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From the time he was in his twenties, Phoenix had been taking care of surrogate family members. Whether it was looking after the Fey girls or raising Trucy, he had grown fond of being depended on for support and providing for others—even if just barely. Those girls were like a part of him.
After Maya and Pearl returned to Kurain Village, it had just been Trucy and him for so long. Now within six months of each other, he had two new lawyers in the office. Of course, Apollo hardly needed any babysitting, he was so cautious and responsible. A little lightening up was in order, but Phoenix found that a few teasing words from Trucy or a courtroom victory against Prosecutor Gavin brought a smile to Apollo's face with ease. Athena was rowdier, and only a few years older than Trucy; it was like having a second daughter around the office.
"They do quite well," Edgeworth had said to him in the gallery during a trial Apollo and Athena worked on together. The prosecution's case was falling apart contradiction by contradiction, and the two were practically finishing each other's objections. Phoenix could feel his chest swelling with pride.
"Of course, that's why I hired them," he said.
Athena promptly picked a fight with the prosecutor and started waving around irrelevant evidence, which Apollo snatched away from her. Even from high up in the gallery, Phoenix could see him scolding Athena, killjoy finger-waving and all, and the two started bickering more and more loudly until the judge banged his gavel.
"They're good kids," Phoenix said. Edgeworth covered his mouth with his hand as he coughed what sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
In spite of the hiccup, Apollo and Athena pulled out a win. With Edgeworth off to cut some detectives' salaries after "that train wreck of a case," Phoenix was left with the kids. They stopped at Eldoon's for victory noodles on their way back to the office, Phoenix leading the way and listening to Trucy, Apollo, and Athena recounting the best moments of the trial.
"And then Prosecutor Payne was like, 'Nooooooo!' Man, did that feel good!" Athena crowed. Trucy giggled, saying Athena looked just like him when she made that face.
"Wait, I missed it, do it again," Phoenix said, turning around without breaking stride. With Apollo's steady eye on any cracks or obstacles in the road, he knew he could walk backwards without running the risk of a collision.
"Noooooooooo!" Athena squawked again, throwing her hands up in front of her face and leaning back, her eyes widening, eyebrows shooting to her hairline. Phoenix and Trucy cracked up, and even Apollo smiled, shaking his head.
"Trash can, Mr. Wright." He pointed over his boss's shoulder.
When they reached Eldoon's stand, Phoenix paid and bragged about the trial while Mr. Eldoon ladled salty broth into his bowls. As always, Apollo tried halfheartedly to stop him before grinning and fiddling with his hair as he listened to the praise, and Athena bounced up and down on the balls of her feet and attributed all of her success to what she'd learned from Phoenix and Apollo. Once he'd finished talking about the case, Phoenix pulled out a newspaper clipping applauding Trucy's latest magic act to show Mr. Eldoon.
"That's terrific, Trucy-doll," Mr. Eldoon said, counting out Phoenix's change. "Your daddy's sure proud of you."
"Well, I'm proud of my daddy." Trucy tipped her hat. Phoenix handed her a bowl of noodles first. "Thanks, Daddy!"
"I'm proud of all of them," Phoenix said, handing a bowl of noodles to Athena and ruffling her hair.
"Aww, boss!"
"They're hard workers and smart kids. I'm lucky to have them," Phoenix said, handing the last bowl to Apollo, who he knew didn't like having his hair ruffled. The kid still had a huge grin on his face, though.
"Thanks, Dad."
Phoenix paused, still holding the bowl of noodles in front of him. Apollo's hands had frozen inches away from his lunch. The grin had fled his face.
"Mr. Wright," he corrected, his voice cracking a little. "Thanks, Mr. Wright."
Apollo still didn't take the noodles. His hands dropped to his sides, his face redder than his suit. Behind them, Athena and Trucy giggled.
"You know, I should finish up the paperwork for that last case," Apollo said, a little too quickly, and a little too loudly—even for him. He took a few steps back from Phoenix. "I'll meet you guys back at the office."
Before Phoenix could fully form the "Wait," Apollo had turned on his heel and dashed down the street towards the agency.
Athena clicked her tongue. "Mein Gott. He doesn't have to get so embarrassed. Everybody's called their teacher 'Mom' at least once. It's not a big deal."
"Yeah, it's kind of cute." Trucy slurped the last of a noodle from her bowl. "I don't mind sharing Daddy with Polly."
"Don't open with that when we get back to the office," Athena said. Her ponytail drooped.
"Well," Mr. Eldoon said, leaving the fourth bowl of noodles on top of his cart. "Your kids seem to think as well of you as you do of them, huh?"
Phoenix looked down into the bowl in his hands. He could see his reflection swimming in the salty broth. "I guess so."
Apollo had never called him anything other than 'Mr. Wright.' Back in Athena's first days at the agency, even her cheerful 'boss' was too casual for his liking; the involuntary scrunching of his nose every time she said it had only died down recently. In fact, even after all the cases they'd worked on, Apollo seemed to have only gotten more formal after Phoenix returned to the courtroom. Back in the old days, he would've loved having a subordinate who treated him like a real attorney. Now, though...
