The Manny Named Miles

❥ chapter four: i accidentally fell for you

"Your hand is warm!"

"Yours, too." Trucy giggled as she tightened her mittened little hand's grip on that of her nanny. It was a welcome source of warmth in contrast to the chilly bite of the air around them. "Did you have fun?" Miles asked, and she nodded. She jiggled the ice skates draped over her shoulder.

"I'm not good at it yet, but I'll get good and then I'll win!"

Miles chuckled. Trucy always planned to "win" at everything, even when it wasn't a contest. Perhaps to succeed was a form of "winning" for her.

"I'm sure that you will. These things take practice."

"Miles is a really good finger skater!"

"It's called a figure skater, sweetheart. It's often quite cold in Germany— cold enough to snow, unlike California. Ice skating is a common pastime."

Miles smiled warmly down at Trucy, whose eyes were fixed straight ahead. He loved her little mistakes, and the way she said everything like it had six exclamation points attached.

It had been Phoenix's idea for Miles to take Trucy down to the rink. "It may be wintertime, but we don't get any real snow or ice here. And you said you used to skate on the lake with Franziska, right? You should teach her how to skate! I certainly can't." Phoenix had laughed sheepishly, and Miles had agreed, mostly to spare him the embarrassment of trying to teach a child to do something that he couldn't do. Miles' only condition had been for Phoenix to promise he'd allow his nanny to teach him, too.

As excited as she had been to learn, Trucy hadn't actually skated so much as she'd gripped Miles' entire arm and allowed him to pull her along. She couldn't seem to stay upright when allowed to stand on her own, but her careful nanny had never allowed her to fall. Miles had a wonderful time nevertheless, even though four different women had asked him where his wife was. One had taken his saying he didn't have one as an opportunity. She'd been shut down by Trucy.

"Miles doesn't like-like girls!" Trucy had shouted angrily at her as she sat beside him on the bench, trying to regain her energy. Trucy had gripped his arm almost defensively. The woman had practically tripped over herself apologizing.

"You got very angry at that woman," Miles said, mostly to break the silence. Trucy growled at the thought of her. "Why?"

"Because I want Miles to be with daddy! She was gonna ruin everything!" Miles shook his head. His guess had been entirely correct. He didn't notice Trucy staring at him until she started cackling, and almost maniacally. "See?! Your face is all red!"

"I suppose it is." Miles had stopped making any serious effort to deny Trucy's accusations. There was little point to it. He sighed, and attempted to change the subject. "I called my sister again," he said, and Trucy squealed in delight. "Things are going well. She's graduated from school, and just passed the bar exam."

"Can we meet her soon?!"

"Maybe. Germany is very far away, though, so she would have to clear at least a week's worth of time in her schedule. She's thinking of coming to visit for Christmas."

"...What's the bar exam?"

"Oh. Well, that's the test people have to take before they can be practicing lawyers."

"She's a lawyer, too?! Daddy is gonna be a lawyer!"

"...He is."

Somehow, no matter how hard he tried, the conversation always got back to Phoenix before he'd recovered from his embarrassment. This time, though, Trucy seemed to sense his discomfort and didn't push him.