"Oh come on!"
"No Sid!"
The two were standing around dense area of the forest, the trees were swaying a bit in the summer wind, and the temperature was a bit higher than normal. The ground was a bit wet underneath them from the moisture, and a thin layer of fog had enveloped over the trees, the ghostly clouds slowly migrating.
" Sid.. I won't tell you again." Diego looked at the sloth before him, his tone was serious.
" Diego I can do this, I'm an uncle remember? That's what uncles do." Sid smiled as he said this, his determination persisting.
"I don't want you to look over him. We'll only be gone for a few hours. I'm sure Manny and Ellie can do it." Diego turned around and began to make his way back, hearing the footsteps of the animal behind him. The heat made it uncomfortable to stay put for a while, he had to keep moving.
"Come on Diego, I think I would be great as a babysitter. If you would just give me the chance-"
"Not gonna happen Sid." Diego retorted. He was beginning to get annoyed at Sids repeated attempts to change his mind. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sid... He just didn't trust "Babysitter Sid".. To him the two words did not go well together.
"Why not? I've done it before, you remember when we took that baby and brought it back to the humans."
"Oh, you mean the time you tried to climb up the side of a WATERFALL to bring it back to an abandoned encampment, nearly dropping it halfway up? Yea... I do remember that Sid." His remark was sarcastic, but to him it was a good reminder as to why he DOESN'T want Sid to do it.
Sid pouted, "How about the time we managed to actually bring it back to the humans? Don't you remember that?" He waddled over next to Diego. "I promise you Diego, nothing will happen."
Shira was laying on a rock, her silver-grey coat shining in the sunlight. In front of her was a little cub, a saber of an orange coat, and sea-grey eyes. She watched him crouch down and pounce at a bug, only to hit his head on the ground and roll about. She laughed, amused at the child's play. "Try again Cody, this time put your front paws out in front of you when you land."
" OK, mom. " the child crouched back down, determination in his eyes. He got ready, and pounced, only to hit his head again. He sat up and shook his head, looking at the adult saber who was obviously entertained by this. "Yea, yea laugh it up mom. I'll get it, don't worry." Shira chuckled, and looked over towards some bushes, she heard the voices of Diego and Sid, and it seemed they were in a bit of a scuffle.
"Diego.. When have I ever been irresponsible?" Diego and Sid cleared the bushes, they were back at the camp, the entire herd now able to hear what they were saying.
"Uh I don't know Sid... How about EVER SINCE I MET YOU." Diego raised his voice to a matter-of-fact tone, in disbelief that the sloth would try to use that as an argument... Did he honestly think that would help?
Manny looked over at the two, Ellie standing beside him with Peaches, Manny rolled his eyes, it was always something with those two. Behind them Crash and Eddie were rolling around fighting with each other, Ellie thought it was over something petty, like who cheated in a game of Log Roll.
"Go on Manny, do your thing, Adult for them." Peaches giggled at the comment. Ellie smiled, she didn't always play "Sarcastic Mommy", must have got it from Diego, but she had to admit it was funny to see Manny's reaction, which was usually grumpy and in a "not in the mood" fashion.
Manny walked over to the two arguing animals, he reached his trunk over to Sid, and batted the back of his head, earning a "HEY!" in response.
"What's going on now?"
"Manny.. I don't want Sid to babysit Cody, and I'm not changing my mind." The saber looked over at the goofy looking sloth and growled, intimidating Sid a bit.
"Come on guys, I can do it. I'm not THAT bad." Both Manny and Sid looked over at him with a look of surprise, which made Sid shut his mouth.
"Manny, can you and Ellie take care of him for a few hours please, we won't be gone long."
Manny looked back at the cub, who was still trying to impress his mother with his pouncing skills.
"Diego we've talked about this... Ellie, Peaches and I are going out for a walk today, and I don't think it would be a good idea to bring your adorable bouncy ball of fluff with us, bad enough we're taking the two boys." Diego scrunched his face a bit in annoyance to the last part of the comment.
