Hi, guys! I wrote this story a while ago and now, I'm finally ready to post it! I really hope you enjoy it! Although, I am putting in a warning for some adult themes and cliché plot.
Happy Birthday, Fudge!
"Where do you want the presents?!"
"No! The banner should be over here, not over there!"
"Do you think we have enough balloons?"
"Hey, McQueen!"
"Flo should be here with the cake by now!"
"Can we at least try to get all of the presents in one spot?!"
"Yeah, I think we've got enough!
"Where is the tape?!"
"Fudge is going to love this!"
That last voice had been Luigi Topolino, a deliriously happy yellow Fiat. Today was a very special day. Today was June sixteenth 2018. Today was his daughter's eighteenth birthday. Smiling to himself, he remembered being in Doc's clinic in the wee hours of the morning that day eighteen years ago. He had watched a woman he had just found in labour give birth, but he never would've imagined that the baby would end up becoming his daughter. Still, he wouldn't have changed a thing, especially when he saw the amazing young woman she'd become. He was so proud of her.
Even so, he still wished that she could stay his baby girl forever and based on what she'd said at Flo's the day before, she felt the same way.
"Today is my last day of childhood!" seventeen-year-old Fudge had complained, slumping back in her chair.
"Why don't you make the most of it, honey?" Flo suggested, giving the teenager her breakfast.
"Yeah. After all, tomorrow, I'm gonna have to start worrying about the economy and how I haven't done my taxes!" Fudge joked.
Everyone laughed.
"Yep", Lightning agreed, "and tomorrow, we're gonna give you an insurance-themed party!"
"Yeah! Can't wait!"
Of course, they weren't really giving Fudge an insurance-themed party. They were, however, giving Fudge a surprise party. While Fudge was out in the city with some of her friends (Joey, Sunny and Nick), blissfully unaware of what her family had planned, her family and friends were rushing around the Wheel Well Motel, making sure everything was ready.
Boy, what a turnout it was for the party! The entire population of Radiator Springs was there, of course. So were Mack, Smokey, the Legends, Tex, The King, Cal Weathers, Bobby Swift, Rusty and Dusty, Finn McMissile, Holley Shiftwell and even Francesco Bernoulli! Five minutes before Fudge was due back, the entire Wheel Well was in turmoil. However, the group managed to sort themselves out amazingly fast. In a matter of minutes, all of the Happy Birthday banners and balloons were hung up in the right positions. The presents were stacked neatly in one place. The room was decorated with some of the group's favourite photos of Fudge from her babyhood to now. The VCR and the tape for it were all set up. They were ready to go.
Sarge, providing the order and discipline, surveyed the party area. He nodded, satisfied. "It looks good."
"The only thing missing now is the cake", Lightning announced when they were done.
"And Fudge", Luigi added.
"Last I heard, Joey saw her get in a cab on her way home", Cruz reported. As Joey, Sunny and Nick were her friends too, Cruz was responsible for keeping everyone updated on her friend's location. "That was nearly three hours ago, so she should be here any minute now!"
"So, Fudge is gonna come in here and we're all gonna jump out and yell, 'Surprise'?" River Scott wanted to confirm.
"This isn't your first surprise party, is it, River?" Louise responded teasingly.
All of a sudden, movement could be heard outside the motel.
"That is her, that is her!" Luigi announced in an excited whisper.
"Everyone, in position!" Sarge ordered quietly.
Quickly and quietly, everyone in the room scurried around to make themselves as well hidden as possible.
"Smokey!" Luigi hissed to the pickup truck, who just so happened to be the closest one to the light switch.
Smokey flipped the switch and the entire room descended into darkness.
"I can't see nuthin'!" Mater screamed. "I can't see nuthin'!"
"SSSSSHHHH!" at least half of the people in the room hissed at him.
Just about all of them there were excited and nervous. They couldn't wait to see the look on Fudge's face. They just hoped she'd be happy. Here she comes! was the thought going through all of their heads as the door opened and...
"SURPRISE!" they all hollered, leaping out of their hiding places.
The combined shout was promptly followed by a loud scream and an equally loud splat.
"The cake!" the newcomer gasped, only it wasn't Fudge.
Light returned to the room as Flo was picking up what could be salvaged of the cake. Everyone crowded around to check the damage.
"It doesn't look so bad", Lightning commented, eyeing the cake. However, when several bits of smashed cake made their way back into the box, he was quick to change his mind. "Okay. Maybe not."
