back to you | paul atreides

thirty six

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.