It's exactly four years since I went on the best holiday ever (remembering it is why I started writing this story in the first place). So, I decided to honour the occasion with a new chapter. I hope you enjoy! :)
Chapter 11- Wild Child
Luigi's POV
Dear Uncle Topolino,
We are all having a wonderful time here in the Freewheeler Islands. Fudge has been dragged me across the theme parks for the last two days. I am exhausted and feeling a little sick, but other than that, everything is fantastic!
I am sorry that was so short, but I need to go to sleep now. I told you I am exhausted. Thankfully, Fudge is too!
Love,
Luigi
The first thing I noticed when McQueen, Sally and Mater joined us for breakfast was that all three of them had big smiles on their faces. They were all talking and laughing like the good friends that they were.
"You made up?" Fillmore guessed.
The three of them nodded in confirmation.
I beamed. "Ah! I love it when my friends make up!" Not only had it just happened for them, but we had all noticed that Sarge and Fillmore seemed to be getting along much better now that they were in separate rooms. (And now that we had all agreed not to mention Sarge's outburst again.)
"Then maybe you should try it yourself", Flo suggested.
I knew what she meant. Ramone and I had barely spoken since he threw my phone in the pool. I still had not quite forgiven him for that. Now, I had no way to talk to my daughter when I was not with her. No one else would give me their phones.
Perhaps if one of my other friends had done the same thing, I would have forgiven them by now. But Ramone? I could not forgive him just yet because he is a father himself. I thought of all of my friends, he and Flo would be the most understanding.
I did not know how to respond to Flo, but thankfully, I didn't have to. That was when Fudge jumped into the conversation.
"So, what's everyone doing today?"
"I was thinking that I haven't been to Action World yet", Ramone mused. "Anyone up for that?"
Fudge grinned from ear to ear. "D'you even have to ask?"
"Another theme park?" I asked. I still had not recovered from Ocean World yesterday. I love my daughter more than anything and anyone in the whole world and I would do anything for her, but she tends to go more than a little crazy at theme parks. Going to theme parks with Fudge is not for the faint of heart. And unfortunately, I am not a very young car anymore. I was not even a young car when Fudge was born. (That was yet another reason why Fudge was so precious to me. By the time she came along, I had long since abandoned hope that I would ever have children.) Besides, I had an engine attack a few years ago.
Fudge must have been thinking the same thing because she had a worried look on her face. "You don't have to come if you don't want to!" she assured me hurriedly.
"Yeah, I can take care of her, man!" Ramone added.
"If you think I am going to take that chance after you broke my phone, you are sorely mistaken, my friend", I replied.
"Why are you so sure somethin's gonna happen to her?!" Ramone demanded. "When have I ever let anything happen to her?! You don't need to check up on her every five minutes!"
I rolled my eyes. "Well, forgive me for wanting to spend time with my daughter while we are on vacation! Besides, it is your own fault. I would not have to worry about Fudge so much if you never threw my phone in the pool."
"We both know that's not true! You worry about her all the time!"
"Well, I care about her!"
Okay. I am the first to admit that I am a little overprotective of Fudge. Even I can't deny that, but I don't understand why that is such a big deal. (Sarge had disapproved of my parenting style ever since Fudge was a baby and I refused to Ferberize her.) Any reasonable parent would care about their child's safety. My mamma always said that if no one has ever thought you were overdoing it to protect your children, then you are not doing your job.
Ramone shook his hood, annoyed. I think he was tired of arguing. "Anyone else want to come?"
Guido and Flo agreed to come too. I think they wanted to be with Fudge in case Ramone and I started arguing again. Besides, Guido is very protective of Fudge as well. Everyone else said that they would prefer to go to the beach and the aquarium.
"I think I need to spend some time with my friends, especially Mater", McQueen announced.
So, Fudge, Guido, Flo, Ramone and I left right after breakfast. Fudge barely stopped talking for a minute, she was so excited. She was determined to give every last detail to anyone who would listen. She could not stay still for very long, so it was not easy to put sunscreen on her. I could not help smiling. My daughter is so much like me when I am excited.
