SOME TIME LATER

"Aw, come on, Davie, be a good boy and eat up your breakfast!" Phoenix pleaded with his almost-two-year-old son.

David responded by throwing down his plastic spoon. "No bwekfast!" he squealed.

"Aren't you hungry?" Phoenix said, as he tried placing the little spoon back into David's chubby hand.

The toddler shook his head stubbornly.

Phoenix sighed and scooped up a spoonful of mush. "Here comes the aeroplane…" He made plane noises and whirled the spoon towards his little son's pouting mouth.

"Ubdeckshun!" David suddenly shouted, flinging out his arm and poking Phoenix in the eye with his pointer finger.

Phoenix stepped back, his eye watering, before suddenly bursting into laughter at the adorably fierce expression on David's face; he reminded Phoenix so much of himself in the courtroom. "Who taught you that?" he asked between peals of laughter.

David lowered his pointing finger. "Auntie Mia."

"Ah. Makes sense," said Phoenix, "Well, wait until I teach you 'hold it' and 'take that'! I have a feeling you're going to be a natural!"

The little boy grinned, glad to have earned his father's approval, even if he was too young to quite understand what Phoenix was saying.

"But it doesn't excuse you from eating breakfast, young man!" said Phoenix sternly, picking up the spoon, "And don't try objecting again! You've got to eat up quickly, we have a wedding to go to!"

Meanwhile in the main living room of Kurain, Maya was sprawled out over the sofa watching a re-run of the Steel Samurai, with baby Mia perched on her knees.

"You won't escape me this time, Steel Samurai!" the Evil Magistrate's voice boomed as he leapt onto the screen, wielding a gleaming spear. Mia squealed in a mixture of terror and delight as the villain swooped towards the hero.

"Mia, can you remember what that guy is called?" Maya asked.

"Um… Eebil Madistate!"

"No, no… it's not 'eebil', it's 'evil'," Maya corrected her, "Can you say 'evil'?"

Mia narrowed her eyes in concentration. "Ee… ee… evil!" she managed, smiling triumphantly.

"Yay! Well done!" Maya clapped her hands and Mia giggled happily. Just then, Maya noticed Phoenix stood in the doorway with David in his arms, an amused look on his face.

"Maya?" he asked, "Why are you teaching Mia to say 'evil'?"

"Um, well, I thought she'd better learn the names of all the Steel Samurai characters sometime… so she might as well start young!"

Phoenix laughed and sat down on the sofa, putting an arm around his girlfriend. "You and your Steel Samurai, Maya. Will you ever grow out of it?"

"Probably not," Maya admitted, "So anyway, we should get dressed. What time are your parents coming?"

He checked his watch. "Er… any minute now! Come on, you don't want them to see you in your PJs!"

They whisked the twins off to their bedroom and dressed them in their best clothes; a little blue shirt and trousers for David with an adorable waistcoat, and a purple dress for Mia.

Phoenix and Maya had just pulled on their own outfits when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" said Phoenix.

He opened the heavy wooden door to Fey Manor and was almost knocked off his feet as Robyn hugged him. "Phoenix! How are you, darling? How's Maya? How are the twins?"

"They're all fine, Mum! Come in!"

Mia and David came toddling out of their bedroom excitedly. "Grampa!" Mia said, flinging herself into Phil's arms. He grinned and lifted her up.

"Hello, sweetie," he cooed, "Look what Grampa brought you!" He handed her a box of sticky buns.

"Yay! Cake!" she said, ripping open the box and reaching for a pink iced bun.

Phoenix luckily intervened before Mia ruined her new dress. "You can have those later! And you'd better share them with David!"

He tucked away the box of buns on top of a high shelf which the twins were unable to reach.

Robyn checked her watch. "Well, we'd better be on our way soon. Wasn't it lovely of young Miles to invite us to his wedding, Phil?"

"Yes. Miles was always a very polite boy," Phil agreed. Edgeworth had always been one of the few of Phoenix's schoolfriends that Phil actually approved of.

