Don't own ect.....

Thanks for some lovely reviews! I felt encouraged to ramble on with this story, so here goes...... silly heads at the ready!

Diego was woken early next morning by a soft nudging against his stomach. Lazily he looked around at the cub sitting beside him. It took a little while to remember why this odd coloured cub was here. Quickly his eyes flashed around the camp, the twins were fast asleep in the branches, Sid was snoring and the mammoths were lying still. The rare opportunity to put this cub straight on a few things presented itself. No, two mammoths were asleep, and he glanced back to the third. Peaches eyes were watching him. Her gaze seemed to be laden with meaning. If he was physic he would interpret the message behind a look as intense as this to be "if something were to happen I would know, and I would learn to talk and I would tattle. He let any sinister thought he might have had go with a sigh, and instead behaved nicely towards the cub. Well as nice as he could be. "So, you're hungry again already."

Snowball fixed him with a wanting stare, his big brown eyes alone could have sold ice to Eskimos but in this situation more was needed, so with a cute small paw he nudged Diego again and mewed.

"Milk? You are old enough to talk"

Snowball's eyes instantly filled with sorrow with a stinging flinch and fell away to look at the ground. Diego looked at the fuzzy crown and felt bad, really bad. This cub had been through hell, any ill will he might have felt melted and he complied with the Snowballs needs.

"Okay, let's go find some then."

Snowball gave a little skip of enthusiasm, forgetting his former distress in an instant and stumbled forwards with short clumsy cub steps as he set off away from the sleeping herd.

Diego paused, was he reading too much into these kids? Without a word that cub had just fed him the best lie he'd ever seen, and the kid only ate last night why the rush? He looked back to Peaches, her green eyes still watched from the safety of her parent's trunks. She was almost creepy, her cute face so angelic yet her eyes were taking everything in. Why? Was she just by chance awake or purposely watching? Calculating, Diego shook himself from this paranoia to catch up with Snowball, he really did not like kids.

Peaches watched them go. Watching was her favourite pastime, especially when no one knew. Usually only small stuff happened like sleep talk, or maybe a passing Scratt or two, but this morning had been very eventful........

She had woken to see Snowball trying to fit Sid's head in his mouth!

She wriggled free from her parents warm embrace to put things right. She had been practicing her trunk coordination skills for months for a situation like this and now curled the end of this versatile weapon to form a fist. She marched up to Snowball, who on seeing her dropped Sid in favour of his more natural prey. Slowly they approached each other with an epic, if not miniature air of intensity. Kitten claws at the ready Snowball leapt at her full on, big mistake! she was not known as the baddest kid in the playground just for her size! And she sure wasn't going to be scared of milk teeth! She swung her trunk around in a mighty arc and whacked him around the ear in mid pounce sending him crashing head first into the dirt. Yes she was tough, but was also just, and allowed her foe to regain himself as if this was merely a friendly spar.

Snowball seethed. He marched right back to her and lifted a paw to strike, with ease Peaches took full advantage of his unbalanced form whipping her trunk around his extended paw and swung with all her might! She swung him till she was giddy, and let go.

Again he struck the dirt sliding and rolling until he came to a halt, gingerly he lifted his head to see three baby mammoths coming for him in a slow, around about, swaying way, and finally felt a pair of heavy furred feet pin him down. Pointing her trunk fist to his pink nose she held him there until finally he gave up struggling and lay still in defeat. Peaches freed him and watched him race over to Diego and begin shaking him awake, coolly she stood in the iconic mountain pose of the mammoth, a powerful stance, with her father as a back drop behind her albeit still asleep. Snowball unable to wake Diego quick enough looked around to see what she was up to, he met her eyes from across the camp, and read into her fearless frown," my dad's bigger than your dads". He glowered; he was defeated for now but vowed darkly to himself next time would be different!

Peaches took no pride from this triumph, she settled back into the warm comfort of her parents embrace so as to appear like nothing happened when they awoke, after all she was no tattle. She watched as Snowball quickly exited the camp with Diego and waited patiently for a while encase that Scratt showed up (the equivalent of morning cartoons) but fell asleep before long.