Although, I was still nervous. Some of the rides Fudge was describing were far too wild for me. I did not think I was going to make it to the end of the day.
"There it is!" Fudge cried. We had gotten off the ferry a half hour earlier and were driving to Action World.
My eyes widened in horror. The tops of one or two of the roller coasters appeared to be higher than some clouds. And one of them had a very steep drop. There was no way I could go on that
"Mamma Mia!" I exclaimed. It was going to be a very long day.
"Where should we go first?" Ramone wanted to know.
"Superman Escape!" Fudge cried.
"Lead the way, Fudge!" Ramone shouted.
So, she did. She sprinted off.
"Slow down, Fudgie!" I called after her. After her accident, she is not supposed to over exert herself. Her knees are not very strong anymore and neither are her lungs. She could collapse if she is not careful. Besides, I was struggling to keep up with her. (I wished I could write my phone number on the back of her hand, like I did when she was younger, just in case she got lost. But, alas, I did not have a phone anymore and the others would think it would be ridiculous for me to do that for a fifteen-year-old. I only stopped when she was thirteen, after her accident, because she was in a wheelchair and could not get lost.)
Flo laughed. "There go our children!" she commented.
I looked. Ramone was acting like a child too. He took off after Fudge, just as excited as she was. Watching him now, I was very glad that I decided to come with them.
Guido, Flo and I decided to sit out on Superman Escape. It was far too wild. Fudge and Ramone came hurrying back to us nearly half an hour later.
"That was awesome!" Fudge shrieked. Those were her most frequent words at theme parks.
"That was crazy!" Ramone added. "When it goes from zero to a hundred Ks an hour!" He shook his hood in disbelief. "Oh, man! That was great! So, where to next?"
"Wild West Falls!" Fudge was already off and running.
"Fudge!" I shouted. "Be careful!"
We all decided that we could handle Wild West Falls, so I sat with Fudge on the ride. At first, I thought it was a nice slow ride with a drop at the end. However, when we got inside of a wooden building, I was shocked to discover that we were turning around. I screamed the whole way as we went down a big drop backwards! Fudge just laughed. She was loving this!
I was right about the last drop. It was quite big and we all got very wet. Flo and I shrieked, Ramone laughed. Fudge shouted (what else?), "That was awesome!"
"Let's go on the Intergalactic Supercoaster now!" Fudge insisted the second that we were back on solid ground.
And that was the way it was for the whole morning. Fudge bounced from one ride to another, ignoring all requests for her to calm down. The only times she slowed down was when she was on a ride, but even then, she was practically bouncing in her seat. Even when she was in a line or we waiting to purchase one of those photos you get on the ride, she would just not stay still. I was worried about her.
"Now, where?" Ramone quizzed her. He had not once told her to slow down, even though everyone else had. In fact, he seemed to be encouraging her. And he tried to tell me that he could take care of her.
"Wild West Falls again!" my daughter requested. She started to run off.
"Fudge, I am not going to ask you again!" I called. "Please slow d-"
It was too late. Fudge tumbled downwards. Thankfully, Ramone was right behind her and caught her. Flo, Guido and I hurried over to them to find Fudge sprawled out on Ramone's hood, gasping for breath. Her face was a little pale too.
"You all right, chica?" Ramone asked.
"Fudgie, are you okay?!" I questioned nervously.
She sucked in a few deep breaths and nodded. "Yeah, I just got too excited." She could barely speak.
I nodded in agreement. "I told you you need to calm down, angel."
"(You must be very warm too)", Guido put in, eyeing her rainbow striped knee-high socks. She had been wearing them a lot since we got here because she had been embarrassed by her scars. Guido and I had told each other that it was just a phase and we should just be patient and not say anything. Now, I wished I had stopped her from wearing them. It was far too warm.
"I am a little", Fudge admitted.
"I'll get you some water, sweet pea", Flo offered, speeding off.
Guido checked the time on his phone. "(I think it is just about lunchtime anyway. Let's go park somewhere and all get something to eat.)"
So, that is what we did. By the time Fudge had drunk half her bottle of water, she had her breath back and she had a little more colour in her cheeks.
"I feel better now", she declared, but she still sounded a little worn out.