"We can fix it, right?" Cal Weathers asked hopefully.
"There is no time to fix it!" Luigi argued hysterically. "Fudge is going to be here soon!"
"What a way to start the party!" Sarge groaned. Then he ordered, "All right, everyone! Back into position! Fudge should be here any minute now!"
Once again, everyone returned to their hiding positions and switched the lights out. Then they waited. And waited. And waited.
"Where's Fudge?" Mater asked finally.
"She will be here", Luigi replied confidently.
Half an hour went by and there was still no sign of the birthday girl. By then, they'd turned the lights back on, planning to switch them off again when Fudge was arriving.
"She must be running late", Lightning commented.
"There can be a lot of traffic in the city this time of day", Sally added logically. After a pause, she added, "That's one of the reasons I left."
"I'm gettin' hungry!" Mater complained. "I thought we was gonna be eatin' by now!"
"We're saving the food until Fudge arrives", Sarge reminded him.
"She will be here any minute now", Luigi insisted, not at all worried.
However, that changed around the forty-five minute mark. By then, everyone was starting to panic.
"Okay! I am going to call her!" Luigi announced, making his way to the phone booth.
"Where could she be?" Flo wondered.
"Joey said she left nearly four hours ago!" Cruz reminded the others. "She should be here by now!"
"Cruz, was Fudge goin' anywhere after she met up with her friends?" Ramone wondered.
"Not that I know of", the yellow car responded.
"Fudge wouldn't go anywhere without telling us, right?" Fillmore asked.
"If she was stuck in traffic, then she could still turn up now", Sally repeated.
Sarge nodded. "Sally's right. I think that's the most logical explanation."
"She is not answering!" Luigi reported over the chaos.
"What?" most of the crowd chorused. Half of them hadn't heard what he said while the other half had, but just couldn't believe it.
"She is not answering her phone!" Luigi cried again.
"She is still not answering!" Luigi exclaimed hysterically. "Why won't she answer?!"
"Where is she?!" half the group wondered.
'What are we going to do?!" the other half questioned.
"Joey said she didn't say anything about going anywhere else!" Cruz announced, hanging up her own phone. "I'll try Nick and Sunny!"
Needless to say, chaos had resumed to the Wheel Well Motel when Fudge was a no-show. Some of the more nervous (and hungry!) ones had broken into the food. Guido had started passing around drinks from the bar to calm everyone down. Not that he could exactly calm down himself when his daughter was missing.
Well, there was one person who wasn't panicking.
"Fudge'll be here soon", Lizzie reasoned calmly. "Kindergarteners normally take naps at this time, that's all." The poor elderly Model T could never quite keep the year straight. In fact, she'd been thinking Fudge was in kindergarten for the past four years.
"Is there another way to find out where she is?!" Fillmore questioned.
"I've got an idea!" Cruz exclaimed abruptly. "Hamilton!"
"Hamilton here!" that computerised voice greeted.
"Track Fudge's iPhone!"
"Tracking!"
"You can just... track her phone?" Nobody was sure if Sarge was surprised, confused, impressed or suspicious. It was quite possible it was all of the above.
"Yep!" Cruz confirmed. After a couple of seconds, she announced, "Oh! It's found her!"
"Where is she?!" Luigi raced over to her. "Where is she?"
"17 Emeryville Street."
Confusion took over the Fiat's face. "What is that?"
"Okay, I'm getting a street view now." The yellow car looked at her phone and when she saw where her friend was, she gasped.
All that did was send Luigi into a massive panic. "What?! Where is she?!" He took the phone from Cruz, only to drop it when he saw the street view.
"What is my daughter doing in a club like that?!"
"Club?" Sheriff repeated, coming over to peer at the phone. "That doesn't sound like Fudge."
"Well, this is where her phone was found!"
Sheriff's eyes widened. So did the entire group's when they all crowded around the phone. The image showed what looked very much like a strip club.
"I'm sure there's an explanation for this." Sally tried to remain calm.
"What explanation could there be for Fudge going to a strip club?!" Sarge demanded.
"If she's at a strip club," Lightning began, "you don't think she's-"
"No!" Luigi cut him off. "Of course not!" He sounded more like he didn't want to believe it than he didn't believe it.
"I need a computer!" Luigi declared abruptly.
"What for?" Sally wanted to know.