Manny awoke from a peaceful dream and took in the beautiful new day. He looked over to Ellie and Peaches beside him and smiled, before looking around to do a quick head count, Crash and Eddie check; being mostly nocturnal they would now sleep in late, good! Sid, a bit chewed looking but at least not sulking anymore, lion cub gone, good and Diego probably be back later. All's well.

He looked back to his mate and daughter they looked so alike, especially when they slept. He could never find the words to describe how he felt for them, but the feeling he got when he woke every morning to see them beside him was overwhelming. He felt the change in Ellie's breathing as she slowly woke up.

"Mornin' Hon." Ellie yarned as she said this,"Sleep well?"

"Very, actually."

"Nothin' to do with Sid being happy taking a weight off of your mind?"

Manny Slipped out of his euphoria with a bump, he had not really thought about it; he had slept better. Better in fact than he had in a while and felt great this morning for it.

"Kids will do that to ya," Ellie continued to herself, stretching a little to wake her limbs.

"I don't think of him as my kid, like I said I think of him as my dog's kids pet, kind of thing." He quipped, trying to making light of that Sloths latest mishap.

"You love him." She giggled; he was so easy to tease.

"I endure him."

"You're too hard on him; after all we're together thanks to him."

"A few things work out from his meddling and everyone forgets all the stuff that goes wrong, and believe me a lot goes wrong."

"Ok, ok maybe a few of his projects go astray, but you still love him."

"When you become the new focus of his attention, and believe me he will find something to dig at, then you will know exactly how I feel about him."

"Well I can't wait; it must be nice to have someone care enough about you to notice the little things. But as I remember it, wasn't it you who felt it necessary to help me with my possum issues whether I wanted it or not?"

"That was different. It was important that you knew, you just can't be two things at once"

"More important than you learning NOT to be a cantankerous old mammoth? I think that the two of you are more alike than you would care to think."

"He has never called me cantankerous."

"Oop's not started on that little project yet then." Ellie remarked under her breath.

Just then Peaches stirred with a yawn"Why good morn'in honey." Ellie cooed. Peaches beamed up at her parents,"Maaaan!" She squealed.

"Wow, did you hear that Manny her first word!"

"That was no way a word."

"What did I just say about being too hard on your kids?"

"Good try Peaches; let's try that again, Maaanny."

"She was trying for Mum, come on Peaches Muuuuum." Peaches was not staying still for any longer, the new day had officially started and there were things to do, she got up and started to pull at her parents trunks to follow.

"Okay, breakfast time." Manny heaved himself up.

"Wait, no one will know where we've gone."

"They are not kids! They probably won't move till midday anyway," Manny picked Sid up and put him in the tree with Crash and Eddie," They will be perfectly safe till then, and we could do with some time alone. Come on, some quality time with our actual child, sound good?"

"Yes it does, but not too long, I worry." Ellie followed glancing back, this herd found trouble at every turn, of course she worried!

Sid woke to find his head wet and a tree branch poking rudely into his back. Not unusual, after all he had woken up in the past to find himself tied, gagged, kidnapped, on fire among other things. At least this tree was full of new blossom and leaves, a good spring salad for a sloth. He would worry about why he had been deserted by the rest of the herd after breakfast. The sun was by now high in the sky and it looked to be a nice spring day; He stretched out fully appreciating the warm sun's rays on his fur forgetting to worry about his new charge. He was too busy basking in the (familiar) warm glow being a new parent gave him. It was the best feeling on earth! A few feet below him Crash murmured something like "my sword" and "Quick!" to which Eddie's legs spun as if cycling upside down. Sid pondered if being twins they shared dreams? That would be cool! As he ate he called down random words to them and watched for reactions, this kept him entertained for most of the day.

