Angel was busy sitting on the corner of Devil May Cry reading American Sign Language for Children book with Patty. The adults are busy moving and cleaning things here and there, childproofing the shop and making sure it's appropriate for the social workers to see. After last week they met with Angel for the first time, Lady, Trish, Morrison and Patty decided to let Dante keep his daughter with a condition – letting them help raise Angel. Dante was more than agree on that, since he admitted that he needed help. After making lots of phone calls and filling in lots of papers, finally the social workers decided that they're going to make a visit to Devil May Cry next week. After receiving the notification letter, he quickly called them up and asked for help – and this is why Devil May Cry had gone through a total makeover since morning. Lady was cleaning the whole shop with the help of Morrison, while Dante went out with Trish to Wal-Mart to buy some furniture and clothes for Angel.
"Alright, so this is P – A – T – T – Y?" Patty asked Angel, moving her hands trying to spell her name with sign language. Angel shook her head and signed the correct "T" while pointing to the alphabet T on her book. Patty realized that she missed "T" with "S" and fixed her finger position. Angel nodded and smiled, and Patty smiled back too. Dante is right, she thought. His daughter is smart for a four-year-old, unlike him who always acted like a jerk…
Lady and Morrison were just finished dumping the trashes outside when they heard the sound of a car engine coming closer. Dante had borrowed Morrison's Chevrolet truck to carry all the stuffs he bought for his daughter in Wal-Mart because his AC Cobra won't fit – Trish coming along with him. Angel quickly ran towards the door, Patty soon following at the back. The little white-haired girl then opened the door to reveal that it is really Morrison's Chevrolet truck with tons of stuffs to fill in Angel's room and to fix the shop on the back. When Dante went out of the car, Angel quickly approached him and grasped his legs. He lifted her up and kissed her cheeks.
"Hey baby Angel, are you being a good girl while daddy's gone?" he asked. Angel smiled and nodded, and then he dropped her down "Okay, I have something special for a good girl!"
He dug into the car seat and went out again with a white bunny plush on his hands, with a blue bow tied on its neck. She smiled and hugged her daddy tight, clutching on his red leather coat. He then gave her the plush into her small white hands, and she hugged it. The devil hunter can't help but smile.
"Her name is Snow. Please take good care of her, ok?" Trish added, and kissed Angel's forehead.
She signed something with her hands, but Trish just raised an eyebrow.
"She's asking why her name is Snow" Dante said.
"Well, it's because her fur is white and beautiful, just like snow"
Angel signed some more, but this time Dante's the one who raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?" Trish asked
"She's asking what snow is"
Trish stroked her head "Well, Santo Cielo is a beach town and it's summer-all-year-round in there. She must have never seen one before, or probably she forgot. Don't worry, Angel. You'll see snow by December in this city and we're going to play a lot with it, okay?"
Angel didn't understand, but she just smiled and nodded and hugged her bunny again, then Dante carried her inside to Devil May Cry.
Finally after a week, they were able to make Devil May Cry look way better than before. It doesn't look like a teen rebel hideout anymore, but more to a proper home office. Of course Dante still have his pool table, silver ornaments, his musical instruments and his beloved jukebox. But now it's a lot cleaner and smells like lemon air freshener coming from the floor and windows. The girls think that it's better and makes a fresher image to the shop, but Dante kinda hates it because the smell of lemon makes his eyes sore. His weapons are now stowed in a safe room that is locked with electric combination (which he got for free from a client who owned an electric store that he helped a few times) so that they're out of reach from Angel's hands (and hidden away from the social workers that will come tomorrow and civilians that might visit him) the holes on the floors and walls are fixed (even repainted), bathroom becomes squeaky clean filled with hygiene necessities and bath toys, and the most important part that Dante spends the most on – Angel's room. Apparently, he is spoiling his daughter too much despite of Trish's warning, and most of the room is covered with toys (boy's toys, apparently). Her bed is covered with rainbow-colored bed sheet and her favorite dolls on top of it (that includes Snow, of course) a mobile of flowers from different seasons is hanging on the ceiling right above the bed. Her wardrobe too, is filled with clothes (most of them boyish, thanks to her daddy's taste). Morrison made a dollhouse and bookshelf out of leftover wood that was used for fixing the floor, Trish arranged Barbie and Ken dolls and furniture in the dollhouse (Which she bought herself, of course. Dante didn't want to buy her girl toys because he doesn't want her to grow up as a sassy girl but Trish bought her girl toys anyway) and Lady already filled the bookshelf with children's books. There was this particular old classic storybook from her mother that she kept since childhood and she decided to give it to Angel – The Legend of Sparda. Apparently, Angel liked that book so much that she always asked Dante to read it for her whenever she wanted to. Despite of being able to hear, she preferred her father to read it in sign language. She said it's funny to see Dante making expressions and gestures, especially the fight of Sparda with the king of demons. They wonder if it is true, because Dante would never allow Lady, Patty or Trish to come inside Angel's room when Dante is reading The Legend of Sparda to her – even as far as locking the bedroom door until he's done. Once he forgot to lock the door and the three girls didn't miss the chance to peek. When they look inside, they instantly realized that the little demon-blooded girl is not lying – Dante is hilarious when he's reading the storybook about his father's legend using sign language. With childish gestures and funny faces, he told the story page by page, stopping only to flap the book to the next page or read the texts. It doesn't take him long until he realized that the three girls are watching – they burst out laughing and rolling on the floor, and didn't even stop when he came out with a very unhappy face. He was too cross and embarrassed, and when he glared and growled under his teeth, instead of stopping or being scared, they just laughed more. He then swore to himself to NEVER forget to lock the fucking door when he's reading The Legend of Sparda to Angel.
