The Manny Named Miles

❥ chapter one: you're hired!

Phoenix Wright had not planned on being a father. It wasn't a decision he had made. He was not married. He didn't have anyone to help him raise her. His child wasn't biologically his, nor was she an infant.

He hadn't planned on being a father, but he was, and this was all that mattered. Trucy (now Trucy Wright) was his responsibility now. He loved her, more than he'd ever expected to love anyone or anything.

Though Trucy's mother had left a decent sum of money for him, Phoenix quickly realized that the living he earned selling paintings wasn't going to be enough. Eight-year-old girls were expensive. When it had been just him, it was okay to fall behind every once in a while and spend a month eating nothing but instant ramen. But he had a child now. He had to be more responsible, had to bring in a higher income.

Trucy was the sole reason Phoenix decided to go back to law school. He'd started a degree just after high school, but hadn't had the motivation to get through the difficult classes and had dropped out after only a couple of years. Now that he was twenty-six, he felt he was better equipped to deal with the the pressure.

Phoenix got to work. He took advantage of every scholarship that he could find, and managed to qualify for several grants. He swore he'd never written more essays in his life, but it all proved to be worth it when he managed to settle his tuition. Once his classes had been scheduled, he found a proper part-time job.

Phoenix both attended classes and went to work for about six months before it proved to be way too much. He was constantly hiring babysitters whose fees differed wildly, and too many times he'd come home to find his daughter upset because of something the babysitter had said, or to find her hungry because the babysitter hadn't bothered to make her dinner. It seemed most babysitters he found were flaky, and he had to call out of work a few times because they cancelled at the last possible second. It would be one thing if Trucy was older, but she was eight. She couldn't be left alone.

It was too much for one man to handle on his own, and with this in mind, Phoenix sat down with his local newspaper in hand, determined to hire a nanny. He tucked Trucy under his arm as he read off names and biographies, and many of the entries she shot down immediately.

The classifieds had a special section for nannies and babysitters. Nannies, in general, were expensive, especially if they came with the guarantee of an agency. But it was a worthwhile investment. Guaranteeing that Trucy would have someone to feed her and comfort her and tuck her into bed while he was away was the best investment he could possibly make. And it would allow him to take on a greater burden at work, thus earning more.

Before long, he stumbled across an ad that he could hardly believe. Even Trucy found it somewhat strange. The rate was low, almost ridiculously low. The nanny in particular was no longer with an agency, but did boast impressive credentials and a degree in child psychology from an Ivy League school. Phoenix explained to Trucy what a degree was, and what Ivy League schools were, and she whistled.

The ad easily received Trucy's approval. Her name was Miley, and she said she was also twenty-six. She spoke of nurturing, of believing it was important to expose children to things early in as gentle a way as possible. She believed in allowing children to grow into the individuals they truly were, in giving them the encouragement and independence they needed to become functional and healthy adults. It seemed that she knew how to simplify her speech to explain difficult subjects in a way that wasn't condescending.

It was everything Phoenix believed, everything he had tried to do. Trucy wanted to be a magician, and teachers often told him she was too young to be so set on a career path, but Phoenix wouldn't hear any of it. If his daughter wanted to be a magician, she was going to be the best damn magician the world had ever seen and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure of that. Of course he taught her other skills, and warned her not to put all of her eggs into one basket, but he supported her dream. And as a result, she was quite skilled.