Diego took Snowball up over the ice cliffs the herd had skirted around yesterday, (careful to avoid all ledges), to a territory that he knew was inhabited by a small pack of sabres. He had met several of them while hunting, and knew them to be friendly enough. Sara in particular had taken a shine to him, and they had talked several times about his adventures. He knew that she liked this rugged area and knew that it was that time of year for cubs, so he looked for clues as to where she might be denning. Up here it was cold and quiet, so it was not long before he picked up the rough and tumble of cubs playing and headed over to a rocky cave where he hoped Sara would be staying. As he neared he picked up her scent." Okay we're here, now stay close, stay quiet and get ready with that big eye trick, you're going to have to appeal to her mothering instincts if you don't want to get eaten." Snowball looked back at him a little uneasily. Diego pushed on regardless, he felt stupid enough as it was, and remembered this morning's cry baby scene to readily to fall for any tricks now.

"Hello Sara."

"Diego?" Sara looked up from her snooze on a sun drenched rock, "I thought you were moving on with your herd thing, don't tell me they discovered you weren't vegetarian and ditched you." Prey animals worth talking to, swimming and dinosaurs, she enjoyed these tales but did not believe a word of it. Instead she saw Diego as a little impaired, having spent too much time out on his own in the wilderness.

"Yeah I was, but something came up." He took a deep breath, "I need help feeding this cub." He looked away as he pushed Snowball forwards. It was strange enough him turning up with a cub at all, let alone a foreign one, maybe she would guess that he just hadn't noticed Snowball was a lion and be too polite to correct him on the matter.

"A lion cub, why would you? How did you....... "Words failed her, Diego really was loony tune crazy, but the eyes on that cub! She could not look away from those big brown pleading eyes.

"It's for a friend." This needed some explanation he was sure to get the ball rolling again as Sara had become transfixed in Snowballs gaze, a mixture of urgh and ahhh crossed her face too quickly to tell which way she might lean.

"A lion friend? You know they are savages right?"

"A Sloth friend, actually."

"Oh, of course! A lion friend would have been too easy. Seriously Diego don't you think it's time you got over whatever you're going through and were just a normal tiger again?"

Just the thought of returning to pack life sent a shiver down his spine," uh, maybe, but this is kinda important right now so please?"

"Mew?" said Snowball.

Sara sighed, she knew she was going to relent, her hormones were on full nurture mode, and she just could not refuse a hungry cub. Discreetly she scanned the surrounding area to make sure not even a bird could witness her catching Diego's madness. "Okay, I will help, but you owe me big."

"Thanks."

"Just look after my two while I nurse yours, and remember, BIG!"

Diego turned to where Sara's cub's had been playing when he arrived, two small tan, spotted cubs with golden eyes stared back inquisitively. He felt instantly at ease with these more natural looking cubs and rolled a toy (in this case an old mammoth knee cap, not at all sick to carnivores) for them to catch. They delighted in the attention and it was not long before a full on game of ball ensued.

"You know you're good with kids."

"Yeah, so people keep telling me." He was getting real tired of this joke.

"But you really are, these two have been struggling with their co-ordination, but look the little tykes are really focusing on that bone."

Diego watched as Snowball padded over to join the game.

"It would be a whole lot easier in a pack you know."Sara circled him pulling his attention away from the cubs."There's always room in my pack for one more. Think about it, help with the kid, a pack to hunt with, life would be a lot easier."

Diego felt very uneasy, he hated the idea of being tied to a pack and territory again "Never have been one for taking the easy option."

"So you're still moving on with your herd?"

"Yeah eventually, new horizons and all that."

"Suite yourself, but sooner rather than later, your kid is beating the hell out of my mine."

Diego's focus had drifted and he realized Snowball had one sabre cub in a head lock while he sat on the other, that kid worked fast! Slightly embarrassed he pulled Snowball off. "Sorry, kid doesn't know his own strength. Well thanks again."

"Just hope you're not the next Sabre being pinned down by him!" She called after him, Dam guy was nuts. Cute but nuts.

He didn't answer. He picked Snowball up and trotted downhill, putting as much distance between himself and that tight, constricting feeling that was growing inside him the longer he stayed with her.

Sid was still eating when Diego returned; he quietly crept up behind him and dropped Snowball into his lap.

"Here's the baby! And where have you been little guy?"

Sid's baby talk voice was the most annoying noise, after a difficult silence Diego answered.

"Getting milk he's too young for just solids."

"I know, I know, and how did li'l Snowball manage to find milk?"

"He asked nicely. Something you should bear in mind. I've heard stories about your methods which I am choosing to ignore."

