I'm not sorry for leaving the last chapter on a cliffhanger, but I'm glad you're interested in what's going to happen next. Are you ready? Here we go...

Chapter 9- Can't Stop a River

"Oh, my God!" Lightning's shocked voice was just above a whisper.

I looked around at the disbelieving faces around me. The only one who seemed as shocked as I was, though, was Luigi. Not only did he look shocked, but he looked kind of upset too. How could he be upset? This was the biggest thing that's ever happened to me!

"(How are you feeling, angel?)" Guido wanted to know.

"I don't know..." I took a deep breath. "It's... a lot. I go to see my sister who has cancer. I found out my mother was a murderer and I met my father. I don't know what to do."

"You should go back to Georgia and talk to 'im, man!" Fillmore informed me excitedly.

I wasn't so sure. "Really?"

He nodded seriously. "Absolutely, man. He's your family. You should get to know him."

Everyone chimed in with their agreement. Everyone except Luigi, that is,

"But what if he doesn't want to get to know me?" I asked. "What if he's the same guy who wanted nothing to do with Sammy, RJ and me?"

"I think that's something you're gonna have to take a chance on, honey", Flo voiced her opinion, giving me a plate of food. Only, I couldn't think about food at that point.

"After all, he came back to see Sammy", Lightning pointed out.

I couldn't help a small smile. "That's true... I'll think about it."

Flo smiled too. "Eat your dinner, honey."

So, I tried to.

After dinner, Flo excused me from doing the dishes. I think she knew I was feeling overwhelmed. So, since I was free, I Googled the name Dawn Hathaway, wondering where I'd heard the name before. When I saw the images come up, I couldn't believe that I'd forgotten! She was a famous rider in the Piston Cup between 1977 and 1989. Then, of course, she was a murderer. She was wanted for the murders of fifteen people (most of them were shot dead when she and a couple of friends robbed banks and restaurants for money). However, she fled the country on a boat and nobody knew where she went. I'd heard most of this on TV before, but it was horrifying to read this information and know that the woman who had done all of this was my mother! I felt a shiver run through my spine.

I tried not to focus on that. I tried to focus on my father. He struck me as a little eccentric, but I doubted he was a killer too. I wondered what I could possibly say to him. I couldn't just swagger up to him and go, "Hi, Dad. How's it going?" If I'm being honest, at this point, I wasn't sure if he even knew I existed! How was I supposed to introduce myself?!

I flopped back on my bed and covered my eyes with my hands. Then I groaned out loud, not knowing what to do.

"Fudgie?" Guido's voice came from outside my bedroom door.

"Yeah?"

He came in. "(Are you okay, angel?)"

I sighed. "I don't know... I just can't believe that all in one day, I found out my mother's a murderer and met my father!"

"(You... you aren't angry at us for not telling you about your mother, are you?)" my father ventured, parking by my bedside and taking my hand. "(You know why we didn't tell you.)"

I sighed again. "Yeah. I wanted to know, but now that I do, I wish I didn't."

Guido gave me a sympathetic smile. "(Do you think you will go back to Georgia in the morning?)"

"I don't know... I mean, I want to know who my father is, but I'm afraid of what might happen."

"(Well, what is the worst thing that can happen?)"

"He wants nothing to do with me."

"(And...)" Guido prompted.

What did he mean? I thought about it some more. "I guess... I come back to Radiator Springs and everything will be the same", I realised.

Guido hugged me. "(Exactly! If nothing happens, then nothing will be different! You will still have a family who love you very much! Your family in Radiator Springs, Sammy, and RJ.)"

I gave a small smile. "You're right... I still don't know what to say."

"(Don't worry about that. When the time comes, you will know what to say.)"

About an hour later, I was pondering over Guido's words as I brushed my teeth in the bathroom. I knew he was right, but I was still nervous. Down the hall, I could hear Guido and Luigi talking.

"(How can you be okay with this, Guido?)" Luigi wondered.

