DISTRACTIONS: The Wedding March
Chapter 1. - Home -
Lightning McQueen drove out of his trailer and into his hometown of Radiator Springs. "Thanks Mack." Lightning said to the huge semi "I'm glad to be home."
"No problem Boss." Mack replied "I'll see you at the end of the week… Oh, I almost forgot, Doc wants to see you immediately."
Lightning looked in the direction of the Cozy Cone Hotel and sighed. "I was hoping to go see Sally first." He said "But I better go see Doc before he has a fit."
Lightning sighed contentedly as he drove down the main street. He had just raced in the twentieth race of his third racing season. Lightning had won ten races and finished no worse than forth in the rest of them. The year before, Lightning had been in a severe wreck during a race. He had sustained a crushed engine, broken axle, a severe concussion, and countless other injuries. It had taken the entire racing season for Lightning to heal and get back in shape. Occasionally there are 'off weeks' during the racing season where there are no races. Most teams go home to rest and recover. The Rust-eze/Radiator Springs team was among them. Lightning was very happy to be back on the racing circuit, although he did miss being around Sally.
Lightning drove into the hospital where he knew his crew chief Doc Hudson, would be waiting on him. "Hey Rookie." Doc said, glancing at him when Lightning rolled into his office "Did you have a good trip home?"
"Yeah." Lightning replied "Mack got me here in record time. If I didn't have to stay at the track and shoot a commercial for Rust-eze, we would have been home sooner."
"Ah, the joys of being a racecar." Doc said "I remember those… it was easier back in my days."
"Yeah, I bet you do." Lightning said "What was it like filming with dinosaurs? I bet those cave paintings took a while."
"Very funny." Doc said "I want to check your axles. I want to make sure they're holding up to the strain. There are a lot of races left in the season."
"Could we do this later?" Lightning asked "There's someone I want to see first."
"Just get on the fucking table!" Doc growled "You have a whole fucking week to spend with your fiancé."
"Fine." Lightning said, a little surprised at Doc's short-tempered remarks
"Then I'm going to see Sally, no matter what."
Ten minutes later: "Everything looks okay." Doc said "You have a little swelling in your front right axle, but it's not bad."
"That's a relief." Lightning said, rolling off the examining lift "Thanks Doc."
"You're welcome." Doc said "Since Chick got suspended for three months, I'm assuming that racing is a little easier for you and your fellow racecars."
"It's a little, but not much." Lightning said "That's what the racing league handed him once they found out that he has been lying to them. Not to mention the six weeks he's spending in jail for attacking Sally. I'm glad he's in the Phoenix City jail. I don't know if I could deal with him in town."
"That's why I requested Chick serve his sentence there." Doc said "The district attorney and the judge agreed that it would be a good idea to put some space between you and him."
"If you're done." Lightning said "I want to go see Sally. There's something I want to do with her."
"Just because we don't have a race this week, doesn't mean you can spend all your time screwing her." Doc grumbled "My rule still stands… no sex during the racing season."
"Oh come on Doc! That's not fair! I haven't seen Sally in months!" Lightning complained, Doc just glared. "Okay! We'll try to keep our tires off of each other…*flashes a toothy smile.* But I'm not going to make any promises!" Doc grumbled something under his breath as he waved Lightning away.
Lightning drove out of Doc's office, convinced that he was acting strangely for some reason. Lightning didn't know what was bothering him, but he wanted to find out. Doc was a very private car and Lightning knew if he demanded answers, Doc would become more difficult to deal with. He knew that Doc would tell him in his own time. Lightning drove to the Cozy Cone.
"I'm home!" Lightning said, smiling as he entered the office "Did you miss me?"
"Yes I did!" Sally said as she drove around her desk and hugged Lightning "Did you miss me?"
"Tremendously." Lightning said as he kissed Sally "Did you watch any of my races?"
"Of course." Sally said "Flo has watching parties, so I have only missed one of your races. Two months is too long not to see someone you love."