"Ha ha, I was a single parent then, you wouldn't understand how hard that is."

They were conveniently interrupted as the mammoths returned. "Sid you're up! Must be afternoon already."

"Oh hi Manny, Ellie, Peaches. Have a nice walk?"

Peaches made to hug Sid, but stopped dead when she saw Snowball in his arms. They glared at each other. "Oh no! you two are going to be like brother and sister you've got to be friends."

"Sid, that's not such a good idea." Manny cautioned.

"They're just a little new to this that's all!" Ellie interrupted before Manny could finish explaining. "Look Peaches, having a little brother is the best thing ever!" She picked Snowball up to hug him, "Ah who's the cutest li'l kitten?" holding him high she gently bounced him.

Snowball struggled to turn off his powers of cute, shutting his eyes and hiding his pink pads he wriggled to get free. Ellie unfortunately interpreted this to go faster, after all kid's liked fast rides right! She spun him around untill she realised he was screaming in fear.

Peaches laughed hysterically, falling over in the effort.

"Sorry Sid." she handed the now fuzzy ball of fur back" hey if he had a long neck he'd look just like you" She tried desperately to make amends.

"Ah thanks, but I think he is a bit young to play with you guys. I think I'll just go find some gentler kid's for him to play with."

"Okay" Ellie did not know how to save the situation, so let Sid go. "Peaches it's not nice to laugh!"She scolded.

"Ellie don't be too hard on her, she is just laughing. She doesn't understand mummy did not mean to scare the kitten to death."

"Manny I feel awful enough already."

"So you should. I would have explained to him the truth about food chains and how this won't work. I would never have scared his kitten to death to prove it, that was just harsh."

Well she couldn't play with Sid so Peaches headed over to Crash and Eddie. The boys were rubbing tired, red eyes as they had not at all slept well. "That must have been the weirdest dream."

"Wow I had a weird dream! Like totally crazy."

"Eddie do you think that because we are twins we share dreams?"

"I doubt it; in mine I was helping Buck."

"Well, in mine I was Buck. Then all sorts of random stuff happened and now I am totally beat. I hope Peaches doesn't mind playing tidily winks this afternoon, I can't handle anything more strenuous than that."

"Hey Peaches!" Ellie jumped at the chance to be helpful, "Come play with mum and let your uncles wake up a bit. I've told you about those late nights' boys, you're not as young as you used to be."

Manny stood beside Diego "Hey, are you awake?"

"Well, I am now."

"Why are you doing this?"

Diego was surprised at the question; also a little annoyed Sara had already gone on about this already. "Well it's what you do in a herd, isn't it?"

"No, you don't usually do that in a herd."

"Well In a pack, sometimes not everyone returns from a hunt, the cubs however all get fed regardless." There take that for a bit of moral high ground! He wondered if he would be left alone for a bit too really think about what he was doing, and why.

"It is not a tiger. It is just as likely to attack you as anyone else here when it grows up."

"He is Sid's cub, and Sid is a part of this herd, so regardless of species, I will try and help, and maybe a good opportunity will present itself to ditch it. After all it worked out that way with the rest. Where is Sid?"

"Went for a walk with Snowball."

"How long ago?"

"About five minutes."

"Then I had better go save him." Well it was as good an excuse as any to avoid the 101 questions everyone seemed to have lately, Diego pulled himself up and left Manny to his thoughts. Manny contemplated hard and came up with no obvious right or wrong course of action. Sid was Sid and would always be Sid, might as well stop trying to reason sense into the little twerp and accept defeat.

Sid wandered over to where a few parents were talking. Remembering his last lot of unruly kid's the other parents snubbed him, shuffling their children off out of sight.

"How rude! Well we didn't want to play with them anyway did we Snowball." He noticed a pair of female Sloths sunbathing, and headed over to them. It was the pair that he had encountered during the first film.

"Hello ladies mind if me and my kid join you?" he plopped himself down between them before they could answer. "Ah, a rose between two thorns."

Rachel and Jennifer rolled their eyes at the rude intrusion. "Didn't you get eaten by a tiger a few seasons ago?"

