I debated over the middle third of this chapter as it may not be everyone's cup of tea. However, some of us might happily drink of that tea, so in the story it went. As always, and especially here, heed the rating. If you want to skip the middle section, you shouldn't miss any terribly significant plot elements.

To Alice's surprise, Winter turned out to be a time of plenty. Food could not grow, but much could stay fresh through winter after the autumn harvest. Spring time would be the challenge, as fledgling gardens would not yet be yielding fruits and vegetables, and autumn's harvest would be greatly depleted. In England she did not have to eat seasonally as fresh food could be shipped from all over the world throughout the year. She would have to adapt now, no longer having that privilege. With Uncas's help, she composed a chart on which foods would last the longest and then developed a system to ensure she used the foods that went bad more quickly in her meal preparation first, and the foods that remained edible longer for last. Uncas was impressed by her foresight and he knew now more than ever that this is where she belonged.

Intimacy had become a greater challenge as Alice approached and reached her sixth month, both for lack of opportunity and for a steadily decreasing number of comfortable positions. Nor could they take their time, as Alice had used up all of the excuses she could come up with for why it took her so long to find the potatoes in the root cellar.

She insisted that she continue her afternoon walks and Uncas insisted on accompanying her as the wolves were still about. Cora did not like this arrangement, but Nathaniel did his best to reassure her that his brother would only behave with honor. After a particularly invigorating walk to the cove behind the waterfall, Alice and Uncas returned home ruddy cheeked and energized. Uncas stopped suddenly, and held his arm out so Alice would go no further. He knelt down and traced a finger around a paw print. By the size, shape, and gate, it was unmistakably a wolf print. He looked around to see several sets of tracks. He stood up and looked at Alice with concern.

"Let's get you inside," he said calmly.

When they let themselves in, Uncas announced to his father and brother, "Get your muskets. The wolves have been through here in the past hour."

Under normal circumstances they would let nature take its course, and allow these majestic, though often misunderstood, animals to go about their way of life. But, they had Alice and Cora to worry about now. And, as only Uncas knew, a new baby very soon. The snow was moist and the prints packed down well, so following the trail was an exercise in diligence more so than in skill. Wolves could travel very far in a short period of time. They had no intentions of hurting them, just ensuring that it was clear this territory was already taken by another pack. After several hours, night was upon them, and the men knew they needed to return home. If it had just been them, they would have kept going, but they knew Alice and Cora would worry.

They had actually already gone on too long, so they decided to run home, a rare opportunity for brisk exercise as of late. It quickly became a foot race between Nathaniel and Uncas, as the two brothers had always been competitive. Uncas laughed in spite of himself as they jumped over ditches and frozen streams, slid down icy slopes, and dodged downed trees. They knocked each other into snow banks at times to get ahead of one another, and Nathaniel was glad to see that Uncas still harbored some brotherly love for him. Chingachgook raced behind them, happily watching his two sons bond in a way they had not for some time.

On arrival home, the men stopped laughing and wiped the smiles off of their faces when they were greeted by the similarly scornful looks of two sisters.

"Where have you been?" demanded Cora.

"We tracked them as long as we could before we realized how late it had gotten," Nathaniel explained as if he was pleading for mercy.

"Supper has been ready for hours, and neither of us could eat we were so sick with worry," Cora declared.

Alice said nothing, but her looks of anger echoed those of her sister and she glared at Uncas several times to make sure he knew he was in big trouble the next time they were alone.

Chingachgook looked on in amusement as his sons clearly felt as though they were in trouble with their respective women.

"Let us not be upset. We shall enjoy dinner before it is cold and be grateful that we are all home safe," he said

The men sat down and Cora and Alice began to set the soup, bread and cheese out. Alice began to spoon soup into Uncas's bowl and he noticed her hand shook so much that the soup splashed over the sides of the ladle. He could not be selfish and allow her to serve him in this state. He grabbed her wrist.

"Sit down. I will do it."

He filled her bowl, then went around filling everyone else's, knowing he was being very transparent in this moment about his feelings for her. He only hoped the other's could not see how upset she was.

The next morning Alice and Uncas huddled in a corner in deep conversation.

She had forgotten she was supposed to be mad at him.

"I am surprised no one came to any conclusions last night," Alice said.

"I know. I did not help the situation by not hiding my feelings for you."

"I am beginning to show through my dress now. It will be any day when someone notices. We have to tell them soon."

"We will tell them tonight."

"Really?"

Alice was overjoyed that she would no longer have to hide her feelings for Uncas. She only hoped that Cora would not have the same dismissive opinion of them as before.

Uncas still feared the worst, and prepared himself for the possibility of having to leave here with Alice.

Nathaniel then stated, "Cora and and I are going to Jack's this morning for a visit. Replace some of the chickens the wolves got to. We'll be back early evening"

No one offered to accompany them. Uncas still made his resentment for his brother clear, the day before only being a momentary reprieve. Alice hoped they might be alone in the cabin at last. Cora was fine with this arrangement as long as Chingachgook was also there.

"You will stay here while we are gone?" she asked him.

