergil had worn ages ago. So they went off after Vergil had made sure that Nero was really well packed in his snowsuit. Vergil himself also wore warm clothes and the scarf and glove combination with hat that Dante had bought for him at the time.
Vergil had Amedeo on one hand, Dante on the other, little Nero was sitting on Dante's shoulders again when they arrived in the park together.
"I hope no demons show up this time." Vergil mumbled softly as he stood next to Dante after Nero had kidnapped Amedeo to build a snowman with him. Dante just pulled his brother into his arms and ignored the other families who were already here, if he wanted to hug his brother, he did that. Vergil himself allowed it and looked into his eyes.
"Well, no answer?" he asked teasingly and was simply kissed.
"Dante!" Vergil complained and Dante just grinned at him cheekily.
"What? Of course I hope that no demons appear, I want to spend the coming holidays in peace, we have enough to do afterwards. I still want to kick Mundus' ass. Besides ..." he began and knelt in front of Vergil and gave the belly a kiss before he was pulled up very quickly by Vergil.
"What are you doing?" Vergil hissed, completely red in the face at Dante and Dante just grinned again.
"Well, give our baby a kiss, mustn't feel neglected." Dante muttered to Vergil's lips and stole another kiss from him.
Vergil let himself fall into the kiss and just ignored the surroundings for a moment, he was just trying not to worry about anything. That worked at least until Dante winced and pulled away from him.
"Children! What was that supposed to mean?" his brother asked, rubbing the snow out of his hair. Did the children throw a snowball at Dante? Vergil put a hand over his mouth and giggled softly behind it, both of his children had apparently quickly lost the desire to build a snowman. He much preferred to see the two of them throwing a snowball at Dante and him again at the same time.
"I'll pay you back!" exclaimed Dante and knelt down to form snowballs himself.
"Vergil help me." his brother even asked him and he nodded, joined in, at least he formed a few balls before throwing them at close range at Dante himself.
"To him children, all against Dante!" Vergil called, and Nero and Amedeo followed his request.
A little later Vergil was lying in the snow and over him was Dante, at some point the children had turned to throw at him and Dante had thrown himself protectively in front of him at some point, which had just made Vergil giggle again. That's why he was now lying in the snow and looking up at his brother while his children continued building their snowman.
"You seem to be having fun, Vergil." asked Dante softly, intended only for his ears and he smiled at him, put a hand on Dante's cheek.
"Yes, thanks to you I was able to learn again what fun is. If you hadn't saved me and Nero from Fortuna, if you hadn't been there ... none of this would have been possible." Vergil said back just as softly and saw his brother grimace briefly before kissing him gently, as if he might fall apart at any moment.
"Don't say that. It wasn't all thanks to me. You didn't stop fighting, that's why you're there. Just like Nero and Amedeo, because you're there, they are both here too. Without you that wouldn't have happened." Dante said back and kissed him gently again.
Vergil had to blink a few times to hold back the tears, only a few he could not stop, which slowly ran down his cheek. The dear words of Dante touched him deeply, just as his brother snuggled up to him, his words had probably the same effect.
"Silly, I just didn't stop because I heard your voice when I was dying. Your blood brought me back, thanks to you Nero is here and Amedeo too, because you allowed him to stay." Dante shook his head, apparently still unwilling to admit defeat.
"Maybe you are partly right, but ... Amedeo only switched sides because of his mother and that's you." Dante looked at him confident of victory and Vergil just chuckled again. He had to realize, against this stubbornness, he had no chance, at least in this discussion.
"All right, a tie then? Because we all gave each other support, that's why we're all there?" was his closing remarks on the debate with his brother and Dante nodded.
"All right, sounds reasonable." Dante's words as he slowly detached himself from him after a loving kiss and got up, then he held out his hands and Vergil was only too happy to take them.
While his parents were busy, Nero was only too happy to deal with Amedeo. That's why he had taken him by the hand as soon as they arrived in the park to build a snowman with him. Since he had been here with Lady several times, he hadn't had any aversion to snow. He really hadn't liked him because of his father, but it didn't matter anymore, he had a much better dad anyway.
"Amedeo, I'll explain to you what a snowman is, Lady taught me. Mom said he looks almost like Dante, but that wasn't entirely right." he explained and watched Amedeo nod.
"Then Nero explains it to me." added his big brother and he just started to dismantle it as he formed a ball with the freshly fallen snow of the night.
"We need more balls like this, we stack them on top of each other and then look for branches for the hands. We need stones in different sizes for the face." he explained and walked a little further with his growing snowball until he got really big.
"Do they have to be the same size?" asked Amedeo who tried to imitate him but couldn't really do it.
"No, all different. Big at the bottom, then medium and a little bigger for the face. Like the snowmen over there." said Nero and pointed to three snowmen standing together in the distance.
After Amedeo had managed to form a second ball that was almost the same size as Nero himself, Nero simply threw a smaller ball at his big brother.
"What was that for?" Amedeo asked confused and Nero blinked, did his brother really know nothing? He was really damn sorry for him, Mom and he hadn't had it easy in hell, but neither did Amedeo. He only realized that again when he asked, although Ame was taller and older, he knew just as little as he himself.
"Just like that. That was a snowball that you throw at other people." he explained about it and simply formed a new one and threw him again at his brother who did not even try to evade.
"For what purpose?" he asked instead and Nero sighed. He felt even more sorry for Amedeo now, even he knew how to have fun, he had known that even in hell when Mom had always read to him, or the few times they had played catch.
Nero just sat down on his bottom and waved to Amedeo who knelt in front of him.
"Will you explain it to me little brother?" Amedeo asked and Nero nodded. He really had a lot to teach his brother.
