It wasn't too long before the devil hunter's sleep was disturbed by a soft tap on his abs. He can barely open his eyes, and he assumed that it's probably Lady or Trish waking him up early for work.
"Go away, woman. I want to sleep" he mumbled without even opening his eyes, and rolled to the side and continued sleeping.
But it didn't stop – someone kept tapping his body and he gets annoyed with it. He finally decided to wake up and rolled over.
"Fine, fine! I'm up! I'm up!"
He quickly got up and opened his eyes widely – only to see that it was his daughter, still in her blue pajamas and her favorite bunny plush Snow clutched on one of her hands.
"Oh, it's you baby Angel. Good morning. Come on, give daddy a morning hug" he smiled and Angel quickly hugged him and she got a kiss on her forehead. He stroked her head and asked "What do you want, baby? Why did you wake me up so early this morning?" he asked gently. Angel signed "I'm hungry". He sighed kissed her forehead again
"Alright, let's get some breakfast, okay?" he set her down, then walked towards the kitchen bar area and opened the fridge. He took three eggs out and some pack of frozen meat, kicked the fridge door to close and put them on an empty area between the stove and the sink. Meanwhile, Angel climbed one of the kitchen bar chair and watched her daddy prepare breakfast, still hugging Snow. As the meat sizzled on the fry pan, a soft clink-clink sound was heard from outside the door. He opened the fridge and grabbed two empty milk bottles, and set them in front of Angel.
"Baby, would you please do me a favor and put these carefully on the porch? Oh, and grab the ones that was delivered by the milkman just a few moments ago and put them in the fridge, okay?"
She nodded, put Snow carefully on one of the kitchen bar chairs and grabbed the two milk bottles. She tottered to the entrance door and when she reached the front door set the bottles down on the side, opened the door, and put the bottles outside. It turned out that the milkman was still outside the door, and he smiled to her and say "Good morning". She just smiled her best and nodded – Angel was told by Morrison that common people won't understand sign language, so she had to use her gesture to reply greets and questions to other people when she couldn't use paper and pen. The milkman then took the empty bottles away and Angel grabbed the bottles that were just delivered and brought them inside "Careful there!" the milkman said. She turned to him and nodded again, then entered the shop and carefully closed the door. The bottles were quite heavy, and she tottered carefully towards the fridge. She finally managed to put them inside the fridge as she was told to do by her father, and after she's done she climbed back to the kitchen table to see what is served for breakfast – a plate filled with bacon, eggs and sausages and a pink children's fork. Next to her was a plate with similar food on it – only in a way bigger portion and with big, silver fork. She knew that the big one is her daddy's, and the small one is hers. Without hesitation, she grabbed her pink fork and started to eat. After Dante poured two glass of milk and serve them, he sat down next to Angel and began his breakfast too. He felt that the atmosphere is too quiet, so he turned on his jukebox with a remote control and picked DEPAPEPE's Summer Parade album tracks to accompany their breakfast this morning.
After the breakfast is done, he somehow managed to wash the dishes without breaking anything – even though he realized that the plates and glass slipped from his hand quite many times and landed with a hard CLANK on the bottom of the sink. He stacked them neatly on the dishes rack without even bothering to wipe them to dry, and dragged his foot to the sofa and dropped himself again.
"Baby Angel, go upstairs, clean yourself and get dressed, okay? Then you can play with your toys until I wake up" he said loudly without opening his eyes again. After hearing the soft tap-tap voice of small feet fading away and climbing up the wooden spiral staircase, he drifted into deep sleep.
…
"OHHOLYMOTHERFUCKER!" he screamed and got up quickly from the sofa. He was awakened by the annoying jingle from his office phone. Realizing that it was only his annoying office phone, he sighed and stood up from the sofa. He looked around and see that Angel is nowhere on the downstairs area – which relieved him because Lady, Morrison and Trish had warned him many times to watch his language when he's around his daughter. Dante walked towards his desk, still scratching his desk and yawning, and lazily picked up the phone
"Yaaawwwn~ D'vl Meh Cry. 'Ow can I 'elp?" he greeted the caller sleepily. But after a few words, his eyes opened wide in alarm and he silenced. Customer with a password, he thought. "Alright, I'll be there in fifteen minutes"
He put the phone back to the cradle and quickly rushed to his bedroom. He grabbed his Sony Ericsson from the top of his messy bed, flipped it open and texted Morrison
Hv a password custmr, come quick. N tell lady tht I need cash to buy nw washin machine ASAP. Thx.