"(Our daughter deserves to know where she came from)", Guido countered calmly. "(I thought you would understand. You didn't know your father either.)" Luigi's father died when he was three.

"(Well, I accepted that I still had a loving family... Why can't Fudge?)"

"(She does!)" Guido insisted. "(You can't blame her for being curious about this kind of thing, though... Would you not want to meet your father if you had the chance?)"

"(I don't think she should go)", Luigi affirmed.

"(Well, we can't stop her)", Guido pointed out.

"(I just wish I could stop her)", Luigi sighed.

"(Well, you can't)", Guido reasoned.

"(Well, I just hope she won't be disappointed if it does not go the way she wants)", Luigi informed Guido.

I just hoped I wouldn't be disappointed too. I was really trying not to get my hopes up. Don't get too excited! I kept telling myself. Even so, I couldn't help getting a little excited. That time the next day, I could know my father! That was worth getting excited about. I didn't want to get too far ahead of myself, but I had this image in my mind of the two of us sitting inside a coffee shop, exchanging life stories. He'd be fascinated by my stories of racing with Lightning McQueen and the Fabulous Hudson Hornet. I'd be equally fascinated by the stories of places he's travelled to for work. There was no reason why it couldn't happen.

Then again, there was no reason why it couldn't not happen.

Once again, I was too nervous to eat breakfast the next morning. All I could think about was what awaited me in Georgia.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Luigi quizzed me worriedly when I gave everyone the announcement that I would be going.

"No", I admitted, pushing my food around on my plate. "All I know is I can't spend the rest of my life wondering what would've happened."

"I know this is a big day for you, honey, but still try to eat some breakfast", Flo urged me. I'd already arrived late because I was at home wondering what to wear. (Finally, I just decided to be myself and dressed casually in jeans, sneakers, a pale pink jacket and a blue T-shirt.)

"I'm still worried about what I'm supposed to say", I muttered into my plate of scrambled eggs.

"(Fudge, try not to worry)", Guido reassured me. "(You will know what to say when the moment comes.)"

I wasn't so sure about that, but I didn't have time to protest; Siddeley arrived to pick me up.

I took a deep breath. "Here we go!"

"Look, Fudge", Sarge began gently. "Have no expectations, all right?"

I nodded. "No expectations", I repeated. "Right."

"Good luck!" nearly everyone yelled.

"We'll be thinking about you!" some of them added.

"One more thing!" Lightning called out after me.

I turned around expectantly. "Yeah?"

"Be sure he knows how great you really are!"

I managed a full smile for the first time in a long time. "Okay!"

Only Luigi remained silent.

So, I gave them a nervous smile and a thumbs up. climbed into Siddeley's cabin and he took to the skies.

It takes Siddeley no more than ten minutes to fly from Radiator Springs to Georgia and my heart did not stop pounding for even half a second. All I could think about was how this was going to go. Don't get too excited! Don't get too excited!

I beat RJ and his friends (and my father!) to the hospital that morning. So, I got to spend some time alone with Sammy. I don't even remember what we talked about. I was just going over everything that could possibly happen when I met my father in my mind. All I remember was Sammy asking me twice if I was okay. Both times I said yes.

My heart rate skyrocketed when the nurse wanted me to leave, so they could examine my sister again. Was my father already waiting for me outside? Well, he probably wasn't waiting for me, but he could be out there. Nope. Nobody. I sat down in the hospital lounge, trying not to be too disappointed. He could still show up, I kept telling myself as I waited. He could just be getting a cup of coffee. Or maybe... buying me presents! Whoa! I scolded myself in my head. Let's not get carried away. He probably doesn't know about you yet. Have no expectations! Still... it's gonna be great, I'm sure of it.

"Fudge! You're here!" RJ greeted me after about half an hour of pondering over these thoughts. (I probably would've been allowed back in with Sammy by then, but I was preoccupied.) He gave me a hug and an odd look. "I thought Luigi told me you went home... How did you get home and back so fast? Why didn't you have me pick you up at the airport?"