"Of course. I threw the ball at you so that you could dodge it, so you could throw one at me afterwards. This is a game. It's about having fun trying to hit the other with a snowball." he explained and Amedeo looked at him for a long time as he often did when he was thinking and then nodded timidly.
"I know something similar from our father. He often threw daggers at me and I had to avoid them, it should train my reflexes ..." he muttered and Nero shuddered at the words.
"It's not at all similar. You could have injured yourself at any time, with snow that doesn't happen if you take the right one. Of course, you also have to be careful not to put stones in the ball, that also hurts. It's about having fun. The way we had fun drawing or playing with the dinos Ame." explained Nero and never let his brother out of his sight. What had Ame all experienced? He was so glad that father was finally dead.
Nero let Amedeo think about his words while he just finished a couple of snowballs. He would teach him what it meant to have fun, he was very confident.
"I try to take your words to heart Nero." finally brought out Amedeo and Nero nodded satisfied.
"You'll learn that, let's throw mom and dad off, they should play along too, don't you think? Like a family." Nero's words and he pressed one of his snowballs into his brother's hand and got up again and patted his bum free of snow. Good thing his snowsuit kept him from freezing.
"On three we throw at Dante, okay?" Amedeo nodded and Nero grinned satisfied.
"You will see, Dante is good at this game. We had played it back then until father appeared and disturbed the peace, but he can no longer do that. So we will have fun. And now we concentrate... one... two ... three!" And he threw his ball as best he could at Dante, he had actually aimed at the head, but unfortunately didn't hit him. But Amedeo's snowball hit Dante in the back of the head. "Yeah! Well done!" Nero cheered and hugged his brother briefly.
"And now let's continue. We mustn't lose!"
A little later after the kids had finished building their snowman and Dante and Vergil had just watched, while the children were again playing with snowballs. Dante had insisted that his brother sit on his lap while he sat on the bench. Vergil shouldn't get cold and who was a better heater than Dante himself? It was good that his brother had given in, he had tried to ignore the slight blush around Vergil's cheeks. Dante had no problem showing his affection for his brother. That Vergil was more shy and more concerned with how the others present saw him, he had noticed and he had ignored it coldly. Usually he liked humans, his best friend was one! Only Vergil stood by him above everything, so he gave Vergil to understand in every spare second how much he loved him and was there for him. Dante didn't want his brother to worry about something, so he really tried everything to distract him. He knew that Vergil was still afraid inside about her baby that his brother couldn't hold it maybe. He gave him blood regularly every day, sometimes twice a day when he found Vergil looking a shade too pale.
That's why he had changed his own mind. Originally he had planned to keep Vergil in the apartment for all nine months, but then he would lock him up and that was exactly what he didn't want. That's why he would go out with him now and then so that his brother could get some fresh air and see something other than his apartment. He wasn't that bastard Amdusias, he never would be. He wanted to be there for Vergil and protect him, take care of him like something very precious that his brother was, but not lock him up. Never!
But now it was time to finally buy the Christmas tree, on the way here they had passed a stall. Let's see if his tree that he had spotted earlier would still be there, he really hoped it would. Maybe he should have reserved it, maybe smarter, but Vergil had distracted him when he took his hand. But he wasn't going to blame Vergil for that.
"Nero, Amedeo! Now let's buy our tree." he called and the children both came running quickly. Nero looked really happy and he had seen how he had raged a lot with Amedeo, Ame himself looked just like Nero, happy with sparkling eyes. He thought it was good that the two of them understood each other, which was sure to please his brother who rose from his lap in silence and took his hand.
"Let's see if we can find a nice big tree." were now his brother's words and Dante nodded in agreement. He really hoped that they would find a huge tree, if necessary he would just prune it a little himself if it should be too big.
Arriving at the sales booth, Dante immediately noticed the tree he had chosen, large, perfectly shaped like his brother, it would fit perfectly into his office. The tree was really too tall for his apartment, maybe he should buy a second one? He would ask his family.
"Hey, what do you think of the big tree there? It's perfect for the office. It should almost reach the top of the apartment when it's in the stand." said Dante and saw three pairs of eyes looking at and inspecting the tree.
"But what about the apartment?" It was Nero who probably also expressed the thoughts of Vergil when he saw his brother briefly open his mouth and then close it again.
"I would say we buy two ... only I don't have a second tree stand ..." Dante's answer and he looked for other trees that were smaller. Only there really wasn't a nice one, too small, too narrow, strangely shaped, crookedly grown, maybe he should have bought one sooner.
"We'll take the big one. It's the best of all here. Besides, at least when our guests come we will be down most of the time anyway, because there is simply more space there." Vergil's words who let his critical gaze wander over the big tree again.
"Definitely the best. At least we shouldn't have any problems with all of our tree decorations, not to mention all the tinsel that you bought yesterday and the chain of lights." added Vergil and Dante grinned. He knew he had done something good by shopping that they had completely forgotten that in the mall.
"So Nero, Amedeo what do you say?" but he asked the children to be on the safe side, they both nodded and at least Nero grinned as if he was imagining the tree already completely decorated.
"Then I'll buy it." Less than five minutes later, he had thrown the tree over his shoulder, the salesman had looked at it stupidly, saying it was heavy and unwieldy. But Dante had declined, meaning he was used to worse things. When he thought of hell, of all the demons and all that, he was used to worse.
"Then home now." all nodded in unison and he took Vergil's hand again with his free hand. He wouldn't let go of his brother's hand, not if he didn't have to. Later or tomorrow the tree would be decorated, he was looking forward to it. But more likely tomorrow, he thought, something like that should be on Christmas Eve.