"I know it is." Lightning said lovingly "But before you know it, it'll be the off-season and we'll have all the time in the world to spend together."
"I can't wait." Sally said "It's not that I don't want you racing, it's just… I just miss you terribly."
"I miss you too." Lightning said "So what have you been doing while I've been away?"
"A lot of things, running the hotel and planning our wedding have kept me pretty busy." Sally said "We need to finalize some things while you're home. I've got some things planned already…I hope you don't mind."
"Don't worry about it." Lightning said "I'm not good at planning that kind of stuff anyway. What have you got done?"
"I made my part of the guest list." Sally said "I also found our caterers, our honeymoon spot, set the wedding date, and the place we're getting married."
"Oh wow!" Lightning said, slightly flustered "Where are we getting married?"
"LA!" Sally said, obviously thrilled "At the same church my parents were married in!"
"Oh, okay." Lightning said, he had wanted a small wedding here in Radiator Springs "That sounds good."
"I know!" Sally said "Hopefully, it'll bring us good luck, my parents have been married for twenty-nine years."
Just then, Lightning heard a baby start to cry. Sally drove over to a bassinet and picked up a purplish-red colored infant. The baby stopped crying as soon as Sally picked him up. He looked like an exotic hybrid of some sort.
"Who's this?" Lightning asked "He's very cute."
"This is Giovanni Lorenzo Schumacher, Zoë and Michael's baby. I volunteer to watch him when Zoë and Michael are both seeing patients or performing surgery." Sally said as she looked at the clock on the wall behind her desk "He's hungry. Do you want to hold him while I go heat up a bottle?"
"Sure, I can do that." Lightning said as Sally gently set Giovanni on his hood "We might have kids, so I can get some practice in."
Sally headed to the breakroom to heat up a bottle, leaving Lightning alone with the baby. Up close, Lightning could see that Giovanni was an excellent combination of his parents. He wondered if Zoe and Michael would allow him to race when he gets older. Lightning knew that Michael comes from a racing family and did some racing when he was younger but quit when he got into medical school. Sally returned a few minutes later.
"How old is he?" Lightning asked "Zoe was still pregnant when I saw her last."
"A little over six weeks. Sally said after she thought about it for a few moments "He was born a few days after you and Doc left."
"Doc was with me the entire time." Lightning said "Who delivered him? Where was Michael? I hope Zoe didn't have to do it herself."
"She didn't. Michael was out of town at the time. You haven't had the chance to meet the town's midwife." Sally said as she picked up Giovanni, placed him on a nursing pillow and, put the nipple of the bottle in his mouth. Giovanni hungrily sucked on it. "Her name is Isabelle."
"A mid…what?" Lightning asked "What is that?"
"A midwife." Sally said as Lightning looked at her blankly "A car that has been trained to deliver babies."
"Oh, I knew that." Lightning said "I was just checking."
"Sure you did Stickers." Sally said "The town is growing and Zoë needed help with delivering all the babies. We're in a middle of a baby boom. We had five babies born in the last month alone."
"I knew the town was growing." Lightning said "I just didn't know how."
"Well, it's all thanks to you." Sally said "You have done such a good job of promoting this place, everybody wants to move here. The town council just approved a plan for fifty new condos… and I think half of them are already sold."
"I see that the Cozy Cone is growing too." Lightning said "It looks like business is booming."
"Yeah, I've added twenty more cones." Sally said "The cone is fully booked for the next six weeks. Thanks to you, my dream is finally coming true."
"I really didn't do anything." Lightning said "All I said was how wonderful this little town is."
"Well that was enough to put this place back on the map. Not to change the subject, but we need to talk about our wedding plans." Sally said before kissing him "My guest list has two hundred and fifty cars on it, so don't you dare leave anyone off your list."
"Did you just say two hundred and fifty? " Lightning asked faintly "I wasn't expecting that many."
"It didn't start out like that. But I kept adding people and the list just kept growing." Sally said "I've wanted a big wedding my whole life!"