It had only just occurred to me that I was supposed to spend the night in Thomasville with my brother. I had been looking forward to meeting the other Thomasville residents, but then... something came up. "Sorry. I just got overwhelmed."

"How come?"

"Didn't I tell you yesterday?! I don't want to see you ever again, you b**tard!" a familiar voice yelled.

I jumped a mile.

"This is all your fault! You tore our family apart! What makes you think you can just come back in here and think you've made everything better?!" Sammy went on. "It doesn't work like that! Get out! GET OUT!"

"Uh-oh!" I murmured anxiously.

RJ faced me. "Let's go see what this is all about."

I wasn't so sure that was a good idea, but he started heading off. I had no choice but to follow.

"What are you still doing here?! I meant it! GET OUT! And don't you ever come back!"

My father was in Sammy's hospital room. He was dressed in a dark green suit jacket, white shirt, orange tie and black pants with dark brown shoes. He looked very nervous, stood in front of her.

RJ was surprised to see him. "Dad?"

The man whipped around and his eyes widened behind his round glasses. "River, Junior?Is that you? You're so grown-up. "

I didn't know why he seemed surprised to see his son in his daughter's hospital room.

"I didn't know you were in town", RJ went on casually. He had always been the calmest and most level-headed of the three of us.

"I had a three-day conference in Atlanta", he explained, growing more and more anxious. "Now, I had two days until I had to be in Chicago. I heard Samantha was diagnosed with breast cancer-"

"Yeah, two years ago!" Sammy snapped.

"-so I thought I would see her before I headed off", my father finished, looking even more nervous than before. He readjusted his glasses.

There was a long silence. Nobody knew what to say or do.

Finally, my father looked to me. "I... I thought only family were allowed to see Samantha... Who... who is this?" He sounded like there was something he wasn't asking. "She... She told me she was a friend..."

RJ looked at me quizzically, then back at Dad. "Fudge is our sister."

Dad's eyes widened. "Your sister?" he echoed. I watched as his expression went from puzzled to shocked to concentrated. He came closer and studied me closely, probably looking at our similar features. A couple of times, he held out his shaking hands as if he were about to touch my face, but he never did. The whole time, he looked like he was deep in thought. When he asked me how old I was, I knew he'd been trying to remember how long it had been since he slept with my mother.

"I'll be fifteen in June", I answered, unsure of how to feel. Was this good or bad? I cast a glance at the furious Sammy. I think she knew what I was thinking because she shrugged.

"Fifteen in June..." he repeated breathlessly, but he wasn't talking to me. He was talking to himself.

"Remember how you banged that psycho, Dawn?" Sammy spoke up, spitting venom with every word.

My father didn't answer. He tried to form more words, but he couldn't do it. He knew. He hadn't known, but he knew now.

"Dad..." RJ began, but he didn't seem to know what to say either.

I tried to smile, but it wasn't easy, given the circumstances. I let out a nervous laugh. "Hi, Dad..." Oh, my God! Did I really just say that?

Again, for a long time, nobody spoke. My father just stared at me, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. A couple of times, he made a few more attempts to speak, but he was still lost for words. Well, I could see he was shocked and I figured that much. I just didn't know whether it was a good shocked or a bad shocked. Why couldn't he just say something? Anything. My heart pounded, I felt my whole body begin to tremble and I could barely stand. Just as I was about to lean on the chair, my father shut his mouth.

When he did, he managed to drag his eyeballs away from me and spun around. He fixed his eyes on Sammy. I don't know what expression was on her face, but it made his eyes widen yet again. Just as I was thinking of something else to say, he slid past me towards the door. Before I had time to blink, he was gone. If he were a cartoon character, he would've left his skin behind.

There was yet another stunned silence. I felt my face fall faster than a ruined soufflé. There was a huge lump in my throat. I didn't want to say anything because I knew if I did, I would start crying.

"Why did you tell him you were a friend of Sammy's?" RJ asked me finally.

"I didn't think I could tell him who I was", I explained, my voice cracking. "I was afraid he'd react like this."

