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“How do you like your parmesan chicken, Trucy?” Edgeworth asked.
Trucy finished off another bite of chicken and thought about her answer.
“The chicken is very good, Uncle Miles,” she said, far too careful with her words for such a young child. She was certainly sharper than any child Edgeworth had met, not that he’d ever gone out of his way to interact with children. Not until Phoenix had taken in Trucy last year, that is.
“Thank you,” Edgeworth said with a small smile. “And how do you feel about the rest of dinner so far?”
Trucy grumbled and pointedly scooted the pieces of chicken away from the offending broccoli and asparagus.
“Well, the chicken is better,” she said delicately.
“Eat your vegetables, Truce,” Phoenix said. “Look! Edg— Uncle Miles even made a fancy cheese sauce. Even veggies taste good with cheese!”
Trucy looked Phoenix dead in the eye and defiantly took another bite of chicken.
“Trucy,” Phoenix’s voice took on a warning tone, “Miles put in a lot of work to make dinner for us, and you’re being very rude. You might even hurt his feelings.”
It was hard to deny how charming Trucy was, and Edgeworth was sincerely doubtful that he would ever be good at scolding her like Phoenix could. He cherished the time he was able to spend with the pair, and would come over for dinner when he could. Sometimes he would cook, sometimes Phoenix would cook, occasionally he ordered takeout. But every time had brought him closer to the Wrights, and he never grew tired of their company.
“I would be very grateful if you were to try them, Trucy,” Edgeworth responded. “The asparagus has a lot of butter on it, you like a lot of butter on your toast, don’t you?”
“Toast isn’t green,” Trucy muttered, but with one sharp look from Phoenix, she reluctantly speared a piece of asparagus on her fork and took a bite. She chewed thoughtfully for a long moment.
“...I guess it could be worse,” she conceded.
She started on the rest of her asparagus while Phoenix sighed and shot Edgeworth an amused glance. Edgeworth returned the look ever so slightly and went back to his own chicken, not wanting to press his luck by talking further about vegetables.
“How has school been lately, Trucy?” he asked instead.
“It’s good!” Trucy said, perking up. “I got a gold star on my spelling test and Jinxie found robin eggshells under the trees behind the playground and they were so blue like Mr. Hat but that means that there are baby robins at school and we wanted to see them but Mrs. Reed said we couldn’t climb the tree so we didn’t get to and she’s mean, Uncle Miles, she is so mean!”
“She is?” Edgeworth said with mild surprise. “She isn’t your teacher, correct?”
“No, she teaches fifth grade so she deals with the older kids. Maybe that’s why she’s mean.”
Phoenix appeared unfazed by the accusations from his daughter. “And why is she mean, Trucy?”
“Because she wouldn’t let us climb the tree to see the baby birds!”
“Uh-huh,” Phoenix said, polishing off his plate, “and not because she wanted to keep you from falling and breaking your neck??”
“No, Daddy!” Trucy gave him an exasperated look. “It’s because she’s mean.”
A soft chuckle escaped Edgeworth as he finished off his own dinner.
“Well, I heard from Wr— er— Phoenix that you have a new trick that you’d like to show off. If you can finish your greens, I will happily be a spectator for you.”
Trucy gasped and shoveled down the last of her dinner unseemingly fast, ignoring Phoenix’s request that she slow down.
“Okay, I’m gonna get it ready!” she shouted and sprinted for her bedroom.
Phoenix let out a soft laugh and looked at Miles with a sparkle in his eye.
“Well played,” he said, “for a guy who claims to have no idea how to handle kids.”
Edgeworth chuckled as he gathered up the dirty dishes, taking them over toward the sink. “I still stand by that claim. Trucy is very mature for her age. ...ah, relatively speaking. She still hates vegetables, I see.”
“Yeah, but part of that’s on me,” Phoenix said sheepishly, following him to the sink. “I’m not always big on vegetables, either.”
“Ah,” Edgeworth said, giving Phoenix a side-eye, “a bit hard to enforce your rules when you don’t want to follow them, either, hm?”
“It’s a struggle,” Phoenix said cheerfully, “and put those dishes down. You cooked, I’ll take care of the cleanup. Trucy’s gonna want to show you that trick anyway.”
