I didn't have many ideas for this one, but I thought it would be a cute story.
Bedtime for Fudge
Fudge Rossi-Topolino was knelt down on the floor in the living room, playing with some stuffed animals. Her dads weren't entirely sure what kind of game she was playing. They could never really follow the three-year-old's thoughts.
It didn't really matter, anyway. Guido and Luigi had been busy keeping an eye on the time and now, it was time for their daughter to stop playing.
"Okay, Fudgie!" Luigi called out. "It is time to put your toys away!"
"But I'm still playing!" the three-year-old protested.
"No you are not", Luigi told her. "We said you could play for half an hour after we got back from Flo's. Now, it is time to get you ready for bed."
"But I'm not sleepy!" Fudge moaned.
"Well, Papà and Babbo are sleepy and we have to get you into bed before we can go."
"But why?"
"(Because we can get ourselves to sleep)", Guido pointed out, picking up his daughter's toys. "(You need help. Now, come on! Help me pick up these toys and then, you are going to have a bath.)"
Instead of helping, Fudge jumped up, trying to reach for her toys. "No, no, no, no, NO!" she shouted.
"Fudgie." Guido tried to sound gentle, but firm. "(It is time to have a bath. You don't need toys in the bath. If you are good, I will let you take one to bed with you.)"
"Okay..." Fudge agreed reluctantly.
Guido held out one of his forks to his daughter and, still pouting, she grabbed hold of it, letting her dad lead her out of the living room and in the direction of the bathroom.
Fudge looked a little nervous as Luigi started filling the tub with warm water. It wasn't too long ago that little Fudge was so small, her dads were bathing her in the kitchen sink. The tub was a recent thing, so the three-year-old wasn't quite used to it yet and still a little afraid of the size of it.
However, when Guido pulled Fudge's shirt over her head, she forgot to be scared and started complaining again.
"I don't want a bath!" she moaned.
"(I know you don't, angel)", Guido sympathised, taking off his daughter's jeans, "(but Guido and Luigi want a nice, clean Fudgie... Don't you want to be nice and clean?)"
"(I am nice and clean!)" the three-year-old shouted, trying to stop her dad from taking off her diaper (she was a little behind with toilet training because the other residents of Radiator Springs were all cars and, much as they were trying, struggled to show her how to use a toilet).
"(No, no! Fudgie is very dirty)", Guido insisted, finally managing to remove his squirming daughter's diaper. He gave her a kiss. "(Fudgie is very, very dirty,)"
Fudge looked down. "(Where? Where am I dirty?)"
"(Everywhere)", Guido replied, picking her up to place her in the bath. "(That is why you need a bath.)"
Fudge glanced down at herself again. "(I can't see anything.)"
"(You can't see it)", Luigi explained, starting to get her wet. "(Now, that is enough, Fudge. You are having a bath, whether you like it or not.)"
So, Fudge let her dads bathe her. Not that she had much choice. Sometimes, she squirmed a little, but one of them would just hold hold her still while the other washed her.
"(That wasn't so bad, was it?)" Guido quizzed Fudge as he picked her up out of the bath and wrapped her up in a warm, fluffy towel, fresh from the dryer. Luigi had just left to get her pyjamas.
"(I didn't like it)", she muttered.
"(Well, it is over now)", Guido pointed out.
"(But now, I have to go to bed!)"
"(That's right)", the little blue forklift confirmed, commencing the task of drying Fudge off.
"(How come I have to go to bed now and everyone else gets to stay up super late?)"
"(Because you are only little)", Guido explained simply, rubbing the towel across her hair. The residents of Radiator Springs said this to her all the time.
"(It's not fair!)" The three-year-old pouted. "(How come everyone else is big and I'm only little?!)"
"(You will be big one day too, Fudge. Everyone was little once.)"
"(Really? Were you and Papà little like me?)" Fudge was amazed.
"Si", Guido replied. "(We have been best friends since we were little like you.)"
"(Was everyone else little too?)"
"(Yes. I didn't know them then, but they must have been... If you get into bed, I will tell you what Luigi and I were like when we were little.)"