RJ took a deep breath and held out his arms. "C'mere, Fudge. I'm sorry."

I returned the hug as several sobs escaped from my throat and I let loose a flood of tears.

RJ didn't say a word. Neither did I. Neither did Sammy. All that happened was my brother held me in his arms as I cried and cried. It hurt so bad. Why didn't my birth parents want me? Why couldn't I make friends? I decided in that moment that there was something unlikable about me. Although, I couldn't imagine what it was. Even though my social skills weren't very good, I always tried to be nice and polite to people. I didn't think I could do much more than that... So, what was I doing wrong?

"You don't deserve this", Sammy whispered sympathetically, breaking the silence.

I wasn't so sure I agreed with her on that one.

"He's just a selfish b**tard!" she went on.

Okay. I agreed with that, but I was still sure I was unlikable.

I have no idea how long we were like that before the door opened yet again. I wasn't looking at who it was or even how many people there were just yet, but I was embarrassed to be seen crying.

"This your sister?"

I glanced past my brother and noticed that Their friends had just arrived. There were a few Piston Cup legends: River Scott, Junior Moon and Louise Nash. They were joined by a rusty orange pickup truck. River Scott was the one who'd spoken.

I didn't hear the answer, if RJ answered at all. He just sighed and announced, "I better take her home."

"It's fine", Sammy piped up. I guess RJ was looking at her. "These guys are here now. You just look after Fudge." I felt myself being nudged closer to Sammy and she hugged me.

"Come on, Fudge." RJ led me towards the exit; I was still crying hard.

My brother hailed a taxi outside and I was finally able to speak.

"I just wanna go home."

"Are you sure?" RJ asked me. "You were supposed to be spending the night in Thomasville. My friends were really looking forward to meeting you..."

I nodded. "I'm sure. I wanna go home."

"Okay..." He hugged me again. As we slid into the cab, he told him to take us to the airport.

The taxi ride to the airport was mostly quiet. I just kept sobbing as the scene of my father running away replayed in my mind. Although, already, I could barely remember what he looked like. It wasn't fair! How could I not be good enough for anybody? RJ tried to comfort me, but there was only one thing that would make me feel better...

Everyone in Radiator Springs was waiting for me at Flo's that evening. There was a lot of talking and laughter going on, but as soon as they all saw me, all noise stopped.

"Well?" Sheriff questioned.

I took a deep breath. I hadn't cried for a little while; Siddeley had been sympathetically silent on the ride home. Still, I was feeling pretty down.

I shook my head. "It didn't go well..." I began.

"Oh, no!" everyone exclaimed sympathetically, gathering around.

"What happened, sweetheart?" Sally wanted to know.

I recounted the whole horrible story. Everyone's eyes widened and they gasped in disbelief as my tears started up again.

"He didn't say anything?!" Lightning repeated.

I shook my head. "No. He just ran out of there like the devil was after him!"

"I'm sorry, Fudge", everyone sympathised.

The only one who didn't seem sympathetic was Luigi. As I looked over, I thought I saw him smiling. I could've sworn that his eyes were shining a little too. Even telling me he was sorry, the pure joy in his voice failed to escape my attention. Was my sadness so wonderful to him? If so, then maybe I really didn't deserve to be loved. I jerked away from him.

There was a long silence. I knew all of them felt sorry for me, but nobody knew what to say or do.

"Fudge, honey", Flo spoke up quietly, "we already ate, but there's still some mac and cheese here for you. With hot dog pieces."

I shook my head, wiping my face with the back of my hand. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry."

"(Maybe we should get you to bed)", Guido suggested gently, guiding me towards the tyre shop.

"I'm not sick!" I muttered, but I let myself be led away, resting my head up against my father- my real father's side.

I didn't protest as Guido helped me into my pyjamas and got me into bed. I just lay there and cried while Guido hugged me and shushed me gently.

When I was finally able to breathe, I uttered the words, "(I love you!)" I wanted to speak to my father in his native tongue; I felt like this would be a good time to do that, show him how much he means to me.

