Author's note: I had intentions of writing this one-shot after my Helena/Leon story, but the idea faded and never happened. However, I remembered what I had in mind and I finally got to putting it into words. It's not the greatest, but I like it. Thanks for checking it out and read on!

Here in Spirit

Slamming the kitchen cabinet closed, Jake Muller had the urge to toss all the can goods and boxed instant meals to the floor. It was the early evening of a Thursday, the sky merely looking a darker shade of gray as the sun closed in on the horizon behind the clouds hanging so low in the sky. The day was like any other. Slow at some points, quiet and lonely; mundane to say the least. Nothing was out of the norm, not even the argument Jake had gotten himself into with his mother, Vera Muller.

Had Vera not seen the large deck of money Jake had lazily hid on the inside pocket of his favorite leather jacket, the fight that aroused tonight might not have taken place. It was as he gave his mother the usual hug when he got home from a long day of what she assumed working construction, that she felt the bulge against her shoulder as Jake wrapped his arms around her withering body. Without hesitation, she reached her frail hand inside his jacket and pulled out the said bulge; the money summing up around 3500 Edonian krooni. Despite being gravely ill, Vera sternly ordered for Jake to explain how he got his hands on such a large amount of money. It wasn't easy to lie to Vera and it was something Jake very rarely did. So, sparing some details, he told her the truth of how he went around pickpocketing and selling to the consignment store things people wouldn't miss. That was the truth. If he went into more detail, he'd have to show her the diamond stud earrings he snatched at the market earlier today, hiding away in his left boot.

She gave the lecture he had only gotten three times in his life after incidents such as this had happened in the past. As a young boy he could handle the scolding. It was, however, as he got older that he just couldn't understand her point and sit there and listen as she chided on and on about the morals of life. He was a man with an opinion—an opinion he wasn't afraid to speak.

"You're better than this, Jake," his mother called from her bedroom. "I raised you to be an honest boy."

He mouthed her words as she spoke them aloud. The thing was he wasn't a boy anymore. Aside from physical evidence, Jake had matured to a realistic and practical man. Granted, he liked danger and the adrenaline that'd pump in his veins when he'd run from merchants. But besides that, he kept his common sense and rational, strategic mind the sharpest it could be. He even gained a dry and sarcastic sense of humor along the rocky road of his young life that he thought to be rather charming. And so did Anna, the young dancer who sold homegrown fruits at the market part time. Thinking of the Edonian brunette, Jake thought he ought to give her a call for a "night of fun", slang for a roll in the sack so it didn't seem as vulgar.

It was quiet for some time as Jake did his best to regain his composure and as quickly as he could. It was already a regret to bring up such a fuss with his mother, and the weary look in her pale grey eyes should have told him to hide the money better and avoid such an argument.

"Jake, I told you I'm not hungry," Vera called once more from her bedroom. "Now come here, I wasn't finished talking with you."

He could have stayed planted in the kitchen of their small and crumbling home, but if he decided to throw a silent tantrum, then Vera would get out of bed no matter her state of health and pull Jake by the ear to sit him down and finish her talk with him. Not wanting his mother to put too much strain on her sickly self, he closed all the cabinets he had opened, filled a glass of water and returned to his mother's bedside. He found his mother sitting up in her bed as he reentered her bedroom, her small hands clasped together in her lap. Setting the water on her nightstand, he took a seat at the end of her bed and waited for her to begin.

"Jake, my love, I'm just trying to tell you that stealing is not the right option," she began, her wavering voice shaking slightly. "I did not raise you to take from others. I raised you to be independent, to appreciate what you have and to survive with what you're given. Did I not show you a good example of this?"

He sighed, rubbing his hand along his cheek, feeling the slight indentation of his scar. "No, mom, you did. It's just, do you know how hard it is to find a job? And you know how much I hate working with people. Everyone's so dumb and they need to be told how to do things over and over. They don't know how to adapt. You said you raised me to be independent. I am, mom. I grew up faster than most people."

"Yes, I know you're independent. Maybe a little too independent. You never let anyone help you," she stated, watching as he lowered his gaze and the distant look that graced his features. She patted the bed beside her and told him to lie next to her. "Come here, Jake. I want to talk with you. Not about your bad habits, about something I've been putting off."

Giving her an odd look, he situated himself beside her, letting her take his hand in her own. Silence occupied the room as Vera searched for words to begin the talk she had been meaning to have with her son for a long time. It was as the end of her life came closer every day that she knew it was time; time to talk about his father.

