Chap. 11: What They Think: Lightning and Sally were sitting at their usual table at the Wheelwell Restaurant, looking off the ledge into the valley. "Wow, sure is a nice night," Lightning said. "It's like they say, no matter where you are in the world, the sky looks the same to everyone," Sally said, "So, what was your reaction?" "Reaction?" Lightning was confused by that question. "About Fillmore getting pregnant, I was very happy for him," Sally stated. "Oh, I was confused, wondering how it was possible, but I am happy for him," Lightning said. "You have to be happy for Sarge, too, I mean he's going to be the baby's father," Sally added. "Yeah, him too…wait, if Sarge is the father, what does that make Fillmore? The other father or mother?" Lightning asked. "Let's not worry about that now," Sally said. Mater had thoughts about the news too. "Dad gum! Fillmore and Sarge are going to get a kid! I don't care how it happened, but all I know is that I'm happy," he thought to himself, "I wonder if I should tell Holley and Finn, I wouldn't want to leave them clueless…naw, they wouldn't believe it unless they see it. Maybe I could ask them to stop by when they're done with their mission…shoot, now where's that communicator Holley gave me?" As Mater rummaged through his junk piles, Luigi was helping Iralanda go through the stacks of shoes in the storage room of her mother's shoe store. Iralanda's mother heard about Fillmore's surprise pregnancy, and figured now would be the time to put baby shoes on display in the store. "Amazing isn't it? Who would have thought a guy would be getting a baby the way a woman does?" Iralanda stated out of nowhere. "I agree, I've known Fillmore for most of my life, and would have never expected that to happen to him," Luigi admitted. "So, do still have any other family in Italy, other than your Uncle Topolino and Mama Topolino," Iralanda asked. That question made Luigi stiffen. The last time he checked, he was the only one in his family left to settle down. Just the thought of his nieces and nephews made him feel bad that he never had his own family. "Luigi?" Iralanda said. "Sorry, I was in a moment, yes, I have a lot of family back in Italy, mostly nieces and nephews, mostly from my brother, Mario," Luigi said. "He has a total of 12 kids." "Wow, imagine that grocery bill!" Iralanda laughed. Guido was very shocked about what Fillmore was going to go through, but he was happy for the hippie. That made him wonder: If something really good happens, does that mean that more good things were to come? Does that mean one day he will have the courage to tell Filippa how he really feels for her? He didn't know. Ramone was in his tattoo parlor, trying to find inspiration for a new tattoo for himself and maybe his customers. He was rummaging through a box of old pictures when he came across a very familiar one: Him and Flo on their wedding day. Just thinking about that day made him smile. But this also reminded him on how he and Flo never had time to have a kid of their own, and he wasn't happy about that for a while. Then, he remembered when Sally first came to Radiator Springs. He and Flo took her in and treated her like he would a daughter. He thought the same thing about Quinton and Kelly, because they sort of reminded him of himself and Flo when they were young. Now Fillmore and Sarge were going to get a kid, and that meant more kids to treat like family. Ramone in a sense envied the couple, but he was more happy for them than he was envious, which was better. Flo had similar thoughts, but like her husband, she was more happy than envious. Sure, she would have liked to have kids, but to be honest, if she had kids to take care of, she would have never started the V8 Café and the town would have been so different without it. At that moment on the radio, "Good Life" by Ashanti had come on. "It's a good life, a happy ending just where you landed. It's a good life, don't you love how it's turning out. It's a good life, see what happens when you take your chances. It's a good life, come and find what I've found." Flo could relate to her lie to the song, because life was good again ever since Lightning set up his racing headquarters in town and more tourists were coming, and she loved how it was turning out for everyone, especially for Fillmore and Sarge. A good life indeed. Lizzie was sitting in her rocking chair, mulling over what had happened that day, "Fillmore is getting a baby? I'll believe it when I see it," she thought to herself "Oh Stanley, what would you have said at times like this? My guess is that you'd be happy and not care about how it happened, and if you were happy, I would be happy." Sheriff was at his usual spot behind the bulletin board, on patrol like usual. He, too, was thinking about the news, wondering how it was possible, if he was happy for them, and reflecting on his own life. He was in deep thoughts when a souped up car zoomed by, knocking him back into reality and grumble "Not in my town you don't," and go after it in his police car. Just because you don't talk much, doesn't mean you don't have a lot to think about, and Red had plenty to think about. He was watering his plants by the courthouse, with the events that happened that day buzzed around his head. "Wow, Fillmore and Sarge are going to get a baby! None of us expected that to happen and were pretty surprised. Then again, none of us expected Lightning that one night, and look where that got us. He destroyed some of my flowers that night and I was pretty upset and scared to approach him at the time, but since he helped revive Radiator Springs, I kind of forgave him for it," the shy firefighter thought to himself. "Hmm…flowers." If Red could compare flowers to anything in the world, it would be kids. If you took care of a flower correctly, it would grow healthily and live a long time, like if you cared for a child the right way, he or she would be able to make it in the world and live a long time. If you hardly took care of a flower or mistreated it, it would eventually wilt and die, like if you neglect or abuse a kid, he or she could die or end up as a juvenile delinquent. That nearly happened to Aneil and Christopher; Aneil was being abused and neglected by his father, Sen Jago, and was in horrible shape: no confidence, no self-esteem, no social life. Guido caught Sen in the act of harming his son and put a stop to it. Now Mr. Jago was in jail for 10 years and Aneil finally showed his true colors. Christopher's story was a bit worse than Aneil's; Chris had no parents to take care of him and lived life as an orphan and pickpocket, and also found himself in Radiator Springs. He decided to pick the locals pockets and managed to rob Mater, Luigi, Guido, Fillmore and Mr. Watson. The teen also tried to steal from Red, but Red noticed him immediately, scaring the poor child to tears. Red felt sorry for the kid, but was still a bit angry about stealing from so many people and got him to return everything and apologize. Lucky for Christopher, he was forgiven and not taken to the impound lot. Red hoped Sarge and Fillmore's kid wouldn't end up like any of the badly treated kids in the world, even though he knew that wouldn't be likely, but you never know. Mia and Tia were very excited about the baby. They wouldn't stop talking about it. "OMG! I cannot wait for the baby to be born!" Mia squealed. "I know right! I bet it'll be so cute!" Tia added. "I bet Sarge fainted when he heard the news that he was going to be a daddy!" "I'm surprised he didn't flip out when he learned about Fillmore being pregnant," Adam, who was sitting nearby, said. "What do you mean, Adam?" Mia asked. "Put yourself in Sarge's shoes or boots, if your boyfriend got pregnant all of a sudden, and you weren't that committed to being a parent, how would you react to the news?" Adam asked. "I guess…" Tia said, "We'd be…" Mia added, "Shocked," the twins said in unison. "And knowing Sarge, if he was really shocked about something like that, he would probably get angry, too," Adam explained. "Oh, I get it, let's just hope that doesn't happen," Mia said. "I hope so, too," Adam said. Filippa was in her tent thinking about everything that has happened so far in Radiator Springs: she meets the nicest guy in the world, Guido, her brother admits to being gay, the pond monster turning out to be a hoax, and now her brother was going to have a baby! "Wow, I'm leading an interesting life," she smiled at the thought of that. She couldn't wait for the baby to be born and hold her niece or nephew for the first time. Then she started to wonder if more amazing things were to come to make her life even more exciting, like how would her relationship with Guido turn out? She has had a crush on him for a month and a half now. Maybe she should tell him tomorrow…no that will be too soon, maybe later, like after she gains a little more confidence.