"I need to log into Fudge's Facebook account and see who she has been talking to. I want to know who she is at that club with!"
"You know, that's an invasion of her privacy, right?" Sheriff pointed out.
"This is my daughter!" Luigi insisted. "I need to make sure she is okay!"
With those words, he drove out of the motel.
When Luigi returned with his computer, everyone was disappointed that he hadn't run into Fudge in town.
"Okay..." the Fiat mused, opening up Facebook. "I need to figure out Fudge's password.'
"How are you going to do that?" Sarge wondered.
"It can't be that hard." He stared at the screen, thinking.
"We just gotta think like Fudge", Lightning added. "We know Fudge."
"Well, I thought I did until I saw that she is at a strip club!" Luigi argued. "Now, everyone, quiet! I need to think!"
The room was silent for a long time as all of them tried to come up with something that could quite possibly be Fudge's password.
"So, what does Fudge like?" Smokey wanted to know.
"Well, I think we all know she likes racin'", The King offered.
"She wouldn't make her something to do with racing, though, would she?" Bobby argued. "Doesn't that seem a little too obvious?"
"This is my daughter!" Luigi repeated. "I will try anything!"
He typed everything related to racing that he could think of, but had no success. Still, nobody was willing to give up. They all chimed in with anything that came to mind.
"What about her first pet?!"
"Her favourite food?"
"It's gotta be something obvious, but not too obvious."
"If you want, I'm sure I can hack into the account", tech-savvy spy, Holley Shiftwell, offered.
"I am sure that won't be necessary, Miss Shiftwell", Finn replied.
"We will call that Plan B!" Luigi responded. "Now, think! Think!"
After several more false tries, he exclaimed, "I am in!"
"What was it, what was it?!" everyone demanded.
"Skydiving monkey!"
"Skydiving monkey?" Everyone gave each other puzzled looks.
"Long story", Luigi explained before shifting his attention back to the computer. "Okay. I need to see who she has been talking to."
Now that the hard part was over, all Luigi had to do was click the messages icon to see all of the conversations Fudge had on the website.
River Scott came over and looked at the screen in front of him. "So, you can see who Fudge has been talking to on the line?"
"It's not on the line", Cruz corrected him. "It's online." (AN: Just for you, PinkCookie11!)
"Who are you gonna look at?" Sally wondered, eyeing the list of conversations Fudge was having.
"Wait. Who is Monty?" Luigi demanded, noticing the unfamiliar name amongst the list. "Maybe she is with this Monty!"
Lightning felt his face burn. Why did Fudge always save him as Monty anywhere she could message him?! A couple of years ago, while on a camping trip, he'd told Fudge, Sarge, Fillmore and Mater his real name in confidence. Now, it looked like the cat was out of the bag.
"Uh... that's me", he admitted. "Monty is my real name."
Luigi stared at him in surprise. "It is?
"MONTY McQueen?!" nearly everyone exclaimed in disbelief.
"Monty McQueen?!" Francesco laughed hysterically. "That is hilarious!"
"Yeah, yeah!" the stock car groaned, rolling his eyes. "Laugh it up!"
"How come we've never heard this?" Cal wondered.
"Guys, Fudge's wellbeing is at stake", Lightning reminded them. "Do you really want to talk about that right now?" He turned back to Luigi. "So, who are you going to look at?"
"Joey, Sunny and Nick", Luigi answered automatically. "She has been with them all day."
"But didn't they say they don't know where she is either?" Louise questioned.
"I am not convinced that they are not lying", Luigi argued.
"Try our group chat!" Cruz suggested. "We have a group chat and I haven't seen in it in a while."
"I didn't know you could talk to more than one person at the same time on the line!" River sounded impressed.
"Online", Cruz corrected him again. She turned back to Luigi and provided the name of the group chat.
The Fiat nodded in comprehension. "Okay. I found it!"
"Do you see anything?" Sheriff quizzed, staring at the screen.
"There is a photo..." Fudge's father was studying a photo of Fudge with a group of about twelve other people. Most of them were human guys, who were a fair bit older than her (Joey, Sunny and Nick were in their early to mid twenties themselves). It was hard to tell where the photo was taken with so many people in the shot. It was also difficult to tell if they were up to anything they shouldn't be.
"That doesn't look so bad..." Lightning voiced his opinion, once again, only to change it entirely. "Okay. Maybe not."
