Chapter 58: A new human
It was late at night when four women – three nurses and a queen – were kneeling down, still inside the little hut. Dedyet was the center of attention while sweating, moaning and heavily breathing. Everyone was tired, yet no less determined than before.
The queen had lost her patience several hours ago, and was now only doing what both her body and the nurses were demanding her to do - pushing, and that, harder than ever before in her entire life.
"I can see the head, I can see the head!" Kija spoke out excitedly.
The two other nurses were still supporting their queen from behind and the side, occasionally reminding her to breathe and push and telling her how well she was doing.
"Push, push, push!" Kija said loudly as the next contraction came, knowing this would most likely be the last one.
Dedyet felt another wave of pain attacking her, and responded with pushing intently. One... Last... Time...
It was then when the queen felt a ring of fire between her legs. The pain was incredibly bad and incomparable to anything Dedyet had ever felt before, but after a few pushes, it suddenly stopped. The queen felt something slip out of her body, and heard, after that, a startled cry.
Dedyet breathed heavily, more than exhausted, and looked up to see a messy-looking, tiny human in Kija's arms, screaming and kicking.
"It's a little girl!" Kija announced, happily putting her on Dedyet's chest.
The two nurses behind her smiled, insanely proud.
Dedyet felt tears in her eyes when she held her child. The past pain was forgotten.
"Oh, my little baby…" She pet her crying baby's body and kissed the newborn's forehead, not caring that the baby hadn't been bathed yet.
She was happily surprised to see the baby crawling slightly upwards, following its instincts, obviously hungry.
All the fights about hiring a wet nurse or not were forgotten when Dedyet fed her baby for the first time, happy tears rolling down her cheeks.
Then, she felt more cramps, but they weren't as bad as the ones before.
Kija focused again, looking down, and after a few contractions, the placenta was birthed. The nurse on Dedyet's side handed Kija a small knife and Kija cut the cord of the new human.
Dedyet wasn't even looking, completely focusing on her baby that was yawning after being nursed.
Kija stood up, slowly approaching the new mom.
"I will bathe her now," the nurse said in a quiet and gentle way, before picking the baby up and walking towards a small tub that stood in the room as well, everything well prepared.
In the meantime, a nurse put a large and thick cloth blanket on the bed to save it from getting bloody. She walked back and – with help from the other nurse – carried her queen into the bed.
It was then when Dedyet realized that she was heavily bleeding.
Kija approached her, holding Dedyet's baby, wrapped in a precious linen blanket. She handed it to the new mom, and Dedyet kissed her daughter's head before looking up to the women in front of her.
"Thank you so much," she said quietly to the three of them.
"There is no need to thanks us," one of them replied.
"I couldn't have done it without you."
"Yes, you could have."
"I can't believe I was there to witness the crown princess' birth!" The other and youngest nurse said happily, still excited.
Kija had kept an eye on the entrance and was now looking back at her queen.
"Dedyet."
"Yes?"
"I think someone wants to see you. It is Ramses."