Alice made her decision that night. She would wait no more. She shook Uncas awake shortly after he fell asleep and while his father stood watch.

"What is it?" he asked in concern.

"We are leaving. Now. The baby has dropped, and I think I only have a couple of weeks."

Uncas knew they needed to go. She was already so far along. Alice was more concerned for his welfare. Uncas looked to his father, who nodded in agreement that it was time.

"I packed your bag. Be safe my son, say hello to my grandchild, and we will be together again soon."

Uncas threw the bag over his shoulder and took Alice's hand as they began to walk away from the home they had helped make. Chingachgook watched until they disappeared into the darkness of the woods. The terrain was smooth at first, though much of it uphill. Alice did not complain, and Uncas had to force her to stop for breaks. They walked all night by the light of a nearly full moon.

As the sun rose, they came to a shallow stream they would need to cross. Uncas had noticed Alice to be more clumsy than normal, stumbling often, and she would have fallen a couple of times had he not been there to catch her. He would need to take her across the stream very carefully. He took both of her hands as she ungracefully slipped and slid over the stones. He was the only one who could keep her safe, now. He felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, as his protective nature built within him, and the desperate need to bring his wife and child to the security of a village overwhelmed him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he got her safely across.

They stopped for bread that Alice had packed and ate ravenously. Uncas offered to catch a rabbit or fowl, but Alice declined, wanting to waste no time in moving forward. He worried she was demanding too much of her body.

"I am fine, Uncas. Pregnancy is not a disease. I can push on."

"It is not a disease, but it is taxing on your body, and you are pushing yourself too hard. We will stop as soon as the sun begins to set."

"I will not disagree with you on that matter. I can think of much we can do to fill the time before we go to sleep."

"How can you even think about that right now?"

She stood with a flirtatious smile on her face, and took his hand to urge him to continue. They soon came to a rocky ledge. He had watched her climb a similar wall of rock once before, and looked on with jealousy that he could not be the one to help her up. Now he was the only one who could. He deftly climbed up first himself, then clung tightly to her arm as his brave and tenacious wife scaled the rugged wall. Alice recalled this task being less arduous when she did not have a large belly protruding before her, scraping against the jutting rocks.

As they walked in silence, thoughts of her father began to plague her again. She wished for this darkness to be cast away before she welcomed her child into the world.

"Uncas, there is something I have never told you."

He stopped abruptly as he noticed her voice had become thick with agony.

"I saw Magua cut my father's heart out of his chest. I have not been able to get that vision out of my head."

Uncas dropped his bag and pulled her into his arms.

"You have been harboring this pain on your own all this time? Why did you not tell me?"

"I feared talking about it would make it more real. I tried to push it to the back of my mind."

"You must allow yourself to feel the pain. The only way to heal from sorrow such as that is to be willing to feel it. You have to grieve."

"I could not stop thinking about how brutal his final moments were. I could not stop feeling the pain he must have felt. I don't think I can endure that."

"Alice, your father did not bring his pain with him when he died and he does not continue to suffer. So, why would you continue to carry his pain and continue to suffer?"

She had not thought of it this way. He had a point. Why did she still suffer for the way her father died when her father suffered no more?

"Alice, when people recall a time of great pain, they do not look back with feelings of misery. They look back with feelings of relief that it is over. What do you think he is doing right now in the afterlife?" Uncas asked her gently as he rubbed her back.

"He is probably playing cards and smoking a cigar, without a thought in the world as to how he came to be there. He is happy to be with our mother again."

"I know it is easier said than done, but you need to try to replace the memories of what you saw with thoughts of how happy he must be, now."

Thinking of her father in this way gave her a new sense of peace. Uncas was right that she would still have to let herself grieve, but she felt less afraid to do so now. She knew he would never hesitate to be there to talk her through her emotions.

"That is not the only trauma you have not let yourself process."

"What do you mean?"

"Abercrombie."

"Nothing happened. You stopped it."

"You were still attacked. Stop trying to put a brave face on. You are allowed to cry. You are allowed to feel violated."

Alice stood in silence considering what he said. She simply nodded in acceptance that she would try to heed his words."

As Uncas promised, he found a clearing as soon as the sun started to set, and he began to set up a camp for them. This was essentially composed of furs to sleep on and a fire for warmth. Frontiersman and Indians set fires all over the wilderness, so this was not something anyone would detect and find suspicious. Besides, they were miles from any trails.