On the night before the social workers came, Dante was tucking his daughter to bed – reading The Legend of Sparda as usual in sign language. After the story ends, he told her to lay down and pulled her bed sheet up and kissed her soft cheeks. Dante was about to get up from the bed and turned off the light when Angel tugged his sleeves softly.
"What is it, baby Angel?" he asked. Even though he knew that his daughter is too big to be called a baby, but he somehow likes it.
'Can I ask you something?' she signed.
"Sure. Is something bothering you?"
'Sparda is a demon, right?'
Dante nodded "Yeah…"
'Then why does he fell in love with a human lady?'
The demon hunter went speechless. He never thought of it – why does his father fell in love with his mother and decided to betray his own kind and fight for humans?
"Because… the human lady is so kind and beautiful?"
He felt awkward saying that, talking about the reason why his parents fell for each other to his own daughter.
'But I thought demons are evil. The book says so'
He almost laughed hearing her saying that. Doesn't she realize that she herself is also demon-blooded?
"Well, Sparda is a kind demon…" God, he can't believe himself saying something like that.
'Do kind demons really exist?'
He just sighed and smiled, speechless of his daughter's innocence. "They do, Angel. They do. Maybe somewhere out there… a devil is crying because they lost their dear ones"
The little girl became confused with her father's words, and he knows that she is"…Never mind, it's time for bed now. We have a big day tomorrow. Goodnight, baby Angel"
She signed 'Goodnight, Daddy' and after he gave a goodnight kiss on her soft cheeks, he switched the lights off and turned on the nightlight, then went out of the room. Meanwhile, she closed her eyes and hugged Snow tightly below the warm covers.
After closing Angel's bedroom door, Dante then made his way down the stairs to the first floor of Devil May Cry, stepping on each of the newly installed half-spiral staircase gently to make sure that he won't disturb his daughter. He saw the ladies at the newly furnished kitchen area that was built like a bar, set next to the stairs, right below the second floor balcony. The island counter was made of light-colored wood built in a curvy shape, stretching from the right side of the staircase to the pillar where sword Sparda was once hung, and the top of the counter was made of strong, clear glass where photos can be put on the bottom. Right on top of the island counter, four lamps with covers shaped like megaphones made with transparent glass were hung in a tidy row. Behind the counters are the necessary kitchen stuffs – sink, stove, microwave and refrigerator. The wall where Dante used to display his old guns is now replaced with pans and spatulas. Dante was quite happy with the kitchen installment, which he got for free from Patty's mother who worked as an interior designer.
Lady was sitting on the kitchen bar table reading a woman's magazine while Trish was brewing a cup of coffee with a coffee maker that he got for free from his usual diner – a congratulation gift from the owner because now he got a daughter, he reckon that he'll have to pull an all-nighter quite often and the coffee maker might help. Nonetheless, Dante still appreciated the gift. Trish was wearing white short-sleeved pajamas while Lady wears baby blue tank-top and shorts, indicating that they're ready to sleep. Dante himself was wearing black long-sleeved turtle neck and a pair of grey jogging slacks. He approached them, and Trish shoved a cup of coffee to him.
"Here," she said "You must be tired after taking care of her"
Dante grabbed the cup and sat along next to Lady "Thanks," he replied "To tell you the truth, being a father is more exhausting than what I thought"
"One thing makes me curious, Dante" Lady suddenly added. She glanced up from the magazine she read and looked towards him "How come you're being surprisingly gentle towards Angel?"
"That's what I wanted to know too" Trish added, "I thought you're not the type who likes children"
Dante twitched an eyebrow "Really? Aren't I always gentle?"
The two ladies dropped their coffee cups on the bar table and stared at Dante with funny faces. "You've never been this gentle, Dante. Not even to Patty"
"The Dante I knew is a brutal, pig-headed, cocky and immature devil hunter"
"Hey! I'm not!"
Dante protested, but the ladies just sipped their coffees and ignored him. He scratched his head trying to figure out what is wrong, and the ladies laughed at him.
