Alia Atreides. Small, beautiful, precious. She sat peacefully in her mothers arms as the elders admired the newborn.

Her eyes were already blue as if she had been living a Fremen lifestyle for several years. You'd expect her eyes to wander from one person to another as many infants do, but Alia wasn't just any other infant. Instead, she caught my eye as I entered from the other side of the room and held my gaze, almost as if she were seeing through me and drawing me in.

I approached the little girl as she watched me with her small eyes. I offered her my finger to which she grasped firmly in her small hand. Her touch made me feel something, almost as if she were trying to communicate with me.

Chani sighed in awe at my side. "She's so beautiful." 

It was beautiful. What an incredible thing, for a newborn infant to be as responsive as she.  I felt her instant connection as she squeezed my finger with her small hand. I was filled by the overwhelming sensations of elation, curiosity, and love.

Alia was special, I could already feel it. I knew the new Reverend Mother could, too. Whatever it was that poisoned the Water of Life had passed through Alia as well. I'm not sure if this meant she would posses powers per se, but she most definitely was capable of certain supernatural abilities.

I stared down at my own stomach. Enough time had passed that I could no longer pass as being bloated, one look at me and it was evident I was pregnant. I would likely come to term within the next few weeks. Did this mean that our child will grow up alongside Alia? Almost as if they were brother and sister? Would we raise them among the Fremen?

These thoughts didn't scare me anymore. Child birth was an inevitability, and it would be callow of me to deny it. I was to be a mother, and Paul a father. I had made peace with this fact.

My eyes lingered on the little baby girl. Lady Jessica's eyes flickered between mine and her daughter's. "Would you like to hold her?"

My eyes widened in both surprise and fear. "You would let me?"

She nodded kindly. "Of course. She is your sister too, of course."

I smiled at this, flattered. If Paul and I were to get married then yes, Alia would be my sister through marriage. But hearing Jessica say it as such made me feel as though I was genuinely her family.

She was careful shifting Alia from her arms to mine. She moved my hands so that I was supporting both Alia's body and neck. She was so tiny and fragile, I wondered if I squeezed too hard would I hurt her?

But seconds passed and it wasn't as difficult as I had imagined. Holding a child was almost natural, it felt second nature.  Alia looked comfortable as she held on to the same hand as before, staring deeply into my eyes.

Jessica smiled, admiring Alia in my arms. "Motherhood becomes you, Ophelia."

I felt my cheeks redden despite my obvious mature pregnant belly. It was still odd to hear that from anyone, especially from the mother of child's father. I wondered if all babies felt this delicate. So breakable. I wasn't quite sure I would get used to the feeling of carrying something so delicate in my arms.

"I agreed." Chani added, teasingly. "You look like such a mom right now."

I giggled in response. I knew they were teasing, but part of me hoped there was truth to it. I did not grow up with a mother so I wasn't sure what a real mother looked like, but I prayed I would be enough. 

Alia's gaze left mine and moved to her mothers. Her little body extended her arm, as if she were reaching for Lady Jessica. I handed Alia back to her mother, watching her carefully. How curious, she knew enough not to communicate what she wanted through her actions instead of crying like other babies would.

A few moments of silence passed as all of us kept our eyes on the little girl, admiring her. It gave me a bit of baby fever. I sensed a strange feeling of longing, knowing my child wouldn't be born for days.

"Where is my son?" Lady Jessica broke the silence, asking both Chani and I curiously.

I shrugged with feigned confusion. "I'm not sure."

Chani did the same. "Haven't seen him today."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Just because I haven't been told Paul is out in the desert Wormriding, that doesn't mean I am not aware."

It was true. Today was the day Paul would ride the Maker, it would be the final step in being accepted completely as part of the Fremen. He had been preparing with Stilgar and today was the day, though he begged me not to tell his mother in fear that it would stress her during pregnancy.

She turned to Chani. "Dear, would you please find my son and tell him I've given birth?"

"Of course." Chani nodded and ran off find Paul. 

I raised my chin to get a better look of the outside where the other Fremen were speaking amongst each other, but the Lady Jessica touched me arm. "Not you, my dear. You're still very much pregnant. Stay with me, we shall wait for Paul to arrive together."

The two of us sat alone in the room, admiring the new baby, I couldn't get enough of Alia. She cooed in response to my voice as I babbled inaudible words to her. 

"Are all babies this calm?" I asked Jessica as I played with Alia's hand.

She shook her head. "Never. You'd be surprised just how much they can scream and cry for such small little things."

"That makes me nervous," I joked in response, "hopefully ours isn't difficult. I don't know if I'd handle it well."

Her face softened. "You will be an excellent mother, dear. And Paul will be an excellent father." She smiled kindly. "You will not be alone, either. Have you ever heard the expression it takes a village to raise a child? Well, lucky for you there's a village all around us." She gestured around us.

"Thank you." I smiled at her. "I'm glad to know I won't be alone."

She returned my smile and the both of us sat in silence again, playing with Alia. I took a look outside but there was no sign of Chani or the men that had left this morning with Paul. I wondered where he was.