Well, being called 'Dad' had been kind of nice.
"You must remind Apollo of his pop," Athena said, scooping up an impressive collection of noodles between her chopsticks. A chunk of salt seemed to be stuck in their web.
"Apollo doesn't have a dad," Trucy said. She tipped the noodle-less broth of her bowl into her mouth, as if she'd said something as plain as what the weather was doing. Athena's face flooded, though whether it was from the comment or the chunk of salt, Phoenix couldn't tell. "He grew up in an orphanage. Hey, Daddy, maybe you're like the closest thing Apollo's ever had to a daddy."
For all the pride that had warmed his chest that day, Phoenix felt a pang there now. He'd never really thought about it, but Apollo didn't have a father. He knew nothing of his past. This little misfit law agency was as much his family as it was Phoenix's.
"Mr. Eldoon, think I can have a couple of to-go containers?" he asked. "I'll head back to the office first. You girls take your time and enjoy the noodles."
"Water," Athena gasped. As Phoenix headed off, he heard Trucy slapping Athena's back and telling her she'd get used to "that salty goodness" after a dozen or so bowls.
Apollo was scrubbing the toilet when Phoenix came in. Even from the other side of the office, Phoenix could hear the brush practically scraping the bowl and Apollo muttering, "Stupid, stupid, stupid..." It wasn't until the door shut behind him that all sound from the bathroom abruptly stopped.
"Apollo?" he called. Silence. Phoenix set the to-go containers down on Apollo's desk, which was as much a mess as it was that morning. No paperwork had moved, not that there was any to be done. "I brought noodles back."
Like a ghost, Apollo hovered in the doorway to the bathroom. He must have discarded his waistcoat somewhere in the mess that was the Wright Anything Agency, because he was only wearing his dress shirt, sleeves rolled up even higher than usual, tie loosened for once. The toilet brush was still clenched in his hand.
"Where are Trucy and Athena?" he asked, his eyes on the floor.
"Finishing their noodles," Phoenix answered lightly, heading for his office to discard his own jacket and waistcoat. "Feels good to be back from court, right? It's always a little stuffy in there."
The minute Phoenix's foot touched the floor of the front room of the office, Apollo blurted out, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Wright!"
"Sorry for what? Making the Rookie Killer look like a rookie himself? I rather enjoyed that."
"You don't have to pretend." Apollo crossed his arms, the toilet brush in his hand waving in the air the way no toilet brush should. "I didn't mean to embarrass you in front of Mr. Eldoon and the girls."
"Y...You didn't?" Phoenix meant for it to be assuring, but his puzzlement betrayed him. Even without Athena's sensitive hearing, the sentiment behind his words was obvious. "I mean, why would I be embarrassed to be your dad?"
Clearly not the expected response. Apollo's eyes darted up to meet Phoenix's before he disappeared into the bathroom again. Phoenix could hear him scrubbing the toilet again, faster this time.
With a little sigh, Phoenix crossed the office and leaned against the door frame, looking in at Apollo hunched over the toilet. The back of his neck was red.
"I don't think you're old or anything," Apollo said, his Chords of Steel rising over the ferocious scratching of bristles against bowl. "Like, I know you're not that much older than I am, and all. And you're my boss, and there are boundaries, and—"
"It's okay if you call me dad." When Apollo turned to look up at him, Phoenix grinned. "It's pretty flattering that you think of me like that. You're always so independent, off on your own investigating and handling your own cases. It's not like I'm the big boss who keeps you in line." He laughed. "I'm really more like a dad, huh, bragging about you all the time to everybody?"
"Yeah, really," Apollo muttered. He had the decency to look embarrassed before Phoenix let out a belly laugh.
"I'm proud of you, kid." Phoenix broke Apollo's golden rule and reached down to ruffle his hair.
Apollo let him and quietly—so quietly Phoenix almost didn't hear it—mumbled, "Thanks, Dad."
The door clicked open, and Trucy and Athena's singsong voices announced their arrival. "Daddy, Polly, where'd you go?" Trucy called.
"In here," Phoenix said, stepping out of the bathroom. Apollo followed, leaving the toilet brush behind. "Just cleaning the toilet."
"A Wright tradition," Athena said, pumping her fists. "Apollo told me after our first case together. 'Mr. Wright likes his toilet clean. Even when it's already clean as a whistle, if he says to make yourself useful, clean it again.' Right, Apollo?"
"Oh, really?" Phoenix raised his eyebrows at Apollo, who looked away with a smile.
"Cleanest toilet in the talent industry," Trucy added. "I hate using the ladies' room at the courthouse. I can't go to the bathroom without the smell of bleach in the air."
"That's horrifying," Athena said. The girls continued in their conversation at Athena's desk.
"They're not going to say anything?" Apollo mumbled to Phoenix.
"Give your sisters some credit."
Apollo rolled his eyes and headed back to his desk to push around papers for a little while until a client came or the toilet needed to be cleaned again. Whichever came first. Phoenix went into his office, closing the door behind him so he could make a private call. He only had to wait two rings before someone picked up.
"Edgeworth? Listen, I've got to tell you something Apollo said today—this kid is really the best."