Alice laid down on the fur as Uncas started the fire. He pulled out his bow in hopes of catching a rabbit passing by at some point, and within a short time was rewarded with a rather fat one. He skinned it, cleaned it out, and skewered it on sticks while Alice waited impatiently for him to join her. When he finished, he looked up to see Alice seductively patting the fur beside her. He couldn't help but smile back, and did as she bid. He laid down behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Are you sure? After what happened a few days ago?"

"I am sure. It has already been too long."

"Aren't you exhausted?"

"Yes, but not for this. Do you remember the first time you held me like this?"

"Yes, and I had a pretty weak excuse."

"You were trying to keep me quiet so I did not give us away."

"You weren't being that loud. I was the only one that could hear you. I just wanted to know what it felt like to hold you."

"Yes," said Alice as she reached behind herself to stroke him. "That was the first time I ever felt this poking the back of my thigh. And not the last."

"I was so embarassed."

"You should not have been. I thought it was a tool or weapon you kept under your waistband," she admitted.

Uncas laughed, never having been aware of how little she knew of a man's anatomy.

"That was the night I began to fall for you, and by the next day I was hopeless," said Alice.

"I was pretty hopeless, too. Now look at us. Back under the night sky, but alone this time. A baby on the way."

"Uncas, we really should take advantage of this time alone while the rabbit roasts. It has been weeks since we have been together."

"If you are not too tired," Uncas agreed.

He had to admit he wanted it, too. Badly. They dined on charred rabbit that night, but both were too satisfied from their physical reunion to complain.

Alice went to relieve herself before she went to sleep, and she found that she was expelling something mucousy mixed with blood. She remembered all of the signs of impending labor Mary had explained to her and realized she might just have a couple of days. She chose not to worry Uncas by telling him, as she had not yet had any contractions. She fell asleep in his arms wondering if they would make it to the village in time.

Alice awoke in the morning to a gush of water and sat up in shock.

"Uncas, why would you do that?" she cried to her barely awake husband.

"Do what?" he asked in confusion.

"Pour water on me!"

"Alice, I did not- Oh, no. No, no, no."

Alice looked down to realize the source of the water.

"Okay, let's not panic. It can still take a couple of days, and I still have had no contractions. We can still make it to the village. We have to keep walking."

"Alice, you cannot keep walking. You need to rest."

Uncas thought of the prospect of Alice delivering here in the woods.

"No, I'm not even having contractions. I can still carry on," she insisted.

Alice began to pack their bag while Uncas debated his dilemma. She seemed to be doing alright. And he had seen women in the villages pacing a lot when they were about to have their babies. He thought she might be right about continuing on in hopes of making it to the village.

"Okay, but we need to set an easier pace for you, and tell me if you are at all in pain."

Within an hour Alice was doubled over in pain from her first contraction. She breathed through it as Mary had taught her, and Uncas rubbed her back while whispering words of love and encouragement in her ear. He kept calm for her, but inside he was panicking.

When the contraction was over, Alice insisted they move on. She did not have another one for an hour, but it almost brought her to her knees. Uncas was her ever present source of strength and encouragement. He spoke to her calmly and lovingly as she bore the pain. She continued to insist that they move on between contractions, but they began to come with greater frequency, and by late afternoon Uncas realized they would not be making it to the village in time. Alice would deliver the baby here in the woods, and he was the only one to help her.

He finally put his foot down when her contractions were just minutes apart. He would set up camp and they would travel no farther. He made her lay down and relax.

"Alice, we have to accept this, now. The village is still a day away. You will have to give birth here."

"It is three weeks early. How can this be happening?"

"I did not expect it so soon either, but there is no denying it at this point."

"Uncas, I feel like I have to push. How do I know when to start pushing?"

Uncas thanked his prior education from Alexandra, and gently used his fingers to measure Alice's opening.

You are not ready. I will tell you when. He sat down behind her and she leaned back into his arms.

"Sleep for now, if you can. You have already had a long day and it may be a long night." He placed a kiss on her forehead, and she closed her eyes in hope for some rest.

Little rest was afforded to her as her contractions became unrelenting. Uncas checked a couple more times to see if she was ready to push, and while she was getting steadily closer, she still was not ready by the time the full moon was over head.

"What will we name him?" Alice whispered in reverence during a momentary reprieve from her pain.

Uncas had taken to referring to the baby as "him," as well. Alice was so insistent.