Maya appeared at last, her dark hair twisted into a bun on the back of her head, small tendrils of hair floating down around her face. "Wow, you look beautiful!" Phoenix complimented her, planting a kiss on her cheek.

Phil glared. "Well, shall we stop wasting time and leave?"

"I really hope the minister doesn't recognise me," said Maggey, "I still haven't paid the bill for repairing that tapestry I knocked over."

"I won't let him hassle you," said Franziska, "Nothing shall ruin my big day!"

The two young women were in Franziska's apartment getting ready for the wedding; all of her possessions were boxed up around them, ready for her to move in with Edgeworth after their honeymoon.

"I wonder where Maya has got to?" Franziska said in annoyance, "She ought to be here by now! Trust her to be late!"

"I'm sure she'll arrive soon," said Maggey, glancing out of the window, "Oh, here she comes now!"

"Thank goodness," said Franziska, "I cannot go into the church with one of my bridesmaids absent!"

Maggey rushed to the hallway to let Maya in.

"Hey, Maggey!" said Maya, "Oh, you look great! Don't worry, I already did my hair and makeup!"

"Good, Franziska'll go crazy if any more time gets wasted!" Maggey paused, looking left and right, then lowered her voice to a whisper. "Have you looked at Franziska's stomach lately? If I didn't know better I'd say she's expecting!"

"Really!" Maya gasped loudly.

"Shh!" Maggey hissed, "Don't let her know we're talking about her! Come on, have a look for yourself!"

They walked into Franziska's room, where she was sat at the dressing table in her long white dress.

"Franziska! Let's have a look at you, then!" said Maya. Franziska turned around and Maya glanced down at her stomach. Maggey was right; the fabric seemed to be very subtly stretched around a tiny bump. Maya looked quickly at Maggey, giving her a grin.

Franziska frowned. "Why are you looking at each other like that?"

"Nothing!" Maya said, a bit too quickly, accidentally looking at Franziska's stomach for a bit too long.

"Oh, I see you've noticed," said Franziska, "Yes, I'm pregnant. But I didn't want to tell everyone until after the wedding. Who'd have thought it? Me, pregnant before being married…"

"Hey, it's the twenty-first century!" said Maya, "Everyone's doing it before they get married now, even me! I'm sure nobody would disapprove anyway!"

"Um, Franziska…?" Maggey asked, "You have told Edgeworth, right?"

"Of course I have!" said Franziska, "Only a complete fool wouldn't tell the baby's father!"

Maya coughed awkwardly, remembering the events of the last wedding she'd attended.

"Anyway," said Franziska, "I think we ought to stop wasting time! I'm sure the car will be here any minute now!"

Edgeworth gulped and adjusted his cravat for the billionth time, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. There was no denying that he was nervous. It was strange; in the courtroom, he wasn't scared at all. But now, about to marry the love of his life, he was terrified.

"Getting cold feet, pal?" asked Gumshoe.

"Of course not!" Edgeworth snapped.

"Sorry! It's just that you look a bit nervous."

"I'm fine!"

Edgeworth glared at Gumshoe and walked over to the door to greet Phoenix, who had just arrived. "Finally, my best man is here!" he said.

"Sorry… bad traffic," Phoenix explained, a bit out of breath, "I practically ran here from the car park!"

"Well, thank goodness you made it! The guests are arriving!" The door opened and Edgeworth went to greet some more of the obscure German relatives Franziska had insisted upon inviting.

Phoenix went to go and say hi to Gumshoe.

"Hey, pal!" he said, "How are the twins? I hear you bought them a paddling pool, Danny won't shut up about it!"

"Haha, sorry!" said Phoenix, "Yeah, the three of them were all playing in it the last time Danny came round to play!"

Maggey and Gumshoe's noisy one-year-old Danny was currently crawling around the church hallway, coming dangerously close to knocking things over, but never quite hitting them.

