well guys, this is the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this fanfic, cause I think the chapter right before this wasn't that great. unless I come up with an unresistable plot for Louis' kids, I'm spent. I'm so sad it's over, well, I guess that's what Our story is for. I might make up another separate ice age fanfic. but Lori will always be in something I'm writing, I'm not just going to abandon her, don't worry :)

Well, let's get on with it.

Louis was with the herd at the oak tree. Buck had left a few days ago, to go check on things in his own world. He would be back, but these were only visits, and he would never end up really staying for good, and they knew that. His place was down there, with the wild beasts and palm trees, and it would be for the rest of his life, no matter how much the herd wanted him to stay.
It had been a few weeks since They'd retrieved Lori and Eddie from the dino world and since then the mood of the whole herd had lightened. They were getting a few more members in a few days, anyway, why wouldn't they be excited?

Of course, Excited was only one of the adjectives for Louis, and it wasn't even a good one. Ecstatic, nervous, and fidgety were a few better ones.

Right now, He just sat on a root, staring. His mate was...large. It was so obvious that she was pregnant that even Sid couldn't have made a mistake.

"Louis," Lori said in a sing-song tone. "You're staring." She glanced up at him with a smirk on her face."

"Oh, uh, sorry..." He said, looking away. She walked over to him, a hand balanced on her stomach and sat down next to him.

"It's okay," She said reassuringly. "It's new, and you're not used to it. But Only a few days until you're officially a dad."

"I know," Louis said with a little smile at the ground, though he was worried. A few days from now, his life was either going to be the best it's ever been, or the worst. So many things could go wrong... He was just so worried about her. "I'm just...worried.. about you."

"Louis, it's harder to get rid of me than you'd think." She reasured him.

"I know." He said.

"Louis, Louis!" Dawn called, running over with her brother. "You wanna race?" She asked.

"Are you gonna be okay?" He asked Lori, a little anxiety left in his eyes.

"Yes, I'll be fine, just go." She encouraged him.

He dragged his eyes away from her and followed the cubs over to the previously designated starting point.

"Lori, you count us off." Louis said.

"Okay. One," They all assumed a good start position. "Two," They glanced at each other, all sure that they would win. "Three!" The three contestants took off like a shot, Louis tunneling underground with the cubs running above him. They disappeared into the underbrush and soon their footsteps faded into the woods.

Lori sat on the root and thought for a minute. She was going to give birth at some point during the next few days. That was a strange concept, she was going to be a parent to some little things that couldn't even talk, that needed her. What was that going to feel like? Would she even be a good mom? In a few days She'd be put to the test, but when? It could happen any time, while shes asleep, while she's with the herd, while she was alone. They'd even made a little grass next by the oak tree just in case of emergency. Any time...any time...even right now.

Dawn and Dark suddenly burst through the bushes and Lori jumped. "We won!" She exclaimed as Louis walked through the bush slowly, panting. Lori laughed a little. The cubs made her jump. She felt silly, if it were going to happen right now, she'd know, right?

"I...was...close...to winning." Louis said between gasps.

"Whatever you say, cous'." Dark said, he and his sister walking over to their mother.

"I'm so proud of my trouble makers." Shira said fondly, Louis glaring at her for a moment.

"Hey, it's getting kinda late, do you wanna head home?" Lori asked Louis, looking at the orange tinged sky, the sun was slowly dipping lower and lower into the sky and soon it would be dark.

"Yeah, we probably should." Louis agreed.

"Aww, you're leaving?" Peaches piped up.

"Yeah, sorry Peach, we have to get home." Louis told her.

"Okay, well then I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She said giving Louis a little trunk hug and then patting Lori on the head. She smirked and playfully swatted at Peaches trunk and Peaches laughed.

"Bye." Lori said with a chuckle.

"Bye." Everyone said and they walked off down the path.

VVV

"Good morning, honey." Louis said, resting his chin on his mates shoulder. Their room was filled with bright sunlight, since they resided in the front room and every morning the sunlight poured in, illuminating the room. Lori opened her eyes into slits and glanced sideways at him.