I frowned. "Still, I don't want to take any chances. Maybe we should go back to the resort."
"But I don't want to-" Fudge started to protest, but she broke off suddenly. She must have realised that she was pushing her luck.
"Well, Fudge needs to rest now, anyway, honey", Flo pointed out as she and Ramone returned with some food for all of us. "And she needs her medication soon, which always makes her tired. If she promises not to overdo it when she wakes up, I don't see why we can't stay."
"I promise!" Fudge insisted desperately.
Flo made a good point. Fudge did have no choice but to rest now. I just hoped that after her nap, Fudge would not go crazy again. I know Fudge well enough to have my doubts about that.
"Okay, we can stay", I agreed, albeit reluctantly. Fudge is hard to resist sometimes. "But if I even have to think about telling you to calm down again, we are leaving immediately. Do you understand?"
Fudge nodded seriously. "Yes, Papà. Grazie. And I'm sorry."
I sighed. Since my daughter is very sensitive, I added, "I am not angry at you. I think we all know that I sometimes get overexcited too." She smiled a little bit. "Papà just worries, yes? You are his little girl."
Fudge nodded again. "I know... Do you know I love you?"
"Of course", I assured her. "And you know Papà loves you too, yes?"
"Yep", she confirmed, hugging me and I hugged her back.
I was relieved that she was fast asleep after taking her medication. At least she was resting now.
I glared at Ramone. I had not wanted to make a big deal in front of Fudge, but I was very angry at him. "You said you would not let anything happen to her!" I shouted.
"Excuse me?!" he responded, as if he could not quite believe what he had just heard.
"You should not have encouraged her!" I informed him. "But she collapsed because you did!"
"That wasn't my fault!" Ramone snapped defensively.
"Of course it wasn't", Flo assured him, giving both him and me looks, silently telling us to calm down ourselves. "It wasn't really anyone's fault."
"Nothing serious happened! You worry too much!" Ramone went on. "Remember how you worried that Fudge would never walk? She's learned to walk twice! Before you ever even had children, you worried that your kids would never learn Italian! Fudge speaks Italian fluently!"
"Yes, those times I did not need to worry", I admitted, "but that does not mean I will never have to worry. What just happened to Fudge could have been much worse!"
"Hey! I'm not the one who overdid it!" Ramone countered. "That was Fudge! She chose to act like that! Why are you mad at me and not her?!"
"Fudge is a child!" I reminded him. "You are an adult and you insisted that you could take care of her! So, you should have been acting more responsibly!"
"Luigi!" Guido intervened. "(You are going to wake Fudge! You and Ramone can talk about this later.)"
I sighed. "You are right, Guido", I acknowledged. Then I looked back at Ramone. "We will talk about this later."
Ramone rolled his eyes. "I'm sure we will."
Thankfully, Fudge stuck to her promise when she woke up. I think she was still very excited, but tried very hard to control herself. She spent most of the time we were not on rides up on my roof. I felt sorry for her because she is so full of energy and having to do this was not easy for her. Still, I was proud of her for trying so hard. I did not have to tell her to calm down once for the rest of the day.
Finally, at about quarter to four, I announced, "Well, I think it is about time we went back to the resort. Is everyone ready?"
Guido, Flo and Ramone all gave firm yeses. Fudge gave me a half-hearted, "I guess so." It was obvious that she did not want to leave, but she knew that she could not really complain. We had spent the whole day here, after all, and she had been on all of her favourite rides more than once. She did not even have to go into the gift shop because she had bought souvenirs last time: a T-shirt and a keychain, which she had already attached to her backpack next to the keychain in the shape of a glittery rainbow letter F. So, she followed the rest of us.
Before long, we were back on Green Island and Signorina Sally was waiting for us with a picnic basket.
"I made sandwiches!" she announced. "I was thinking we could all have a picnic on the beach tonight and watch the sunset."
It was obvious that she felt bad about not being with us and she was determined to make up for it.
"Sounds great!" Flo declared.
"Yeah", Fudge agreed.
"It does sound wonderful", I added. "And quiet. I think Fudge needs a quiet night tonight."
"Why?"