"Wiyon? It means Moon. He came to be on the night of the new moon, it is the nearly full moon that has guided his parents on this journey to take him to safety, and he will likely be born under the full moon tonight."

"I like it. Uncas, can you check again? I feel like I need to push."

Uncas reached his fingers between her legs and felt for the opening. She was almost ready.

"You're close. Just a little while longer."

Alice was ready by late evening, and Uncas held her from behind as she pushed for hours with little progress.

He wiped sweat from her brow, removed her clothes so she wore only her shift. She had modified it with an opening and a button keeping it closed on top, so she could easily pull it down when she needed to breast feed. He gave her sips of water, rubbed her back, and repeatedly told her how much he loved her. She could not have done this without him. He occasionally went to check on her progress, but so far there had been no sign of a baby.

When he checked again around midnight, a worried expression came over his face as Alice strained as much as possible to push.

"What is wrong?" she asked in between breaths.

"I can see him. He is not coming out the way he is supposed to."

"What do you mean?"

"The head is supposed to be first. He's coming out butt first. I literally can just see a butt crack."

"He is breach?"

Uncus was not sure what to call this, but it was not how Alexandra's baby came out.

"Will he be okay?" she asked frantically.

"I don't know. I have heard of babies being born backward. I have heard of some doing well."

"Some?" she asked through a grunt.

"Just keep pushing. You're doing so well," he reassured her.

"Well, we got his name right," Alice answered sarcastically through pushes.

Alice pushed for what felt like forever with very little progress. She was exhausted and unsure if she could keep going.

"Alice, you can do this. Give me a really good push."

She mustered all of the strength within her and silently put every muscle she had into another push. The baby suddenly budged a bit, and Uncas could see it was a boy.

"Alice, you were right! It is a boy! We are having a son!"

He could not help the tears that followed as he helped his boy enter the world. Uncas could tell the baby's legs were fully extended, and he seemed to need some assistance flexing his legs so his feet could descend through the birth canal. He did the best he could with no knowledge or experience and the baby's legs were soon freed.

"Alice, you are doing amazing," Uncas said through sobs of joy. "He's halfway out. Keep pushing."

Alice gave another strong push and the baby was out as far as the shoulders. Uncas realized the shoulders were too wide, and he would have to rotate them a bit to fit. As he did this he instructed Alice to push again. She did and could not help but scream in pain as the passing of his shoulders caused her to tear.

Uncas wiped his nose with his sleeve, but it was no use. He was a sobbing, snotty, tear-filled mess.

"Just the head now, love. You're almost done. You can do it."

Alice collapsed in exhaustion, breathing heavily, face and body drenched in sweat.

"Don't quit on me, now. Just a few more pushes," Uncas pleaded.

Alice nodded and propped herself back up on her elbows. With the last of her strength she pushed and pushed, not stopping for fear that she would be too weak to resume. The head was freed and they heard their baby's first cries.

Uncas stared at his boy in awe and cradled him with the greatest of care as he crawled to Alice and handed him to her beckoning arms. She pressed his bare skin to hers and held him as she also began to sob at the sight of their beautiful creation. He began to suckle at her skin and she quickly placed him to her breast, as he apparently had an appetite like his fathers. Uncas tied the cord off and cut it as he had once been shown how to do. He wiped his son clean while Alice counted ten perfect little brown toes and ten perfect little brown fingers. He then swaddled him in a blanket while their baby contentedly enjoyed his first meal.

Uncas wrapped the afterbirth, which had passed quickly and easily, in a towel and quickly buried it under some loose dirt. His people had always taught that the umbillical cord of a boy be buried in the woods, so he would grow to understand that this was his place; hunting and protecting the women. He sat behind Alice and gathered both wife and baby in his arms. He rested his head on her shoulder and watched his baby boy suckle at his mother's breast. He had never been more awestruck at any sight.

If anyone had asked Uncas nine months ago where he thought he would be at this point in his life, he would have answered returning to his father and brother on their annual trapping route after leaving his third wife, lonely and unhappy, busy but unfulfilled.

He certainly would not be in the middle of a wilderness with a white wife and their newborn child. He felt vulnerable without his father and brother, at a time when he needed to feel more capable of protecting than ever before. Alice and Wiyon were his responsibilities. But, he regretted no decision that brought him to this point. And he understood that for the first time in his life, as a husband and father, every decision he made would affect the future and safety of his wife and son.

I technically could consider this the end... but they still have so much life left to live... hmmm...