Chapter Text
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was high enough to light up the small house built on the edge of a lake, and a few of its rays lazily shined through the messily covered windows of a van parked by its side, easily reaching the two people sleeping inside it. Its warmth was just enough to wake up the younger of them, a tiny fox hybrid previously asleep in his father's embrace. For a moment, he refused to move from his spot and away from his dad, but after just a moment of looking around the van, his gaze came across the calendar hanging on one of its walls. One of the days was marked with a red circle and all the days before it had been crossed off already. He gasped quietly before wiggling over to face his sleeping father and trying to shake him awake. Despite not having too much strength, he succeeded almost immediately.
"Uggh... Fundy? What...?" his father groaned quietly, stretching briefly and brushing his hair out of his face.
"Dad! Look!" the fox hybrid yelped, pulling on his sweater with one hand and pointing at the calendar with the other one. For a moment, Wilbur was more focused on the fact that his son's claws were digging into the fabric and he'd have to patch it up for the third time this week.
"Stop that, you're going to rip it up again," he sighed, he knew very well it was already too late... he'd have to fix it soon, or he'd run out of clothes to wear. He slowly looked in the direction he was pointed in and immediately, his eyes widened. "Wait, it's today?!" he gasped.
He instantly picked his son up and got to his feet, barely catching his balance by the time he stumbled out of the van. The morning air was sweet and refreshing, but he was already wide awake without its help. He ran through the high, dew-covered grass up until he reached the house and opened the door. He stopped right after crossing it, trying to keep his balance while he removed his now-muddy boots, the last thing he needed was to leave some dirty footsteps. He glanced at another calendar that hung in the hallway and was only reassured that his son was right, today was the day. He somewhat regretted spending the night in the van, it usually wasn't an issue if he and Fundy did that instead of sleeping in the house, but with how Sally was meant to return from her two-week-long sail into the sea today... maybe it wasn't his greatest idea. Especially with how many things he promised to her... to wait for her by the shore, to prepare a big breakfast, to clean the entire house... he'd have to cut some corners with how little time he had left. He finally got the boots off his feet, so he stumbled back and leaned against a small table conveniently set up just by the door. Fundy giggled in his arms.
"...Okay, listen," he said, crouching down and setting Fundy down on the floor. "I have a mission for you, okay?" he asked. His son seemed surprised, but nodded eagerly. "Great. I need you to go to your room and pick the coolest clothes you can find while I fix up a breakfast. We'll go pick mum up after that, but I know you can pick something great! Can you do that for me?"
"Yeah!" Fundy nodded again, proudly puffing out his chest. Wilbur ruffled his hair with a grin before getting back up and walking in the direction of the kitchen, hoping there was anything he could pass off as an okay breakfast.
Fundy ran into his room and quickly walked up to his closet, digging through it and trying to put together the best outfit he could. It was somewhat hard to focus on that when his fox ears allowed him to hear the series of almost concerning noises coming from the kitchen, shortly followed by words he was pretty sure he shouldn't repeat... clearly, he was doing much better than his father with his task. Despite that constant distraction, he finally picked all the clothes he wanted to wear, found his favorite hat under his bed, and proudly looked himself over in the mirror. Then, hearing that his father still wasn't anywhere near done with making breakfast, he decided not to go up to him and boast about being ready to go already. Instead, he quietly snuck out of his room and into his parents' one, making his way over to their closet and carefully grabbing one of the few sweaters with no patches on it, cautious not to rip it. He had a feeling his father would want to change into it instead of going to greet his mum with a few very obvious claw marks on the one he was currently wearing. The kitchen was suddenly quiet again, he noticed.
"Fundy? Where are you, we need to get going!" Wilbur called out to him. Judging by the volume of his voice, he was standing in the door to Fundy's room.
"Okay!" the fox hybrid called back, carrying the sweater in his arms as he ran out of the room. Wilbur seemed very surprised to see him come from there, but didn't have the time to question it. "Here!" his son beamed, offering him the sweater.
"Oh, thank you so much," the man sighed, taking the sweater from him and quickly changing into it. He then took a better look at Fundy's clothes. "Oh, and I see that my little champion picked out his best clothes, huh?" he asked, and Fundy giggled.
"Yeah!" he confirmed proudly. For just a moment, Wilbur seemed to pause and do nothing but smile. Then, he sat down on the floor and tried to put his muddy boots back on.
