Chapter Text
The alarm rang for 6:00AM. Waking up this early was not Phoenix’s preference, but the bus for school came at seven forty five, and it would take half an hour to get the kids ready at seven, so at six he had to wake up, take a shower, wake the one school-bound kid up, and begin breakfast. That way, when Apollo showered at seven, breakfast would be ready, and by that point, Athena would wake up by happenstance, and pad on down to the kitchen.
Crawling out from under the covers, though, had to come first. Trucy had let him know, through baby words and fussing fits, that she only slept when the room was cold but her blankets were warm; thus, clambering out of bed was impossible. The bed was warm and so too would the shower be, but the space between was unpleasant. He manages, though, and runs the shower quickly. While his hair is still damp, he puts some spray oil in it, since his mother had instructed him to. It always looked decent enough, so he continued to do it, even if it really just felt arbitrary at this point.
It was only 6:23, according to his clock, so he put on jogging pants and a collegiate t-shirt. He wouldn’t put on his suit until later, he didn’t want to wrinkle it - or get breakfast spilled all over it. Going out to the living room, Phoenix left Trucy to sleep in his room. He knew that soon he’d have to get a bigger bed for her, possibly even moving her up into the other room of his apartment, but for now, she slept in a toddler bed in his room. Arrangement would be made as they were needed.
Turning on the TV, the news anchors talked with full voices, but the volume turned down. The walls were thin, and he wouldn’t risk waking up the kids this early. “The trial of Larry Buttz begins today, under suspicion for murdering his girlfriend-” Phoenix muted the TV; he was well aware.
The display on his phone read 6:34 when Apollo began clumsily walking down the stairs, dragging a blanket and a pair of clean clothes with him. “Mornin’, dad,” he mumbled, and Phoenix moved over on the couch to let him up.
“Early riser today, huh?” Phoenix pat his son on the back, “Did you study for your math test last night?”
He nodded, “It’s just fractions from 80 to 100, it’s nothing big.”
“Just?” God, if this is what they were teaching kids in elementary, he couldn’t begin to imagine middle school and high school, “That’s more than I ever learned! You’re gonna be a math genius next time I blink.”
Apollo blushed, a big cheeky grin taking over his face, “If I do well, can we go out for dinner?”
It was hard to say no - he knew very well that the next student loan payment would put a crunch on his financial abilities, but he also knew it’d been a long time - perhaps since the first family dinner they had at a nice cafe. “Alright,” Phoenix said, “But no Mexican restaurants. We can just go to abuelita’s if we want real tacos.” And get enough leftovers in tupperware that was suspiciously stained red to last them the week. Of course, he could also make them. He just wasn’t going to.
Silently celebrating by pumping his arm in the air, Apollo jumped off the couch, “I’m going to go shower.” he announced, and headed for the bathroom.
“Don’t use all the hot water. Your sister still has to shower.” There was a certain warmth in his voice - he was still getting used to being a father, but he hoped he was doing well. Though he’d never say it aloud, sometimes he wished his dad had been the one to wake him up and hang out with him in the mornings before school, but the elder Wright went to work early, and often came home late. Not that Phoenix knew, since Mamá often took him to the charity events she worked. Before Apollo scurried off, he asked, “Cheesy eggs alright?”
“With star toast?” It was a hopeful question.
“Sure.”
Cooking was perhaps the easiest part of the day. It was alone time, with his old boombox playing a CD from a musical. He could easily get back into tap dancing while cracking eggs into a bowl and scrambling them, before creating a seperate bowl. Athena didn’t like cheese in her eggs, but Apollo did, and Trucy didn’t care either way. Phoenix usually just ate whatever was left over. Without thinking about it, he filled the coffee pot with water and scooped coffee grounds and powdered milk into the filter. The chorus sang:
“I can’t survive without café!”