"Daddy!" Danny called.

"What is it?" Gumshoe asked, rushing over to his son. He picked up the little boy, who opened his hand to reveal a ten dollar bill he'd found on the ground. Gumshoe laughed and put the money in his pocket. "Thanks, son!"

He carried Danny back towards Phoenix. "Say hello to uncle Feenie!"

"Don't call me that!" Phoenix protested.

"Unca Feenie!" Danny said. Phoenix ruffled the boy's fluffy hair. Unlike Maggey and Gumshoe, who were perpetually unlucky, Danny seemed to be blessed with good luck; he had a particular talent for finding valuable things on the ground.

"Anyway, between you and me, pal, I REALLY hope nothing goes wrong today," Gumshoe said, "Mr Edgeworth seems really on edge, if you know what I mean."

Phoenix shrugged. "I guess it's a nerve-wracking thing, getting married in front of all these people." He fell silent, checking they were alone. "Speaking of which… what do you think?" He slipped a small box out of his pocket and showed it to Gumshoe.

The detective grinned. "Perfect!" he said, "I never thought of you as having good taste, pal, but she's gonna love it!" He patted Phoenix hard on the back, and the two of them resumed their guest-greeting duties.

"Nervous, Franziska?" asked Maya.

"O-of course not! I am perfect! I do not get n-nervous…" said Franziska.

Maggey smiled. "It's okay to be a bit nervous, you know. It's a big deal, getting married!"

Franziska clutched her bouquet tightly between her hands and stared out of the window; she would never admit it, but this felt like the scariest thing she had ever done; trials were nothing compared to this. She had always prided herself with not showing her emotions, and now here she was about to pledge her undying love to someone in front of a huge crowd!

Inside the church, Edgeworth was waiting by the altar, experiencing similar nerves. Everywhere he looked were happy, encouraging faces gazing up at him from the pews; the feeling of all the eyes on him made him feel a little queasy.

The bridal car stopped outside, and Maya and Maggey hopped out first, both looking incredibly pretty in their pale pink dresses. Franziska saw the excited looks on their faces, and wished she could feel the same; instead she felt a knot of terror in her stomach.

"They're here!" somebody was calling from across the church; Edgeworth looked up, and saw Phoenix opening the doors of the church. Outside, a white car was gleaming in the sunshine… he seemed to have a huge lump in his throat, making it difficult to breathe…

Franziska stepped out of the car onto the tarmac, her heel making a loud clicking sound. Maggey and Maya helped her with her dress, oblivious to her terror. She looked up towards the church; Phoenix Wright had just flung open the doors. She could just make out a dark figure up by the altar. Was she making the right decision?

Edgeworth's stomach was doing somersaults as the organ started up, playing the traditional bridal music. It just set his nerves on edge even more. Could he really go through with this?

Everyone sighed and gasped as the beautiful bride began walking slowly up the aisle. Franziska glanced left and right; she saw Gumshoe's face lit up with surprise and admiration at how different and pretty she looked; nearby, little Pearl's eyes were wide with awe. She looked to her left and saw Phoenix smiling encouragingly.

Finally, she looked forwards, towards her very-soon-to-be-husband. In the second that their eyes met, all of her insecurities melted away. Miles felt a calm washing over him, and suddenly everything felt right.

The bride took the final steps up to the altar, and stood in front of the handsome groom.

"Nervous?" he murmured.

"I was," she whispered back, "But not anymore."

Edgeworth smiled and took her hand, squeezing it gently. "Me neither."

"That was so beautiful, wasn't it, Mister Nick?" said Pearl excitedly, "Ooh look, they're cutting the cake! I can't wait to get married!" She grinned at him and then ran over to get a better look at the towering wedding cake.

Edgeworth held Franziska's hand in his and together they pushed the knife through the soft, spongy cake. She smiled up at him lovingly; before today, he'd never have guessed that Franziska would fit so naturally into the role of the blushing bride.

Everyone cheered as they cut out the first slice and went back to their table to share it.

