Epilogue: "That's What Mammoths Are Supposed To Do"

Disclaimer: If you've read this whole story already, then you ought to know that Ice Age and all it's characters from both movies belong to Blue Sky Studios and Twentieth Century Fox. Millie and Wallace (who are no longer around, but I love saying this part) belong to Funkywatermelon. Ok. Disclaimer done.

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One Year Later

The small family kept migrating south. Eventually they found a place to call home. A place where there was no more danger. They were still the same friends they always were.

Crash and Eddie were both playing in the mud when Ellie called them in for supper. Manny and Sid were already eating. Diego had eaten earlier, before the rest of them, so as not to bother anyone with his eating habits. Crash and Eddie settled down at their sister's command and ate what Manny had provided them, which happened to be apples.

"Manny," said Ellie once everyone was done and getting ready for bed. "Could I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Sure honey," he said. "What is it?" Ellie looked at the others, snuggling in for the night.

"I have to tell you something," she said. "But could we talk further away?"

"Yes, if that's what you want," replied Manny. They walked past some trees and out of earshot of the rest of the herd. It was dark, but the stars were shining brightly. The trees provided slight shelter for the couple to talk in privacy.

"Manny," she said when she was ready. "There's something you need to know." Manny smiled. He loved having private moments with his mate. There were never enough of them with Crash and Eddie always around.

"What is it Ellie?" he asked. She knew it would be hard for him, after his first family. But she also knew that he had to know what was going on.

"Do you remember that night when you first asked me to be your mate?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "How could I forget?"

"Well, that night we talked about... some things..." she said. Manny nodded and she continued. "You know, about our future and stuff."

"Yes," he said. "I remember."

"And there was the thing about a baby," she pressed on. Manny smiled gently.

"Are you trying to say that you're ready to try and start a family?" he asked, a seductive tone in buried deep in his voice. He wrapped his trunk around hers, pulling close to her.

"No," she said. "I'm saying we're ready." Manny was not good at this game. He stepped back from her, waiting.

"So..." he said, letting his sentence trail, hoping she would fill the silence.

"So," she said, exasperated. "We're ready Manny! We're ready. And we're ready now." She looked lovingly at her mate, hoping desperately that he would get the picture. She had tried so hard to break it to him gently, but he needed it flat out in his face.

"Ellie," he started. "I don't think I–"

"Manny I'm pregnant!" she interrupted. His eyes went wide. Stuck for words, all he could do was stare at her. Before she could say anything else, his eyes started to fill up with tears.

"Ellie," he whispered. "Ellie, I don't know what to say." Her eyes started to water as well. This wasn't how he was supposed to react!

"Say that you love me," she said. "Say you'll protect me. Say you'll stay with me." She paused, then put her trunk on her stomach and corrected her sentence, "With us."

Manny gently touched her face with his trunk and wiped away one of her tears. She reached up to take his trunk away from her face.

"I love you, Ellie," he said, saying each word slowly. He stepped closer to her. "I will protect you, Ellie." He lifted his trunk and brushed back her hair. "And I will stay with you, Ellie." He brought his trunk back down and wiped away another tear from her cheek. "Forever."

Ellie smiled, reassured by his loving words. She reached her trunk for his.

A small voice interrupted them, saying, "Ellie? Are you okay?" It was Eddie. He rubbed his sleepy eyes. "Don't cry Ellie. Manny's right here." He vaguely pointed in the direction of the big blob in front of him. She couldn't help but smile at her brother.

"I'm fine Eddie," she said. "But shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I couldn't sleep," he said. "Besides, you guys were up."

"We were just talking," said Manny. He glanced at Ellie, telling her to go ahead and spread the good news to their family.

"Eddie," she started. "I'm going to have a baby." The poor possum couldn't think of anything to say. He was stunned that his sister was going to be a mother.

"Wow," he said. "But that means..." He was interrupted by Crash, who had woken up too and had somehow overheard half the conversation and decided to finally chime in.

"We're gonna be UNCLES!" he yelled a little too loudly for night time. Ellie laughed lightly at her brother's sudden appearance and outburst.

"What are you gonna call it?" asked Eddie, excitedly. He wasn't even tired anymore. The good news had shaken him awake completely.