"Good morning." She mumbled, closing her eyes again and a smile appearing on her face.

Louis rolled out of the nest and yawned, stretching his arms up toward the sky and walking toward the pantry, disappearing into the darkness of the small room. Suddenly Lori's eyes popped open. There was a weird tingly sensation, right at the top of her tummy. It slowly spread down her belly and evolved into a little bit of pain. She propped herself up in the nest, Her heart quickening. The pain slowly picked up, then subsided in a reverse action of what she'd just felt.

Lori started to panic a little, then relaxed, It was probably nothing. She didn't want to make a big deal and worry Louis. If it happened again, she'd tell him, but for now, she'd just ignore it.

"Hey, I'm assuming you want a worm for breakfast." Louis said, popping his head out of the tunnel that lead to the pantry.

"Uh, Yeah." Lori said, then he disappeared into the tunnel again. a few seconds later he appeared again and walked into the room, holding a worm, a grub, and some berries. He walked over to her and handed her a few berries and the worm and kept the rest for himself, sitting down in the nest next to her.

Lori took it gratefully and popped a berry in her mouth.

"So, you wanna go and see the herd or...?" Louis asked.

"Always, just not right now, I kind of want to just sit here and hang out for a few minutes." Lori answered, leaning back on her hands to prop herself up. Louis nudged a little closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She leaned in toward him and her eyes drifted closed. This was nice.

Then there was that feeling again, the little tingly feeling right above her tummy. She sat straight up and looked down at her belly.

"What?" Louis asked.

"It's just- ow." Lori said putting a hand on her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Louis asked, shifting to his knees. This was the third time she'd seen real worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, it's just...a...contraction." She said hesitantly, sort of trying to convince herself that this was happening. Louis' eyes widened.

"A what?" He asked, alarmed.

"A contraction. So much for just hanging out for a few minutes..." Lori trailed off and Louis glanced at the entrance to the burrow.

"What should we do?" He asked. Lori looked up and into his eyes. She had no idea. Should they just stay there, or go to the Oak tree, or should Louis just go and get someone... Then it hit her.

"Louis, go get our parents." She told him after a moments thought.

"Okay, are you going to be okay without me?" Louis asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine just hurry." She told him.

"Okay," Louis leaned in and kissed her briefly. "I'll be right back." He said, hesitantly walking up and out of the burrow. Once he was out the entrance he took off like a bullet, heading straight for the Oak Tree. Soon, Louis heard familiar voices above ground. He poped his head above ground to see Brian talking to a smilodon Louis didn't recognize.

"Bye, Jeremy." Brian said with a smile.

"See ya'." Jeremy said, trotting off down the path.

"Brian!" Louis called, hopping up out of the ground. Brian turned around and when he spotted Louis he smiled

"Hello, Louis."

"Brian, I need you to go back to me and Lori's burrow. She's alone and I need to get our parents." Louis told him. "Shes going into labor."

"What? And you left her alone?" Brian asked.

"I didn't have a choice, you have to go back there and keep an eye on her." Louis told him urgently.

"On it," Brian told him.

"I'll meet you back there!" Louis called behind him as he ran a few steps and then dove into the ground. He hurried down the path, and decided to go to his parents burrow, since it was closer. When he got there He decided that knocking was unneeded and ran in. When he got inside he found his Mom and Dad in the front room eating breakfast.

"Hey, Louis." Louis dad said cheerily, then realized that Lori wasn't with his son. "Where's Lori?" He asked.

"She's at our burrow with Brian. She's going into labor and I need your help." Louis said, trying to keep his voice level instead of filled with all the panic he was feeling.

"Don't worry, honey, we'll help." His mom said.

"Let's go." Louis' dad told them and they headed out of the burrow and back through the tunnel Louis had made to his burrow.