Suddenly, a Fremen woman came running inside. "They've been attacked!" She cried. "Our men, they've been attacked by spice smugglers."

I jumped from my seat and exchanged looks with Lady Jessica. "Are they alright?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure, but some of the men have already returned home. They are the one's who told us what happened."

"Go find Paul," Jessica told me worriedly and I nodded. She didn't need to tell me twice.

I ran outside to where several other Fremen men had returned home from the day. None of them appeared to be hurt, but they did seem distraught. 

I ran further out to the edge of the sietch where I knew they would be coming from but I couldn't find Paul among the people. What did that mean? Was he hurt? Was he not coming home?

"Hey!" I waved down one of the Fremen who was walking back with the rest of the others. "What happened? Is everything alright?"

He shook his head tiredly. "I don't know. We were fighting and then we weren't."

He tried to walk off but I stopped him again. "Did anyone get hurt?"

He nodded grimly. "Yeah, a few of them died. A lot of us are injured," he motioned to his shoulder which had a big red cut through his Stillsuit. 

I froze in shock as the man walked away. Some of them died? That wouldn't be Paul, right? Was it possible he was injured? Did he have help?

My eyes searched the crowd again but I couldn't make out his familiar face anywhere. My heart was picking up. If he hadn't returned home with the Fremen, then was he still out in the desert? Is this why Chani hadn't found him yet?

But then I saw him. He was rounding the corner of one of the rock walls and I could see his beautiful green eyes which had been tinted in blue from the spice. His eyes were trained on the ground, his eyebrows pressed together as if he were deep in thought.

"Paul!" I called as I began to run towards up.

My voice snapped him from his gaze. He broke out into a smile at the sight of me, opening his arms to welcome me as I met him in an embrace.

I felt him pressing his nose into my hair. "I missed you so much."

I squeezed him tightly, trying not to squish him with my belly. "Paul I was so worried!"

I felt him shake against my touch ever so lightly in laughter. "You shouldn't have been, don't you trust my amazing desert skills? I knew I would ride that worm like it was nobody's business."

"No!" I exclaimed as if it were obvious, pulling away. "The smugglers. Someone told us you were attacked!"

The humour in his eyes left as he realized what I was referring to. "Oh right. Don't worry about it, they caught us in the desert. We thought they were Sardaukar at first and we didn't know why they were out so deep in the desert, but then we realized they were spice smugglers."

"Did anything happen?" I prompted.

He nodded. "They attacked us first. We ended up taking out the majority of their people, but they took a few of ours as well." He nodded to where the other Fremen had just returned from the desert. "A lot of them are injured. We made it out alive though, everything's alright." He caught sight of my worried face and his eyes softened. "It's okay, really."

"Really?" I gave him a pointed look.

He nodded. "Really. Look at me, Lia," he did a quick spin for me, "I'm in one piece. Everything's okay."

I didn't say anything. Instead I nodded, letting him know I was assured that he was okay. The two of us stared at each other for a moment, waiting to hear the news from the other.

He couldn't stay quiet any longer, smiling as he broke the silence. "I did it."

My eyes widened and I couldn't help but jump in joy. "You rode the Maker?"

He nodded in excitement. "I rode the Maker."

"Paul, that's amazing!" I fiddled with his hands, trying to grab hold of them so that I could lead us back to his mother. "Tell me more about it later, but-" I looked back hesitantly as if I were looking for Chani and the Fremen who were originally sent to find him. "Have you been told? Your mother gave birth."

His expression shifted to one of more seriousness. "I've been told. Is she healthy?"

I nodded. "Both of them are. Oh, Paul. Alia is so beautiful," I pulled on his arm trying to lead him to the tent where his mother and sister waited, "you have come see her."

He nodded but his eyes darkened. "Yes, I'm eager to meet her. But first- Lia, wait." He resisted my arm as I urged him closer to the rest of the sietch. "We weren't attacked by just any normal spice smugglers."

I frowned at his hesitancy. He seemed as though he were searching for the right words to say. "You said everything is okay though, right? Your men won?"

He nodded, still hesitating. "Yes- well, no. We didn't win. There was no winner, really. We had killed off many of the smugglers but I called my men off because-"

Before Paul could finish, my eyes found the figure rounding the same corner that Paul had. Paul realized my attention had found something behind him and he turned to follow my gaze.

The man seemed to catch my eye and I was tempted to run at him but I didn't. He was staring at me almost in disbelief, I wore the same expression. Was he who I thought he was? His eyes were blue from the melange spice diet he must have adopted, similarly to us. He looked older though, his skin dryer and his wrinkles more pronounced. Still, his face looked the same as I've known it my whole life.

"Dad?"

***

hey guys! happy new year's eve! (or new year depending on where you are in the world!) i'm in eastern standard time so i have little over 5 hours until 2022. so far i've helped my mom make bagels (she has a bagel buisness lol) and am going to hang out at my friend's house soon. how are you guys celebrating? what are your resolutions?

any thoughts on this chapter? was this a shock to anyone? let me know in the comments!

happy new year again and stay safe everyone from the omicron variant, please wear your mask and socialize safely!

with love,
via <3