"Those people are a bit older than her, aren't they?" Sarge proclaimed suspiciously. It was clear that he wasn't the only one who had noticed.
"(What else is there?!)" Guido demanded. He had to know who his daughter was with and what they were doing.
"Fudge sent a message a few hours ago", Luigi reported. "It says, 'I'm trying to nail these guys, but I just can't keep up. We are taking a break for drinks right now. Maybe that will improve my performance.'"
Of course, that, once again, sent everyone into a panic.
"Nail these guys?!" Lightning repeated, horrified. He turned to Luigi. "You know what that means?!" At the little Italian car's blank expression, he added, "You know how I always lock the door when I say I'm gonna nail Sal-"
"Stickers!" Sally gasped.
"Can't keep up?! Improve my performance?!" Flo was just as astounded.
"Drinks?!" Sheriff echoed, sounding shocked and appalled.
"I can't imagine Fudge talking like that", Cruz declared. "Let alone, doing it."
"Fudge is a very pretty, intelligent girl, but this doesn't sound like her at all!" Dusty commented.
"I can't believe this!" Luigi shook his hood. "She has not even been an adult for a day and she has already made several terrible decisions!"
"Having sex with Chrysler knows how many boys, underage drinking..." Sarge shook his hood too. "I never thought that would be Fudge."
"What else does it say?" Junior Moon ventured.
Reluctantly, Luigi scrolled down to see what it said afterwards. "Nick asked her if it was her first time. She said, 'My first time in a while, but I've done it before.'"
"She's done this before?!" just about everyone cried simultaneously.
"I can't believe this, I can't believe this!" Luigi murmured over and over again in shock. Tears formed in his eyes. "My baby girl..."
His eyes shifted to the photos all around the room of his precious daughter. There was a photo of him holding her on the day she was born. The picture of her only a few months old, sat in a tyre always made him smile. Another photo of her was on her sixth birthday when they found out she could stay in Radiator Springs. She was posed in front of a big cheesecake with a big smile on her face and waving an Italian flag, excited to be going to Italy for the first time. He loved the picture of her eating pizza on her thirteenth birthday. It had been a rough year for Fudge, what with the accident and all, so it was good to see her smile on that day. Even the most recent photos of her in the pits before the race made her seem so young. She was his baby girl. He thought she would always be his baby girl. Now, it seemed she like she had just grown up overnight. Now, he felt like he didn't even know his own daughter, the one thing in life he thought he was so sure he knew. He felt like-
"Hey, guys!" a familiar voice called out casually as the doors to the Wheel Well opened. Fudge waltzed in in her pyjamas. She looked exhausted and her hair was a mess. "What's going on?"
"Where have you been?!" Luigi demanded, racing up to her.
"Oh! Yeah, sorry! My taxi broke down on my way home and I was stranded by the side of the road for nearly two hours. I got back to town about an hour ago, but I was exhausted, so I fell asleep, only to wake up and find lots of Facebook messages telling me I needed to head to the Wheel Well right away. I would've called, but I lost my phone... What's up?"
"A likely story", Sarge grumbled.
Confusion took over the birthday girl's face. "What?"
"I believe you mean 'I beg your pardon'", Sarge corrected her sternly, "and I also believe you know exactly what I'm talking about!"
"Do I?" Fudge scanned the room of people who looked unimpressed with her and completely shocked. "Do I?"
"We tracked your phone at the strip club, Fudge", Luigi informed her.
"Strip club?!" Fudge repeated, just as astonished as everyone else had been. "What strip club?!"
"The one you went to today!"
"I didn't go to a strip club!" Fudge insisted. "My friends and I went to a new bowling place that just opened on Emeryville Street. They've got bowling, laser tag and karaoke. That's what I was doing with my friends." After stopping to take a breath, she added, "That must be where I left my phone too!"
There was an awkward pause.
"It just opened?" Cruz asked finally.
"On Emeryville Street?" Lightning added.
"Yeah. Last week."
"Street view must not have updated that yet!" the yellow car realised.
"So, you guys were spying on me?!" Fudge cried in disbelief. "Oh, my God!"
"Fudge, you have to understand we were worried about you!" Luigi tried to justify his actions. "You were not here and you were not answering your phone, so we tracked it. And we found it at a strip club!"
"The strip club's gone!" Fudge insisted, obviously very annoyed. "It shut down about a month ago and now it's a place where they have bowling, karaoke and laser tag, all right?! That's it!"