As Phoenix grabbed a loaf of bread, he took note of how low they were. He added it to the grocery list while grabbing a star shaped cookie cutter. The kids thought it was just the coolest thing, and he wasn’t going to spoil the magic. Buttering the toast before putting it in their toaster was another magic trick - the toast at school, Apollo told him, never tasted as good, and neither did the babysitter’s, when she’d made toast for Athena and Trucy once. So, he got up early and made breakfast; made the eggs just fluffy enough, dirited two pans so there were no arguments over cheesy or plain, and it saved him money from having to stop at a drive through as he hurried to work. There were benefits to waking up early.
Apollo trotted back in, looking chipper and smiling. The smell of food seemed to wake up the other kids, and Athena was quick behind him, orange pigtails bushy from a night of sleeping on them. Before Athena crawled into “her” chair - it wasn’t really hers, but she always sat there because it was slightly higher than the other chairs. There were two little booster seats he’d gotten from a family friend, but Athena said she didn’t need it. Can’t argue with a five year old.
Trucy, though, was only three and while she could sit up just fine, it was easier to put her in a high chair since reaching the table was out of the question. Phoenix quickly put down two paper plates, scooped eggs and handed out toast, before going back into his bedroom. Trucy, bless her sweet little heart, was sleeping and holding a little puppet she referred to as “Mr. Hat.” It’d been one of the few things left with her from her father - her birth father, a magician who ran away before his trial. Leaving a three year old with your lawyer because she lost a poker game seemed cruel enough, but he’d disappeared altogether, and hadn’t sent them anything but a puppet, a silk hat, and not even a child support check.
Sunlight was just now streaming through the window to her little face, which was scrunching up in retaliation. Pulling his toddler up into his arms, Phoenix kissed her forehead. “Come on, Trucy. It’s breakfast time, mija. ”
She groaned, tiny fists balling up and pulling at his shirt. “Visiting abuelita today?” She muttered. Maybe all of his kids were geniuses, Trucy speaking in almost complete sentences, Athena already knew Spanish and Apollo was learning quickly.
“Kinda.” Phoenix answered. He’d called his babysitter, asking if she could come in today, but she’d made some excuse about homework and needing to help her mom and someone’s in the hospital, and she was so sorry, Mr. Wright. So, Mamá was coming to watch him in court, and keep Athena and Trucy occupied.
“Yay!” Her little face, brown and freckled, smiled back at him. It seemed she loved having such a big family - wait until they had to stay there for a long weekend or something, she’d die of excitedness from the entire community being together.
Before he knew it, the whole Wright family was sitting around the table, chatting about nothing and everything - Athena asked about going to court today, if she could wear her pretty yellow dress, and Apollo asked if he’d ever get to go see. “Maybe if a trial lasted to a Saturday,” Phoenix answered.
Phoenix checked his phone, at stood up from the table. He grabbed a red backpack from beside the kitchen doorway, where the hallway opened into the room. “C’mon, kiddo, I’ll walk you to the bus.”
“I-I don’t need you to.”
The bus came and went, it really didn’t take long; Apollo waved to his dad as it pulled away. Morning routine had to continue though, and Phoenix went back to the kitchen, pulling Trucy out of the highchair. “Athena, you need to go get a shower while I get Trucy dressed. I’ll pull your clothes out from upstairs and bring them to you.” He pleaded with that last bit - the yellow dress:? Or did she just mention that to throw him off.
Athena nodded her head, “If you braid my hair!”
“Doable, if you shower really quick.”
So, Athena rushed into the bathroom and the shower started once more. “Cold! Polly left the shower cold!” she cried out, but seemed to deal with it. Phoenix knew he’d have to say something to him, but not today. Maybe when his best friend wasn’t being considered a murder suspect.
One half of his dresser was his, and the other half were Trucy’s clothes, a combination of gifts from friends whose children had gone on to being four to five and from clothes his mother had insisted on making. “Do you want to wear blue today?”
Trucy shook her head, “Purple!”
