A/N: Behold! The first one-shot of more to come! These will be one-shots that take place before, after, and possibly during the events of Cars, Cars 2, Planes, and Planes: Fire and Rescue, featuring my OCs Harley Hudson and Skylar Riley!

Enjoy!

Siblings

"I wanna see the baby! I wanna see the baby! I wanna see the baby! C'mon, lemme see 'er lemme see 'er lemme see 'er!"

"Mater!" Sheriff barked. "Would you just calm down for once?"

The rusted tow truck pouted. "But I wanna see the baby!"

"We all want to see her." Sarge assured. "But let's give Paula and John some time alone with their little soldier before we swarm them."

"They done had enough time!" Mater complained. "They've been in there forever!"

"The baby ain't goin' nowhere, Mater." Sheriff said with a roll of his eyes. "And she lives with us! We'll get time to be with her, but ya gotta be patient."

"Well why does Doc git ta be with her?" Mater pouted again.

"He's the doctor, man." Ramone said. Mater couldn't argue with that, but he also couldn't stop pouting.

Doc finally emerged from the clinic a few minutes later, a warm smile on his face as he saw the Radiator Springs residents still outside. "Ready to meet our newest little desert dweller?"

"Mater certainly is." Sheriff chuckled, everyone glancing to said tow truck as his tow cable began shaking like a dog's wagging tail.

Doc chuckled. "All right, but we're all goin' over to Flo's and Paula, her parents, and John will come out to see us. I don't want Paula and the baby to get crowded."

"What's the kid's name?" Fillmore asked as everyone drove over to Flo's.

"Harley." Doc reported. "Harley Jacobs-Davidson."

"Should've known Paula would take advantage of her maiden name." Flo laughed.

The human residents of Radiator Springs finally arrived. Paula's parents stood on one side of her, and John stood on the other side. But everyone was focused on the bundle of yellow blanket in Paula's arms. Paula and her family stood at the front of the café, looking out to the town.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet our new baby girl: Harley." Paula introduced, tilting the bundle so everyone could see the baby inside. The vehicles of the town (sans Doc) all cooed happily at the sight of the baby: fair skin, thin brunette hair, and slightly chubby cheeks. Baby Harley's face scrunched up and she yawned cutely as she rubbed her eyes with her tiny fists. She opened her eyes, those beautiful crystal orbs staring at everything around her.

"Oh Paula!" Lizzy sighed. "She's precious."

"She's so beautiful." Sheriff agreed.

"Carino!" Guido cried happily.

"You are-a right, Guido." Luigi said. "She's-a so cute!"

"Good-lookin' kid, man." Ramone said.

"Like a desert flower." Fillmore sighed.

"Gonna be a strong soldier." Sarge nodded.

Harley blinked, then giggled.

"And listen to her!" Flo gasped. "Well done, honey."

Red murmured a soft, "Nice baby."

"You did good, Paula." Doc complimented. "You should be proud."

Paula cuddled her child. "I am."

John put an arm around Paula's shoulders. "We both are."

"And think: you already have two babysitters ready when you need the night off." Paula's mother said.

"Although we may have a hard time giving her back." Paula's father laughed, much to the amusement of the residents.

Sheriff realized Mater hadn't said much, and he had been the most excited to see the baby. He glanced to the tow truck and blinked in surprise to see Mater staring at Harley with a completely enthralled expression. The tow truck just couldn't tear his eyes away from the baby in the yellow blanket, yet he couldn't explain why. Tentatively, he drove forward a few feet and closer to the baby. Paula noticed and brought Harley closer to Mater. Harley looked up to Mater, her crystal irises locking onto the bright green-hazel of Mater's eyes. The baby looked about as fascinated as the tow truck, and Mater smiled softly.

"Hey there lil' Harley." Mater said in a soft voice. The rest of the residents stared in surprise; how often did Mater speak in such a quiet tone? Then, another surprise: Mater nuzzled his fender against Harley's head, very gently. Harley giggled, reaching out to grab Mater's fender. She rubbed her hands across his metal and headlight, awed by the texture of the rust.