"What about the messages you have sent your friends?!"
"What messages?!" Fudge demanded.
"Yeah, we saw the messages you were sending people on the line-" River began.
"Online", Cruz interjected.
"Look at this!" Luigi gestured to the computer screen.
"OH, MY GOD!" Fudge exclaimed again. "You hacked into my Facebook account?! Don't you have any respect for my privacy?!" Her eyes travelled across the room furiously. "And you all just let him?! None of you had the decency to say anything?!"
"What is this all about?!" Luigi ignored her. "'I'm trying to nail these guys, but I just can't keep up-"
"AT BOWLING!" Fudge cut him off. "I swear! That's all we did! What? You guys thought I was having sex with those guys?! I can't believe this!"
"Well, that is what it looked like."
"You didn't know Nick's gay?!"
"Were we supposed to know that?"
"I thought Cruz knew!"
Everyone turned to stare at Cruz.
"Oh, that's right!" she remembered.
"Look! I don't know how many times I have to say it! All we did was bowling, laser tag and karaoke!"
"What about drinking?!" Sheriff piped up.
"Drinking?!" Fudge echoed.
"You said you were taking a break for drinks-"
Fudge face-palmed. "Not those kinds of drinks! I just had Coke! Coke is a drink! You drink it!" Once again, her eyes swept the room, this time, glistening with tears. "Don't any of you trust me?! In case you don't remember, today is my eighteenth birthday! I'm an adult!"
"Fudge, you have to understand-" Sally began.
"Oh, I understand!" the human scoffed. "The people I love and trust the most in the world not only don't trust me, but they... they violated my privacy! Then they bring me up here just so they can roast me about it!"
"Fudge, that is not why we brought you up here", Luigi insisted, growing more sympathetic. He believed her. He could tell when Fudge was lying to him. He knew all she'd done was bowling, laser tag and karaoke.
Silence filled the room as they all waited for Fudge to ask.
Instead, she took a deep breath and announced, "Then it doesn't matter why you called me here. I'd rather be alone right now."
"Fudge-" just about everyone called out after her.
Fudge ignored them, turning around and storming out of the Wheel Well, slamming the door as hard as she could. Half a second later, she opened the door again.
"And take down those photos of me! They're embarrassing!" She ripped one of her baby photos off the wall and threw it on the floor before marching out and giving the door another slam.
The room was dead silent for a long time.
"Wow", Lightning took out a deep breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"I feel terrible", Luigi declared.
"Me too", everyone agreed.
"What are we gonna do?" Cruz wondered.
"Maybe we should give her some time alone to calm down", Luigi suggested, all of the others nodded in agreement.
Cruz turned to River. "Can we talk about this online, on the line thing?"
So, they waited. Nobody came right out and suggested it, but somehow, they all found themselves cleaning up all of the party stuff, quite convinced that they wasn't going to be a party at all.
"I can't believe this!" Luigi sniffled at one point. "For years, I have imagined how this day would go! I just wanted it to be perfect!"
"I know, honey", Flo sympathised, giving him a hug.
"I suppose this wasn't how any of us thought this day would go", Sarge added quietly.
"I'll take out the trash", Lightning offered after several minutes of cleaning up in silence, noticing that the trash cans were full.
So, he went, taking it round back. Then he tore down the road, calling out, "Fudge! Fudge!" He knew he wasn't supposed to be going as fast as he was, but he wanted to find her as fast as possible.
He finally caught up to her halfway back to town. She was walking slowly with her shoulders slumped and her head down. He could hear her sniffling too.
"Hey!" he greeted her, pulling up alongside her.
Fudge saw him, but she pretended she hadn't.
Still, Lightning wasn't giving up. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going home", she sniffled. "To bed! This is the worst birthday ever!"
"Hey! Come on! Don't cry! Look, we know we screwed up big time and we're sorry-"
"Lightning-"
"Let me finish", he interrupted her. "I get it. I really do. I used to be so mad at my parents when they did the same thing to me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. They would always call my friends' houses to see where I was and what I was doing. They would try to keep tabs on me all the time. I felt suffocated, you know?"
"Well, that's kind of how I feel right now", Fudge hiccupped, wiping some tears from her eyes.
"Well, I never realised it back then, but I guess I deserved it. I was never up to any good when I was your age."
Fudge giggled through her tears. "You were a bad boy?"
