I saw my mistake everyone, sorry...

A few days after the Radiator Springs Grand Prix, all of the race-cars had gone home. After settling back down in their home in Rio, Brazil, Carla explained to Cruz about the whole dating plan. The beetle's "cheeks" were red in anger by the time his step-daughter finished explaining.

"So you're telling me that you planned to go out on dates, without my permission, and to travel to other parts of the world, without my permission?" Cruz asked, fighting real hard to prevent himself from yelling.

Carla smiled sheepishly. "Ahaha...well, when you put it that way, it seems like a bad thing-"

"It is a bad thing! How many times have I told you to get my permission for these sorts of things?" The beetle took a deep breath to calm his rising temper. "And another thing: I barely know these guys. How am I supposed to know that they genuinely have feelings for you, and are not just using you to their advantage?"

"From the fact that I do know them, and trust them! Plus, how in the world would they take advantage of me?"

Carla noticed Cruz calm down, his expression now one of worry. The beetle sighed. "Well, you are a beautiful young lady, and they are young males with tons of...uhh...testosterone, which means that they will have a very strong...umm...urging, if you know what I mean; must I say more?"

Carla rolled her eyes. "No need to, I get it. Don't worry, Cruz, they are not going to use me like that. Plus, I have a feeling that Rip doesn't even know what that is; he's that innocent."

"It's not Rip I'm so worried about, Carla...it's Bernoulli that worries me the most." Carla gave Cruz the "explain-to-me" look. He obliged. "I've seen his type before, and they always like to...well, you know..."

It became obvious to Cruz that Carla was annoyed. She sighed. "Ok, so Francesco does have a little bit too much hormones...but he's not like that! He's always treated me like a friend, nothing more, nothing less - except for the flirting. You have absoulutely nothing to worry about, Cruz. If I were you I'd spend your worrying over the destruction of our rainforests, rather than on my little dates. I'll be fine, trust me."

Cruz stared at Carla, thinking about the last time those words had come out of her mouth. His mind raced back to the start of the race in Italy, where he was freaking out over the three cars that had their engines exploded in Japan, and was stressing over the fear of the same happening to his little girl. As usual, Carla had given him the talk about worrying over the rainforest rather than her, and that she would of been fine. But in the end, she had her engine exploded, and had to be hospitalitized. "But remember what happened in Italy?" he asked, his vioce being more calm than usual.

To his surprise, Carla giggled. "Yes, but there will not be any evil lemons involved in these dates."

But Cruz was not humored. "That's not the point. The point is, the last time you said that you were seriously hurt. I don't want that to happen again."

"But there is a huge difference between racing and going on dates. Racing is dangerous, dating is not. How would I seriously be hurt?"

"You could be raped-"

Carla lost her temper. " For the love of the Amazon, I WILL NOT BE RAPED!" She took a breath, to calm herself. "Ugg, how many times do I have to say this, THEY ARE MY FRIENDS! They would NEVER do something like that to me! You are such a worrybug!"

Cruz realized that he overdid it, and tried to calm his step-daughter. "Ok, ok, Carla, relax, my dear. Alright, maybe you're right; I do worry to much. But I'm your step-father, so that's my job - to protect you, and worry over your safety. And as for that thought, that has always been my biggest fear, and I will do anything to make sure that it never happens to you."

The Brazilian race-car was much more relaxed than she was a few moments ago. She sighed. "Ok, I apologize for overreacting. I see where you're coming from, and I'll admit that that is also my greatest fear. But there is nothing to fear about with Francesco, Raoul, Shu, and Rip. Like I said, they are my friends, and would never want to see any harm come to me. They even visited me when I was in the hospital to make sure that I was ok, even when the latter three themselves were injured by the radiation beam."

Cruz thought about what his step-daughter had just said, and sighed. "Ok...you win. I believe you. But if they do anything to you, you let me know, ok?"

"Ok, I will. But they won't, I assure you."

"And, Carla, will you make me a promise?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Promise me that you will not...have you-know-what during these dates?"

"Ok, I promise."

"Good. Now, do you need help packing your stuff?"

"Don't need it, but it would be appreciated."

Cruz helped Carla pack her stuff, then took her to the airport. After he gave her a few reminders, and said goodbye, Carla boarded a plane. It took off; the destination was Paris, France.

"I don't know why, but I though that it would be interesting to have Cruz as Carla's overprotective step-father."