"Well it looks to me like you're getting your wish." Lightning said, trying his hardest to sound happy. "When's our wedding day?"
"October twenty sixth." Sally said "I really didn't want it to be much later than that. You know I hate cold… I know what you're going to say, but LA does get cold in the winter."
"Oh." Lightning said as his stomach twisted painfully "That's really soon, it's already mid-July."
"The sooner the better!" Sally said happily "The press has gotten word of our wedding, so security is going to be tight."
"Are you kidding me?" Lightning said "I was hoping they wouldn't notice."
"Light, you're a world-famous racecar. I highly doubt our wedding is going to escape the press's attention. You did propose to me in front of everyone." Sally said "I have invited Kori Turbowitz and a few long lens camera-vans to the wedding, nothing to close... Are you ok with it?"
"I guess that's ok with me." Lightning said "I know we can't keep them out."
"There are a few details that we need to agree on and then I'll let Kori know." Sally said "And guess where we're going on our honeymoon?"
"Where?" Lightning asked, not sure if he really wanted to know. "Let me guess, someplace warm?"
"Yeah, Mexico! The last time your mom was here she brought pictures and I fell in love with them." Sally said "It's a very exclusive resort. With her help I was able to get us a suite. They only had one left and it was only available from October twenty seventh through November seventh."
"I figured she would get involved." Lightning said as Giovanni was done with his bottle. "Dad wants to pay for the honeymoon, no matter how much it costs. So please let him know, that way he won't call me every other day asking if we have made a decision."
"I can do that." Sally said as she sat Giovanni back on Lightning's hood. "Here you burp him."
"Sally, I don't know how to burp a baby." Lightning said "I don't want to hurt him."
"Here I'll show you." Sally said "Just lay him down and pat on his back window until he burps." Gently, Lightning laid the baby on the pillow.
Lightning started patting Giovanni. He liked the idea of going to Mexico, but he didn't want to go four days after the championship race. Lightning knew he would be still jacked up. With the wedding so soon after… his stress levels were going to be off the charts and knew he wouldn't be able to enjoy it.
"I can call your parents in a few days." Sally said "Does everything else sound good to you?"
"Yeah." Lightning lied, trying to seem happy with the news "It sounds good."
"Great." Sally said smiling "It took forever to organize all that. The security firm that I hired will not add much more to the budget." Lightning new that their wedding was already costing over a million dollars.
"Budget? I didn't think there was one." Lightning said "I want you to be happy."
"I know, I know, but I feel guilty that you're paying for most of it." Sally said "Now that the hotel is fully booked, I can help with some of the expenses. Dad is buying me and the wedding party's paintjobs. Ramone has already agreed to do them. Sometime this week, you need to head over to the shop and let him know what you want to wear. Our moms are working with the florists, and whatever else I need done."
"I told you not to worry about the expenses. I promise to give you everything you want." Lightning said getting flustered "Are you sure you don't want me…"
"BUUUURRRRP!" Giovanni belched "BURP!... BURP!"
"…to hire a wedding planner to help you?" Lightning asked "Holey crap! This kid is full of gas!"
"If you think that's impressive." Zoë said coming through the office door. "You should hear his father after he's had a couple of beers."
"No… not mister perfect manners!" Lightning said playfully "It might ruin his image of being a perfect gentleman."
"Oh you'll be surprised." Zoë said playfully "Michael might be well behaved in public. But behind closed doors, he's just as nasty as rest of you guys."
"We're supposed to be nasty and smelly, the smellier the better." Lightning said "It's what makes us guys…guys." Sally rolled her eyes as she picked Giovanni up to put him in his carrier.
"TOOOOOOOT!" Giovanni farted and smiled "TOOOOOOOT!"
"Yep, he's a male." Zoë said "He's going to be gassy just like his father."
"I need to teach him to fart like a guy." Lightning said "If you can't clear a room with it, then it isn't a fart."
"Light, that's terrible." Sally said "And gross."
"Yeah, I know, it's great isn't it?" Lightning asked "I love it when you girls roll in to the room and think something has died."
