She took the boys and placed them beside her; Vergil had cuddled up close to his mother and sat still. Eva had to keep Dante still, he wanted to get off of the couch and run about so she placed him on her lap instead. "Keep still, Dante, honey, the shows about to start…see?" She pointed at the tv screen.

Dante jumped up and down and giggled happily while Vergil sat patiently. Eva turned on the tv in front of her and the cartoon came on. They all sat there happily enjoying the silly show and while Dante laughed, Eva chuckled. Her eldest on the other hand made a noise with his mouth, blowing out spittle as if he were not satisfied with the show.

Eva reached over and wiped his mouth, "You're so finicky, my little boy, how about we play a nice puzzle together when I put Dante to sleep?"

With that, Vergil seemed to understand her and smiled hugely, his fingers were curled around his mother's dress, holding on to her so tight.

She realized that Dante was getting really tired; his head was nodding off to sleep at the last few minutes of the show. His exerted energy expended, Eva brought Dante's chubby cheeks close to her own, "Oh my darling baby boy, you are so adorable!" There was a moment of silence as she held him, and as she saw that Dante had fallen asleep, his head on his mother's shoulder, "Ok, let's put you to bed then," she whispered gently. Vergil wouldn't let go of his mother and Eva smiled down at him, "You're coming too, my little man."

Eva had always called Vergil her little man, for he had come out of her many minutes before Dante. He had been the heralding joy of her life, her Archangel Gabriel in every sense and Dante her little Fighter the Archangel Michael. Dante had come out second, but he was a fighter, he bawled louder and fidgeted more than Vergil. Her eldest, the sweetest little man of hers had been quiet, a solemn, silent, white haired boy with the wet curls that plastered his head, the somber and serious look in his eyes when he stared up at his mother was startling to the doctors and nurses, but Eva only had been so happy. She was pleased with Vergil in every way, knowing instinctively that he was her little protector. Dante was her little baby boy, because he had given her laughter and pleasure, and through the long enduring ordeal of giving birth, she had found her two joys.

She had carried both boys in her arms and was rather used to it by now that she could carry ten pound potato bags by herself at the grocery store. Grocery boys would trip over themselves at the sight of her: beautiful and ethereal, a gentle woman in every way that it was difficult to see her with two boys alone in the world. Many men have tried to woo her, seduce her by pretending to like children, but in turn, one of the twins would see to it that the man in question was out of her life within the hour. Not that she was into dating, no; she wasn't, though the presence of the countless men in her life was not due to her chasing it, but rather that she was indeed pursued.

Dante was placed down on his crib and she had Vergil in her other arm and he clung to her happily. When they were alone, Eva took out the puzzle box and they both played with the pieces. Vergil placed them all in order, his chubby fingers grabbing hold of the perfect shapes to fit them in the correct slots. Eva was always amazed at her little boys' abilities. She had known their father for a short while. There wasn't much of a courtship really. He was full demon and she was a human female that accepted him without prejudice. It wasn't easy at first; of course for who would in their right mind want a demon? Not her, not her, she would say, but he had proved to her so many good things that she finally by consent, accepted him into her heart.

He was gone before she could establish anything more.

Vergil and Eva finished off the first two puzzle boxes and she noticed her little man was yawning and despite himself, tried to cling to his mother, hoping she wouldn't let him be.

When finally he was down for the count, she placed him in the playpen for naptime and decided to call on a furniture store to bring over a new crib. As she scanned through the yellow pages, the phone rang again and Eva just stared at it, hoping that that weird caller who claimed was her son would not call again.

After the 5th ring, she picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Mother…"

"If you can just give me 5 minutes, I can prove to you I'm Dante!"

She hesitated, the need so bad to hang up on the caller, but she swallowed, knowing how her life had been such a crazy one after meeting Sparda, "Go on…"

The sigh of relief was heard on the other end, "Eva, mom, you need to get out of that house. There are people; I mean dad's people are looking for you."

"You said you'd prove that you're my son, how so?"

Her voice was stern, but she was willing to give this caller a chance, because there was a part of her that recognized the voice. It sounded so much like her husband…..like father, like her sons?

"Father left you two guns, the luce and ombra, remember? You need to take me and Vergil away and I have a place for you to go to. I need to come over, but I need your permission to come over. I can't just come over there without your approval. That's why this call."

"You know about…?" She stammered, "What else?"

She clung on to the phone tightly, the knuckles showing white against her skin, "Please, please tell me this isn't a prank?"

Damn Sparda, she inwardly cried, why did he leave me behind? Tears fell unbidden down her soft cheeks.

"Mother, are you crying?" the voice was concerned across the ages of time, "I love you, mother, don't ever forget that. I shall always protect you."

"Dante?" she whispered harshly, wiping the tears from her eyes, she cleared her throat. Damn her for her moment of weakness, "Your brother Vergil is the protector, Dante," she gave a shaky laugh.

"I am too, mother, I am too, just let me prove to you I can be just as good with our family as Vergil."

The line went dead.

"Hello?" She said several times and placed the receiver back down. Being alone with two boys must have made her a little mad, but it wasn't from lack of companionship for she was filled with her days of bliss alone with her sons.

She stared out the window at the sky, the way it beckoned her, with the mist covered mountains in the horizon and the clouds caressing the tips of their surface. Placing a curled blonde lock behind her ear, her hands shook.

Her heart told her that the caller was her son. Panic rose in her throat when she discovered she hadn't given him permission to visit her just yet.

So instead, she waited there. Her boys were fast asleep and returned to what she was doing before playing with the boys. Eva had just got done sewing up two more patches of her quilt. There were myriad displays of colors on that quilt, to create a long line of patchwork that would give pride to her ancestry and their father's line.

The wind blew in from the window and touched her hair, whispered in her ear,

Eva.

Mother.