"I will."

However, shortly after the two left, Chingachgook stood from the table where he was carving a new axe handle.

"I'm going to finish this in the wigwam. She did not specify that I stay in the cabin. I only meant that I would stay at the homestead."

He walked out with no further explanation, but Alice got the distinct impression that he did this so she and Uncas could be alone. Could he possibly know about them? He would never approve. They looked at one another, in shock of their sudden situation. Alone in the cabin for the first time ever. Alice rushed into Uncas's arms and they opened their mouths to one another greedily. They began to undress one another as Uncas walked Alice into her room and lay her down on the bed. Uncas stared down at Alice in amazement. He had not seen her fully naked since they stopped going to the woods two months ago, and her belly had grown noticeably. He sat beside her and placed a hand on it. The baby had kicked for a month, but he always missed the chance to feel it. As if in answer to this thought, Uncas felt a soft strike against his hand. He looked up at Alice in surprise, a big smile on his face.

"He hasn't done that all morning."

"You always say "he.""

"I am certain of it. I can feel it."

Uncas questioned her certainty, but did not say so out loud.

The baby kicked again and Uncas let out a solemn laugh.

"I think he likes the sound of his father's voice."

Uncas leaned over and whispered something in Mohican into Alice's belly. Another kick.

"Uncas, I think I would like to cover up. I do not want you to see me like this."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't imagine you find the look of my body appealing in its current state."

"You could not be more wrong. It is more beautiful than it has ever been," he said as he laid down beside her and kissed her. "Are you cold?"

"No."

"Then I will decline your request, as I must take advantage of every moment I have to look upon you."

"Do you think your father knows? He seemed to leave us alone deliberately. I can't imagine he would approve of us being together."

"If he knows, he does not approve, but he may be resigned to it."

Alice kissed his healing shoulder and then began to drag her mouth and tongue slowly down his chest. She wanted to taste every part of him and took her time to do so. When she reached that heavenly angle at his lower torso, which seemed to point directly to his manhood, she looked down to find it standing proud and eager. Uncas was panting, now, and Alice knew he would soon be desperate for her. But, it occurred to her that in tasting every part of him, there was one part in particular that she did not want to neglect. What would he think of her? Would he think it strange? She could not help herself. She acted on instinct.

She leaned over and dragged her tongue up the length of him, and he let out a guttural noise she had never heard him make. Uncas was in such shock that he could not help the noise he emitted, but he sat up as soon as he realized what Alice had done.

"Alice you can not do that," he said in a strained voice, a look of shock on his face.

She looked at him and could see the wanting in his eyes that betrayed his words.

"Why not?" she asked innocently.

"Because, you would be defiling yourself. That is what men pay women to do in brothels."

"Men pay for this?"

He realized not for the first time that there was a lot she did not know.

"Yes. Some men pay for the things they cannot get their wives to do," he explained patiently.

"So men like this? They want it? Enough to pay for it?"

"Some men are willing to pay for it."

"Have you ever payed for it?"

"Of course not. I don't think they would let an Indian into a brothel anyway, but I wouldn't if I could."

"Have you ever thought about it? About if you might like it? Or want it?"

Uncas looked at Alice and was unsure of how to answer. He did not want to lie.

"I have thought about it."

"And have you thought that you would like it?"

"Yes," he admitted.

"So, you would want it?"

"Yes."

"How am I defiling myself if I am just showing you my love, and doing something that would apparently give you pleasure?"

Uncas sat back in search for an answer and realized he did not have one.

"Uncas, it is not something I ever thought about before today, but now that I have, and now that I have seen your strong reaction to it, I do not care which women do it and which do not.

Uncas looked at her in confusion.

"Alice are you saying you want to do that?"

She nodded.

"I do not want you to do something just because you think it is what I want."

"Maybe, it's what we both want."

He said nothing, and she took this to mean he would relent and let her try to please him in this way. She found now that an urge had awakened within her and she wanted nothing more than to have him completely in her mouth.

She slowly lowered her head back down to him and repeated what she had done with her tongue before. He heaved and panted. The look on his face told her this brought him great pleasure. Uncas had never felt anything so exquisite before in his life. Alice continued to repeat the same maneuver with her tongue, unsure of what else to do, and found that Uncas was now the one who could not help but make all manner of noises. She had never seen him like this before, so completely undone. She loved his reactions to what she was doing, and wondered if there was any other way she could pleasure this part of him. She took some extra skin at the end into her mouth and then circled her tongue around the tip. There was no description for the sound he made with this. She decided to answer the new craving she had developed and took him fully into her mouth, letting out a moan that took herself by surprise. She was amazed by how unbelievably good it felt to hold this very hard part of him in her mouth. She began to feel it spasm and he cried out in pleasure as Alice felt him release his seed into her. She instinctively swallowed after she released him from her lips. She looked up at him in rapture, and he was staring at her with an expression of awe. Or was it pain?

"Did I hurt you?" she asked in concern.

"No," he barely managed to whisper in between rapid breaths.

She crawled back up to him and watched him in wonder as he slowly calmed.

