Hi, guys! Hope you're still reading and enjoying... Will Luigi still be mad at Fudge? Why is he mad at Fudge? Does anybody know?

Chapter 19- Pools, A Spy and Some Parasailing

Guido's POV

Dear Guidoni,

The vacation has not been going so well the last couple of days. Luigi is not talking to Fudge for some reason. (He won't tell anyone why.) Still, I am hoping that by the end of the day, they will have everything resolved, especially since Luigi did something else very surprising today.

Everything else is great, though. I am having fun and the weather has been perfect. I hope to see you soon.

Ciao!

Your cousin,

Guido.

After buying some prints of Ramone's photos, we headed off to get some breakfast. Nobody was expecting breakfast to be much fun when Luigi still refused to talk to Fudge. A couple of times, Fudge made some attempts to talk to him, but he just kept blowing her off. Each failed attempt made Fudge look like she was about to burst into tears. None of us knew what to do about it; mainly because we didn't know the whole story. Luigi kept insisting that Fudge knew what she did. Fudge swore up and down that she didn't. (I had spent almost the entire time with Luigi and even I didn't know what this whole thing was about.)

"I've got an idea", Flo spoke up, still managing to sound cheerful despite the tension. "Instead of going to the buffet, why don't we get some food from the little café on the other side of the resort and take our food to the beach?"

Everyone agreed to this right away. At least that way, we could just watch the waves and wouldn't have to suffer a meal in uncomfortable silence. So, to the café we went.

Things did get a little uncomfortable, though, when Fudge decided to order a chocolate croissant.

I frowned at Luigi. "(Are you sure it is okay for her to eat that?)" Normally, we didn't like her eating junk food, especially for breakfast. Back home, we didn't even allow her to have Pop-Tarts. Besides, if we were on vacation, she might have a lot of junk food later on in the day.

Luigi sighed impatiently. "(Let her eat whatever she wants, Guido! I would hate to say no to her!)"

Fudge looked hurt and a little confused. "(I don't have to have it)", she offered. She almost sounded afraid.

"(No. Have it.)" Luigi didn't sound happy, though. In fact, he sounded very indifferent.

So, Fudge kept her chocolate croissant and we all headed towards the beach. Thankfully, that was the only awkward or unpleasant moment. Luigi and Fudge stayed as far away from each other as they could and we watched the waves in a somewhat comfortable silence.

Finally, the silence was broken by Luigi.

"Well, this was very nice, but I suppose I should be going now. Come on, Guido."

Reluctantly, I followed. I felt bad for leaving Fudge, but I was curious as to what Luigi was up to.

"(I will see you later, okay, angel?)" I whispered gently.

Fudge looked a little hurt by my leaving, but she nodded. I could tell that she was hoping I could find out what was going on with Luigi.

"Try not to worry about it too much, honey", I heard Flo try to comfort her. "I'm sure he'll come around soon. Besides, we've only got four days left of our vacation. Try to enjoy them."

I caught up to Luigi by the adults only pool.

"(You really want to go in here?)" I asked in surprise. All vacation, he would be horrified at the thought of going in the adults only pool since Fudge wouldn't be able to find him there.

He nodded. "Why not?"

I sighed. "(Exactly how long are you planning on ignoring Fudge?)" I demanded.

"(Until the end of the vacation)", he replied. "(Or until she apologises. Whichever comes first.)"

"(What on Earth did she do?)" I questioned for about the fiftieth time.

"(Did she ask you to ask me?)" he countered. "(I heard she doesn't even know, but how could she not know? She really hurt me. She should know!)"

That was the thing I couldn't figure out. I didn't see how whatever Fudge did could be a little thing since it wasn't like Luigi to get like this, especially not with Fudge. On the other tyre, however, I couldn't see how it could be a big thing either. If Fudge had really done something as nasty as Luigi made it out to be, then surely, she would remember it, wouldn't she? (I believed her when she said she didn't know. Fudge is usually honest and I can always tell when she's lying to me. Besides, she did seem genuinely confused.)

There wasn't much I could do about it, though. So, I decided to try to relax. I was still on vacation, after all. The weather was perfect and the pool looked very inviting. All I could do was hope that Fudge found something to do to enjoy herself and forget about the problems she was having with her Papá. Besides, I will admit, Luigi and I do worry about Fudge a little too much. I love her more than life itself; I really do, but it was nice to spend some time not worrying about her.

Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy it for long. Just as I was thinking how nice it was, I looked over at the opaque glass wall that surrounded the adults only pool and spotted some familiar dark curls in the bushes.