"If you want to have "the talk" about the birds and the bees, mom, you can spare me," he said in joking matter after growing impatient with the silence.

"That is not what I want to talk about. Though, I should have talked to you a long time ago about that, too. Then maybe you wouldn't have gotten mixed up with Anna at the market. She's bad news," Vera claimed, scrunching her nose at the thought of the young woman.

"Yeah, but she's flexible," Jake stated with a smirk on his lips.

"Jacob Muller! I will not tolerate such talk in my home. Now be quiet and listen to your mother, do you understand?" He frowned, looking at her only to pull his stare away when he felt the disapproval of her gape. He shut his mouth and nodded, waiting for her to begin her talk, which he anticipated to be rather important. "I want to talk to you about your father, Jake."

The idle tension around him seemed to reappear and thicken considerably at the mention of the man Jake chose not to think about. Sure, he was curious of the man his mother had fallen in love with and the man that had part in conceiving him. However, a coward such as his father to abandon his mother and leaving her alone while pregnant was something he could never forgive him for. So he chose not to ponder the idea of who his father was, for he had no desire to know him. If it wasn't for the serious note in his mother's voice, he would have scoffed the conversation off and told her he didn't want to listen. But it was that seriousness in her voice that made him cooperate and listen as she went on.

"I want to talk to you about him because I don't have much longer."

"Mom," Jake looked up at her, not wanting to think about her life's ticking clock.

"I know you don't like to think about it, but it's true. And before it's too late, you deserve to learn about your father. Before you start rolling your eyes, you need to know that I loved your father very much. And a part of me still loves him deeply. I could never love anyone or anything more than I love you, but there's a special place in my heart for your father. So instead of me telling you all the wonderful things about him, I want to answer your questions. What do you want to know?"

Eyeing her, Jake wanted to chuckle at his mother's strategy. Instead of coming straight out and speaking of the mysterious man, she turned the tables and threw the ball into his court. She had a way of pushing the spotlight off herself. Vera would often claim she was the observer of the crowd, always watching and learning, not one to lead or give direction. After being the observer for so long, she had grown to be quite the smart woman. Well, that was until her father came up in subject. Then she was a lovesick fool.

"Alright. What was his name?" Jake queried after a small moment of contemplating what to ask. He held back the irritated sigh when his mother frowned.

"I can't tell you his name. Before he left, he told me to never look for him because it could put me in danger. I still wonder what that danger was, but I'm grateful he was watching out for me," Vera reminisced. "He always preferred to go by his last name, but I called him, A."

Adam, Allen, Abraham? So many names, Jake thought. "What was the initial of his last name?"

Vera considered for a moment if she should say. Was it really that bad to tell her son Albert Wesker's initials? Deciding it harmless, she gave her son the answer he'd been looking for. "A. W."

A funny look rose on the young man's face, a brow rising in what Vera knew to be the signs of sarcasm. "A. W. Like the root beer? Did dad establish the root beer company?"

"Ugh, why must you be so stubborn?" Vera growled as she pinched Jake's arm. "No, he did not establish the root beer company. He was very smart and professional. Besides, he wasn't a man to like vanilla very much. He much preferred flavors like cinnamon and thyme. More spicy and herbal things."

"Good to know," Jake grumbled while rolling his eyes. Sounds like an asshole to me, he thought to himself, not daring to say anything aloud that might upset his mother. "Was he nice at least? Did he have friends?"

"He was a hard man. He smiled very rarely. But when he did…oh, Jake, he was so handsome," Vera remember his features as Jake held back the need to gag. "He didn't like to talk about himself much, but he liked to listen. He was always so confident in all his choices. I only ever met his friend William. It was purely by accident. I had come by his apartment as a surprise and William was there. That was around the time A began to distance himself from me and push me away." A sad expression dawned on Vera's face, her thin eyebrows frowning at the thought of her Albert leaving her. "Anyways, William was as nice as he could be, I think. He was odd, I must say. I did get to meet his daughter, though. She was a sweet girl. Sarah, Sherry… Oh, forgive me. My memory is not my best asset."

"It's fine, mom. I want to know about dad, not his friend's daughter," Jake told her, moving to lie on his side while resting his cheek in his hand, watching as his mother twisted the quilted blanket in her bony fingers. "Was he good to you?"

Vera looked in her son's eyes, smiling to see the concern in them. "Oh yes, my boy. He was very good to me. He sometimes would cancel our dates because of work, he would say, but otherwise he would always be on time to take me out and see the city. He was nothing like the men here."