"We don't know yet," said Manny. "We just found out and need time to think of names first."

"I like the name Lori," said Sid, who had appeared out of noplace, just like Crash had. Manny chuckled a little bit at the fact that almost the whole herd had come out with them.

"We'll keep that in mind, Sid," said Manny. The group was quiet for a minute, almost expecting Diego to show up any second. But the tiger was sound asleep under the tree.

"I guess we'll tell him in the morning," said Ellie. "Crash, Eddie, now don't you two go spoil the surprise. Okay?"

"Okie," said Crash.

"Dokie," Eddie finished for him. The two walked back to the camp.

"We should be getting to bed," said Ellie. "Let's go." The rest walked back to where Diego was and settled in again. Ellie waited for Manny to lay down. As soon as he was comfortable, he motioned for her to lay next to him. She snuggled close next to him.

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The next morning, Diego was the first one awake, mostly because he wasn't up all night. Manny was the first one up after him, and Ellie was up shortly after he withdrew from her. They took the opportunity to pull Diego aside. They wanted to tell him before the others woke up and spoiled all the fun.

"Morning Diego," said Ellie. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thanks," he said. "And you?"

"We slept fine once we actually got to sleep," she said.

"We were all up late. Talking," added Manny.

"Oh," inquired Diego. "About what?" Manny scratched his head with his trunk, as if thinking really hard to remember the conversation.

"You know," he said. "I don't remember anymore. It was so late, and I was really tired." Ellie stifled a giggle. Diego heard her try and cover it, so he knew that Manny was lying.

"Come on Manny," he said. "Just tell me. Is it something good? Are we going to move again? Is there a lot of food around?"

"Keep guessing," said Ellie. Her and Manny moved closer together and locked trunks.

"Umm," he thought aloud. "Did you two climb a tree?" He ran out of ideas quickly. He put on his best pouting look. "Just tell me already! I hate guessing games!" Manny glanced at Ellie, silently giving her the okay to tell him.

"Diego," she started. "How would you feel if we added another member to our herd?" His eyes lit up at the thought of someone else joining the herd. But the picture wasn't clear. He was just about as good at this as Manny.

"Sure," he said. "I wouldn't mind. Who is it? Have we met before?" Manny laughed.

"No, you've never met before," said Manny. "In fact, we don't even know it's name yet." Diego froze.

"You don't mean... You're not..." he stuttered. "Wow," was all he ended up saying. The look of shock on his face was all worth it to Manny.

Suddenly, Crash and Eddie fell right on to Diego's back, screaming the whole time.

"Isn't this great Diego?" "We're gonna be uncles!" "We'll have so much fun!" "Rolling in mud..." "...And eating bugs..." "...And not taking baths..." "...And staying up late..." "...And annoying Sid..."

The last one almost seemed to make Diego feel better. The possums went to high-five each other, but missed purposely. Crash fell right off Diego's back and onto the ground with a thud. Diego laughed a little bit, then shook a hysterical Eddie off his back as well, smiling at their enthusiasm.

"Yep," he said. "It'll be fun. Just like old times."

"Just like old times," came a familiar lisp. Sid had managed to find them and decided to join right in. "You guys really need to stop walking off. That's what we made camp for."

Manny smiled. He looked over his herd, his family. He knew that it couldn't get much better. He nuzzled his mate lovingly and gently locked his trunk with hers.

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The End

(for real this time)

A/N: Wow, it was really kind of weird to write this chapter set so much later than the rest of the story. But with my cheesy writing skills, I'm sure you all predicted that this was coming anyways. I am such a sucker for romance... So, on the last note of this story: I saw Ice Age II: The Meltdown AGAIN... (That equals FOUR times, wow.) And I cried three times this time. That look on Manny's face is incredible each time. And when all the... (well, no spoilers, sorry) there's the happy part for Manny... That's just great, the music is timed perfectly... And then the magical trunk lock at the end too. Gets me every time...

Ok, everybody be on the lookout for some new stories coming soon! Hopefully a sequel to this one, another about Soto, one about 'behind-the-scenes' stuff (might take awhile), and another one about Crash & Eddie... I'm excited... If you like any of these best, just let me know which to start on first, and I'll get right to it! Anything to please my faithful readers! I love you all so much!

–Safi Kittykat