"Yeah probably, all part of my life of living out on the edge, Foes at every turn, adventure over every horizon."

"And those two rhino were after you, so how did you escape them?"

"As always, by my sheer cunning and super skills of lighting speed and stelf, you find these inner strengths when you know, you have to defend these helpless little guys." He indicated to Snowball held tightly in his arms, a sure lady magnet, or so he thought.

"Didn't that kid have a lot less fur last time I saw it?"

It's a different kid Rachel, the last one was human! So Sid did you just lose the other one, or did you use it to distract those foes of yours so you could make your get away?"

Snowball gulped, he really didn't know his new mum.

"Actually I heroically returned that one to his herd where he really belonged, this one I saved only this year. Here do you want to hold him?" Ignoring the sceptical Jennifer Sid offered his baby to Rachel to hold.

"Ah, not so defenceless this one, um, don't those teeth hurt?" She backed away refusing to take the cub from Sid's out stretched arms.

"What these little teeth? Ha! those are nothing! You should have seen the teeth on the last three I saved; now those were teeth!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes"Right I've heard enough." She got up to go when she heard a deep threatening grow behind her; slowly she turned to see a tiger watching them. "Ah guy's I think mummy tiger wants its baby back now! Come on Rach, time to go! Like now!" She couldn't pull Rachel away fast enough! They exited the beauty spot via the nearest exit, leaving Sid to his fate.

"He's a cave lion actually!" He called uselessly after them, "So I'll see you around ladies?" Why did this always happen to him? He slouched in defeat.

"Sid what are you doing?"

Well at least his herd would never desert him! Diego was usually never more than five minutes away. (Except for that time he left the herd, but he had only travelled for ten minutes before he found Sid again so that didn't really count.)

"Oh just chillin'."

"Could you 'just chill' with the herd where someone can keep an eye on you?"

"Oh no, you had Snowball to yourself all morning, Manny and Ellie have their time out with Peaches, now I want some quality time to bond with my kid!"

"That is not quality time Sid, quality time is doing something you both enjoy, your just using him to chat up girls."

"I was just saying hi, I can't help being a total chick magnet! We were going to play right after."

"Right Sid. So you can come back to the herd and play there."

"No, we are staying out and finding some like minded mammals and having some fun before we return!"

"Sid your lady friends are long gone, anything you can do here alone, you can do back with the herd alone, where I can see that you're safe."

"They only ran because you scared them, you're jealous aren't you!"

"Jealous?"

"Yeah, you can't stand the thought of me being out with other mammals, mammals that might like me."

"That will never happen. They were leaving before I got here."

"You know you're my favourite tiger right? You can trust me to see other mammals, or more pacifically sloths. "

"Drop it Sid."

"But really, you leave me all morning and you're not concerned for my safety, then I meet some girls and boom! there you are! And, when I was being tempted away that time by adoring mini sloths, most of whom were female might I add, there you are, and being nice to me! But when I needed help coz those Kids were beating on me, nothing, and those sticks hurt! So did being buried alive!"

"I have to step back sometimes and let you learn from your own mistakes, plus it was funny. But that scene just there, that was embarrassing, Snowball didn't need to see that."

"So why did you not want me to stay with those mini sloths?"

"Because I .......What is the real issue here, just be serious for a second?"

"Manny thinks I am a bad parent, incapable of looking after myself let alone a kid."

"True, so far you have only failed to kill your kids because their natural parents have turned up and taken them back in time ... and eliminated all contact with you."

"We were being serious! I was a valued member of this herd back in the day; I don't feel valued at all right now. I feel like the clown. The sad clown in particular."

"So you need to march back and prove us wrong, start to be responsible for once, prove you can really do this."

"I can't. Parenting doesn't seem to come naturally to me. I really want this to work, but I had to leave earlier because I don't think Snowball and Peaches get along too well. I think Peaches intimidates Snow and scares him."

"Sid..." Diego stopped short from giving 'the circle of life' story." Just give the kids time to get to know each other. You remember how none of us got along to begin with and you worked out all those issues, just have a bit of faith in yourself, you are at your best when it comes to sticking this herd together."

"Gee, yeah I am good, I forget that sometimes."

