You Know Me Through The Years

Everything is Not Alright

The moment Cade pulled up at his mother's house was the moment he felt anxious about being there. He had only been back in Capulet for two days since his last job with Nero up north. The payout was a little less than what was promised, but it was still enough to live off of for the next few weeks.

However, he had to get through the next few hours. He could have stayed at Devil May Cry, but his mother demanded he come over. That was not what was bothering him. It was the fact that he had only found out three days ago that his father had returned after five years, and he had spent the last two days stewing over the news. He had sat on the couch, taking his rage out on his father by playing video games. He may have broken a controller or two while doing it, but at least he was not taking it out on the shop itself.

As he flipped the kickstand to his bike down, he felt that rage boiling back up. He had to calm it down before he got off the bike and made his way to the front door. He did not make it to the door before it opened to reveal his sister, Mara. She gave him a glare before sticking her tongue out at him.

"Mars." He greeted her. "One of these days, you're gonna get it." He teased her as she cocked her left and put a hand on her hip. She was a typical preteen girl at this point.

"Nope, I think you're gonna get it first." She smirked mischievously as usual. He ruffled her hair before walking inside. "Besides, I have it on good authority that I am the favorite."

"You know Mom doesn't play favorites, right?" Cade took his leather jacket off and placed it on the coat rack.

"I'm not talking about Mom." Mara said as she walked away with a bounce in her step. She was unbearably happy about something. As soon as he walked in the kitchen, he found his mother working on dinner. She was just putting lasagna in the oven when he called out to her.

"Mom." Roe shut the oven door and turned to look at him. She was happy to see him, but she could also tell his mood was less than ideal. Of course it was. He had some resentment.

"Hey, baby." She took her oven mit off and threw it on the counter before walking over to embrace him. "You holding up okay?"

"No, not really." Cade said as she pulled away from him. She bit her bottom lip and nodded. "I could be better."

"I know." She put her hands on his shoulders. "But, he's your father and you have to talk to him." She was right. He needed to talk to Dante. "You can't put it off, because the longer you do, the worse that resentment is going to get."

"Right." He sighed as she pushed herself up to kiss him on the cheek.

"I love you, but I'm going to need a drink." And that was exactly what she did next. She pulled a bottle of vodka out and some cranberry juice. There had been a few times in the past five years that he found his mother sipping on vodka and cranberry juice. It was her go-to when the days were rough.

Cade said nothing as he leaned up against the island countertop. He wanted to leave. He felt anxious and it was overwhelming, especially when a man who looked like his father walked in. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw the man, who he assumed was his uncle, looked him up and down upon seeing him.

There was some recognition in his uncle's eyes, and that was enough to calm him down a little. Of course, it also helped that his father's twin was in casual dress. He looked relaxed, which translated well to Cade's preservation instincts.

"Vergil, do you want a drink?" Roe asked, holding up her glass. Said man looked over to her with a nod.

"Red wine, if you have it." Vergil's voice was not what Cade expected, but then again, he had only ever heard stories of his uncle. Vergil turned his attention back to Cade. "Nephew."

"Vergil, this is Cade." Roe said as she moved over to the wine rack by the refrigerator. "Cade, this is your uncle."

"Hey." Cade mustered out. He was not sure how to act or what to say to his long-lost uncle, but the reaction from Vergil was enough. The older man silently turned his attention to the commotion Roe was making while trying to open the bottle of wine. This allowed for Cade to relax his tense body. Vergil was very intimidating to him, which made sense because Dante was laid back in nature. Speaking of.

"Don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but that leak in the bathroom is getting..." Dante's words abruptly stopped when he saw his son after walking in from the garage. "Worse." Cade slowly turned around. His back had been to the garage door, but he knew when his father was close. Dante chose to ignore the tension that suddenly exploded into the kitchen.

Vergil was in the middle of pouring himself a glass of wine while Roe was making her second drink for the night. Dante on the other hand, was trying to ignore the glare that had begun to morph onto Cade's face. Everyone in the room knew it was coming. Vergil made no move to stop what was about to come because it was something he was all to familiar with.

"You Son of a Bitch." Cade said as he walked up to his father and punched him square in the face. He almost sent Dante backwards into the garage, but the older man was a lot tougher than Cade remembered.

"Alright." Dante set his nose back into place with a crunch. "You wanna have a go at me, let's take it outside." He grabbed Cade by the back of the neck and pulled him out the back door, bringing the young man out into the back yard. "Okay, come on!" And that was when Cade tackled him to the ground and began to slog his own father in the face over and over.

Cade was seeing red. All of the resentment had built up over the last five years and he lost control. It was wrong for a child to beat his father, but Dante allowed it. But Dante also had control of himself and he could take control of the situation when he needed. Cade knew this, but that did not stop him from using his fists to show his father how hurt he was inside. At some point tears began to fall from the younger man's eyes.

As soon as Cade felt his will break, his father turned the tides and grappled him for control. Dante had him in a headlock before he could even process the entire thing. That was when Cade felt himself relax.

"Before you pass judgment on me, maybe you need to listen." Dante continued to hold his son still. "I had no choice. It was either let that dammed tree take over everything, or make sure your mother, you, and your sisters stayed safe." He held on. "You can resent me for it, but someday you're gonna have to make that choice when you have kids. It's them or no one at all." Dante eased up on his grip allowing Cade to scramble to a sitting position.

"But you still left us here." He ran a hand through his shaggy hair. "We needed you." He sniffed.

"Yeah, ya'll did. I'm always going to regret that, but it's done. I can't go back and change any of it." It was those words that Cade needed his father to admit before he calmed down. "I'm not going to sit here and tell you everything is okay, when everything is not alright. That's something we have to work on." Cade nodded at his father, who was moving to stand up. "You have to decide on whether you can accept this or not. I'm here...I'm not going anywhere anytime soon and you can bet on that." He held his hand out to Cade and the young man responded by hesitantly taking it. "It's all on you, Son."

Cade froze when his father grabbed him, pulling him into a tight embrace. That was when the tears really started flowing. What grown man starts crying like a baby when his father hugs him? Apparently, it was him. It was needed as Cade could not remember the last time his father ever held him like this. Eventually, Dante let go, only for a tear or two to be seen coming from him.

"I love you, Dad."