"Alright, ready to go? We don't want mum to wait, right?" he asked, and Fundy nodded. He couldn't wait to see his mum, he missed her so much! "Perfect. Come here, then," Wilbur said, picking his son up and getting back to his feet. He was pretty sure they were running late already.
They were, in fact, running very late. They only made it about halfway down the road leading to the seashore when they noticed a red-haired figure heading in their direction. Despite the distance between them, they could easily recognize her as Sally, and she seemed to have no trouble realizing who they were either. She waved at them long before they were within a shouting distance, and Wilbur was quick to return the gesture. Fundy probably would too, but he was too busy holding onto his father's other arm to make sure he wouldn't fall. After just a moment more of walking, Wilbur let out a dreamy sigh before stopping, crouching down, and setting Fundy on the ground.
"Do you want to run to her?" he asked, and Fundy's eyes widened in excitement from the suggestion. With a bright grin, he nodded. "Alright, go!" Wilbur encouraged, putting his hand on Fundy's back and gently pushing him forward. The fox hybrid didn't need to hear that twice, he immediately moved from his spot and broke into an almost-sprint in the direction of his mother.
"Mum! Mum!" he called out to her when he was close enough to be sure she'd hear. She smiled at him and crouched down, so he sped up to close the distance between them faster and fall into her arms. If he was just a bit quicker or heavier, he probably would've knocked her over.
"Fundy!" she laughed, hugging him gently and rocking him to the sides. "Oh, I missed you so much, my sweetheart," she marveled, and the fox hybrid couldn't stop his tail from waggling.
"I missed you too!" he declared proudly. She nodded slowly and he finally let go of her, backing up slightly to see her better. She gently placed a hand on his cheek.
"Did you eat well while I was away? Did you get enough sleep?" she started asking, and the fox hybrid nodded along to all her questions. "And how are your claws coming in?" she asked, lowering her hand to gently take his. "Oh, they're definitely getting longer!"
"Thanks!" he grinned. After thinking about just how much longer his claws were getting, his smile fell slightly. "...I scratched dad's sweater...s," he admitted quietly. Sally covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
"Is that so?" she asked, and her son nodded. "Don't worry, I'm sure we can patch that up for him," she promised. Fundy grinned, she was right, there was nothing they couldn't fix. Just then, Wilbur finally caught up to them.
"Sally! Hey, it's so good to see you!" he greeted his wife. She gently booped Fundy's nose before getting back up just in time for Wilbur to pull her into a hug.
"It's good to see you too, Wil," she smiled, kissing his cheek. "Is there a reason you didn't show up before?" she asked. There was nothing accusatory in her tone, just curiosity.
"Oh, we just... overslept," he answered. Sally took a step back and looked between him and Fundy. She noticed at her husband's messy hair and, save from his sweater, not clean clothes, the outfit Fundy clearly put together on his own... she sighed.
"Did you sleep in the van again?" she asked. Wilbur fell silent and looked like a deer caught in headlights for quite a moment. Sally sighed again, but there was a fond smile on her face. "You know how bad that is for your back, right?" she asked. This time Wilbur sighed.
"Oh come on, it can't be that bad for me! Uh, besides, he asked me to!" he answered, picking Fundy up and holding the small fox hybrid in front of him. "Look at him! How can you resist him?!" he exclaimed. Just to 'save' his father, Fundy put on the sweetest face he could. Slowly, Sally shook her head.
"Alright, fine. That's fair," she agreed. Then, she reached into a bag she's been carrying. She carefully pulled out a giant, colorful shell that probably still smelled of the sea and handed it to Fundy. "Here's the little gift I promised you," she smiled while her son looked the item over.
"Thanks!" he grinned. Wilbur carefully set him on the ground to make sure that if he dropped the shell, it wouldn't shatter into pieces. Hopefully.
"Alright, so I fell for his little tricks, you fell for them... can we just forget that?" he asked, and Sally nodded with a smile. "Great! Let's start heading back home, I prepared a wonderful breakfast!" he announced proudly. His wife raised a brow at that.
"Did you?" she asked. Wilbur nodded... he was pretty sure he could call it a breakfast. "Alright. Do you want me to carry the shell for you, Fundy?" she asked. The fox hybrid hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Okay," he agreed, carefully handing it back. Sally slipped it into her bag before they all started to head back home.