Zoë laughed at the exchange as Sally glared at him. "Thanks again for watching him." Zoe said "Some days you are a life saver."
"Bring him over anytime." Sally said "He keeps me company when I'm doing paperwork… I just gave him a bottle; he should be good for a while."
"Congratulations Zoë!" Lightning said "He's super cute."
"Thanks Light." Zoë said "And welcome home." Zoë left with the baby.
"Are you sure you don't want me to hire a wedding planner to help you?" Lightning asked again "I don't want you wearing yourself out."
"No, I want to do it." Sally said "With our moms helping, I've not been overwhelmed."
"Don't let mom get crazy with the planning." Lightning said in a voice he could only hope was convincing "She has a habit of doing that. Anyway, I'm going to go see Mater. I haven't talked to him in a while."
"That sounds like a good idea," Sally said "He's been lonely without you here."
Lightning backed out of the office and drove down to Mater's lot. He saw the tow truck fast asleep under a tree that had seen better days. "Mater!" Lightning said "Wake up!"
Mater slowly opened his eyes. When he saw it was Lightning, he jumped fully awake. "Hey Bud!" Mater said "Yur home!"
"Yeah I'm home." Lightning said, almost glumly "I almost wish I wasn't."
"What's wrong?" Mater asked "I'm sure we can finxin it."
"It's nothing really." Lightning replied "It's just… the wedding arrangements, none of them work for me. I think I'm just being selfish. The wedding is only four days after the championship race... I'm already going to be stressed about that. I'll be even more stressed out about the wedding. And the way Doc has been acting, has me worried about him. We would love for him to marry us, but I just don't know."
"Well…" Mater said, obviously thinking hard "Why don't you just tell Miss Sally how you feeln'?"
"I can't… she's so excited." Lightning sighed "She's been working really hard on it, so I can't say that the timing is all wrong. I'll just have to deal with it."
"But…you won't be happy." Mater said slowly "It's your' weddin' too."
"I'll be happy once it's all over." Lightning said "Sally and I will settle down and have our happily ever after."
"Well, I still reckon you outta tell Miss Sally." Mater said "I'm your best friend, I'll stick by you no matter what."
"Thanks, Mater." Lightning said "So what have you been up to while I been gone?"
"Well, nuthin' much really." Mater drawled "I went tractor tippin' a couple times, but then Frank got Luigi so I decided to stop for a while."
"Frank got Luigi?" Lightning asked, taking a quick intake of breath "Is he okay?"
"I reckon so." Mater said "He got nicked on the rear bumper, Dr. Schumacher sowed him up real good. The threads come out next week."
"Oh." Lightning said, making a mental note to go see Luigi "Well you be careful. I don't want you getting hurt."
"Awwwww, I'm A-Okay Bud." Mater said happily "I reckon nobody could catch me 'cept you."
"Maybe so." Lightning laughed "Hey, while I'm here, I wanted to ask you something."
"Okay Bud." Mater said "Fire away."
"Since your my best friend." Lightning said "Will you be my best man at my wedding?"
"Of course I will!" Mater exclaimed happily "I'd be honored ta be in urs and Miss Sally's weddin'!"
"Thanks Mater!" Lightning said, happy that he was getting something he wanted "I appreciate it."
"No problem, Bud." Mater said as a bell mounted on a dead tree started ringing. "Oh! "I've gotta go tow someone! I'll see ya later!"
"Okay, Mater." Lightning said "I'll see you later."
COMMENTS:
I have a few.
Sorry this came out so late in the day, I had serval last minute changes.
For a while, chapters will come out every other week. I've been dealing with an unexpected illness. My strength hasn't returned yet and I tire quickly.
Ideas are always welcome. However, I'm going to be very picky about witch ones i will use.
I do not own Cars or any of its characters. PIXAR AND DISNEY CLAIM THAT RIGHT. READING ENJOYMENT ONLY
Please read and review! I need criticism and encouragements! Rated M for language and sex.