"Fudge?" I whispered.

A pause followed. Then I heard, "Yeah?"

"(What are you doing?)" I questioned. Then I figured it out. "(Are you trying to find out why Papá is so upset?)"

"", she admitted sheepishly.

I had to smile. "(I don't blame you)", I assured her gently, "(but you are really not supposed to be here.)"

By then, Luigi realised what was happening. "Fudge, just go and find something to do! You should not be here and you are wasting your time."

"What should I do?"

"Anything", he replied.

"Anything?!" Fudge repeated, surprised. It wasn't at all like Luigi to tell her she could do anything she wanted. He was far too overprotective of her.

"Yes, anything!" Luigi answered, starting to lose patience. "Just go have fun!"

For a brief moment, I contemplated adding the words within reason. In the end, I decided not to. For one thing, Fudge had disappeared, so there was no point. (That was a good thing, though. A lifeguard had also figured out what was going on and was coming over to get rid of her.) For another, without her Papá's never-ending list of Dos and Don'ts, she could really have some fun. I wasn't too concerned; my daughter was too much of a goody-goody to do anything too wild.

As a compromise, though, I decided to climb out of the pool; grab my phone and send her a message, saying, Don't hesitate to call or text.

A few minutes later, I got a response, reading, I won't. I love you, Babbo.

While I was doing that, Luigi sighed and shook his hood at the RV couple nearby, whom we had seen around the resort. "Teenagers!"

The woman- Winnie, I believe her name was- nodded sympathetically. "I know how you feel. We had three of them. When they were teenagers, I couldn't stop wondering whatever happened to my sweet little kids."

Luigi nodded in agreement. Okay, obviously, Fudge had done something to upset him and, of course, she had her moments of driving us crazy, as all teenagers do (although, Luigi and I were quite lucky that she wasn't so bad), but I didn't like the way he was treating her or talking about her. What happened to the Papà that saw Fudge through rose-tinted glasses? Who would give her lots and lots of instructions every time they separated? Who was always there for her, whether she needed him or not? I didn't know, but I didn't like that he was gone and I didn't know when he was coming back.

"Luigi!" I hissed.

Before I could go on, though, I caught another glimpse of Fudge. This time, however, she was not spying right outside the wall. She was off in the distance, heading towards the small dock where speedboats are jet skis departed. She was not alone either. The friends she had made the other day were with her: Avery the yellow Porsche; Carlotta the Fiat; Antonio the human and a few others whose names I could not remember.

"(Where is she going?)" I wondered. Again, I was not overly worried. I knew that Fudge knew and would stick to the limits we would normally give her. The other children seemed nice too, but I didn't know them very well. I was unsure about letting my daughter go off with them. Then again, I thought my daughter needed some friends her own age and the resort staff kept a close eye on children. (In fact, I thought that some of them kept too close an eye on them. They seemed to think that any and all unsupervised minors were automatically up to no good.) How much trouble could they really get into?

Still, I decided that Luigi ought to know about it.

"(She will be fine!)" He waved a tyre dismissively. "(And I would hate to ruin her fun. She would hate me forever.)"

"(Fudge does not hate you!)" I insisted. "(She thinks you hate her.)"

Instead of answering, Luigi announced, "(Well, the others are all at the beach. Let's go and join them.)"

That's when I realised what he'd been doing. "(You mean we have just been here all morning, so you could avoid Fudge?!") I asked incredulously.


The others seemed to be having a good time on the beach. Lightning and Sally were parked by the water, looking like they were enjoying not doing much of anything. Flo and Ramone were in the water, splashing happily. Sarge seemed perfectly content as he and Fillmore helped the Blumenthal-Dunn kids build sandcastles. He even told them about some military tactics that they could use to defend their castles, making the kids laugh. It surprised me to see how good Sarge was with children. Not that he was ever terrible with Fudge; he changed her diapers okay and would stop her from hurting herself. It was just that with so many of us around and the fact that he never liked to show his softer side, he never really spent much one on one time with her and he certainly did not play with her like he was now. I felt kind of bad that she missed out on this side of Sarge. How come he could play with some strangers' children, but not his own niece?

"Ciao!" Luigi and I greeted them all casually.

"Hey, guys!" the others replied in unison.

"Where's Fudge?" Flo wanted to know. "We thought she was with you."

I shook myself.

Ramone sighed. "I guess that means you're still mad at her." He was, of course, looking at Luigi.

Luigi nodded. "I am leaving Fudge free to enjoy her vacation the way she wants", he responded coolly.