Closing her eyes for a small moment, Vera remembered Albert's face, body, and touch like he was there with her now. She'd recall her short time with him as if she was remembering a movie or book. Except she couldn't read her memories or watch them play on a screen; she had to recollect them all on her own, her fading memory failing to remember certain things about him she wished she could hold onto forever. She was still young. She was only 51. It was cruel of life to rob her of her time that she could have spent with her son, time she could have worked and saved money to give Jake a better life.

"Then why did he leave you?" Jake questioned. "Why did you come back to Edonia?"

She sighed a heavy breath, preparing herself for the heartbreak memory of Albert's departure. "Well, it was about seven months into our relationship when he began to stray. He'd be at the office more and more, telling me it was just things he needed to do and on time. As much as I loved your father, he was so mysterious. He kept secrets and I knew it. But if there was anything about A, he was very intimidating. I never dared to ask what he was working on because I never wanted to make him angry and upset with me. As much as he could keep his cool, I know he had a temper on him. That's where you get yours from," she smiled at him.

"It was soon after I met William that your father ended our relationship. He told me that his work was now the priority in his life and that he couldn't juggle me and work at the same time. He said I was someone who needed someone at all times and that he couldn't be that person. He kissed me and then told me to never follow him or look for him. So, heartbroken, I went to the apartment I stayed in at the time and packed all my clothes. Too ashamed and embarrassed to stay in America, I came home and began a new life here. It wasn't until I got home that I learned I was pregnant with you. I never told him because he told me to never look for him. I may not understand your father's choice, but I will always be grateful because he gave me you. You are the best thing in my life, Jacob. I love you very, very much."

"I love you, too, mom," Jake whispered, not liking the vulnerable feeling his emotions showed. He accepted the hug and kiss on the forehead when Vera opened her arms for him. This talk about his father didn't exactly help his opinion of A. W. He would always be angry at his father with what he had done his mother, but he respected Vera more for what she had gone through and her choices. He watched as she wiped a lone tear away from her cheek and tucked a lock of graying strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. He wished his mother was loved by someone else from him. She deserved to be loved and cared for. She was the only person Jake loved.

"Your father is here in spirit, I just wish you could have met him somehow," Vera told him. She blamed herself often for Jake's lack of an adult male figure, but she was never able to move on after Albert. There were men who asked for her attention, even one who asked for her hand in marriage. Knowing that she would never recover after the breakup with A, she declined all the suitors and focused on raising her most precious gift, Jake.

Looking around absently, Jake thought if his father was here in spirit, he'd hope his father was suffering to see what had become of his mother. "Can I ask something else?" he inquired very quietly.

"Of course you can, my love."

Jake sat up and looked at her steadily. "Did he ever tell you he loved you?"

Vera thought for a moment. She nodded after a while. "Only twice. First on the night we first made love and on the last night we made love."

She openly laughed at her son's expression. His nose scrunched and he stuck his tongue out in disgust. "So when he was able to get you in bed he said he loved you. What a creep," he said in exhaustion.

"No, Jake. Not like that. The first time was at the end of a date of ours. He had taken me to this place called Raccoon Café and as we were getting into his car after dinner, he told me he loved me. That was when I knew I was ready to give him my purity." She gained another disgusted look from Jake. "Yes, I was a virgin with your father, but that made it all the more special. And the last time, well, I think he already had in mind we weren't going to be together anymore, so he told me that last time that he loved me."

"Ah, mom, why couldn't you fall for a guy that was going to stay with you?" Jake frowned, rubbing his eyes.

"Why couldn't you fall for someone else better than Anna at the market?" Vera quizzed. "I fell for your father because I just did. He was in my life's path and I was in his. If I hadn't met your father, then I wouldn't have had you and that idea scares me so much. And the best part is at times when you think for some time, you look like your father. Or if you get angry or upset, you get that look in your eye that your father had."

He gave her a repelled look to be compared to his father.

"See!" Vera smiled big and pointed at him. "That look. You looked so much like him then."

Waving dismissively at her, Jake stood from the bed and straightened out his shirt. He hissed silently when he accidently stood on the stud earrings in his boot. He'd have to take those out soon and consign them for money.

