Chapter 1
The sun shined brightly on the city of ice. The floodwaters had washed away and things were going back to normal. Manny and Ellie got married and they were expecting a baby. Now normally, you try to stay calm when you're expecting a baby, but when the slightest kick comes and the mother feels it, let's just say that things are gonna get very, very, very hectic…
"It's happening!" Manny shouted, carrying a bucket of hot water and running as fast as he could, trying his best not to spill it. He still wore his normal attire, but his hair had grown a little longer, and his face was unshaven, as he had been trying to grow a beard. He was followed by Crash and Eddie, who were running to keep up with him. They were followed by Sid, who lagged behind.
"Hey! Wait up, guys!" Sid shouted, losing his breath. Manny didn't bother to listen; he kept running until they reached a small hill in the city. Manny stopped short, but Crash, Eddie, and Sid collided with him.
Manny sent the bucket flying into the air and the four of them went rolling down the hill. When they stopped, they were in a big pile. "Where's the water?!" Manny asked as he quickly got up. The bucket of hot water fell right on top of him, emptying it contents all the way. "Ellie!" Manny flailed around, blinded by the bucket. "Ellie! Where are you?!"
"Manny!" he heard a female voice yell. Manny lifted the bucket off his head to see his wife, Ellie, standing there. Her long red hair had been cut so that it was a little bit shorter. She wore a black long sleeved dress covering her pregnant stomach, brown pants, and hiking boots. Her arms were folded. "I told you, it was just a little kick." She spoke. "It's not a big deal. If I was having the baby, I wouldn't be able to move."
"Good point." said Manny, embracing his wife. He bent down to his wife's stomach. "Boy, you really scared you're father, big time." He said to the unborn baby. "You made your father fall down and get a big boo-boo on his head…"
He trailed off as he saw everybody staring at him. "Sorry, false Alarm!" he shouted. Everyone groaned and went back home, apparently also tired of the false alarm.
"Show's over! Everyone back to what you were doing!" said Sid. He looked at a woman who looked pregnant. "Hey, I see somebody has a bun in the oven."
The women whacked him over the head with a tree branch. "I'm not pregnant!" she said scornfully, before walking off. "That's too bad." said Sid, holding head in his hands, trying to get rid of the pain. "You would have made a wonderful mother." The tree branch came flying back and smacked Sid right in the head, again.
"Manny, I understand that you're excited, and I am too, but aren't you taking this kind of too far?" asked Ellie.
"Okay, Okay!" Manny raised his hands defensively. "Sheesh, you're starting to sound like Diego… hey, where is he anyway? I wanted to talk to him about something."
…..
An antelope wandering around the grassy plains bent down to get a meal out of some grass. It heard a noise and saw some grass move, but took it as the wind and went back to eating.
However, in the grass, was Diego. He wore a camouflage jacket, camouflage pants, army boots, fingerless gloves, black face paint, and a red bandanna to keep his hair from falling into his eyes. He slowly unsheathed an arrow from an arrow sheath on his back, set it in his dark blue compact bow, and pulled it back.
However, the antelope heard the bow being locked into place and starting running. "Crap!" Diego muttered. He dropped the bow and threw off the sheath quickly and began running at full speed after the antelope. He pulled out a knife from his belt to stab the antelope when he came right near it. The antelope bounded over rocks and grass, trying it's best to get away, but Diego kept coming after it.
Diego almost got right near it when suddenly, his vision began to blur, his breath became short, and his lungs felt like they had been popped. He stopped running, and began panting and hacking, as the antelope bounded into the forest, braying a loud sound that almost sounded like laughter.
….
"Can I see it now?" asked Ellie. Manny had covered her eyes with his hand and was leading her to somewhere secret. "No, not yet." replied Manny. "It'll spoil the surprise."
They kept going for a few more seconds and then stopped. "Alright." Manny took his hand off her eyes. "Volia! Playground for Junior!"
Ellie couldn't hold in her surprise. It was a playground, constructed out of wood, snow, and a few scraps of metal. It had a seesaw, a swing, a couple of statues made out of snow, and a little baby mobile made out of ice. "I made that myself." said Manny. Ellie laughed quietly. "It's cute." She said.
Sid looked at it. "Where's me?" he asked. "You could be on ours." said Eddie. He turned around to see Crash and Eddie holding a mobile made out of bones, with a dead fish, a beetle, and dead rat tied to it. "You'd fit right in." said Crash.
"Thanks!" said Sid. "Sid!" called Manny. He was carrying a large log on his shoulders. "Come on, I don't want you destroying my eight months of hard labor!"
"Okay!" said Sid. He walked out of the playground as Manny placed down the log to block the entrance. He turned around, wiping his hands on his sweatshirt, and saw Diego.
"Hey Diego!" he shouted. Diego looked up. He had a dejected look on his face as he carried his equipment. "You missed the surprise!"
"I'll look at it later." said Diego. He tried to look happy, but the look on his face told that he was not very happy. He started walking off.
"Call it a sixth sense, Manny, but I think that Diego has a problem." said Ellie. "Maybe you should go talk to him."
"Are you kidding?" asked Manny. "We don't talk, that's a girl thing. We just… you know, punch each other on the shoulders."
"That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard of." replied Ellie.
Manny sighed. "Okay, Okay, I'll go have a pep talk with him." And with that, he went off to find Diego.