“Ah, thank you,” Edgeworth said awkwardly, putting the dishes back into the sink. “I’d better go take my seat for the show.”
He walked back into the humble living room, full of simple furniture with toys and magic paraphernalia scattered all across it. The couch was worn, but well taken care of, and Edgeworth primly took a seat on the cushion that sagged under his weight.
Trucy raced back into the room, dressed in a cape and top hat.
“Laaaaaadies and gent— uh… um… Uuuuuuuncle Miles!” she announced, hastily adjusting to her audience of one. “Tonight’s performance will shock and amaze you!”
Edgeworth politely clapped, smiling warmly as she struck a dramatic pose. She gave him a brilliant smile and proceeded to give him a shockingly well-rehearsed magic show that lasted all of six minutes and consisted of three illusions that left Miles absolutely stumped. Phoenix stepped in from the kitchen as Trucy took her final bow.
“All done?” Phoenix asked, drying his hands on his sweatpants.
“That was incredible!” Edgeworth enthused, still clapping as Phoenix entered. “You’ve clearly practiced a lot, Trucy!”
Trucy beamed with pride and her eyes sparkled. “Thank you!”
“And with that,” Phoenix interrupted, striding forward, “it’s time to get ready for bed.”
Utter devastation crossed Trucy’s face.
“What? No! No, I want to stay up and stay with Uncle Miles!”
“Nope,” Phoenix said, unceremoniously scooping her up into his arms, “it’s bath time, stinkbutt.”
Trucy let out a wail that could have awakened the dead and squirmed in Phoenix’s arms, tiny fists and feet flailing in protest. Phoenix managed to keep hold of his writhing child with a display of strength and dexterity that Edgeworth hadn’t known the man possessed. He shot Edgeworth a desperate look.
“Can you lay out some pajamas for her?” Phoenix asked as he kicked the bathroom door open.
“Of course,” Edgeworth replied, doing his best to remain calm even as Trucy threw a tantrum. He delicately walked past the bathroom and into Trucy’s room, laying out a fresh set of pjs for her on the bed. After a moment of consideration, he placed a stuffed cat that he’d frequently seen her holding on the bed next to them.
Once this was done, he was immediately unsure of what to do with himself. The wails from the bathroom seemed to have stopped, and he could hear the low tone of Phoenix’s voice followed by splashing and Trucy’s bright laughter. Edgeworth smiled and returned to the living room. After Trucy’s quick magic show, the room had become significantly more messy, so he began the process of picking things up and straightening them.
Once the living room was tidied, he heard the bathroom door open and caught a brief flash of Phoenix crossing the hall into Trucy’s room, his daughter bundled in both a towel and a miniature child-sized bathrobe, the door closing behind them.
Another warm smile crossed Edgeworth’s face as he thought about how well Phoenix had taken to being a father. Trucy had been the best thing to come of the dark happenings that Edgeworth still regretted that he had been gone for. Though he knew that losing his badge had deeply affected Phoenix, he could see that having Trucy was doing wonders to bring out previously unknown and tender sides to him.
A few minutes more and Phoenix emerged from Trucy’s bedroom to toss the dirty towel back into the bathroom. He shot Edgeworth a tired smile.
“Just a few minutes more and I’ll be freed up.”
“Of course,” Edgeworth responded, “take your time.”
Phoenix gave him a half wave and returned to Trucy’s room, this time leaving the door open. Edgeworth awkwardly sat on the couch, wringing his hands as he sat idle and unsure of what to do. After a few minutes, he heard the soft baritone of Phoenix’s voice coming from Trucy’s room. His curiosity finally got the better of him, and he headed toward the open door. Phoenix sat on the edge of the bed, reading a picture book to Trucy, who looked at the bright illustrations with rapt attention.
Edgeworth didn’t dare interrupt, but he also couldn’t bring himself to leave. He listened to Phoenix read the exciting book with Trucy, lingering near the doorway.
“And then the three silly squirrels ran all the way home, over the hill, across the bridge, and right up the tree back to the hollow,” Phoenix read, turning a page, “Home at last and very tired from their big day, they all curled up in bed and went right to sleep.”