"I think she likes you." Paula said with a smile.

Mater focused mostly on Harley, watching her pat his rusted metal curiously. "I like her, too."

Nobody could believe it. How could a small child, a baby, make Mater's personality take such a drastic turn? Mater was still the same, even after Harley's birth: loud, childish, goofy, and albeit clumsy. He still acted like the Mater everyone knew. But the second Harley came around, he changed in a fraction of a second. He became quiet and gentle, as though Harley were a piece of fragile china. In general, Harley found her vehicular neighbors fascinating, but she seemed to love being around Mater the most. She patted his metal hide and rubbed the rust as it got on her fingers. Mater often spoke to her as they spent time together, talking about the events of the day or telling Harley all about her new family in Radiator Springs. Paula, who often stayed with Harley during her playdates with Mater, found their interactions rather cute. Everyone in town could see a bond formed between the tow truck and the baby.

This bond continued to grow stronger, and before anyone knew it Harley turned one year old. Everyone threw a big party in the town, and each resident had a gift for the girl like a snow globe from Lizzie's shop, flowers from Red, and a couple Italian children's books with the promise to help Harley learn the language. Mater's gift surprised everyone the most. They expected him to give her some sort of junk that would ultimately be too dangerous for her to have. Instead, Mater arrived with an old wrench he cleaned up. Harley hugged it like a teddy bear, babbling happily. Nobody was sure if she loved the gift because of what it was or because it was Mater who gave it to her.

Paula watched Harley play in her playpen, giggling at the sight of the girl babbling away while making her teddy bear dance. Paula pulled the pen farther into the shade of a stall at Flo's café, earning a brief indignant whine from her daughter when she moved her as well.

"Hey Paula!" John called as he approached. "How's Harley doing?"

"Fine." Paula said. "Looks happy enough."

"I mean, how has she been acting?" John asked, sounding a little worried.

Paula looked up to her husband. "What's this about?"

John sighed, looking around a bit. "Can we talk for a minute?"

Paula had a sinking feeling about where this was going, but she nodded. "All right." She and John walked down the road towards the edge of town, leaving Harley in her playpen. The baby watched her parents go, but soon resumed her playing. She knew her family was still nearby if she needed anything. All she had to do was start making noise and someone would come running. So she kept playing with her teddy. But then, a small white butterfly appeared, fluttering in her line of sight. Awed, Harley abandoned her teddy bear and began reaching for the butterfly. When the insect continued to fly, Harley crawled after it until she reached the bars of her playpen. Using the railing as a support, she pulled herself to her feet and reached for the pretty creature. Her find continued to fly, despite her complaints. Didn't this little thing know that when she reached for something, it was supposed to come back to her? Harley leaned out, and the flimsy latch on her playpen gate broke. She fell to the ground, but ignored the pain as she hurriedly crawled after the butterfly.

"John, that's ridiculous." Paula laughed, her and her husband standing at the edge of town.

"It's not ridiculous!" John protested. "If human children can believe to be dogs from being raised by them, the same can happen to a human child being raised by vehicles! I just think that Harley shouldn't be babysat by anyone except your parents."

"First off, we can't just tell everyone in Radiator Springs they can't come near our daughter." Paula said. "Second, they're not the ones raising her: we are."

John sighed. "All right, point taken. But what about the other dangers of this place? We can't let our daughter grow up in a dangerous place."

"Dangerous?" Paula raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, like…uh, coyotes! What if coyotes come into town?" John suggested.

Paula rolled her eyes, but still smiled. "John, coyotes don't come into town. And if they did, Sheriff would take care of them. Really, what more do we have to worry about except tractor stampedes?"

John chuckled softly. "I suppose you're right."

"And how often do tractor stampedes happen?" Paula asked, raising an eyebrow.

