Chapter 5

Dante's call

Dante called me on my break and asked, "Hello? Is this a good time?"

"Uh, yeah." I replied.

"Congratulations." He smiled.

"Um?" I frowned.

"About Ruby." He clarified.

"Oh, yeah. She's the sweetest. I couldn't have asked for a better child." I smiled.

"Sounds like she's grown on you." He teased.

"Yeah…" I thought about last night, "She called me Dad last night."

"That's cute." He smiled in spite of himself.

"Mmm hmm. It was at bedtime, I just finished telling her a story and I was going to turn out the lights when she told me good night and that she loved me. Well, she was a little embarrassed about it, but I told her I loved her too." I explained.

"I think my teeth are rotting, that's so sweet." He laughed.

"I see you've been talking with Zhalia." I remarked.

"Dad?" Ruby called.

"In here." I called back, forgetting about Dante.

"Can we go-" She stopped as she saw Dante's holo-image and went to me to hide.

"Ruby, it's Dante Vale. You like Dante." I reminded her as she curled up on my lap.

"It's different." She said softly.

"Montehue, it's fin-" Dante started.

"I know she wants to talk you. I know she does. Do you want to say hi?" I asked her.

She thought about it, "Hi."

"Hello, Ruby." Dante smiled politely.

She looked at me, excited and a little nervous, "I know, isn't Dante nice?"

"…This is my dad." She told my longtime friend.

"I never thought he would be a father before me, to be honest, Rubes." He admitted.

She was smiling, "Well, he is. And he loves me."

"I can tell." Dante looked at me, smirking.

"He tells me bedtime stories about your missions together." Ruby hugged me.

"He does, now does he? Tell you what, if I get to come over, I'll tell you about a mission." He enticed her.

"Really?" She asked.

"If he'll have me." Dante already knew the answer, but he wanted to keep her in suspense.

"Pleease?" The red haired girl turned her pleading eyes on me.

"Of course, you're invited, Dante." I said, crumbling instantly. This was worse than pouting!

"Yay!" Ruby cheered.

"Looks like someone has her dad around her pinkie." Dante teased.

"You just wait, Dante. We'll see who's laughing when you have a kid." I told him.

"Lok doesn't count?" He asked, faking hurt.

"Who's Lok?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, Lok is Dante's student. Was. Right?" I looked at the trench coat wearing man. He nodded.

"He was part of my team before I joined the Council. He's nice and friendly." Dante told her.

She shied away, grabbing my shirt, "Hmmm."

"It's alright, Sweetie. I'm proud of you. You talked to someone new today." I kissed her head.

"Dante is nice." She told me.

"Yes, he is. Do you want to tell him good bye? I'm sure he has important Council stuff to do." I probably had kept him a little long.

"Bye bye. Come soon." She waved.

"Good bye, Ruby. I'll try get there soon. See you later, Montehue." The famous Seeker hung up.

"Now, what did you come in here for?" I asked.

"Um… Can we go to the park?" She remembered.

"Sure. We'll go before dinner." I smiled.

I went back to work and told Tersly what Ruby did. He was so happy for her. He hugged our little gem when we saw her again and gushed about how proud he was. She looked at me for help, but I just laughed and let them be. She was fine. Then we went to the park and looked around. I think Ruby was hoping for a playground. I should probably find a place for her to play while we work. She won't like being inside all day 6 days a week. We got McDonald's for dinner. We got home and lazed around before bed. Tersly joined us for story time. I had a suspicion that Ruby liked it better when I told the stories with just her as my audience. We said good night to Rubes and went to bed.