When he caught his breath, he turned to look at her.

"Alice, I never dared to think a woman would want to do that for me."

"Did I do it right?"

"I don't know if there is a right way or wrong way, but I've never felt anything so good. I didn't last very long did I?" he said humbly.

"I did not realize I would like it so much."

"Did you, really?"

"Very much. You would let me do it again if I ever wanted?"

"You do not ever have to ask that question. The answer will always be yes."

She rested against his chest with a great sense of satisfaction, not even thinking of her own physical pleasure. But, Uncas did not forget, nor would he as he spent the remaining hours of the morning dedicating his body to giving her as much pleasure as she had just given him.

They lay together in bliss after an indescribably satisfying morning, and Uncas thought what it would be like if they shared a home together. They would share a home together. Someday. Soon. His stomach growled, and Alice realized it was the hour when they usually had their second meal of the day. They dressed reluctantly, and Alice set the beef and barley soup out that she had started simmering in the morning while Uncas stepped out to get his father. They all ate in silence. Alice felt awkward at the thought that Chingachgook might have an idea of how they spent their morning. Surely, he could not know what they did on the table a couple of hours ago, when Uncas laid her down on it after she insisted on checking the soup. When Chingachgook finished his meal he got up and put his bowl in the wash bucket. He walked to the door and opened it, but before he stepped out he looked at Uncas and said in Mohican, "Burn some sage before your brother comes home. It smells like sex in here."

Alice, Uncas and Chingachgook were all inside when they heard the wagon pulling alongside the barn, and Nathaniel getting the horses back in the stables.

"Are you ready?" Uncas whispered to Alice.

She nodded, with a look of worry on her face.

"Do you want me to do the talking?"

She nodded again. Soon, everyone would know of their love and their blessing soon to arrive.

Nathaniel came barreling into the cabin with more exuberance than was normal for him, and Cora shyly followed.

"Good, you're all here," he said.

They both had big smiles on their faces.

"Everyone, Cora and I would like to announce that she is with child."

Uncas's heart sunk as he watched a look of pride come over his father's face.

Chingachgook was the first to jump up and congratulate them both.

"When will the baby come?"

"Well," said Nathaniel, "Jack's sister says she is likely two months, so we would expect our baby to arrive early this autumn."

Uncas remembered that Jack's sister had been learning to be a mid-wife. That was really why they went there.

"You get the chickens?"

"The smile left Nathaniel's face as he heard Uncas's cold reaction to his news."

"In the wagon."

"I'll go get them."

Uncas walked out and said "Congratulations," without looking his brother or Cora in the eye.

Alice attempted to be more congenial.

"Congratulations to you both," she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

She hugged them both with a forced smile.

"I cannot wait to meet my new niece or nephew."

Nathaniel could not ignore his brother's response to his happy news and went out to talk to him.

He found Uncas in the barn picking chickens out of the cages and carrying them to their new coops.

"You care more of chickens than your nephew or niece to be?"

Uncas placed the last chicken inside and looked at his brother.

"Of course not."

"Your response would suggest otherwise."

"I am sorry if my response has disappointed you. Were you expecting me to jump up and down?"

"I'm sorry if you think this is where you should be in life now, but it is not my fault you can not make the woman you are in love with love you back."

Uncas could not believe how callous his brother could be. This was supposed to be his moment. Even if it just turned out to be a moment of reckoning. He had waited for months to share the news of his love and his child, but had held his tongue for fear of how people would react. Nathaniel did not have to worry of such things. He did not understand how lucky he was to not have to worry of such things.

"Maybe, it is time for you to accept that Alice will never love you."

Uncas could take no more. He threw a punch at Nathaniel. A hard one to his jaw. Nathaniel took a few steps back in shock, and then he lunged at Uncas. Uncas dodged him and threw him to the ground. He began to deliver blow after blow, while Nathaniel occasionally rolled over on top of him and delivered several himself. Everyone heard the commotion outside. Chingachgook grabbed his musket thinking the wolves may have returned. When they got outside, they were all horrified to see Uncas straddling Nathaniel and punching him over and over. Nathaniel rolled him over and they began to wrestle. Chingachgook ran to split them up, yelling something in Mohican. Alice heard something about them being brothers. When they stood up Uncas staggered backward and spit blood from his mouth. Nathaniel breathed deeply and wiped blood from his nose. They had done some damage to one another. Uncas said nothing more and walked off to the wigwam, never to come out for the rest of the evening. Nathaniel went inside and Cora tended to his bruised face and bloody nose.

"What was that all about?" Cora demanded to know from Nathaniel.

"I honestly have no idea. Is my sense of smell off, or does it smell strongly of sage in here?"

"Oh, I added sage to the soup," Alice answered distractedly, hoping her excuse would account for the sage Uncas had smudged throughout the cabin.

She wished she could see to Uncas the way her sister saw to her husband.

Before Chingachgook returned to the wigwam for the night, Alice prepared some soup and bread to be brought to Uncas. He meant to speak with his son, but Uncas was in a deep sleep when he returned, his split lip never having been tended to.