He then closed his phone and threw it away to the bed again, pulled off his pants and opened his wardrobe. He dug into the pile of clothes and quickly pulled a pair of fresh boxers, and his usual work attires – black shirt, belts, leather pants and his signature red leather coat. He also pulled a fresh pair of socks from one of the drawers. After putting all of them quickly, he dashed to the toilet and sprayed some of his Hugo Boss perfume, then went to Angel's bedroom to see her. She flinched a bit when she heard the door opened so loud all of a sudden and was relieved to see that it was her father. She was playing with her Lego blocks when Dante barged into her room – and already dressed neatly as what she was told to do before her father fell asleep on the couch. Today she was dressed in black long-sleeved hoodie with red Gears of War logo in the middle and a pair of grey parachute pants and despite of dressing up like a boy, she still look adorable.
'What is it, daddy?' she signed.
"Oh- um, I'm going to go to work now. Morrison is coming soon, so be a good girl ok? I'll be back as soon as I'm finished"
She nodded and showed her usual adorable smile, and gave Dante a hug. When she finally let go, they heard the sound of the main door of the shop open.
"Hey Dante, I'm here!" Morrison said in a loud voice from below. "Alright, Morrison's here. Let's go downstairs and greet him, okay?"
They both stood up and she held his hand, and led by him they both made their way downstairs.
"Oh hello there, good morning Angel!" Morrison greeted. Angel replied his greet with sign language as usual and they talked a little, while Dante rushed to the weapon's room immediately. He punched the code and swiped his fingerprint, and after the code confirmation sound rings from the security lock machine, he opened the door quickly and went inside to gather the weapons that he's going to bring for today's mission. By the time he came out of the room and closed the door, Angel and Morrison already sat on Dante's desk with scrap papers, pencil, eraser and a book about basic numbers. Before he sprinted out of the shop, he stopped by his daughter to say goodbye.
"So, baby, today you're learning how to count with Morrison?"
She nodded happily and showed a big grin on her face. Dante can't help but smile proudly. "Alright, be good with Morrison and study well, okay? Daddy's off to work now! See ya!" he kissed both of his daughter's cheeks and messed up her hair, then he ran outside with Rebellion sheathed on his back and Ebony and Ivory sticking out of his left and right pockets of his black leather pants. After a few steps, they can hear the smooth engine sound of AC Cobra being revved up, and a sound of car screeching and the sound dissolving, indicating that Dante is in his car and on his way to his mission-
BANG!
The two glanced up from the desk and looked at each other, and they both decided to dash out of the shop, only to see Dante crashing his AC Cobra to a garbage can a few yards from the shop.
"Hey Dante, are you okay?" Morrison cried from the shop. Dante just laughed and waved at his friend and his daughter, indicating that his fine.
"Yeah pal, I'm alright! I just didn't watch where I'm going! Catch ya later Morrison, I'm running late!"
He drove backwards to get his car away from the garbage can and drove away. Angel just looked towards Morrison with a twitch on one of her eyebrows and asked 'What's wrong with daddy?' Morrison just returned her stare with the same confused face and replied "Don't look at me, young lady. I don't know what's got into your father" after a few moments of staring at each other with confused face, they decided to go back into Devil May Cry and continue learning numbers.
It was a regular activity when Dante had to go on missions early in the morning, he will dial or simply text Morrison who lived three minutes away from Devil May Cry and called him to watch for Angel until Patty came home from school. Morrison usually came to the shop bringing books for the little girl – storybooks, encyclopedias, or textbooks for study. He used to be a teacher before he retired and become a mercenary agent. Since Dante obviously can't afford special school for the disabled, Morrison decided to contribute by being a home school teacher for the devil hunter's daughter to prevent him being accused by social worker for not getting Angel proper education. Besides, being a mercenary agent isn't that busy – especially in daytime. He got too much free time to spare, and there's a little girl that needs his help as a teacher. That's why he decided to teach Angel every day until Patty came home from school and visit Devil May Cry – from 3 PM to 7, it's Patty's job to take care of her and to check whether the shop is clean enough or not.