"We all do. Sorry I didn't realise that this all was getting to you so much."

"Thanks I feel better now, we can head back now, but let's go the long way, they have their mysterious time, I too wish to have mysterious time out, I bet Manny misses me!"

"You do know what they do when they go off on those walks together don't you?"

"No, what do they do?"

"Obvious, they eat nonstop. You can't be that big just nibbling a few leaves before bed."

"So that's it! I thought that wasn't right, I eat all day and stay relatively lean, yet Manny hardly touches food and pours on the pounds! Ha it's all making sense now. So what do you do when you go off alone?"

"Nothing much. Hunt, eat, it all takes time, boring really"

Back at camp Crash and Eddie played with Peaches half heartedly; they all missed Sid in the game.

Ellie was worried, "They have been gone a long time, do you think there alright?"

"There're fine." Manny was getting tired now of her constant concern for everyone.

"I'm not so sure, last time Sid was gone so long, he had been kidnapped by dino's, and before that taken by mini sloths, what if he's in trouble? Maybe" she was going to suggest Manny go check on them, but remembered his skills of diplomacy were at best non-existent.

"Don't worry sis, you two are always gone and you know how it annoys you when me and crash check in on you."

"Well yes but that is kind 'a different."

"How so?" Eddie looked at her bemused.

"Well we are a couple and sometimes couples like to have time out together without their kid brothers jumping all over their heads."

"But they are a couple having time out together, and maybe they don't want you jumping all over their heads either."

"I wasn't going to jump on them, I just thought I would check that's all, big difference guys."

"Still being nosy sis, maybe it would be more considerate if we butted out and gave them some space once in a while."

Ellie was shocked when had Eddie grown up?

"You know I'm right sis."

"He is right Ellie," Manny added "They are making some big decisions together raising a kid and probably need some space to work things out."

"Hey when did you all get so adult about this?"

"Now, now Ellie." Crash chided "We have all had a good laugh at their expense but there is a time and place for such childish games and I think by spying on them you are clearly over stepping the boundary between 'bit of fun' to 'totally obnoxious'.

Sid carrying Snowball entered the clearing with Diego beside him. "What's up herd?" They were all looking at Ellie, "Did I just miss something funny?"

"No nothing important here Sid, I'm glad your back, did you get up to much? Uh, have fun I mean, sorry I don't mean to pry." Manny looked away, choosing words carefully was hard.

"Just chilled out with some friends, caught some rays, you know the usual." Sid pulled over a good log to sit on, that was the most activity he had done in a while and felt shattered for it.

The twins however were just waking up as evening started and bounced around, Peaches joined them, grinning all the while at Snowball trapped hanging from Sid's arm. He glared back; he was going to have that mammoth one day. Diego noticed the tension between them and looked to Sid; this was his moment to shine. Sid snored deep in a comatose state on his log. Diego despaired at the lazy good for nothing Sloth, why did he bother with him?

Later, when the herd were asleep for the night. Crash and Eddie pondered life.

"We are out of the loop here; we need a baby to fit in again."

"Yeah lone bachelor was so last season, but we don't have girl friends."

"So we can find some kid and have an instant family, it's not that hard. After all Mum raised a baby mammoth and we must have learned something about interspecies relationships from that. So I have been thinking, a bear would be nice. We could feed it nuts and berries, easy, and it can carry us everywhere."

"Ah cool, but it's a bit strange, you know us being brothers, it would feel a bit well, wrong somehow."

"The best thing about kids is that they don't judge, or ask questions if you find them young enough, ted will just accept us for who we are."

"Okay, we will keep our eye out, but I am not steeling a kid!"

"I can't believe you would suggest such a thing, nor would I."

"Good, you just had me worried; you seemed to have put a lot of thought into this that's all."

"Race you to that tree!"

"You're on."

That night they did happen to find a lost baby mammoth, but decided the herd had enough of these already so held out for the next orphan to come along. The mammoth baby found her natural parents after a few adventures and lived happily ever after.

Well thats as good a place as any to stop. I have been reading a lot on this site and may have been more than slightly influcnced by a few stories. Sorry if yours is one of them!