This fanfic has been on my mind for about a year. I realize some people don't want a 6th Ice Age, but I can't help myself!
Okay, so, realistically, all of the animals except Manny and his family should be dead, since mammoths lived almost as long as humans do now (tigers only live for 18 years and sloths live for about 30, and Sid had already reached maturity by the first Ice Age movie); and this story takes place 25 years after the first film (Ice Age takes place in winter, Ice Age 2 is the following summer, mammoth gestation period is two years, and Peaches is around 18 in the 5th movie).
I do not own Ice Age (or any of the movies/books/TV shows that will be referenced in this story).
After Peaches and Julian were married, Shira discovered she was pregnant. Everyone was ecstatic, because they knew how much she and Diego wanted cubs. Three months later, Diego paced back and forth in front of a makeshift den made by him, Sid, and Manny, where Shira delivered her cubs with help from Brooke and Ellie.
"Relax, buddy. They'll be here before you know it." Manny said, trying to calm his friend.
"Yeah, but what if something goes wrong or something happens?" Diego asked, a little panicked. "What is taking so long? And why isn't she screaming? I mean, it's gotta be painful-"
"Mm, maybe she doesn't want to attract predators." Sid suggested.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Diego replied. He stopped pacing when he realized what he just said. "Wait, what?!"
"Hmm. I must be getting wise in my old age." Sid replied, playing with a leaf.
"Then you know that's poison oak, right?" Manny asked, pointing to the leaf with his trunk.
Sid looked at the leaf, yelped, dropped it, and leaned against a tree, sighing. "I miss when everything was covered in ice and snow."
"Really? I seem to recall you being sick of all that ice and snow." Diego said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking." Sid replied.
Just then, Brooke walked out of the den. Diego nearly pounced on her. "Is she okay? Are they okay? How many do we have?"
"Calm down, Diego." Brooke held up her paws. "Shira and your cubs are all right. You have been blessed with a litter of four healthy cubs."
Sid gasped and pumped his fist. "Four for you, Diego. You go, Diego!"
Diego laughed softly and smiled. Ellie walked out of the den. "Diego, are you ready to meet your cubs?"
"Yeah." Diego padded towards the den. "Thank you both for everything."
"Hey, after you helped me deliver Peaches, helping you is the least I could do." Ellie replied, smiling.
Diego nodded and padded into the den. Shira finished cleaning off their cubs. "Hi."
"Hey." Shira greeted, a little tired from giving birth. They rubbed heads.
Diego lay down next to Shira and gazed at their cubs. One of them looked exactly like Shira, another looked exactly like Diego. Another had a plain grey pelt, and the fourth one had a burnt orange pelt with grey stripes. "Two boys, and two girls. How did we get so lucky?" Diego bent down and started nuzzling the cubs. "Hi, babies. Hi. I'm your daddy."
XX
The cubs and Shira hid out in the den for two months as Shira prepared her children for, well, life. The entire village gathered around the den to meet the cubs for the first time. Diego and Shira came out of the den carrying their daughters, and Sid and Brooke carried Diego and Shira's sons. Diego set his daughter down and addressed the village.
"Everyone, my mate and I are proud to introduce you to our children," Diego said. "Diego Jr.- or DJ for short, Arianna, Lena, and Jack."
Everyone cheered as Sid, Diego, Shira, and Brooke held the cubs up. DJ farted in Sid's face. The sloth turned his head and coughed and gagged quietly.
A molehog turned to his mate with an annoyed expression on his face. "Oh, great- four more predators. As if two weren't enough."
"Diego and Shira are harmless, and their children will be too." His mate assured him. "It won't be like with Sid and his dino babies."
"Well, I hope not, or we're moving."
XXX
Over the next few years, the cubs grew and would often hunt with their mother. Diego took that time to relax and catch up with his friends.
Manny, Sid, and Diego sat around a fallen tree log. Sid was once again asking to babysit the cubs.
"Sid, I love you like a brother, but I do not trust you with my babies." Diego said.
"Oh come on! I did all right with my dinosaur kids." Sid insisted.
"Yeah, after you were under the delusional impression that they were abandoned as eggs." Manny quipped.
"Ok, fine. How about Peaches?" Sid asked.
"You lead her to the North Pole where she could have died and/or gotten lost." Manny reminded him.
"Those eggs that I watched that one Easter?" Sid reminded him.
"Yes, then Squint kidnapped them, and they almost died before they were even born." Diego commented.
Sid scoffed. "Those were flukes. I did just fine with Pinky."
Manny and Diego grew quiet. Manny sighed. "How long has it been since we took Pinky to Glacier Pass?"
"Oh, gosh, that must have been two and a half decades ago." Sid replied. "I think about Pinky sometimes."
"Funny, I haven't thought of him in years." Diego said.
"How old would he be now? Mid-twenties?" Sid asked.
"If he's even still alive." Manny shrugged. "We haven't seen any more humans since Glacier Pass. I'm starting to think they've gone extinct."
"Well, with the flood, the continental drift, and the asteroid; I wouldn't be surprised if they have gone extinct." Diego replied.
"True." Manny nodded.
XXX
"...So then, I was caught between the two rhinos, who were charging towards me." Diego was sitting in front of his children telling an exaggerated tale of his adventures. "I had no other way of escaping, so what do I do? I jump high so the rhinos would crash into each other! I landed on one of the rhinos' back, and leapt to safety. But just when I thought I was safe, a deranged cholly with a hernia started attacking me!" The kids gasped and Diego continued. "I quickly scaled up a cliff to escape it and dropped a boulder on him!"
"Wow!" The kids exclaimed and started cheering.
Shira padded up to them, smiling. "So, what story are we telling right now? The one about the zombies and the dino birds or the rhinos and the cholly?"
"The rhinos and the cholly." Diego replied.
Shira chuckled. "You know, I think that was one of my favorite stories.
"I can tell it to you, Mommy." DJ spoke up.
XX
Unbeknownst to the tigers, an older saber toothed tiger sat hidden in a bush, glaring at Diego. 'Enjoy it while it lasts, Diego.' the tiger thought. 'You will pay for what you did to me.' He smirked as the wind blew through his fur in Diego's direction.
XX
"Is it true that Daddy saved you from pirates, Mommy?" Lena asked.
"He did." Shira smiled down at her daughter, then looked at Diego. "He truly did."
"Awww." The girls cooed.
"Oh, yuck." The boys groaned in disgust.
Shira laughed softly. "Okay, kids, time for bed."
"Awww, do we have to?" The boys whined.
"Yes, even wild beasts need their sleep." Diego replied. "Come on. Let's go."
The kids groaned and reluctantly let their parents lead them back to their den. A gentle breeze blew past them and Diego stopped short when he caught a familiar scent. A scent he never thought he'd smell again. Diego turned in the direction of the scent, but there was no one and nothing there.
"Diego?" Shira called back.
Diego snapped from his thoughts and turned back to his family. "Coming."
Diego couldn't take his mind off that scent. It smelled really familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. He planned on investigating it the next morning. But who could it be?