Today, Morrison decided to teach Angel about numbers. By the time Patty comes to Devil May Cry, she can already count and do simple additions and subtractions. The two girls then said goodbye to Morrison and usually after that she served some dessert from ingredients available in the fridge – which is also another way for her to check the food supplies. When she felt that the food stock is limited, she and Angel will go out to the grocery store and use the special credit card given by Lady to shop for food and other necessities – such as shampoo, detergent, floor cleaners, etc. After they were done shopping, they will usually stop at the food parlor and grab something to eat – from chocolate cakes to blueberry crepes. But still, Angel's favorites are pizzas and strawberry sundaes. She is Dante's daughter after all.
Patty treated her like a little sister. Spending her childhood in an orphanage and never knowing about her parents' whereabouts until she turned twelve, she felt sympathetic towards the demon-blooded girl. That's why when Dante asked them to help him raise Angel, she said yes without hesitation.
Patty usually let her play in the park for a few hours so she could get a chance to play with children her age. In this hour before the sun sets, children around the neighborhood are usually gathering at the park and play together. At first, it was difficult to make friends for her. She couldn't speak, and she's white-haired like their grannies. Some children bullied her due to those two traits she had, but after she sacked a 6th grader bully (without demonic powers) the others started to become close with her. Of course after that incident both Angel and Patty got some lectures from Dante – Angel was told to have self-control, and Patty was told to watch his daughter better and not to let her into fights, but since that, she is never alone again in the playground in the afternoons. To solve the communication problems, Patty gave her a Blue's Clues notepad and a pencil so she can write what she wanted to say to other children.
Although not every day like Patty and Morrison, Lady and Trish, or either one of them, would make a visit to Devil May Cry. Usually they would come after 6 o'clock, sometimes earlier, depending on their jobs. They would pick her and Patty up from the park – sometimes with a motorcycle, and took them to an expensive diner or just go home instead. There were quite a few times when the ladies took the two young girls to the shopping district and went out shopping together. Angel didn't have a mom, so they reckon that she rarely have feminine touch at home (seeing how her father is). Dante never minded when his two ladies friend took his little girl out for shopping, because he do realize that no matter how boyish she is, she's still a girl and he wanted her to at least be a little girlish.
But today, it was another of those typical days when Lady and Trish were out of town, and Dante had texted Patty earlier that he would be very late, so she doesn't have to wait for him to come home. Because Angel had been such a good girl, Patty took her to the diner where Dante usually took them for and treats her with pizza and strawberry sundae for dinner. Then she took her home, and after saying goodbye to Angel, she headed home.
It wasn't the first time when Angel was left alone in Devil May Cry. Everyone was too busy to watch for her and Dante is still away for his missions. After the last time she released her power with the social worker, Dante and Trish are now sure that her demonic traits are dormant and won't attract demons for quite a long time. But still, back when she threw that social worker her demonic powers was activated due to her emotion – which is why they were grateful that Morrison leaves nearby. Like any other parent with normal children and normal lives, when they leave an underage child alone to guard the house, they teach the child a few necessities to keep them safe. Dante decided to give her a Hello Kitty cellphone - her fingers were once stuck on the classic phone that he had on his desk when he taught her how to use the phone, and in emergencies, phones play a big role. At first, he considered giving her an LG Migo phone that is specially designed for children. But she cannot talk, and the phone does not have text message functions so they decided to give her a real phone that is actually too early for her to use.
She fiddled with her Hello Kitty cellphone while sitting on top of the kitchen bar table but soon got bored with it, and turned her attention towards the fridge, where everyone stuck a lot of notes on it. A big A4-sized paper was stuck on the lower fridge door written in Patty's neat block letters with lots of colors and decorations that says:
Rules for Angel
not play with stoves and fire. Text the diner's owner to deliver food for you if you're hungry and there's nobody to cook for you
not make the house messy and return toys and books to your room after you're done playing
not click on weapon's room door lock or try to open it
demons are nearby, lock all doors and text daddy, Trish or Lady. Hide in the underground storage until someone helps you out
the shop phone rings, answer and click the redirect button to pass the call to daddy's phone
keep the doors locked when you're alone at home and never open the door for strangers and demons.
not go out of the house by yourself
Soon she started to get bored again, so she decided to jump down from the kitchen bar table and decided to watch TV until her father gets home. It wasn't long until it started to rain…