John glared a bit now. "They wouldn't happen at all if Mater didn't go tractor-tipping."

"Now that's not true." Paula protested. "The tractors could break out on their own."

"I would love to see how." John rolled his eyes.

Paula shook her head, but paused. What's that sound? John heard it, too. The two of them could hear and even feel a rumbling. They looked down the road, the two of them tense.

Moooooooo!

"Look out!" John hurriedly pulled Paula aside as the herd of tractors stampeded past them and into town.

"A stampede?" Paula gasped. Her eyes widened. "Harley!" She and John took off into the town, running towards Flo's café. They dodged tractors and their neighbors, the Radiator Springs residents doing a mix of running from tractors and trying to herd them together to get them home. Paula and John reached the playpen by Flo's café, but gaped in horror to find the pen door open and their daughter missing.

"Harley? Harley!" John shouted, staring out at the chaos of the tractor stampede.

"Harley, where are you?" Paula shouted. But no matter where she looked, she couldn't see her daughter anywhere. She and John jumped as a tractor sped past, running over Harley's playpen and some of her toys. Sheriff chased the tractor, and Paula followed the chase to see Harley sitting in the middle of the road. A butterfly fluttered around her head, and she giggled as she tried to catch it.

"Harley!" John shouted, him and Paula running towards the baby. But he saw a tractor coming right into their path and he pulled Paula back as the tractor sped past, narrowly missing them. But they looked back to Harley and their eyes widened at the sight of a tractor barreling straight towards the oblivious baby. Harley reached up to catch the butterfly, but fell to her back and started giggling. She had no idea a tractor was only several feet from her.

"Harley!" Paula screamed.

BAM!

Paula and John gaped at the sight. A split-second before the tractor could hit Harley, Mater appeared and put himself between the animal and the baby. The force of the tractor hitting the tow truck caused Mater to scoot back so he stood over Harley, but he remained firm to keep the tractor from hitting the girl. Harley started wailing in fear at the loud noise. Mater's face was scrunched up in pain, his teeth grinding together. The tractor bounced back, mooing in a daze.

"Go on, git!" Sheriff barked, herding the tractor away from Mater and Harley. Fillmore, Red, and Sarge stood by to get the tractors back home, herding the animals out of town. Sheriff looked to Mater, noting the pained look on Mater's face and the giant dent on his side; almost his entire flank was caved in. "Mater! You all right?"

Mater took in a shaky breath and opened his eyes, gently backing up to stare at a still-crying Harley. "Harley. She okay?"

Sheriff was surprised, but checked Harley. Apart from crying in fear, the baby looked unharmed. "She's fine. But we gotta get ya to Doc."

"Gotta make sure….Harley's okay….." Mater groaned a bit, pain radiating across his entire body. "Gotta…"

"Mater, just stay still." Doc ordered as he approached. Paula came and scooped up Harley, sighing in relief as she hugged her daughter. Doc and Sheriff gently guided Mater away and to the clinic, even while the tow truck stared at Harley most of the time. But when he saw she was unhurt, he finally rolled alongside Sheriff and into Doc's clinic. Doc checked out the dent, wincing a bit. It would take a good amount of work to get that back into place.

"You okay, Mater?" Sheriff asked worriedly. The tow truck didn't look so pained anymore.

"I'm okay." Mater murmured.

"You sure?" Doc asked sternly. "Don't try bein' tough, Mater. If you feel like something's wrong, say so."

"It jus' hurts, Doc." Mater said.

Doc nodded. "As long as that's all. Let's get that dent fixed up and you can head home. You're still gonna be plenty sore for a day or two, but it shouldn't be a problem. But if it bothers ya too much, I can give you some painkillers."

Mater nodded aimlessly, not exactly looking forward to having that giant dent popped back into place. Sheriff stared at Mater for a long moment, as though trying to figure out a puzzle. "Why did ya do that, Mater? You coulda been killed."

"Harley was okay, right?" Mater asked, sounding worried.