"That sure doesn't sound like you", Ramone remarked.

"Well, obviously, I should do that", Luigi insisted.

"Why do you say that?" Flo wanted to know.

Instead of answering, Luigi had a question his own: "Where is Mater?"

We got our answer when we heard a yell above us. "WHEE-HOO!"

I looked up to find Mater high in the air, attached to a colourful parasail.

I smiled. "(I see he has recovered from his fears)", I commented.

Lightning nodded in agreement. "Holley talked some sense into him when she was here. He realised that he was missing out on all the fun, so now, he's back to his usual crazy self."

"And then some", Sarge put in. He tried to look annoyed, but he was smiling.

"He does seem to be making up for the time he was afraid", Sally agreed, smiling. "I'm sure he'll be able to cram two weeks worth of vacation into four days."

"If anyone can, it is Mater", Luigi agreed with a laugh.


A few minutes later, Mater returned.

"Dad-gum!" he exclaimed. "That was fu-un!"

"I see you are no longer afraid", Luigi observed.

"Afraid?!" Mater repeated incredulously. "I can't be afraid! Y'know, I used to be the greatest daredevil of all time! Mater the Greater!"

"Yes, we know", Sarge pointed out. We had all heard that story one too many times.

"Well, anyway, parasailin' is awesome! Y'all gotta try it!" Mater insisted. "Anyone wanna go?! They is takin' more people right now!"

"No way!" Flo and Sally answered in unison.

"No, thanks. I'm happy here", Lightning replied.

"Me too", Sarge added.

"Me three", Fillmore chimed in.

Ramone grinned. "I'll do it!"

Flo stared at her husband as if he had just agreed to play with knives and fire.

I nodded enthusiastically. It sounded like fun and who knew when I would get another chance?

"Luigi?" Mater asked, seeing as he was the only one who had not said anything.

I knew Luigi well enough to know that he would turn the offer down. He was afraid of heights and he panicked at the thought of Fudge wanting to do these kinds of things. (She thought it looked like fun; he thought they were a death trap.) There was no way he would-

"Okay. Why not?"

I did not do a very good job of hiding my surprise. "(What?!)" I exclaimed shrilly.

Fortunately, I was not the only one who was surprised. Sally had the exact same reaction as I did. I heard McQueen gasp. Fillmore's jaw actually dropped.

"You are gonna go parasailing?" Sarge asked. He managed not to sound incredulous, but he did sound sceptical.

Luigi shrugged. "(I must be out of my mind, but if you all think I worry too much, then I want to prove you wrong.)"

Okay. I was beginning to get the picture that his worrying, overprotective nature had something to do with the problems he was having with Fudge... but what? Had she complained? Although, she had done that before (pointing out- sometimes diplomatically, sometimes sounding a little more whiny- that she was not a baby anymore) and Luigi never acted like this. Something deeper was going on.

However, Mater, who knew almost no Italian and had no idea what Luigi and I were saying, grinned. "Well, then, let's go! I promise, this is gonna be dad-gum awesome!"

"(Are you sure you want to do this?)" I quizzed Luigi. I had known Luigi all my life and nearly all of his. This was someone who had a panic attack every time he flew. He wouldn't even use the balance beam when we were children. I knew Luigi and I knew that, with every fibre of his being, he did not want to do this.

He nodded, not looking sure at all.


When we arrived at the dock to get strapped in and receive a safety briefing from the speedboat, whose name was Ray, Luigi looked like he wished he could be anywhere else, anywhere at all. (By the way, Luigi and I were going together with Ray while another speedboat took Mater and Ramone.)

"(It is not too late to change your mind)", I reminded him.

"No!" he almost shouted. Then he must have realised how forceful he sounded. "(I mean, no. I want to do this.)"

"Are you ready?!" Ray shouted to us. "Three... two... one..."

He took off.

At first, things were all right as we rode through the water. Fortunately, it was perfectly calm, so I didn't feel seasick. Luigi was another story, though. I could already hear him breathing heavily. I didn't even need to look at him to know how terrified he was. I thought I heard him mutter, "At least no one can say I don't make sacrifices for my daughter."

That struck me as odd. We all knew that Luigi would do anything for Fudge; he had made plenty of sacrifices for her before and he was an amazing father... Why did he feel the need to prove himself, especially when Fudge wasn't even here?

Before I could question it further, we were off the back of the boat and in the air. I let out a cry of delight while Luigi screamed.

