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“You’re certain about this, then?”
Phoenix turns to his partner, surprise lifting his eyebrows. “Huh? Of course I am. I mean…” He laughs, nerves raising his pitch. “I mean, it’s a bit late to say otherwise now, huh?”
Of course it is, because here they stand in front of the house. And, of course, because they’d been planning this for weeks, down to the last detail; they’d even chosen to use public transportation over taking Miles’s car, because Phoenix had worried about seeming like he was “showing off.”
Even though, in a way, they are showing off, aren’t they?
And the nerves in Phoenix’s voice — what is that about? Is he having second thoughts? Of the two of them, surely Phoenix should be the less nervous one? But then again, perhaps Miles had less of a stake in this. If they didn’t like him, it was no skin off his nose. They could use whatever thinly-veiled insults and passive aggressive comments they chose, but Miles couldn’t bring himself to care; because at the end of it all, he’d have Phoenix still.
… Wouldn’t he?
“Hey.”
Miles nearly jumps at Phoenix’s tender voice, turning to face him as Phoenix’s hand threads between his. There is something soft and fond on the other man’s face. “Don’t worry, Miles. I’m sure they’ll love you.”
Phoenix knows them best. Miles exhales and forces his anxieties about this out with it, forces himself to focus only on the here and now. On the feeling of that soft skin pressed against his own, on the metal that interrupts the contact, a sweet, sweet reminder of why they’re here at all. On the way the sun hits Phoenix’s dual-colored eyes and lights them in a way special effects could never replicate, on the smile on his face.
“All right.”
And with one final nod, they make their way to the door of Phoenix’s parents’ house.
-
“PHOENIX!”
His mother’s voice booms as she opens the door, immediately wrapping her son in the warmest of embraces. From the gasp Phoenix lets out, she must have quite the grip. “Phoenix, it’s been so long! You look as if you’ve lost weight!”
“You say that every time, Ma.” There’s laughter in his voice as the portly woman reluctantly releases him. “You just want an excuse to feed me, but you don’t need one.”
She gives a tsk before a man pushes out from behind her. This man is nearly Miles’s height, and though his expression is more reserved than his wife’s, he clasps a hand on Phoenix’s shoulder and pulls him in for a one-armed hug. “Good to see you again,” he says without any preamble, a small smile on his face.
Miles does not know what he was expecting, but it was not this. This is… a far cry from anything he experienced in the von Karma household. And if he digs back even further into his memory, if he thinks back to his father, even his greetings were never quite so … animated.
When their eyes land on him, he stiffens. He opens his mouth, but Phoenix beats him to it. “Ma, Dad, this is the guy I’ve been telling you so much about. Miles Edgeworth.”
What have you been telling them? Surely it isn’t fair that they’ve heard so much about him, and yet, Miles has hardly heard more than two sentences about them! Miles swallows the panic and extends his hand, instead. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Wright. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“Oh, please!” Phoenix’s mother charges forward and enfolds him in a warm hug. “Call me Allie Way. It’s wonderful to finally meet the man who’s making my little boy so happy!”
“Ma,” Phoenix hisses.
Miles almost misses it, overwhelmed by the contact. He hesitates maybe a moment too long before he realizes he should probably return the hug if he wishes to make a good impression, but by the time he finally moves his stiff elbows, Allie Way has already pulled away. He opens his mouth to apologize for almost certainly ruining her first impression, but there’s something in her eyes that says she understands, and Miles is more confused than ever.
His confusion is interrupted when Mr. Wright steps forward and extends his hand. Mechanically, Miles obliges the handshake. “You can call me Zack, if you like. ‘Mr. Wright’ is a bit formal for a son-in-law.”
“T-thank you,” Miles finally manages out. “Zack.”
“Come, come!” Allie Way is shouting now, startling Miles again as she waves them all inside. “Dinner is nearly ready! And we have so much to talk about now, don’t we?”
Do we? Miles wonders, immediately glancing to Phoenix. Phoenix shrugs at him with an open grin on his face.
-
“Sorry,” Phoenix murmurs sometime later, when his parents are in the kitchen, hovering around the oven. The smell of cookies fills the air as the two of them curl up on the sofa in the living room. “I know they can be a bit much.”
“I see where you get it from.”
Phoenix scoffs at the insinuation, but Miles means it. Children truly are products of their parents, and after adjusting to what could nearly be called culture shock, Miles sees them in a positive light.