"Well, I have to say, today has been absolutely the best day of my life," said Edgeworth.

"You can't say that, fool," said Franziska, "The sun has not even set yet! Something dreadful could happen before the day is over!"

"Ah, don't jinx it!" said Edgeworth, "What I mean is… so far, everything has been great."

"I know. It's been just perfect, hasn't it?" Franziska sighed happily. She leaned her head on her husband's shoulder; he stroked her hair and tilted his head down to kiss her.

Their lips had almost met when Gumshoe came bouncing up to their table. "Congrats, you two! I've gotta say, I didn't think you'd ever actually get hitched! And this cake is amazing, pal!"

"I know," said Franziska, "I had it flown in from a world-renowned cake designer in Germany."

Maya and Maggey returned from the buffet table, each carrying a plate laden with a huge hunk of cake. Maya already had icing round her mouth.

"Awesome cake, Franziska!" she said between mouthfuls.

"She had it flown in from Germany!" said Gumshoe, "From a world-something cake something!"

"A world-renowned cake designer," said Edgeworth, "By the way, Maya, it looks like Phoenix wants your attention.

Maya turned around and saw him waving at her from across the room. She waved back. He waved more frantically and made a "come here" motion with his hand. She sighed and put down her cake. "I'd better go and see what he wants…"

"Hey, Maya," he said, looking uncharacteristically nervous all of a sudden, "Um… do you want to take a walk outside? There's a really nice river with a bridge and stuff…"

"The one you nearly threw yourself off of when you found out I was pregnant?"

"Yeah. That one," he said, going red, "So… shall we go, then?"

"Um… okay…"

Phoenix took a deep breath and started leading Maya towards the door. The box in his pocket seemed to have gotten extremely heavy.

He felt a tug on his trouser leg. "Daddy? Can I have cake?" David said.

"Oh, alright then… come on," He scooped David up and carried him to the cake table. Once he was sat happily picking at a small slice of cake, getting his fingers all sticky, Phoenix rushed back to where Maya was waiting.

"Right, let's-" This time he was stopped by someone pinching his sleeve. He looked down to see Mia with tears in his eyes. "Daddy, it hurts!" she wailed.

"Okay, let's have a look…" He crouched down and Mia showed him a slightly grazed knee. "How did this happen, sweetie?" he asked softly, pulling his little daughter onto his lap.

Mia looked around, then pointed at Larry, who was stood in the corner looking guilty.

"Of course… the Butz…" Phoenix muttered, "Right, I'll go and tell him off…"

Larry rushed up to defend himself when he spotted Phoenix marching towards him. "It was an accident, Nick, I promise you!"

"What did you do, idiot?" Phoenix asked impatiently.

"Well, you see, there's this REALLY hot German girl over there… Franzy's cousin, I think…" he pointed to a vain-looking young woman checking her reflection in a mirror, "And chicks dig guys who are good with kids, right? So I picked up Mia to show her how great I was… and we got talking, and I kinda got carried away, and then she slapped me and I… I dropped Mia."

"You dropped my daughter!" Phoenix exclaimed, "You idiot! You're enough of a danger to yourself, you shouldn't even be allowed near other people!"

"S-sorry, Nick…"

Phoenix contemplated dragging Larry outside to teach him a lesson, but then spotted Maya stood by the door. "I'll deal with you later," he told Larry, "But there's something I need to do first."

"Finally!" said Maya, "Are we going for this mystery walk then, Nick? And what were you yelling at Larry about?"

"I'll tell you later," said Phoenix, "Now, come on-"

"Mister Nick, Mister Nick!" Pearl suddenly shouted, "Look at this!" She dragged little Danny Gumshoe by the hand towards Phoenix and Maya.

"What is it now!" Phoenix groaned.

Pearl looked hurt. "He found this on the floor, you must have dropped it…"

Danny held out a small gold object in the palm of his hand.

