You Know Me Through The Years

Cousins

There was no doubt that Nero and Cade resembled eachother in Dante's eyes. Any doubt that he had before had been washed away when his saw his son and Nero standing side by side as if they were brothers. Which also made Dante a little nervous because if Nero did not have an inkling now, the boy was either an idiot or he just did not want to know the truth.

He hated to keep the truth from Nero, but he felt like he was protecting the kid from a dark truth. Dante also knew he was being a hypocrite for not saying anything. He was fully aware that he was not hiding anything from his own son, but he hid everything from his brother's son. He would have to cross that bridge in the future, but for now, Nero was just a welcome guest.

"How are the boys?" Roe asked as they all sat around the dining room table for dinner.

"Loud as usual, but otherwise they are doing good." Nero had a proud glint in his eye. If Dante did not know any better, the kid was actually happy to be a surrogate father to three orphans. "I don't know how Kyrie does it while I'm gone."

"There is a method to the madness." Roe said moving a stray lock of her red hair out of her face. "She occasionally calls me when you're gone."

"That explains it." Dante said picking up the bowl of spaghetti and passing it over to Mara. "Try not to drop it." He told the young girl sitting next to him as she grabbed the large bowl.

"Kyrie can handle them on her own, but sometimes she has problems that she needs a little advice for." Roe told her nephew. "I do my best to give her that advice." She smiled at him.

"Thanks for that." It was a sincere expression of gratitude from Nero that made Roe think of Vergil for a moment. At one point, the older twin was just as aloof as his son, but he was very honest and gracious about things she had done to help him. "You really don't know how much I appreciate everything you guys do for us."

"It's no problem." Dante said. "Besides, you're family. Blood or not." Jury was still out on that. The consensus between all of them was that Nero was related, but they were not sure how. At least that is what Dante told them. Roe on the other hand was quickly putting things together.

"It must have been a shock to see that Dante has a family." Roe gave her husband a side glance knowing full well that he kept everything close to the chest.

"I mean, I met you before and Dante did mention Cade once or twice, but those two..." Nero motioned to ten year old Mara and four year old Evie. "I never expected."

"Yeah, Dante tends to omit some things when it comes to family." Roe gave her husband an accusatory look at just how conniving he had been.

"Hey, I'm just being careful." The older man in the room held up his hands in defense. "I'm a dad, I gotta protect the kids." He piled a spoonful of spaghetti on his plate. "Anyway, I'm glad you're here for the night."

"Me too, old man."

Dinner had been really good with Nero singing praises to Roe about her cooking. Not to mention he wanted her to send her meatball recipe to Kyrie when she had the time. Not much else than Cade asking Nero if he played video games and then the two were upstairs playing some shooter games.

If Dante had not known better, he was pretty sure Roe was about to give him an ear full as they readied for bed. She was busy pushing back the covers on the bed when he walked in the room. She also seemed very irritated with him in that moment with her little glares and aggression towards her pillows.

"So, you mind telling me why you won't tell our nephew about his family?" She said with a hand on her hip. She was in those silk pajamas that she only wore when she was in a mood and not a good one.

"I will tell him, but I don't know if that is a conversation we are ready to have." Dante said sitting on the edge of the bed taking his boots off. "I don't think he wants to know the truth yet either. He isn't an idiot and I know he can sense something."

"In other words, you want him to come to you about it." Roe grabbed her bottle of lotion off the nightstand and began to rub her legs down. "Look, I'm not going to push you, but maybe you should tell him soon before it's too late."

"Yeah, I know." The devil hunter looked at his wife before removing his clothes and getting in the bed. "It was like I was looking into the past when he and Cade were standing next to each other."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Roe sighed as he grabbed on to her. "It also made me realize how tall Cade is getting too. That little runt grew like a weed." She was pretty sure that was all Dante's genes there, but still, her little boy was not little anymore. She leaned into her husband feeling a little nostalgic. "We did good though."

"Yep." Dante kissed her on the top of her head. "We still have two more to raise and then there is Nero." It was clear to Roe that Dante did feel a little guilty for not knowing about Nero all this time, even if they had actually known him for a little less than four years. "The kid has a good head on his shoulders."

"Well, I'd like to think it's because there is a lot of Vergil in him." Dante opened his mouth to protest that accusation, but Roe silenced him. "I'm not talking about the Vergil you knew as an adult. I'm talking about the Vergil I knew as a kid."

"Oh. In that case...continue."

"You may not have seen it when we were kids, but Vergil was very kind hearted and honest." Roe wanted Dante to see the Vergil she knew. She had not seen the older twin since they were children and as far as she was concerned, she did not know if she could handle the person he had become as an adult. "Nero is a lot like him in that way, and I think you see that as well." She grabbed Dante's hand and gave it a squeeze. "That's why you want to leave things as they are."

"Partly." He smiled. "The other part is that I'm afraid if Nero knew the truth, he will resent me for it." The smile fadded and the insecurities made their appearance. "I'd give anything to have my brother back, but I know that isn't going to happen. Instead, I find out Nero exists and he is all I have left of Verge. I don't want to lose him too by telling him I had a hand in his father's death." The feeling he had was valid in every way, and the reason was solid, but Roe knew there was no way to keep the truth buried forever. They were both going to have to face the truth at some point.

"Well, Love, all I can say is that you should consider telling him when the time is right." She put a hand on his cheek. "Nero deserves to have us in his life as his family. As his blood. I can already see that he adores the girls and Cade is the closest thing to a little brother he has and they just met hours ago. He adores us." Leave it to Roe to keep him grounded in reality. She was his rock and he was sure that without her things would have turned out differently. "You love him so much that you can't help but to protect him."

"Yeah and it might get me killed one day." He could say that about the two little girls sleeping in the room down the hall too. His confidence in Cade's growing skill as a hunter was unshakable at this point. If anything happened to him, Dante knew that Nero and Cade could take over in a heartbeat. "Besides, when I retire from demon hunting, Cade is going to need his cousin to mentor him."

"Retire?" Roe leaned back with a raised eyebrow. "Dante, I have never heard you utter that word in the time I've known you."

"Well, I've got to plan for the future right?" He smirked. "I'm not immortal and I'm definitely not completely invulnerable. Somebody can kill me, it's just really difficult." He was not joking with her at all. He had really been thinking about the 'r' word lately. Mostly because he was getting tired of being the one to save the world. That and living in his father's shadow for so long had put his family in danger one too many times.

"Alright, but can we put that conversation on hold for now?" Roe moved back to leaning against him again. "I just want to savor the feeling of having our whole family under one roof for the night."

"Anything you want, Babe."