"I told you guys I can do it, we'll be here until you come back. What do you think I'm going to lose him or something?"
"...Actually.. Yes. Or you'll end up sitting on him.." Diego reflected on that and realized that he just redefined the term 'babysitting'.
"There you guys go again, you know i really don't think you have much faith in me. I may be a sloth but I can still handle myself." He put his hands on his hips, impatient with the way they were talking to him. Sid may be clumsy sometimes but he still thought pretty highly of himself, knowing he could do something if he wanted to.
"You know Diego if you really wanted to stop him from speaking you could just eat him." All three animals looked over to find Shira walking over to them, Cody right behind her. "I think it could be a learning experience for Sid, besides we aren't near any other animals' territory, I don't see how it could be as bad as you think."
"Shira.. This is SID we're talking about-"
"Yea Diego," Shira's voice became a bit snippy, "This is Sid, the animal that, when you guys first met ended up carrying the baby back to the humans while trying to keep it away from a saber who wanted to bring it back to his pack... Or do you not remember that?"
All three of them shut up instantly, Diego not willing to make eye contact to the saberess, "Did you HAVE to go there?"
"Yes, because ever since I came here I've noticed that you and Manny haven't given Sid much chance at doing something, he IS a member of the herd too you know. I'm willing to give him a chance-"
"Shira-"
"A CHANCE, Diego, to prove that he can take responsibility... This is something we all do, we try new things. I did it when I left Gutts crew, and you did it when you left Sotos pack. So why not?"
Diego sighed begrudgingly. He didn't like the idea, but Shira did have a point. This would be the prime time for Sid to prove himself. He looked over at Sid, "Fine... You can babysit."
Sid jumped happily, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him on the head. "Thank you Diego, you won't regret it."
"I'm so enthusiastic about this..." Diego replied sarcastically.
Shira chukled and have Diego a loving nuzzle, "Everything will be fine."
"Sid.." Manny glared at him with his brown eyes, "I'm telling you this now before you go and mess this up.. Anything happens to Cody, both Diego and I will pummel you. Do you hear me?" He pointed his trunk and Sid, tapping his shoulder sharply as he said this. He was only half-serious about the pummeling part, but he figured the intimidation would help get it through to him that this is not something to take lightly.
" Don't worry, Manny, I'll take good care of him. Just go enjoy yourselves." Sid smiled his usual goofy smile Manny have him one more glare before leaving to go join his mate and his daughter. Diego looked over at Sid, "You know I don't like this, Sid... can i really trust you to do this?" He had a look of annoyance and worry, his eyes fixed upon Sid, studying him.
"Of course Diego!" Sid glanced and Cody for a moment, "We'll be perfectly fine... But.. What exactly is it that you guys are doing?"
"We're just going for a little day of relaxation. We'll be back.." He looked down and his cub, "You sure you're going to be okay Cody?"
"Yea dad! I'll be fine." Diego brought his paw down and brushed the little cubs back, the cub pushing into the padding affectionately. Diego turned and walked over to his mate, and the herd separated. Manny, Ellie, Peaches and the boys departed for their walk, while Diego and Shira left to begin their day of relaxation, away from the herd. Cody and Sid were left alone to entertain themselves however they wish. Sid looked down at the cub, a feeling of protectiveness coming over him. Finally... Alright Cody, I'm the babysitter. Yea, okay this will work out.. I'm not going to mess this one up.
I wonder how this one will turn out.. Well Sid it looks like you got what you wanted, let's just see how you do. What do you guys think? I remember watching Ice Age 3 and thinking about how Sid would do as a babysitter. I pondered the idea of Sid doing something like that, only not for Peaches. Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Reviews and criticism encouraged, if you have any ideas on what I should do with this I'd love to hear about it either through the reviews or pm.