"Trucy? You home?" Phoenix called out into the apartment, closing the door behind him as he did so. He shrugged off his jacket and slipped off his shoes before fully stepping into the room.
"Trucy?" he called out again.
"In here!" Phoenix heard a reply, coming from the direction of Trucy's bedroom. He followed the sound of her voice and opened the door to her room. At first, he couldn't see her. Only a mass of cushions and blankets piled in the middle of the room. Then, he saw his daughter's face appear from the edge of the pile. Wordlessly, she beckoned him over. Before Phoenix had a chance to question her on anything, she disappeared back into the pile. So, he walked over and poked his head into the opening he had seen Trucy appear from.
"What do you think?" Trucy smiled, gesturing around her. Phoenix looked around to see that Trucy had built a seemingly very sturdy pillow fort.
"When did you have the time to make all this?" Phoenix asked, crawling in further to sit next to his daughter.
"Just today, I've been working on it since you left this morning," Trucy nodded, shuffling over slightly to make more room.
"Any reason why?" Phoenix smiled, nudging her gently. Suddenly, Trucy looked down at her lap and began pulling on her sleeves.
"What's wrong?" Phoenix asked, wrapping an arm around his daughter's shoulders and pulling her in close to his chest.
"It's just... I know you've been pretty stressed with this recent case. And, you know, I thought it might be nice if we had somewhere to hang out and chill, away from the rest of the world," Trucy smiled, slowly looking up to meet her father's eyes.
"That's so sweet of you," Phoenix smiled, his heart swelling in his chest. He pulled her close and she curled up against his side.
"I love you, Daddy," Trucy mumbled sleepily, her body slowly feeling heavy in her father's safe embrace.
"I love you too, Trucy. And don't you ever forget it," Phoenix leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head. They stayed there is silence for a while longer until light snores began to softly drift from Trucy's lips. Phoenix looked down towards her and smiled at the sight of his daughter peacefully asleep, curled up against his shoulder. For a brief moment, he considered that he really should get back to the case he was working on- he had a lot of evidence he needed to look through. But then he looked at Trucy once more and he couldn't deny that he too felt the need for a well deserved rest. So, instead of going back to his work, he leaned back against the pile of pillows behind him, gently readjusting Trucy so she could lay across his lap. Closing his eyes, Phoenix focused on the quiet peace that surrounded them. Within minutes, he too had drifted off to sleep. If he awoke a few hours later with a stiff neck and a dull ache in his back, he knew it was worth it to see the smile on this daughter's face.