"I think I'll go for a swim in the lake after breakfast, is that okay?" she asked not far into their walk.
"Can I?" Fundy asked almost immediately. He loved to swim with his mother, it was probably one of his favorite things to do.
"Sure, I can prepare lunch on my own," Wilbur nodded before pausing. "Wait, Sally, aren't you just getting back from the sea?"
"Well, I was sailing, not swimming," she pointed out. "Besides, the water here is different."
"Yeah!" Fundy nodded, backing her up. The water from the lake didn't taste bad if he accidentally drank some of it, and it had almost no waves... it was so much better than the sea!
"Okay, okay, fine, you're right," Wilbur gave up. "As I said, I can make lunch myself... I can even bring it to the dock if you want me to?" he offered. Fundy practically bounced from excitement.
"Yeah! Thanks, dad!" he beamed. Wilbur smiled upon seeing his reaction... possibly burning the kitchen down in an attempt to make lunch was definitely worth the risk now.
They were almost home already when Fundy remembered something. He excused himself and sped up, heading towards the van instead of the house. His parents didn't even try to stop him, so he quickly reached it and somehow got the door open. There was something he wanted to show his mum, and there was no way he'd wait until the breakfast was over or risk it getting soaked in the lake... he quickly found what he was looking for. A big map so old that it was already getting bleak, with a long path marked with a red pen on it. With a grin, he carefully picked it up and ran back outside, catching his parents just before they were about to enter the house... well, they were standing still by the entrance, so they were probably waiting for him, but that didn't change much.
"Mum! Mum, look!" he called, running up to them and outstretching the map for her to see.
"Oh, what is this?" she asked curiously, leaning down to see it better. Wilbur nervously looked away.
"Me and dad will go on a trip too!" he announced proudly. Sally tilted her head in confusion before looking at her husband.
"Is that so, Wil? And when are you going?" she asked. Wilbur nervously cleared his throat.
"Well... We're not sure yet," he answered. "It's just an idea for now, but... the next time you go on one of your sails, I was thinking to get into the Camarvan with Fundy and... you know, have a little adventure of our own!" he explained, and Sally slowly nodded along.
"That sounds like a lovely idea," she smiled, looking back at the map. "Is that the route you'll take?"
"It's one of the ideas. We're open to other suggestions, right, Fundy?" he asked, and the fox hybrid nodded excitedly.
"Yeah! Do you know a cool place for the trip, mum?" he asked. Sally laughed lightly as she crouched down and took the map from him.
"Oh, I know plenty," she assured, studying the map in an attempt to find those. "Hmm... I'm afraid you can't drive the van into the ocean, though."
"Aww..." Fundy let out a disappointed groan, so she gently booped his nose again.
"I'll take you on a sail and show you them all one day, okay?" she offered, and the disappointment immediately vanished from her son's face.
"Yeah!" he grinned, jumping a couple of times from excitement.
"So... you're alright with the trip, yeah?" Wilbur asked just to make sure. Sally carefully handed the map back to Fundy before getting back up into a standing position.
"Of course. I think it's about time Fundy sees more of this world," she agreed before stepping closer and kissing him on the cheek again. "Just come back to me, okay?"
"Oh, I could never leave such a wonderful wife behind," Wilbur answered, gently taking her hand and gazing into her eyes for a moment. Then, Fundy suddenly tugged at his sweater, possibly ripping it, something he didn't dare to check.
"Dad?" the fox hybrid asked, pointing the man to the kitchen window. He was pretty sure he could see some smoke on the other side... Wilbur paled.
"...Stay here. I- I didn't even use the furnace, I just... Oh no," he remembered something and quickly rushed inside. Fundy could hear more words he probably shouldn't repeat for quite a while.
"What a great cook he is," Sally shook her head, crouching back down next to Fundy. "I don't think we should trust your dad with lunch today. Will you help me with it?" she asked, and Fundy nodded. "Thank you, sweetheart," she smiled.
Fundy smiled back at her... even though the window to the kitchen was now open and a concerning amount of smoke was coming out of it, he still felt happy. He was going to swim in the lake with his mum, make lunch with his parents... and soon, his dad would take him on an amazing adventure in their van, too! What was there not to be excited about? Well... the smell of smoke that would accompany their breakfast, probably, but he could live with that.