"A little bit."
"I can imagine that."
The two shared a little laugh before Lightning took a deep breath.
"Anyway, I guess my point is you're not seeing the big picture." He pointed in the direction of the Wheel Well. "Up there is a room full of people who care about you so damn much. The only reason we violated your privacy was because we wanted to make sure you were okay."
"But don't you trust me?!"
"Of course we do!" The stock car gave her a hug and a kiss. "It's other people we don't trust! Look, Fudge, we know you're an adult now, but it's only your first day of being an adult. Plus- don't take this the wrong way- but sometimes, you can be a little, well, naïve. We just want you to be careful."
Fudge took another deep breath. "I know."
"Come on. Why don't we go back? Everyone really wants to see you. Especially since we're so relieved you weren't doing any of that stuff."
Fudge giggled, but she didn't say anything.
"Come on", Lightning pressed.
"I don't know, Lightning..."
"Oh, but you don't have a choice", he informed her with a smile on his face. He scooped his little sister up onto his hood. "See? You're the birthday girl. People came all this way to see the birthday girl and not only did she show up three hours late, but she stormed off after three minutes."
"I guess I was a little upset."
"So, what do you say we go back and have some fun?"
Fudge thought about it.
"Okay", she answered finally, "but there's one quick little thing I gotta do first."
"What's that?"
"Change my Facebook password."
"Hey, guys!" Lightning called out, opening the doors to the motel with one Fudge on his hood.
Everyone turned to look at them.
"You came back!" Luigi exclaimed, rushing towards his daughter and giving her a big kiss on the forehead.
"Yeah..." she responded with no emotion in her voice.
"Well, Fudgie", Luigi sighed, "I think we all owe you an apology. We are so sorry!"
"Yeah, sorry, Fudge", everyone chorused.
It was Fudge's turn to sigh. "That's okay, guys. I'm sorry too. I overreacted." She still really wasn't happy about what they'd done, but even if she couldn't let it go, then for now, she was just going to pretend she could.
"Now that she's changed her Facebook password, she's cool!" Lightning assured the crowd, making them all laugh.
"Yeah, I understand why you were worried and I guess if you track my phone and it comes up with a picture of a strip club, what else were you supposed to think? Still, I feel better now I've changed my password."
"Okay, but if anything likes this happens again, I will try to guess it again", Luigi informed his daughter.
She smiled at him. "I know." Then her eyes shifted to something on the table in front of her. "What happened to the cake?"
In a flash, everyone remembered why they had called her up to the Wheel Well.
"SURPRISE!" they all yelled in unison.
"Happy birthday, Fudge!" some of them added.
"Oh, my God!" Fudge exclaimed happily. When she had been called up to the Wheel Well Motel, she'd suspected that there was a surprise party. However, after the major unpleasant surprise she'd received, she was genuinely surprised by the party. And this was most definitely a pleasant surprise. "I can't believe this! I love you guys!"
"Sorry about the cake". Flo apologised. "I dropped it."
"Oh, that's okay!" Fudge assured her. "All that matters is that we're all here."
"Exactly!" Luigi gave her another kiss.
At last, they got the surprise party they had wanted. There was music, dancing and games. Fudge was a little standoffish and unsure of herself for a while. She still couldn't believe that her friends and family had violated her trust and her privacy and was still hurt and angry.
However, that changed at one point, when Luigi got Fudge's attention and led her over to the VCR.
"I think you are going to want to see this", he informed her, putting the tape in.
"What is it?" Fudge wanted to know.
"You will see."
"Rusty, get the lights!" Sarge called out to the Rust-Eze brother. He was the one who was closest to the light switch that time.
"Got it!" Rusty responded as the lights went out.
When the video started up, it showed Luigi inside Luigi's Casa Della Tires.
"Are you sure it is on, Guido?" he questioned.
"Si", the forklift behind the camera confirmed. "(Go!)"
"Ciao!" the Luigi on the tape began. "Fudge, if you are watching this, then surprise! We made this tape for you on your first birthday to give to you on your eighteenth birthday! So, happy birthday!"
Immediately, Fudge began to giggle uncontrollably. She couldn't believe that she had never known about this tape.
"Right now, your eighteenth birthday seems so far away", Luigi went on, "but if the next seventeen years are like this last year, then it won't feel like long at all. You are already growing up so fast!" Luigi scooped something up onto his hood and it turned out to be one-year-old Fudge. "Happy birthday, Fudgie!" He kissed her.