"I'm glad we had this talk," Vera admitted. "Aren't you glad?" He nodded and knelt to plant a very gentle kiss on her cheek. He didn't do that often, so she cherished the love he gave her then. "Now, Jake, be a good boy and take that money back where you took it from."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure thing." He didn't bother to look at her, for he knew she was sending a very sour look his way. He wouldn't take the money back. What he would do is get money for the earrings, then go to the apothecary shop and druggist to gather the things his mother needed to treat her illness. "How are you feeling?" He asked her, pushing the glass of water into her hands and taking it back once she took a drink.

"I'm tired. I think I'll get some sleep if you don't mind."

He nodded his head, retrieving his leather jacket that he had tossed on the lounge chair after Vera had found the krooni in his pocket. "I'm going to go to the market real quick, but I'll be back. Then I'll make you dinner. Get some sleep mom."

"Alright, be safe. And don't talk to Anna. You deserve someone much better than that promiscuous girl. Someone with respect and dignity," Vera called out as Jake left her room and made his way to the front door.

"Dually noted," he replied. "Plus, I've got my eyes more on a bike than I do Anna. A real Harley Davidson and it's in good shape."

"Don't you dare! Those things are dangerous and can kill you."

"Love you," Jake said loud enough for her to hear after he chuckled at her comment. If he wanted a bike, then maybe one day he'd get one. Vlad, who recruited men to be mercenaries around the area, had his own bike. The guy didn't know how to take care of it and it drove Jake nuts. A bike as beautiful as Vlad's should be taken care of. Brushing the apple he had taken before he left his and his mother's home on his chest, he took a bite of the fruit and strode quickly in the chilly air towards the market.

A few moments after she heard the door lock after Jake left, Vera sat back up and reached to the drawer of her nightstand. She groaned at the pain in her body as she moved around. Pulling a notepad out and a pen, Vera stared at the blank page trying to decide what to write.

Tears began to form in her eyes as the pain in her body stayed, not giving her any break even as she stayed as still as possible. Her hands shook and her heart beat worryingly fast. She was once again reminded of her limited time. And as she looked at the notepad once more, she knew that her time was very near.

Feeling the heaviness of knowing, her hand began to move with the pen in hand:

'I love you, Jake. I'm so sorry to have to leave you like this. Please forgive me. And please, don't hate your father. I'm sure he loves you and is thinking about you, and I know you two will find each other someday. Stay strong. You make me proud and I will always believe in you. I love you very, very much.'

Tearing the note off the pad, she folded the note, scoffing at herself as her hands shook violently. She scribbled his name the best she could on the front side and laid the paper on her nightstand. Sinking into her bed, she pulled the covers to her chest and stared at the ceiling.

Maybe she'd get lucky and live another day. Maybe she'd get so lucky she'd have another year with Jake. But as her heart slowed from its rapid beats to a crawl, her chest felt surprisingly light as her eyes slowly closed. Her mind lingered on Albert for a moment. Whatever happened to him, she hoped Jake could find him someday. Jake deserved to meet his father and Albert deserved to meet his son. The power to make this happen was fading from her grasp as her breathes became far and few in between. What felt like falling asleep, the last thing on her mind was Jake; his face and the few times he'd smile played in her head like a wonderful scene.

Oh she'd miss him, if she had any capabilities of missing someone in whatever was waiting for her. Her hopes of a thriving life for him were high. She'd have liked to live on to see him succeed in something he was good at and like to do. To see him marry possibly, hopefully to a sweet girl that would be there for him and love him, someone who believed in him like she did. She wanted the best for her son, even if her life was coming to an end. She loved him so much, but it was her time to go. It was time to rest.

Author's note: If that seems like a bad way to end this, I apologize. I didn't know any better way and I've never died, so I don't know what it's like as I'm sure you don't either. Unless… *sweats nervously* Anyways, I hope this brought some enjoyment upon you guys and please let me know what you thought.

It was fun to write for Jake, though I don't know if I got him right. And Vera was a nice installment. If there are stories about Jake and his mother and they're similar to mine, I really wouldn't know. The only story I read with Jake was one I didn't particularly like and it didn't even mention his mom. If this has been done before, my bad, I hope you understand. Oh! And that note Vera wrote is actually a canon letter, save for the last sentence or two I added in. I found it on the RE Wiki site and decided to put in here. :)

I've written three little one-shots in the span I've been writing my other story that is made of chapters. I like writing these little "read in one-sitting" stories and I'll probably do more in the future. If you guys have any ideas, send them my way please! We could collaborate on a story. ;D Haha, anyways, there you have it! Thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate it.

-Sarai