A Winters Memory

Chapter Nineteen

A month had passed since their time in the cave. It was a moment Ara replayed over and over in her head and smiled each time it replayed.

Moving about the kitchen she wrinkled her nose as the smell of cooking meat waft through the room making the familiar taste of bile run up her throat. She quickly ran outside and hunched over the side as she expelled the contents of her stomach on the side of the cabin.

Her body shook as she continued to hurl the contents of her stomach, beads of sweat glistening across her forehead. She gulped in a large breath of crisp air as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, regaining her composure as she placed a hand on her belly.

She took another gulp of air before going back inside, the smell hitting her again making her cover her nose and mouth and shaking her head.

Dahlia turned to look at her with a tilt of her head. "Ara? What's the matter?"

Ara braced herself against one of the counters as she tried to fan the air in front of her away from her already sensitive nose.

"I think I'm going to be sick, again... The smell, I can't... It's too strong."

She mumbled through her hand and turned towards the door again to get another breath of air. Dahlia slowly walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"Ara, have you... bled yet?"

Ara turned to look at Dahlia, her eyes searching the woman standing before her as if she were trying to figure out if she was serious about her question or not. She pursed her lips and shook her head.

She hadn't yet bled this month it had been some time since her last cycle and even then, it was barely enough to call it a cycle. 

Dahlia's brows furrowed as her lips pressed into a tight line. "Ara, I may need to check something but if I am not mistaken... I believe may be with child."

Ara's brows rose up as her eyes widened with surprise. "W-what? I... No, I can't be..."

She shook her head, tears beginning to form. Dahlia placed both her hands on either shoulder to get her to calm down.

"I'm not certain, I will have to see first but if you are, you do have options, Ara... I won't allow you to go through this alone and I am sure that if Alec were to find out, he would do anything in his power to make sure that you and the unborn child are safe. So, for now, please do not fret until we can truly find out."

Ara bit down on her lip and nodded still not wanting to believe that it could be possible. She loved Alec and loved the idea of carrying his child but with his father still in the picture she feared that the child would never see the light of day if the Alpha had anything to say about it.

She couldn't allow that to happen, she would need to figure something out if she indeed was carrying Alec's child in her womb.

Later after lunch had been served, Dahlia asked for Ara to see her down in the basement after their chores had been completed, Ara agreed with some hesitance but agreed nonetheless.

Reaching the basement, she slowly descended the stairs, her heart hammering in her chest like an overbeaten drum, nerves wracked throughout her body as she continued down the stairs until she was standing before Dahlia.

"This is an old wives' tale, but I've seen its accuracy."

Ara looked down to a small basin filled with wheat and barley. She looked back up at Dahlia with a confused look.

"What is that for?" She asked looking down at the basin before setting her attention back on Dahlia.

Dahlia sucked in a breath before answering;

"it's wheat and barley... the women I used to be with used it to check the other women that were expecting... It was a way to tell if the woman was pregnant or not. You need to use your urine to water these. If either one of them sprouts it means you are with child. But this needs to be done over a span of days. We'll take the seeds from both the wheat and the barley and place them where we can hide them until we figure out whether or not you're with child."

Ara's hands shook as Dahlia's words resonated within her ears and mind. Swallowing hard, Ara nodded her head and turned away from Dahlia as if too ashamed to look her in the eyes.

"Don't worry, Ara... Let me set this up and we shall begin, okay?"

Ara nodded once more moving away from the basin and moving over to her bed and pressing her knees against her chest as she rested her chin upon them and watched Dahlia in utter silence.

Hiding the basin where the Alpha or the others couldn't find it, Ara made her business and hid it again each time she was through with it.

Days had passed and yet nothing had happened, she had begun to relax as the days passed and nothing seem to sprout from within the soil, but all that resolve seemed to dissipate when she stepped out the next day to find that one of them had finally sprouted indicating that she was in fact with child.

A feeling of dread fell over her as the sudden realization began to dawn on her. She was carrying Alec's child within her womb and no one knew what sort of future was in store for her or Alec.

No one knew what would happen when the Alpha found out that the grandchild he so desperately wanted, was not from Amelia but from a slave at that.

She ran into the cabin in search of Dahlia, panic was set in her bones as she rushed through the cabin frantically. Finding Dahlia in one of the bedrooms she grabbed her with enough force to dislocate her shoulder. Dahlia turned in surprise as the force of the grab spun her around.

"What is the mat-..." The look on Ara's face was answer enough, she knew then that one of the grains had sprouted.

Sighing Dahlia wrapped her arms around Ara tightly and embraced her, smoothing her hand over the frantic girl's hair as if trying to soothe her knowing well that nothing could be said or done to calm the young girl down, not this time.

A/N: Believe it or not, using wheat and barley to predict a pregnancy is real! Got to love Google and all its nifty info. Lol.