Attempting To Help Things Along [Egpyt, Pre-Dynastic Times] (tag: Bast)
There were still a few things Ahti didn't understand, like why she looked the way she did when not in human form. Her Creator had never been very clear on that; something about variety as she recalled, which was just stupid. She also didn't get why after the waters of Nun receded, so much had to be left as desert. Who's brilliant idea was that? And there was plenty more that escaped her understanding. But perhaps the one thing that she really didn't comprehend was why women continued to put themselves through nine months of feeling sick and uncomfortable to produce a child.
Oh, she knew that it was necessary to keep the human race going. Reproduction wasn't really a choice in that sense. But some women actually seemed to enjoy being pregnant. It was there that Ahti lost all comprehension. Like the woman she was watching a short distance away, who was forced to hold her belly for support as she carried her basket home from the market. Ahti would have expected her to be quite cross, but instead the woman was smiling and humming a tune.Just looking at her it was obvious she was ready to deliver any day.
Which was just what Ahti was waiting for. She might not understand the desire to have children, but she did appreciate the after affects. Delivery itself was a highly chaotic experience, what with everyone running around, the mother screaming through her pain, and the final squalling of the newborn. It only got better after that as the child grew, learning to get about on its own and into things it shouldn't. In fact, until they came of age, children were among the greatest destructive forces there were.
She couldn't always hover about during childbirth. Too often, Bes and Tawaret were called upon, and that left her right out. Neither would appreciate Disorder hanging about and they would be sure to notice her, no matter how well she thought she had hidden herself. But they didn't go to every house of every mother in delivery, so there was always the possibility they wouldn't come here.
Trouble was, Ahti did not have the patience to wait around for hours or even days to find out. It was time to see if she could speed things along a bit. She had heard that exertion or highly emotional episodes could send someone into labor.