Phoenix closed the book and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
“Goodnight, Truce.”
Trucy blinked slowly, eyes heavy with drowsiness, a far cry from the wild child of not half an hour ago. She turned her sleepy gaze to where Edgeworth lingered in the door frame.
“Are you gonna come say g’night, too?” she asked with doe-eyed innocence.
Edgeworth was startled, unable to respond for a moment before he shook himself out of it.
“Of… of course.” He moved over to her bedside, and stiffly leaned down to give her another kiss on her forehead. “Good night, Trucy.”
Trucy sighed and settled back into the bed, clutching the stuffed cat tight and closing her eyes. Phoenix brushed the hair from her face and gave her one more kiss, then slipped out of the room with Edgeworth, closing the door behind him.
“Hey,” Phoenix said, leading him back to the newly-tidied living room. “Thanks for your help tonight.”
“You’re welcome,” Edgeworth said, still a bit taken aback by Trucy’s innocent request. “It’s always a pleasure to spend time with you and Trucy.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t have to clean up and stuff. I appreciate it. She’s sometimes a little hard to wrangle. It’s a lot easier with someone—” Phoenix cut off abruptly and his gaze skittered away, shying away from the subject as dark clouds formed behind his eyes. The words lingered on his tongue, hanging dangerously unspoken in the air between them.
“...Thanks,” Phoenix said instead.
“Of course,” Edgeworth said quietly.
He felt his heart crumble a bit more every time he saw those dark clouds forming in Phoenix’s once bright and sunny eyes. Things were stormy now, but he really hoped that he’d be able to help both Phoenix and Trucy brave the storm and come out smiling the other end.
They both had such warm, wonderful smiles.
They sat on the couch and talked for another hour, until Phoenix was hiding yawns behind a hand and Edgeworth fought to keep from mirroring them with yawns of his own.
“It’s getting late, I should probably get going,” Edgeworth admitted after stifling his third yawn.
“Yeah,” Phoenix agreed with some reluctance. “Hell… I can’t stay up late anymore…”
“I’ll admit, I’ve always been pretty terrible at staying up late,” Edgeworth said as he stood up. “Well, please let me know when we’ll be able to do this again.”
“I will,” Phoenix said, following him to his feet and to the door. “My schedule’s always erratic, but… I will.”
“Good,” Edgeworth replied, and soon found himself lingering in Phoenix’s doorway. He reached out and gave Phoenix’s shoulder a squeeze, a small, warm smile on his face. “You’re doing great as a father, Phoenix. It’s… it’s honestly quite inspiring to see.”
A look of surprise flitted over Phoenix’s face before it was replaced by a warm, soft expression.
“Thanks, Miles. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it, but… thanks. That means a lot.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you soon.” He squeezed Phoenix’s shoulder one more time. “And let me know if you ever need anything, all right?”
It wasn’t the first time Edgeworth had given the open offer, and Phoenix looked like he was going to give his usual dismissive response. He stopped himself before the first word had left his lips, and instead his face took on a curious, thoughtful expression.
“Yeah, Miles,” he said, “I’ll take you up on that. You’re still here for a few more weeks, right? You’re not headed back to Germany until… what, April?”
“That’s correct,” Edgeworth said slowly, giving Phoenix a curious look. “I’ll do anything I can before I fly out.”
“Let me know when you have a few hours free. Maybe in the morning, when Trucy’s at school. Might have something I want to discuss,” he said cryptically, “Legal matters.”
Edgeworth’s eyebrows raised, and he nodded.
“I’ll text you my schedule tomorrow, and we’ll schedule a time to talk.”
“Yeah. Sweet. Talk to you then,” Phoenix grinned.
That small grin sent a rush of warmth through Edgeworth’s chest, and he couldn’t help a smile from finding his own lips.
“Talk to you tomorrow, Phoenix.”
With a lighter heart, he turned and left Phoenix’s humble apartment. If he was beginning to smile like that again, then there was hope that he was beginning to find his way through the storm and back into the sun. And Edgeworth was determined to help him there, no matter what.