Ice Age Moments💕

Parenting is Making Me Soft

Been wanting to write this one for a LONG time. Not sure why I took long 😅

The brown saber was taking a small nap on a rock, beneath some trees. Something flew past him, and his ears twitched up at some chirping. He opened his eyes and spotted a little blue bird on the ground.

The saber smiled interested as his hunting instincts kicked in. He could use a small snack. He quietly slipped into the long green grass, slowly stalking it. Smaller prey were way harder to hunt, especially because they move faster. With birds, once they take flight, the hunts already over.

Once he knew he was close enough to make a good pounce to catch it before it had the chance to fly, the saber snarled until he saw something else that changed everything.

Diego gasped, and quickly halted his pounce. Skidding to a stop right this close to not the bird but what is between him and the bird. Tackle.

His son turned around as Diego stared at him, surprised. "Oh hi dad" the cub greeted him with a smile, not realizing he was close to getting pounced on.

"Um hey kiddo. What are you doing out here? Did you wander off again?" Diego asked him as he lied down, nuzzling his little furry head. Due to curiosity, his son would leave the den to explore out so someone had to babysit him. However, he always finds a way to slip through.

"Chirp chirp!"

Tackle's ears twitched at the bird and he eagerly ran back to it. "Look daddy! Look what I found! A little bird!" He told him excitedly as the bird flap its wings, chirping.

"Aww look. She so pretty!" Tackle awed at the bird, gently brushing his paw on the feathers. The bird let this humming sound, pleased with the cub. The brown saber smiled at his son, chuckling at his cute little side.

"So what were you up to, dad?"

Diego froze at the question. He was suppose to be hunting the bird but now Tackle was here. The problem was his son hasn't seen his father kill prey before. Mostly because he wasn't old enough to come join in the hunts. "Well...you see kiddo...I was um..." he tried to think how he could break it down to his sweet little cub.

"Uh huh" the cub said innocently, tilting his head curiously while still, hugging the bird. Diego suddenly found this very difficult. How was he going to tell he son that he was hunting the bird? If he killed it, who knows how Tackle would see his own father. At some point, he was gonna have to learn this too.

"I was...actually about to play with the bird. Yeah, that's it. But you beat me to it" he lied to him, smiling nervously. The cub beamed at him, his tail wagging. "Really? Awesome dad! We can play together!" The cub told him excitedly. His dad smiled at him. He didn't want to crush his little heart so until he was older, it be best to shield him from this.

They heard some chirping and both turn to find the bird leaving. "Awww. I  wanted to play more with the bird" the cub said disappointed, his ears down. His dad nudged his head up to get his attention. "Well, at least you still have me to play me" he mentioned, perking up the cub's excitement.

"If that's the case, then you can watch over him"

A familar female voice made them look to find Shira arriving, searching for her cub. "Hi mama!" Tackle scampered to her. Rubbing against her leg, his mom licked his head. "Hi baby. You need to stop running off or else mama gonna have to kill someone if they hurt you" she cooed at him, rubbing her nose on his nose. Although Diego looked at her a bit intimidated by that, Tackle just giggled at that.

"Ok. Mama gonna go hunting. Be good to your dad" she told him, rubbing his fuzzy head. "Come on, dad! I'll race ya to the den!" Tackle called out to him, already running. The striped saber chuckled, finding her cub unbelievably cute. However, she raised an eyebrow at Diego went he kept his head down as he walked.

"What happen to you?" Shira asked her mate, noticing his strange behavior. He paused in his walking to look at her. "I think parenting is making me soft" he told her, and that made her look at him confused. "Daaaaddy! Hurry before I beat you!" The cub yelled at them, waiting eagerly for his dad. "I'll tell you later" he told her before going after his son. 'I know Diego's a softie but what happened this time to make him more soft than usual?' Shira wondered curiously before walking off to get food...should be an interesting story when she gets back.