"Awww!" a lot of people at her eighteenth birthday party exclaimed.
"You used to be so cute!" Cruz commented, grabbing her friend's arm.
"Used to?!" a red-faced Fudge repeated, sounding highly insulted.
"And I know in those seventeen years, you are going to make us so proud! No matter what you decide to do in that time!"
"And did I?" Fudge quizzed her fathers.
"Of course you did!" Luigi kissed her. "More than we ever would have thought. We could never have imagined you being knighted or recovering from your horrible accident as well as you have-"
"Or becoming the superstar you are!" Lightning chimed in with a huge grin.
"No, I don't think any of us could have imagined that", Luigi agreed.
"Not even me", Fudge chimed in.
Next, the video cut to random clips from the first year of Fudge's life such as the first time she crawled, the first time she laughed (because Guido was tossing her in the air gently), even her repeating her first word over and over (which, by the way, was hi). Fudge couldn't stop laughing or smiling as she watched. After a while, the camera jumped to Flo's. Luigi explained that Fudge was asleep and they were all recording happy birthday messages for her. Here were some of them:
Luigi- "Ciao! Happy birthday, Fudgie! A year ago today, Guido and I watched you come into this world. Back then, we did not think that we would adopt you. But we could not be happier that we did! You will never know just how much we love you! We wanted to wish you a happy birthday for your first birthday, your eighteenth and every birthday in between."
Guido- "(I can't believe you are one year old already! It has been an incredible year! And I am sure the next seventeen years will be just as incredible! Just never forget for a single day of those seventeen years that I love you with all my heart. You are a miracle I never thought I would find!)"
"Oh, Guido!" Fudge gave her other father a fierce hug.
The little forklift beamed as he returned the hug. He knew not everyone had understood his message because not all of them spoke Italian, but that didn't matter. The important thing was that Fudge understood it.
Fillmore- "Whoa! You're a year old already?! Far out, man! We've had so much fun already and we're gonna have so much more in the next seventeen years. I'm gonna introduce you to some more Hendrix-"
"You are not playing that disrespectful junk to an innocent child!" Sarge barked from behind him.
"Respect the classics, man!" Fillmore shot back.
Fudge laughed hysterically. That was Sarge and Fillmore.
Mater's was quite similar. "Howdy, Fudge! Happy birthday! You is gonna see this when yer bigger! That's cool! I bet by then, you is gonna be good at tractor tippin'-"
"No!" Sheriff called off-camera. "You ain't ever takin' Fudge tractor tippin'!"
"And you two still subjected the poor kid to Hendrix and tractor tipping!" Sarge glared at Fillmore and Mater.
"And after, like, twelve years, I'm still not good at tractor tipping!" Fudge chimed in.
The human girl's eyes filled with tears when Doc's face filled the screen. It was times like this when she really missed him. Although she knew he was always there watching over her, she wished that she could talk to him when something bad or something good happened to her and she could actually see his reaction to anything she had to say rather than have to imagine it.
"Happy birthday, kiddo!" Doc greeted her. "I can't believe it's already been a year since I delivered you! Things have most likely changed a lot since we made this tape, but I hope you never forget that I love you and I will always be with you. I know you're gonna make me so proud. And I wanna tell you one thing I wish I knew when I was eighteen: Make the most of the opportunities you get. You never know when everything could just change so suddenly."
Of course he was never going to come right out and say it, but it was obvious that Doc knew, even then, that he wasn't going to make it to her eighteenth birthday. She also knew that he was referring to his racing career and his horrific 1954 crash. He just didn't say that either because nobody in town knew his secret then.
"She sure has made you proud, Doc!" Lightning told the Hudson Hornet on the screen. "In more ways than one!"
Fudge beamed.
At the end of everyone's messages, the camera cut to when Fudge was awake. Guido held her in his arms as the entire RS gang gathered around to help the one-year-old open her presents. She would giggle and clap her hands when her family made a big deal over all of the presents she got. Clearly, she was loving the attention. The last present they opened was a homemade book.
"This is from all of us!" Luigi explained to his daughter. "Should we read it?"
At Fudge's big smile, he opened it up.