“Purple, huh?” He could do that. It was August, hotter than hell, so shorts and a blouse would be just fine for her. A hat, to cover her eyes from the bright light. Sneakers? Trucy hated flats, because they rubbed her feet wrong. “How’s this?”
“Good!” Trucy could, for the most part, dress herself, so he left her and went to go get dressed himself, in the closet between the bedroom and the one bathroom. The white button down was wrinkled, but he’s sure it wouldn’t matter.
Emerging in oxford shoes that were his dad’s, a suit he had bought for cheap and then his mother tailored to fit (it was still a little baggy,) Phoenix felt a little more sure about what he was doing. Law was a very different career from theatre, and he doubted he could Billy Flynn his way out of a bad case. Not that he’d want to forge evidence. Having 5,000 dollars doesn’t sound bad, though. At the very least, he would have his boss as counsel to make sure he didn’t completely fail.
He heard the shower stop, and began to rush up the stairs. Yellow dress! Athena didn’t ask to wear it much, but it was a little sun dress that she said had to be worn with flip flops, She also insisted to have her little 3DS, which was a matching yellow with a friendly Pikachu on the front. A pair of headphones was also stuffed into the game’s bag, which was a purse he’d gotten at the theatre yard sale. Dashing back down the stairs, Phoenix managed to reach the bathroom door before she began to get too impatient.
Trucy had walked her way out to the living room, to play with a bunch of blocks, stacking them and making fun shapes, that he was pretty certain were impossible. Phoenix sat down on the couch, the texts between him and his boss open.
Ready 4 the trial?
I think so.
You’ve gotta trust in your client :)
Honestly, he’d never pictured Mia being the type to put a smiley face in a text. It was 8:04, so he called, “Athena, we’ve gotta go soon, hurry up. Bring the hairbrush and elastics.”
She did, skipping over before sitting in front of him. Curiously, she grabbed the TV remote and unmuted it - he’d forgotten about it, really. Pulling the brush through her thick hair, Phoenix sent a prayer to his mother - at least his hair never got this long, but it was curlier, and stuck out every which way. Maybe her magic would run out on him and let him not botch this braid. Athena promised him he’d gotten better, but really it was a skill that needed to be worked on.
“Now this murder is being prosecuted by Winston Payne, who some sources claim tries to misuse his power to get advantages over defense lawyers. Your thoughts, John?”
“Well, Mary, I think he gets it from his boss - Lana Skye, and the man the tabloids are calling Demon Prosecutor .”
“Ow, papi! You pulled my hair!”
“ Lo siento, mija. ” He’d never mean to, of course, but the news surrounding his old friend always stressed him out, and he braided just a little too hard, “There, I think it’s done now.” He handed her his phone, so she could use the inner camera to see.
Nodding her head, Athena smiled, “Not bad, papi. ”
“Thank you, mija. I try my hardest.” He stood up, taking his phone back. “Watch your sister while I get my coffee, okay?”
“ Café con leche, right papi?” When she first watched him making coffee, she asked him why his was a lighter color than the coffee her mother had made. When he explained the powdered milk, she said it was café con leche, and she’d asked him every day since. She knew the answer, but it was routine.
“The only way to drink it.”
When he got to the kitchen, he poured the coffee into a travel mug - they were already going to be late, if he had his usual luck with the cab. Flicking the coffee pot off, he grabbed his briefcase, sitting under where Apollo’s backpack had been, and grabbed Trucy’s diaper bag as well. She didn’t need diapers anymore, but she did need snacks and toys.
“Alright, kids. Time to hail a cab.”
As he locked the apartment behind him, Trucy crawled up in his arms and Athena taking his other hand, her tiny fingers locked around briefcase handle, he breathes in the fresh air. No longer Phoenix Wright, theatrical performer and single dad, paying through law school and serving an internship at Fey and Co. Law Offices, today he would be an actual lawyer.