"Okay!" Fudge probably would've agreed to anything to hear what her dads were like when they were little.
Since she didn't want to take off her clothes, getting Fudge to put on some clothes was no problem. Luigi was able to dress her in a clean diaper and pyjamas quickly and easily.
What came next was difficult.
"Okay." Luigi scooped her up and carried her into the direction of her bedroom. "Time for bed!"
"No, no, no; I'm not sleepy!" Fudge shouted.
"Well, we are", Luigi insisted, opening the door and depositing the girl into her bed.
"(Fudgie, don't you want to hear a story?)" Guido questioned. "(About when Papà and I were your age?)"
"(Story!)" Fudge requested eagerly. "(Story! Story!)"
"(Okay; get into bed)", Guido instructed.
Once Fudge had pulled the covers up to her chin, her dads told her all kinds of stories about their childhood, growing up in Italy.
"So, Italy is a real place?" Having never been out of Radiator Springs in her short life, Fudge had no idea which places were real and which ones were not.
Luigi smiled wistfully, remembering his beloved Italy. "It is very real. I promise we will go one day." He and Guido had only been back once since they moved to America. They'd been about to go back a second time, but then, the Interstate was built, wiping the town off the map and eliminating their main source of income. Sadly, they still weren't able to afford to go back to Italy. (Though, their relatives had come over a couple of times; most recently when Fudge was eight months old.) They could only hope that someday, their daughter would see the beautiful country where they grew up.
"When? Tomorrow?"
Luigi laughed. "No, not tomorrow. But someday." Not wanting to talk about it anymore, he gave his daughter a kiss. "It is time for you to go to sleep. Good night, angel. I love you so much!"
"(Sweet dreams, Fudgie)", Guido added, also kissing her.
The two Italians crept towards the door quietly and switched off the light. They paused for a moment to see their daughter's face lit up by the glow-in-the-dark moon and star stickers and the nightlight (sleeping by herself was a recent thing too, so she was still afraid of that as well). Satisfied when they saw her blue eyes closing, they rolled out of the room, leaving the door open just a crack, and headed back to the living room.
Foolishly, Guido and Luigi believed that their work was done. They headed back into the living room and were trying to figure out what they should do next when...
"Hi!" a little voice called out.
Both of them turned around.
"Fudge, you are supposed to be in bed", Luigi reminded her.
"I can't sleep", Fudge protested innocently. She jumped onto the couch.
"Oh, no!" Luigi picked her back up. "Back to bed. It is too late for you to stay up."
"But I said I can't sleep!" the three-year-old repeated.
"Well, you are going to have to try."
Luigi tucked her back into bed and sang to her. He sang her favourite song, one he'd made up about how he and Guido travelled to America where they made lots of wonderful friends and adopted the best little girl in the world.
By the time he finished the song, Fudge seemed relaxed, so he kissed her and rolled out of the room again.
"(Is she asleep?)" Guido questioned.
Luigi nodded. "(I think so.)"
Guido smiled. "(Good... I recorded the latest Ferrari race. Do you want to watch?)"
Of course Luigi wanted to watch. The two of them settled into the living room to watch the Ferraris they loved so much.
However, after about fifteen minutes, Luigi's attention wasn't on the race.
"(Is something wrong?)" Guido wanted to know.
The Fiat frowned. "(What is that noise?)"
Guido frowned too, listening carefully. "(I don't hear anything.)"
Luigi turned the volume down and they both listened. It was kind of a squeaky, creaking noise. Now that they could hear it properly, they could guess what that noise was.
In under a minute, Luigi was back in Fudge's room. Sure enough, the little girl was jumping on the bed. She tried to stop and get into bed when her dad came in, but he wasn't fooled.
"What is going on in here?!" he demanded.
"I was just playing!" Fudge protested innocently.
"Well, don't play! You should be asleep!"
"But I can't sleep!" Fudge informed him again.
"Jumping on the bed won't help!" he scolded her. "And it is dangerous! I don't want you jumping on the bed again! Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now, go to sleep." Luigi switched the light out one more time.
All was quiet for another half hour. The two Italians were finally beginning to relax, but then there came that squeaky creaking again.