"She's fine." Sheriff assured.

Doc paused as he came around with the tools. "You should be proud, Mater. You saved her life."

"I jus' wanted ta help her." Mater said, shrugging his fender a bit.

"Knowing you coulda been hurt?" Sheriff asked.

Mater winced as Doc began pulling the dent back. "I wanted ta help her."

Doc stared at Mater for a moment, then continued his work. Sheriff stuck around for moral support, smiling sympathetically when Mater kept wincing in pain. It took about an hour to pop the dent back into place. The metal where the dent once rested was now bumpy and rough, but Doc decided to hold off on the sander until Mater was feeling better.

But there was one thing still on his and Sheriff's mind. "Mater, why do you like Harley so much?"

Mater smiled softly, sighing. "I dunno. Dere's just somethin' about her. Her purty eyes, her bright smile, the way she laughs." He sighed happily. "I dunno why I love her so much, but I'm so glad she's part of de family."

Sheriff smirked. He's gone soft to the highest degree. "We are too, Mater. Now come along; you're going straight home to rest."

Mater sighed. "Okay." He followed Sheriff and Doc outside to go home, but the three of them paused at the sound of shouting.

Doc rolled his eyes. "What's John gettin' worked up about this time?"

John, as it turned out, was worked up over the stampede. "If that thick-headed tow truck hadn't gone and done something stupid like that, none of that would've happened!"

"You don't know that." Ramone protested.

"Hey!" Doc snapped as he, Sheriff, and Mater came over. "What's goin' on?"

John glared at Mater. "I hope he's getting punished for what happened."

"Pardon?" Sheriff raised an eye frame, glaring a bit.

"If that idiot hadn't gone tractor tipping again, none of this would've happened!" John shouted. "He almost got my daughter killed!"

"He saved yer daughter's life." Sheriff corrected. "You ought to be grateful."

"And I wasn't tractor tippin'." Mater added.

John scoffed in disbelief. "Mater's been in town all day." Doc said. "There's no way he could've caused that stampede."

John glared. "Then how do you explain what happened? How did the tractors get out?"

"Coyotes." Everyone turned as Sarge came up, followed by Fillmore and Red. "We inspected the fence and found coyote tracks near the tractor pen. The latch to the gate was destroyed. Clearly the animals were spooked and broke out themselves."

John looked down, remembering his talk with Paula. He couldn't deny the truth, but he was still plenty angry. So he muttered a forced "Sorry" to Mater before stomping off to return home. But as he stomped off, Paula came up with a fussing Harley in her arms. The woman noticed the townsfolk and hurried her pace.

"Paula, is-a something wrong?" Luigi asked worriedly.

"Well Harley's been fussy all afternoon." Paula explained. "No matter what I do, she won't stop crying."

"She's not hungry or anything?" Sheriff asked. "Maybe she's still scared from the stampede?"

Paula shook her head. "I have a theory, because she won't stop saying 'May.'"

Everyone exchanged looks. Harley couldn't form very many legible words at this stage in her life, so most of the time she couldn't even pronounce the townsfolk's name. But everyone knew who she meant when she said "May."

Paula walked up to Mater, holding Harley out to him. When the one-year-old saw Mater, she stopped crying and reached out to him. Mater smiled and came forward, nuzzling Harley's head. Harley giggled, babbling away and rubbing Mater's fender. Mater kept smiling, staying close to Harley. The baby rubbed her head against Mater, cooing cutely.

Doc smirked. "You know, Mater actually needs to get home so he can rest. But perhaps he and Harley would be more comfortable in the clinic."

Paula nodded. "I agree. Mater, may we join you for the evening?"

Mater looked excited. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Doc chuckled as he led the way back to the clinic, Mater and Paula following. Mater kept his eyes on Harley for the most part, the baby still rubbing his fender as though to comfort him. Mater smiled warmly, a grin that didn't leave his lips even when he fell asleep that night.

I love ya, Harley…mah lil' Sissy.