“Why haven’t you told me much about them?”
Phoenix shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just a pretty private person.”
While not a lie, Miles found it to be an imperfect explanation. There was nothing to hide, surely; most people, Miles found, would often bring up their parents unwarranted in everyday conversation if their relationship was healthy. Gumshoe had, on more than one occasion, brought up his own when he’d been reminded of them or when he’d spent time with them.
Then again… he supposed Phoenix was the type not to talk about anything unless someone asked. Even when Maya had been kidnapped, Phoenix had kept his mouth tightly shut until Miles had pressed him on it. So perhaps, in retrospect, there was some fault at Miles’s feet for not inquiring sooner.
“Did we ever tell you,” Allie Way interrupts as she and her husband enter the room with a single plate stacked high with snickerdoodle cookies, “how Phoenix got his name?”
Miles contemplates this. He supposes that considering how his parents seem to have normal names, Phoenix’s less-than-common one does stand out. “No, I don’t believe I’ve heard the story.”
“He was a fighter before he even came out of the womb.” Zack passes Miles the first cookie. “We had quite a few scares with him. Thought we’d lost him multiple times.”
“I don’t know how he did it,” Allie Way says with a sigh. “Once we thought for sure I’d miscarried, early on — then I got hit pretty badly in the stomach during a boxing match —”
“I couldn’t have convinced her to stop those until she’d been too big to move—”
“And no matter what happened, the little guy kept on chugging. Through thick and thin. It was almost like he just kept dying and coming right back, miracles back to back. Hence…”
This story sounds almost too familiar.
“He is like that in life, too,” Miles says slowly. “Always winding up in accidents that would kill a normal person and walking it off without hardly a scratch.”
“H-hey, that’s not entirely true! What about that time I fell into that river, off that burning bridge in the dead of winter?”
“You what?” Allie Way almost screeches.
“You did wind up in the hospital,” Miles hedges, “but only with a cold. Most people wouldn’t have survived, especially from that height, at that bridge. Most people who fall into that river are never found.”
“Now that sounds like a story.” Zack leans back into his recliner, curling up as he struggles with at least five cookies in hand. “Go on, I want to hear it. Phoenix never tells us anything.”
“We didn’t even know about you until he’d already proposed.” A look of sadness crosses Allie Way’s face. “Such a shame. You’re such a nice boy.”
“Ma.” Now Phoenix truly does look mortified. “Ma, I have told you guys about him. Every time you asked me about if I was dating anyone.”
“You never said you were, though.” Allie May sighs. “Just about how much you cared for him and how intelligent and brave he was and how you saw stars in his eyes and heard an angelic choir when he spoke—”
“Is that true?” Miles mutters to Phoenix, who is turning redder by the second. That is as good as confirmation.
“—but you’re always so vague about these things! If I’d known you were dating, I’d’ve demanded you bring him over immediately.”
Phoenix swallows. “Yeah, I guess that’s fair… I was kinda wondering why you hadn’t asked to meet him.”
“Then one day you call us out of the blue and announce you’re engaged.” Allie Way perks up at this. “Don’t get me wrong! We’re so happy for you! I can’t wait to talk about the wedding and the colors and the themes…”
Miles exchanges another look with Phoenix, who shrugs. No, Miles promises silently. There will be no themes.
“...but for now, let’s just celebrate.” Allie May looks at Miles again and beams. “After all, we’re getting a new son-in-law.”
From the recliner next to him, Zack sets his hand on Miles’s shoulder and smiles, somehow fond already. Miles stares at the point of contact for perhaps a moment too long.
Of all the things he’d expected, he hadn’t expected this.
“Miles,” Phoenix says, quiet, “are you okay?”
Miles nearly jumps as Zack removes his hand. Phoenix’s replaces it a moment later, turning Miles toward him. Phoenix stares at him with such deep, genuine concern in his eyes, his hand holding Miles’s cheek, and a nervous laugh bubbles out of him this time.
“What a silly question,” he murmurs. “Yes, I am… more than okay.”
He hasn’t been quite this okay in a long time. To look at Phoenix’s parents and see not just those who love Phoenix, but people who would be willing to love him as well. It is not something he finds himself capable of articulating. Yet when he turns to them, there’s something in their eyes that say they understand, nevertheless.
And isn’t that a miracle in its own right?