#nero mentioned

You had met Dante, as Tony. Tony Redgrave. You used to work at a bar he frequented, trying to make some money on the side whilst you got your degree. You two had grown quite close, you think you had intense feelings for him, and on a fateful night, you two slept together. In the heat of the moment, he had revealed his true name to you, cracking a joke or two (while still inside you, fucking goofball). The morning after, you woke to a cold bed, and Dante nowhere to be found. It broke your heart, but oh well. What can you do? (Other than mope around feeling used.)

If you had known you'd get pregnant from it, you might have just kept your legs closed, but you really loved your child, so you're not really sure if you'd actually change a thing from that night. (Well, you might've woken yourself up earlier to give Dante a throttling for daring to leave you like that and disappearing from your life.)

What followed was you freaking out of your goddamn mind, because you were pregnant and alone, just trying to get your damn degree. You didn't have the guts to go ahead and get an abortion, so you were ‘stuck’ going insane over being a mother in your early 20s. But giving birth to your little girl, Emilia was the most beautiful (and fucking painful) moment of your life and you wouldn’t give her up for anything.

Stupid bastard kid had your eyes but his hair, and most of his features. She was in your goddamn womb for nine months, and she came out looking like a carbon copy of him! The audacity! But you adored her anyway.

She had grown into a gorgeous woman, though, still looking like him, strong and with a great sense of morality. You had always known Dante was special and you hoped your little girl wouldn't have inherited any of that, but alas, she did, and she really wanted to fight and protect the weak. She was so sweet, but she really had taken years off your life when she sat you down and told you that. 

You had never tried to track him down, because, why would you? He had left you, cold and alone after the most intense sex of your life. Vanished off the face of the earth for all you knew. At first it was because of that resentment and fear that your child would be brought into dangers you couldn't comprehend nor protect her from, but over the years it turned into you being afraid of telling him. You knew you'd get an earful and possibly (metaphorically) get skinned alive if you just appeared in his life and told him he was a father. You were scared, selfishly so, and also, truthfully, really lazy and too busy to look for him. You didn't want him in your life if he was going to up and disappear without a word, you couldn't risk hurting your little girl's feelings like that. 

Well, she was a little girl no more, but she'd always be your little girl, even if she could kick your ass without breaking a sweat. She was exceptionally smart, having gotten her own degree in microbiology and excelled in her field of work, whilst also fighting and protecting people from the few demon attacks that had happened where you two lived, together.

Your house was modest, and you were glad Emilia had chosen to live with you despite her age. You two had your routine and were really close, which made you happy that she trusted you like that. She never had complained about her father being absent, only having asked about him once when she was a teenager, to which you answered truthfully. Or, as truthfully as you could. You had told her that you weren't sure if he was alive, because he had left you after her conception and that you thought he was ‘special’. She didn't press you on further details, which you were glad, because thinking about him always brought up that feeling of despair you got when you woke up that day.

Today was a day like any other, you were at work, and it was one of Emilia's rare off days, so she was at home playing video games. (Even smart people like her had to have a hobby!) There was a knock on the door, which she found peculiar as she paused her game and got up to open the door.

There stood a tall, older man, with white hair and blue eyes, who looked just as stunned to see her as she did him. She cleared her throat after a moment of surprise, “uhh, hello? Who are you?”

Now, Dante hadn't thought much about you over the years since he left you after that night. He had to not think about you, because if he did, he knew he'd go back to you in a heartbeat, and he didn't want you, a mere civilian, to get mixed up in his world. His very dangerous world. So in his head, leaving had been the best option. As soon as he realized he loved you it had been over. He was fucked. So he tucked tail, ran and tried his hardest to forget about you and that night. He only found you now because he thought that… Well, things were safe. He had his brother back, a nephew, too, but he didn't feel complete without you, he realized. So, he searched and searched and… found you.

He cleared his throat and blinked at this young woman, who was looking at him in irritation? She seemed to be in her 20s, and she had your eyes. And… white hair. Dante swore he felt dizzy as he looked at her dumbfounded. “Hey there, you are?”

“I’m Emilia, now, who are you old man?” 

Dante huffed a laugh and combed a hand through his hair. She couldn't possibly be… his daughter, could she? That was a silly, silly thought. Surely not??? “Dante.” 

“Oookay edgelord, what do you want?” she asked once more, growing more and more irritated with how weirdly he was looking at her. As if she had grown a second head! She knew she hadn't!

Dante managed to ask Emilia if this was where you lived, which only made her more suspicious about him. “Oh, mom? Yeah, she lives here. But she's at work now, should be home soon, why?”

“Im, ah, an old friend.”

Despite her suspicions of him, Emilia knew deep down. I mean, not many men had hair as white as this… Dante guy, and even then, this guy looked like her. Or to be more accurate, she looked like him. She invited him in to wait for you and tried to make small talk to gauge his personality. 