The story brought more tears to the birthday girl's eyes. It was the story of her adoption, complete with pictures (both tyre drawn and photographs) and photocopies of her adoption papers. The story also made sure Fudge knew just how special she was and how much she was loved by the residents of Radiator Springs. Fudge knew that her family had always tried to be as open as possible about her adoption, not wanting her to ever feel ashamed of it. How could she be ashamed?! Sure, it hurt, knowing that her own biological parents didn't even want her and had made no effort to get in touch with her, but she had the most loving family in the whole world. She could see that from the amount of people who had shown up to her party, who had spent time and money to come all this way just to see her on her special day, who had tried to make sure she was okay when it seemed like she was up to no good.
The scene cut again and Fudge could see the RS gang with her in the middle crowded around the birthday cake. It was in the shape of the number one and decorated with white icing and zoo animals. Flo lit the candle on the cake, which prompted everyone to sing "Happy Birthday".
"Okay, blow out the candle, Fudgie!" Luigi instructed his daughter.
Of course, Fudge didn't understand, so it was up to her fathers to help her out. Once the candle was out, everyone cheered, making Fudge beam and clap her hands.
The last little bit of the video showed Luigi and Guido returning to Casa Della Tires with Fudge fast asleep in Guido's arms.
"Fudgie! Today was your first birthday!" Luigi exclaimed, kissing the sleeping baby on the top of her head. "I hope you had fun, my little angel We love you so much!"
"(So much!)" Guido echoed, also kissing her forehead. "(Happy birthday, Fudge!)"
The film ended and the lights came back on. Everyone turned to look at Fudge, wanting to see her reaction in the light. Her face was red and she couldn't stop laughing. Or crying.
"You guys!" were the only words she was able to choke out. She held out her arms and in a matter of seconds, the entire group fell into a massive group hug with Fudge at the centre.
Luigi had a big smile on his face and tears in his eyes as he hugged his daughter. This was what he'd wanted for today. He was so glad that Fudge was still acting like his sweet, innocent baby girl.
"Open yer presents!" Mater called out abruptly.
"Presents?!" Fudge echoed.
"Yeah, there are normally presents on people's birthdays", Lightning informed her.
"I didn't see any presents on my way in!"
"Well, we got a whole bunch for you right here."
"Wow!" the birthday girl exclaimed. "That is a lot of presents!"
"Yes", Luigi confirmed. "Most of these are from us, but some of them came in the mail."
"Thanks, guys!" She picked up one from the pile. "Who's this from?"
"That's from me", Mack replied. "Happy birthday!"
"Thanks, Mack!"
Fudge launched into the task of opening the presents and thanking the people who gave them to her. She loved all of the presents she received and was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of presents.
In the middle of her task, she picked up a yellow envelope.
"What about this one?" she quizzed her party guests. "Who's it from?"
"I don't know", Luigi answered. "It came in the mail."
Fudge studied the envelope thoughtfully. "I don't recognise the return address... It's from Bolivia!"
"Who's Bolivia?" Mater questioned.
"Do you know anyone in Bolivia?" Cruz wondered as everyone crowded around to look.
"No!" Fudge was surprised, curious, suspicious, excited and nervous all in one.
"Open it, open it!" Lightning exclaimed excitedly.
Fudge tore open the envelope slowly and carefully as if she was expecting it to explode. Inside was a card and a folded-up sheet of white paper.
"What's this?" a puzzled Fudge wondered, taking out the sheet of paper and unfolding it. She gasped. "This is a cheque for fifteen hundred dollars!"
"Oh, my gosh!" Lightning cried, staring at it in disbelief, as was everyone else.
"Who is it from?!" Luigi wanted to know.
Fudge pulled out the card and read it carefully.
Dear Brittney,
I know this may be a bit of a surprise to you, but I want to wish you a very happy 18th birthday. I have been saving this money for you since before you were born and I want you to have it.
Warm regards,
When Fudge read the name written at the bottom of the card, she gasped and her eyes widened in astonishment. "It's from my dad!"
*Cue gasps* What does this mean? Well, even I'm yet to figure that out! XD
References: 17 Emeryville Street is a reference to 2017, the year Cars 3 was released, and Emeryville, California where Pixar Animation Studios is! Skydiving monkey was just the first password to come to my head for some reason. I might have to come up with some kind of backstory for that at some point. I've included a lot of them in my work, but the whole "on the line" thing is a reference to the movie The Internship.
Still, I really hope you enjoyed that and care to leave a review! Happy Fudge's birthday, everyone!