Ramone answered before I could. "Fudge overdid it and collapsed and apparently, it was my fault."
"It was your fault!" I insisted.
"Are you okay now, Fudge?" Sally questioned, concerned.
My daughter nodded. "I'm okay now, thanks."
"So, are we going to the beach now?" Flo wanted to know.
Sally nodded. "Everyone else is already there."
And indeed they were. McQueen and Mater were at the edge of the water, playing catch with a ball (a yellow ball with a red star on it and a blue ring going around it). Sarge and Fillmore were parked nearby, talking affably. They seemed to be friends again too.
Flo, Ramone, Sally and Guido all joined the two of them.
"Hi, guys!" Fudge called, waving. She took off her socks and shoes and jogged to the water. She had fun darting away from the waves, shrieking with laughter if they got her.
I kept a very close eye on her, hoping that she would still take it easy. Fortunately, she did not run at all. She jogged a little, but that was it.
"Not too close to the water, okay, Fudge?!" I called. "It is getting dark!"
We all did this for another half hour before we were ready to eat. As we all enjoyed our sandwiches and some candy for dessert, we also enjoyed the sunset. Nobody said a word as the sky became streaked with orange, pink and purple. The waves were sparkling as the sun disappeared into the pink clouds above them. It was so beautiful. For a few minutes, I was able to forget about how much I had worried about Fudge earlier. I forgot about my fight with Ramone too.
At least until the sun was gone and McQueen asked, "So, did you guys have fun at Action World?"
Fudge nodded vigorously. "Yeah, it was awesome, wasn't it, Uncle Ramone?"
Ramone nodded too. "I had fun", he replied.
"We got souvenir photos", Fudge added, reaching into her backpack. "You're gonna love these!"
We spent nearly another hour on the beach, not in any hurry to get back to the room. First, we talked about our plans for the next day. Then Mater started up a game of tag, but I parked with Fudge because I did not want her to get involved in that. Instead, I took a photo of her where she looked like she was holding the moon in the palm of her hand.
By the time tag was over, I decided that it was time to go. "Come on, Fudgie. I think you need to go to bed early tonight."
Fudge climbed onto my roof without a word. She suppressed a yawn and her eyelids were very heavy. I knew that she was very tired, but she did not want to admit it.
"I will see you all tomorrow", I told my friends.
"Sure." They nodded understandingly. "Good night."
I tapped on Fudge's door lightly. "Are you ready for bed, angel?"
She was already in bed, her glasses on the nightstand and her eyes half-closed.
"Yeah", she yawned. "Did you hear from Uncle Red?"
"Yes; he said that Jennyfur is just fine, but she does miss you", I assured her. "He also said that Sheriff has been cuddling her, but do not tell Sheriff he told you that." Sheriff would never admit it, but he loved cats.
Fudge giggled.
I sighed again. "Okay. Time to go to sleep." I tucked her in, feeling like she was my little girl all over again. Especially since it was not even eight o'clock. I was still a little worried about her. She had her breath back, but she was tired and her face was still a little pale.
Whenever she gets like this (which, thankfully, is not very often anymore), it takes me back to those long, awful months when she was in the hospital. I had been so scared. My poor little girl had no energy, no happiness. We had no idea if she would ever walk again. Or if she would even recover at all. Of course I would never want her to overdo it, but remembering how excited she had been that morning, with that beautiful smile on her face, I cannot help feeling lucky. I can still take my daughter on vacations and to theme parks. I can still see her smile. I can still make lots of happy memories with my precious little girl.
I shook off my tension at these thoughts and gave her a kiss. "Good night, Fudge. I love you."
"Love you too, Papà", she murmured sleepily.
Slowly, I headed towards the door.
"Papà?" Fudge called after me with very little energy.
I turned around. "Yes, Fudge?"
"I'm sorry about what happened today. It wasn't Uncle Ramone's fault. You told me to calm down and I didn't. I'm sorry. I do love you."
I turned out the light. "Go to sleep, Fudge."
So, there's another chapter done. By the way, does anybody know what ball I was describing when I said that Lightning and Mater were playing with a ball?
Well, I hope you enjoyed! Please review! :)