You didn't take that long to get home. You had been so tired and just looked forward to getting home, eating and sleeping. You unlocked the door, looking down at your phone as you put your things away and muttered an ‘i’m home’ to let Emilia know you were back. You hadn't even noticed Dante sitting on your couch looking at you like something had just clicked in his head.

“Hey mom, your ‘friend’ here decided to pay you a visit,” she snickers, because at this point? Yeah, she's sure this is her dad. 

You look up from your phone in confusion, then, utter mortification, when you see Dante sat there looking like he owns the place. (Which you knew was him trying to be cool, he tended to do that back in the day when he was freaking out but trying to keep his persona up.)

All color had drained from your face and you were feeling extremely dizzy, “oh, fuck,” you manage to squeak out. Emilia laughs, and (you think, you were too out of it to be sure) says something about leaving you two to ‘catch up’ before she makes a beeline for the door and leaves.

“Uh. Hi,” you eventually say.

“Is she mine?”

Of course he would ask that first thing in. You sit down on the couch, mostly so you don't pass out and nod faintly.

All hell broke loose after that. No pun intended. You and Dante argued and argued and argued, for a good hour or so, about you having kept Emilia a secret. He said he had a right to know and be there for her, which had made you blow up at him, because he chose to leave after that night, how should you have known he'd want to be a present father? He hadn't even wanted to wake up next to you and deal with the conversation that would have come up that morning, why would he want to stick around for his kid? He had taken great offense to that (even though he knew you were right) and kept arguing his case. When you got up and all but threw a scrapbook in his face, decorated with ‘for daddy’ in pink glittery letters he finally shut up and drew in a deep breath as he opened it and looked at the contents.

Emilia had kept that since she was a little girl, you had started it just in case you ever did get the guts to tell him, and she filled it with all her big moments, even now as an adult. It broke Dante. He wanted to be there to witness these things first hand. He hadn't. He knew he had to make up for all these years he missed out on his little girl's life. He never regretted leaving more than he did now. To be fair, he couldn't have known that you'd get pregnant, let alone have kept the kid, but he would still beat himself up over it. All these years lost, the highs and lows of his goddamn daughter's life. And he thought Vergil had been the deadbeat dad. At least he had an excuse for the absence. What did Dante have? He had been a coward and he didn't want you to be dragged into the mess that was his life, didn't want you to have to deal with the debts he had, the things that were after him, even Dante himself and how shitty his depression got. He wanted to keep you out of it, far away, somewhere you could be happy and unharmed, but it seemed that one choice he made in panic came back to bite him in the ass harder than any demon ever could. What a fucking joke.

After that, you two finally quieted down enough to have a decent conversation, where you told him more about Emilia and he finally cleared up details about his lineage to you. Your little girl's strength and irregular regeneration made a lot more sense, considering. He wanted to get to know her and be in her life. He promised he'd make the effort. You guess you would find out if you were right to trust him. When Emilia had returned from her walk, she didn't seem surprised when you two sat her down and told her that he was her father. Things felt like they were moving too fast for your liking, but she was a grown woman, so you trusted her to make her own choices. This was her dad afterall. The one, who, you knew that deep down she always craved to meet but never asked you for details because she didn't like how sad you got over it.

Over the next few months, the two had really hit it off, Dante hesitantly helping her train and teaching her how to control her demon powers better. It had been rough for you, you're not gonna lie, seeing how easy it was for him to be her parent, while you had struggled to be a good mom for her for so many years. Not that you were bad, but it had still been hard for you not to fall into despair when things got difficult. He had just shown up and it was like he never had been absent in the first place. You kept yourself busy and chose to put as much distance between you and Dante as you could, because you were still hurt and upset, and despite his apologies and efforts, that ache wouldn't go away. He was good at everything (except paying his bills), of course he'd be an amazing dad. Not that the two didn't have their disagreements, but still. 

Lately he had been showing up more and more when you were home too, and tried to spend time with you, which you always managed to dodge and avoid with excuses varying from shitty to decent. He knew he had hurt you and that it wouldn't just be fixed from one day to the other, but he was starting to get really impatient. The original visit to you, before he found he had a whole ass daughter, was meant to see if things between you two could be repaired. If he still had a shot. He knew it was foolish to expect you to still be single after all these years, let alone want him, but he was nothing if not a (hopeful) fool. 

Emilia had gone on a trip with her new friends, Dante's nephew, Nero, and a few of his friends, which meant you had the house to yourself. What a glorious day it would be! You first cleaned up a little, then treated yourself to a nice, long shower, and then it was time for you to sit back and pig out whilst watching movies. What could possibly ruin that? 

A knock echoed across the room. You groaned, because who the fuck could it be at this hour?! Your first instinct was to ignore it, which you unsuccessfully did, because the offender kept knocking. You huffed in frustration and trudged to the door, seething. You yanked it open and barely held back an annoyed whine when you saw Dante, standing there with a pizza box in hand, smirking smugly at you.

“Knew you were in there. C’monnn, let me in.”