"Oh, my badge! Um… thanks, I'd be pretty screwed if I'd lost this." Phoenix took the badge and shoved it into his pocket.

"Why did you even bring it to the wedding?" asked Maya.

"To show it to people," said Phoenix. Maya rolled her eyes. He suddenly realised that Pearl and Danny were still standing in front of him. "Is there something else?" he asked, a little impatiently.

"Well… since we found your badge, could you get us a piece of cake?" Pearl asked timidly.

"Ok, fine, sure… wait there, Maya…" Phoenix pushed his way over to the cake and took two slices, which he shoved into Pearl and Danny's waiting hands. "There! Now, Maya, let's go-"

"Phoenix, darling!" said Robyn, tapping his shoulder as he was about to leave, "Phil and I wanted to have a word with you about the twins' birthday. I know there's over a month to go, but we really need to sort out the marquee-"

"Hey, pal!" Gumshoe interrupted, "Mia's knee hurts, can you come and cheer her up?"

"I know her knee hurts! Can't I cheer her up later?" Phoenix groaned.

"That's a terrible thing to say!" said Phil, "What kind of father are you!"

"Wright!" Edgeworth called, "Could you get out some more chairs? Franziska's aunts don't have anywhere to sit!"

"Daddy, can I have more cake?" David asked.

"HOLD IT!" Phoenix shouted, "Look, could everyone please leave me alone? All I want to do is go outside and propose to Maya!"

There was a stunned silence. Maya stared at Phoenix in shock, her eyes wide.

Phoenix cleared his throat awkwardly. "Erm… sorry, I sort of ruined the surprise…" He stared back at Maya, wishing she would say something. There was a stony silence, during which Phoenix tried to figure out whether Maya was happy or horrified, until she took his hand and led him to the door.

"Come on then, Nick…" she said gently, "Let's go for our walk." He smiled at her gratefully and they walked hand in hand to the little stone bridge. Memories flashed through Phoenix's brain from over two years ago, when he'd stood on the wall, threatening to jump – who could have guessed that things would've turned out so brilliantly after that?

The couple stopped walking, and stood facing each other. Phoenix's mouth had gone dry.

"Go on, then," Maya prompted him, "I think you're supposed to get down on one knee…"

Phoenix gulped and sank down onto the floor. "Um… Maya Fey," he said, gaining confidence, "Will you marry me?" He pulled the little velvet box out of his pocket and showed her a beautiful golden ring, sparkling with small diamonds.

"Yes! Yes, Nick, I will!" Maya squealed, pulling him to his feet and throwing her arms around him. He hugged her tightly and slipped the ring onto her finger. He'd barely had time to admire how good it looked on her before she'd started kissing him enthusiastically.

"Whoop! Go Nick! Get in there!" somebody was cheering. Phoenix and Maya broke apart to see that half the wedding guests had followed them, including Larry who was making all the noise.

"Congratulations, darling! I knew you'd propose one day!" said Robyn, gazing at the happy couple adoringly.

"About time, too…" Phil muttered, but he couldn't conceal a smile.

Pearl looked too delighted to say anything; she was just jumping up and down with joy.

There were a pair of footsteps behind the watching crowd; Edgeworth had appeared to see what was going on. "Congratulations, Wright," he said.

"Thanks!" said Phoenix, unable to take his eyes off of Maya. He wished everyone would go back inside and give them some peace.

Edgeworth seemed to pick up on this. "Come on, everybody! I thought this was supposed to be MY party?" he said loudly. He gave Phoenix a quick wink before leading the stray guests back indoors.

Soon, almost everyone had left; only David and Mia remained. "Come here, my little darlings," said Maya. The twins ran forwards into their mother's arms. "Daddy and I are going to get married! Isn't that exciting? We'll be a real, proper family!"

"Yay! New dress?" said Mia happily.

"More cake!" David squealed.

Phoenix laughed and put his arms around his little family. As he gazed down at them in the warm summer sun, it felt as if they were the only four people in the world.