Louis jumped out of the tunnel, back above ground and practically ran to the burrow entrance and down the tunnel, his parents right behind him. when he got in he found Lori, calm as ever, and Brian sitting right next to her. It was sort of a strange sight, they both had their eyes closed, first finger and thumb pushed together, and were humming at the same pitch.

Louis' dad chuckled and Louis walked over to Lori, crouching next to her.

"Are you okay now?" He asked in confusion. She and Brian stopped humming.

"Nooooooooommmmmmmmmmm..." She answered and continued humming. Louis' dad chuckled again.

"Are you in pain still?" Louis asked.

"Nooooooooommmmmmmmmyeah." She said, opening her eyes and looking at him. Louis frowned as Lori felt the weird tingly feeling above her stomach. She furrowed her brow and tried to relax. As another wave of pain grew over her abdomen. She grabbed Louis' hand and squeezed it lightly, taking deep breaths. It subsided in a few seconds and she let go. looking at him. "This is probably going to take a long time."

VVV

To put it plainly, Louis was freaking out. Lori groaned and squeezed down on his hand again while another wave of pain took her over. She clenched her teeth and was mildly shaking. Louis didn't want to look, but he was too afraid to look away.

Louis whimpered quietly, "How much longer?" he asked his parents. His mom had a subtle smile on her face at how much her son cared about Lori.

"Not that long, don't worry." She answered. Brian was sitting next to Louis at Lori's side, and, after getting permission from her, was taking notes, like he usually did. after a few minutes Lori released her grip, breathing deep.

"How are you holding up?" Louis asked his mate, his brow furrowed in concern.

"Fantastic," She responded crossly, "You can tell by my moans of pain, I mean Joy." Louis frowned.

"Okay, Lori, I think you should start pushing." Lori's mom said.

"Okay." Lori said. Louis grabbed her hand again and got ready for pain, emotional and physical. His dad sat at Lori's feet, his mom on baby stand by.

After a few minutes of pushing, Louis dad made the announcement. "We have a head." He said with a little smile. Louis froze, a head...babies usualy had heads right? Louis mentally smacked himself. Of course babies had heads! This situation was seriously messing with his mojo. The next thing Louis knew his dad handed a little fuzzy thing off to his mom, who gave it a little check up then sat it down in the nest. Louis and Brian froze, staring wide eyed at the little thing. It had brown hair, and was crying.

Daddy shock hit Louis like a ton of bricks. He was finally, officially, a dad.

Another one...then another one...then another one...and the last one. Lori sighed, and Louis realized that the whole thing was over. He leaned down and kissed Lori on the head.

"You did it." He whispered to her. She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I know." She said in a raspy voice.

Five. Five little fuzzy things. Louis sat there, staring at them from the other side of the nest. His mom looked up at him and smiled, chuckling a little.

"Well, come here." She said. He walked over to the other side of the nest, wringing his hands. He stood next to his mom and then sat down slowly. All the hoglets were asleep already, Their chests rising and falling, nearly in unison. Only one was a girl, the rest of them her brothers. One was smaller than the others, no doubt there was a runt in the family. He had black hair like Lori's dad, the others possessing various shades of brown hair.

"What are you going to name them?" Louis' dad asked.

"Uh..." Louis looked to Lori, she glanced at him, knowing that he was probably looking at her. "What's you favorite name?"

Lori thought for a moment, running a few names through her head, then the perfect one entered her mind. "Jimmy." She answered.

Louis looked down at the little cuddling babies. The first one he saw was the runt, who lifted his head and opened his eyes a little, looking up at Louis.

"That's going to be Jimmy." Louis said. He gently reached down and picked up the little soft ball and held him in his arms. Lori smiled, no, she grinned. That was probably the cutest thing she'd ever seen in her whole life, and she'd seen a lot of cute things.

So, I kind of lied. I have an epilogue, but there's no more real chapters, and the epiilouge is already written so I'm not writing this anymore :C I'm gonna miss this. All the craziness, The herd, Peaches and Danny especially...