You glared at him and stepped aside, "Emilia isn't here, you know?”

He stepped in, handed the pizza box to you and took his coat and shoes off, “oh, I know. What, can't a guy treat his other favorite girl to some pizza?”

“No. And since when am I your ‘other favorite girl?’” you scoffed and moved back towards the living room, set the pizza box down on the coffee table and sat down, before you took a slice out to eat. Dante had, of course, followed you and did the same.

“Since forever, of course!”

“Right, sure,” you said blankly. The audacity of this man frustrated you to no end.

“Sooo, are you single..?”

You almost choked on your pizza bite. You glanced at him from the corner of your eye and finished chewing before responding. “...Why?”

He groaned. Did you really have to be so evasive!? “Just answer the question!”

“Not until you answer mine,” you countered. Why was he even curious right now? Did he want to rub it in? That, what? You hadn't gotten over him, even after all these years, while he had moved on with someone else? Bastard man.

“Because! I'm curious!”

“But why! Why do you care?”

“I just want to know if I still have a shot!”

His outburst shocked you. That was so unlike him. A shot? At what? 

You fully turned to look at him, your mouth opening and closing but no words coming out. He… wanted you? 

Oh. Oh, fuck.

“C’mon, don't look at me like that! Answer the question,” he grumbled.

“Mind your business,” you cleared your throat. You weren't about to make this easy on him. He had ‘ghosted’ you, as your daughter would say. Why should you?

“Oh, come on!”

“Don’t you ‘oh, come on’ me,” you snarked. “What, do you think you can just waltz back into my life and have everything handed to you on a silver platter? Greedy old man.”

“Hey! Firstly, I'm not old, just experienced! And secondly! That's not what I thought. I swear, I want this. I want you. I want to prove it to you, if you don't believe me. And I'll keep proving it to you even after you do. Just, gimme a chance, please?”

He was using that stupid puppy eyed expression that always had you folding back in the day. And he sounded like he really believed (and meant) what he was saying. He also really had been making an immense amount of effort with your daughter… Maybe you should… No. Nuh-uh. You got fooled once, you wouldn't be fooled again!

“I’m not convinced,” you say after a while.

“Pretty please, baby?”

You leveled him with a serious look. He dropped the act with a huff and combed a hand through his hair in frustration. 

“I didn't want to leave you, you know? I panicked. And bolted. Didn't want to bring you into the danger that was- no, is- my life. But I guess that didn't work out so well for me, eh?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And I really am sorry for it. I should've been there for you, for… our daughter. But I wasn't. And I'll spend every day of the rest of my days trying to make up for that. So… please?”

“Okay, fine,” you said in exasperation. “I am single. Do with that what you will.”

He fist pumped the air in celebration. You rolled your eyes and tried to hide a smile. He was still a goofball, through and through.

Over the next few months, Dante had really been trying to ‘woo’ you. It was like he'd turned the dial up to eleven, constantly flirting with you, complimenting you, and, surprisingly, acting like a needy puppy when you two were alone together. You were still reluctant about this whole thing, but he really had been making a great effort, both with you and with your daughter. It had almost been a year since he walked back into your life and you can't lie… you had been really happy. Reluctant, but happy.

The amount of debts he had worried you, but he said he would ‘take care of it’ which did little to actually reassure you, but it's not like you didn't have a house to live, so you figured you'd let him do as he pleased. Though, where he got the money to take you on dates was beyond you, but what you didn't know wouldn't hurt you, so!

Sometimes, however, you really worried about him and your daughter, this whole devil hunting business leaving you uneasy, but you also trusted Dante would protect her, if push came to shove. So you were (somewhat) reassured. You still couldn't help but worry, though.

These last few months, you had also met the rest of his friends. They seemed like wonderful ladies, you were glad they were in his life. And Vergil… you surprisingly got along with him well. He found how you interacted with his brother rather amusing, and you had also put him on classical music, which he appreciated a lot. Not that he didn't know of it, but it had been nice of you to treat him like just another guy rather than what he was. Those interactions between you, the love of his life, and his brother, really seemed to also please Dante, despite you two always ganging up on him, although he'd never say it out loud.

You had also ended up getting really, really fascinated by his devil form. You knew you were always a little weird in the head, but when you saw him transform into that for the first time, and your first thought being ‘I can take him’ really cemented that in your brain. But anyway! It had been a few really eventful months (almost a year) in your life since he chose to come back, and by now, you didn't mind. Emilia had also been having the time of her life, finally getting the big family you always knew she wanted. It made your heart full with joy and love. You were so glad Nero had been so accepting of her, taking her under his wing, even though he was a few years younger than her. It was sweet of him. He also seemed glad to have a cousin he could (somewhat) relate to.

What surprised you the most, however, was just how sweet Dante was with you. How smitten. Not that you were any better, but you still would pretend to be skeptical about him from time to time, if only to tease him when he was being a brat (affectionate).