The view was amazing. Most of what lay stretched out in front of us was clear blue water. Occasionally, the water was interrupted by islands with white sand. In the distance, I could see dolphins leaping and jet skis bouncing across the water. The only sounds I could hear were Luigi screaming, the wind buffeting around me and the droning of the speedboat.

And how did I feel? Fantastic! I felt like I was flying! I had never really given much thought to what it would be like to fly before, but now, I knew. It was euphoric!

"DAD-GUM!" I heard a familiar voice shout. "LUIGI! GUIDO! HI!"

I turned to see Mater waving madly, having the time of his life. Ramone was also having fun; I could tell.

Luigi had his eyes closed. Well, I could understand that. He was afraid of heights and had done this reluctantly (no matter what he said, I knew Luigi and I knew that he did not want to go parasailing).

"AIN'T THIS FUN?!" Mater called to us.

Luigi opened his eyes and opened his mouth to respond, but he never got any words out. His eyes just widened in wonder. I could tell why. Since he had only just opened his eyes, he had only just seen the amazing view.

I wanted to tell him that that was what he was missing out on, but the words never left my mouth. This wasn't the time for talking. It was the time to be feeling, to be experiencing.


I don't think Luigi exactly had the time of his life after that, but at least he was able to enjoy the view.

When it was over, all he could talk about was, "Did you see me?! I can't believe that I went parasailing!"

"(Neither can I)", I informed him.

"We all saw it, man!" Ramone pointed out at the same time.

"(I think there is something else you need to do now, though)", I added.

Luigi's face took on a pained look. "(Talk to Fudge?)" he guessed.

I nodded. "(If you can go parasailing, then talking to your daughter should not be hard at all.)"

"(It is not about how hard it is, Guido!)" Luigi countered. "(It is about the fact that she will not apologise for her disrespectful behaviour!)"

"(Well, you have not exactly given her a chance)", I reasoned. "(Just talk to her.)"

Luigi shook his hood and drove off.

I sighed.

Flo, who had just joined us to ask Ramone about his parasailing adventure, smiled at me sympathetically. "Still won't budge, huh?"

I shook myself sadly.

Flo sighed too. "I just hate to see them like this. Besides, we've got that dinner reservation tonight and I want all of us to be there." We had booked a table in a fancy restaurant, on a boat. The food was supposed to be incredible and the scenery breathtaking, but I knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy it when my daughter and my best friend/co-father were having problems. "We gotta get them to talk to each other."

"(But how?)" I wondered. So far, nothing had worked.

Flo smiled. "I think I know."


After yet another relaxing day on the beach, I headed up to my room to get a car wash before our dinner reservation and put our plan into action. Luigi decided that he didn't want to leave just yet. He wasn't in any hurry to leave the beach. That was fine with me. It worked out well for the plan.

The other thing that worked out well for our plan was running into Fudge halfway between the beach and our building.

"Ciao, Babbo!" she greeted me.

"Ciao!" I gave her a big kiss. "(How was your day?)"

"(Great!)" She described the day she had had and I was amazed.

"(That does sound like a great day)", I informed her with a smile. "(But you need a shower. We are having dinner in a fancy restaurant again.)"

"(We are?)" Fudge asked in surprise.

I nodded. "(But we don't have to get ready yet. So, let's have a drink first.)" I led her to a little outdoor café.

"Okay", Fudge agreed suspiciously.

We sat down to a can of oil for me and a can of Coke for her, chatting away for a while about nothing in particular. I never mentioned Luigi and neither did Fudge. We just sat there, even long after we'd finished our drinks. At one point, we hit a lull in conversation. Around the same time, we both seemed to run out of things to say.

"(So, are we heading back to the room now?)" Fudge wanted to know.

"(I am a little full from that oil)", I lied. "(I just want to rest here for a few minutes.)"

I'll admit, I was stalling her. It was all part of the plan.

We waited for about five minutes before I got a message from Flo, telling me Luigi had just left and he was heading for the room.

"(Oh, no!)" I exclaimed, horrified, pretending I had just noticed the time. "(It is much later than I thought! We need to get you back to the room for a shower!)"

Fudge looked a little confused, but decided to say nothing as we hurried back to the room.


At my request, Fudge dove in the shower right away. Then I decided to back out of the suite and head into Flo, Ramone, Fillmore and Mater's suite across the hall to use their car wash. So, the plan was for Luigi to run into Fudge unexpectedly and let them talk it out. Of course, that meant I couldn't be in the suite. If Luigi heard running water and he could see me in the suite, he'd know that Fudge was there. Besides, I thought it would be better for the two of them to talk in private.

I just hoped it would work.