Luigi groaned. "(I just told her not to jump on the bed!)" He was about to rush up there, but Guido stopped him.
"(I will take care of it)", the forklift offered.
Luigi smiled gratefully. "Grazie."
So, Guido hurried up to his daughter's bedroom. Unfortunately, right when he was about to open the door, he heard a loud thud. This was followed by even louder crying.
"Fudgie!" he exclaimed. He raced inside and scooped his daughter up. "(Where does it hurt?)"
Bawling her eyes out, Fudge pointed to her head, her wrist and her knee.
That was when Luigi came in. "Were you jumping on the bed again?!"
Fudge nodded, clearly ashamed.
"What did I just say?!" Luigi demanded.
"'Were you jumping on the bed again?!'" Fudge told him. She wasn't trying to be smart or sassy; she just took his question literally. She was only three, after all.
Luigi shook his hood.
Guido checked her over. "(I don't think she is hurt too badly)", he observed.
"(Still, I don't want to take any chances)", Luigi insisted. "(Let's go see Doc.)"
"Nothin' serious", Doc reported. "Just a couple of bumps. She doesn't even need any Band-Aids or medication. You're free to take her home."
Luigi nodded. "Grazie, Doc."
"But no more monkeys jumpin' on the bed!" Doc scolded the little girl. "You got that?"
Fudge nodded.
"Fudge, I warned you this would happen", Luigi put in. "Next time, it could be much worse. Don't you ever jump on the bed again! If I tell you not to do something, it is for your own good."
Fudge shrank back. "I'm sorry."
Luigi sighed. He still wasn't happy, but she said she was sorry, so there was no need to keep going on about it. He wasn't entirely convinced that Fudge wouldn't jump on the bed again, but there was nothing he could do about it, really. "Let's go home. You should have been asleep hours ago."
By the time, the three of them had returned to Casa Della Tires, Luigi's concern for Fudge had worn off. Even worse for her, so had his patience.
Now, quite a while ago, Guido and Luigi had both promised Fudge and each other that they would never ever smack their daughter. To them, it seemed hypocritical. They wanted to teach her by example to solve problems with words, not violence. Besides, Guido had been abused as a child, so they agreed that they could never smack Fudge.
However, that night, for the first time, Luigi was tempted. Instead, the second Fudge was back in bed, he let her have it.
"I have had just about enough of your silliness for one night, Fudge!" he scolded her, raising his voice, which frightened the child. "I do not want you getting out of bed again for the rest of the night! Just lie down and go to sleep! If I have to come up here again, you are going to be in very big trouble! Do you understand?"
Fudge nodded, almost in tears. Since she was still very young, she hadn't gotten into trouble that much in her life. But now, her family decided that she was old enough to know right from wrong and would now discipline her. And she didn't like that one bit.
"Good." Luigi switched the light out. "Good night, Fudge."
He was about to close the door (not all the way; just enough to let a little light in) when Fudge cried, "Wait!"
Luigi groaned. "What now?"
"I'm thirsty!"
The Fiat let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. I will get you a glass of water. I will get it", he repeated emphatically. "Don't even think about moving."
So, he left.
Fudge waited. And waited. And waited. She had a digital clock in her room and, even though she didn't fully understand what those blinking red numbers meant, she could see the numbers getting higher and higher. Where was Luigi? He should be back with her water by now, right?
"Papà?" Fudge called out since he'd told her not to move.
There was no answer.
She waited a few moments before trying again, a little louder. "PAPÀ!"
Still no answer.
Deciding to risk it, Fudge grabbed her stuffed animal, got up out of bed and crept down the hallway.
"Papà?" she kept calling. "PAPÀ!"
Every single time, she was met with silence.
The light was still on in the living room and so was the TV, so maybe he was in there.
Well, Fudge was right about that, but she was surprised to find that Luigi wasn't getting her water. Both he and Guido had fallen asleep right there in the living room!
For a moment, Fudge considered waking him up for the water. However, by then, Fudge was so tired too! So, she curled up by Luigi's tyres, cuddled her stuffed animal and, within a few minutes, she, too, was fast asleep.