Guido smiled and kissed the top of my head. "(I love you too, angel. You are my very special girl... Do you know that?)"

I nodded, wiping away a tear. I petted Jennyfur, who had taken her place on my bed.

"(And that man must be extremely unintelligent if he can't see how special you are.)"

I couldn't help smiling a little bit.

Then I faltered. "(What about Luigi?)" I questioned. "(Does he still love me?)"

"(Of course he does)", Guido assured me. "(What... What makes you think he doesn't?)"

"(Well, he... he seemed happy about what happened)", I explained.

"(Fudgie! That is not true! Luigi, well... Luigi was just a little upset when you went to meet your father. I think he was just afraid he'd be replaced.)"

"(That's ridiculous! Even if today had gone well...)" More sobs came out of my mouth at those words, but I fought to keep it together. "(This guy would never ever replace you or Luigi.)"

"(I know.)" Guido kissed me. "(I promise you it was hard for him to see you hurt like this.)"

Guido comforted me as I cried a bit more. However, after a while, the phone rang.

"(Fudgie?)" he began. "(Will you be okay if I just go to answer the phone?)"

I nodded, so Guido kissed me again and left to answer it. (I later found out it was RJ, letting them know I was on my way home; he didn't know about Siddeley and his afterburners, so he didn't know I was already home.)

He'd been gone for about a minute when I heard a knock at the door before it opened a crack.

"Fudgie?" Luigi ventured, entering the room with a plate of macaroni and cheese.

"Hi..." I wept, sitting up.

"Flo insisted on making sure you don't go hungry", he explained. "She would have done it herself, but she is making sure we have the ingredients to make you pancakes tomorrow morning."

Ah, yes! Flo's legendary pancakes! Those were often a bright spot when I was feeling down.

"But you can eat a little later", my other father went on, setting the plate on my bedside table. "I want to talk to you." He took a deep breath. "I am very sorry about what happened to you today. And I am sorry for how I acted when I found out. It is just that... I was afraid I would lose you to this man. If things went well, you might have wanted him instead of me."

"Luigi!" I gave him a big hug. "You are always going to be my dad! That is never going to change! No matter what happened today! I love you!"

"I know." He returned the hug. "I love you too... That is the other thing. I didn't know how things would have gone any more than you did. I just wanted to protect you, even though I didn't know what I was protecting you from."

"Luigi!" I repeated, squeezing him tighter.

Luigi stayed with me, hugging me all night. So did Guido. I didn't really do much; just cried, cuddled them and Jennyfur and listened to "Jealous" by Labrinth. Flo came back up to see if I was okay (and if I'd eaten the mac and cheese, which I did when she got on my case!). Lightning popped in to make sure if I was okay. Sally stopped by to give me some Rocky Road ice cream.

"I think you deserve this after what you've been through today", she remarked, kissing me.

Flo made me those pancakes in the morning and everyone told me how much they loved me. They even held a We Love Fudge Day for me. They didn't really have time to plan it out, but that was okay. They asked me what I wanted to do and we had a fantastic day, watching movies, watching Lightning race, playing Cards Against Auto-manity and eating some of my favourite foods. On top of that, Sammy and RJ called to make sure I was okay and I talked to them for a long time. There was nothing overly-exciting about that day, but it was just... nice.

Needless to say, my family was great! Sure, it still hurt to remember how my father had acted, but I didn't need to be upset. With a family like this, I was the luckiest girl in the entire world!

(By the way, a few months later, I saw on the news that Dawn Hathaway was found in Spain. She was arrested and brought back to the United States. I know she's in a prison in New York, awaiting trial. Although, after what happened with my father, I am not ready to reach out to her just yet!)

Awww! Poor Fudge! :( Luckily, she has her family in Radiator Springs and Thomasville.

Her father was just shocked because he hadn't known about her. I imagine that Fudge's parents only did it once, so... Will she ever meet her mother? We'll just have to wait and see...