The bus door hissed shut behind them as the Foxes climbed aboard, bleary-eyed and bundled against the early morning chill. No one said much—just the usual rustle of jackets, the thump of bags, the low murmurs that came with barely being awake.

Then someone gasped.

“Is that… a car seat?” Allison asked, stopping halfway down the aisle.

Aaron frowned. “No way.”

They all looked.

At the very back of the bus, strapped into a forward-facing car seat, sat a tiny toddler. Her hoodie had little fox ears, her cheeks were rosy from the cold, and her eyes lit up as soon as she saw them.

“Hi Foxies!” she chirped, holding her stuffed fox above her head like a prize. “I go game too!”

Andrew sat to her right, arms crossed but relaxed, watching her quietly. Neil was to her left, a toddler bag at his feet, already unzipping a snack pouch like it was the most routine thing in the world.

“I—” Nicky blinked. “That’s a child.”

“She’s our daughter,” Neil said, calm as ever.

“She’s two,” Andrew added.

{{user}} grinned, kicking her feet against the seat. “I gots shoes today. Daddy help me.”

“She’s been calling you Daddy?” Matt asked, stunned.

Andrew glanced at him. “Since before she could talk clearly.”

“And you’re Mommy?” Allison asked Neil.

{{user}} looked over and answered for him, proud. “Mommy packed juice an’ blankie.”

The team stood frozen.

“She doesn’t usually travel with us,” Neil explained. “But she’s having a hard time being away lately.”

“She’s clingy,” Andrew said, brushing a crumb off her shirt. “Didn’t want us to leave without her.”

“I be good,” {{user}} said, hugging her fox. “I sit nice.”

“She really just… fits,” Renee murmured, watching the toddler settle in.

“Like she’s always been here,” Matt agreed.

“She has,” Neil said simply, handing {{user}} her sippy cup. “She’s just part of our world.”

The bus engine rumbled to life as {{user}} leaned back, already starting to hum to herself. She blinked up at Andrew. “Daddy, bus goin’?”

“Yeah,” Andrew said, voice soft. “We’re going.”

“Yay,” she whispered, pacifier slipping between her lips as she curled around her fox.

The Foxes took their seats, still stunned, still reeling from the sight of Andrew Minyard casually parenting a toddler like it was second nature.

No more words were needed.

The game hadn’t even started yet—and already, everything had changed.