Chapter Text
Six months had passed since Maat and Thoth had taken in Seth. The little baby had grown, he was almost fifteen pounds. Maat was sure that he was going to have a growth spurt soon as he had been eating more than normal. He was a strong little boy. He could already roll over, hold his head up, and grab at his toys. He smiled now, and was starting to babble a little bit. Maat and Thoth believed that he was close to crawling, that it would just be a matter of days until he was mobile.
Seshat had fallen completely in love with her new brother. She would show up at her parents cottage as often as her godly duties allowed her to. She frequently brought gifts for Seth with her when she came to visit. She loved to spoil her little brother, and he flourished in the attention she gave him. He loved it when she would read to him from her scrolls, even when she read him dry reports about taxes. He loved when she carried him around and let him explore the world. He loved when she sang to him, when she rocked him to sleep.
Seth was happy with his new family. His memory of the time before them was foggy but he remembered being alone and sad alot. Of course, even with his happiness with his new family Seth still did have days where he would be sad. He was a baby and he couldn’t express himself very well. Today he was cranky because he hadn’t seen his sister in a while. He missed her.
“Homey, do you think he’s hungry? Or gassy?” Thoth asked Maat, having to raise his voice to be heard over the sound of the screaming baby and the howling sha pack. A pack of eight sha had taken up residence in their backyard a few weeks ago and they howled whenever Seth cried. Their previously green yard had also turned into a red desert which would frequently whip around whenever Seth was happy, sad, or tired. Right now the sand was whipping around in a dangerous sand storm.
“I just fed him Thoth. And burped him. You just changed him. He’s just being fussy.”
Thoth rocked the baby, trying to sooth him. He didn’t like it when his little boy was fussy. He heard their front door open and someone walk in.
“Dad, Mom I came to visit Seth and I brought him something.”
Upon hearing his sister’s voice, Seth calmed down and started looking around for her. “Aww did you miss your sister? Is that why you were upset? Aww. Seshat, what did you bring this time, another story?”
Seshat chuckled at her father’s interaction with the baby. She loved watching him with Seth, he was so loving with the happy baby. Her mother was great with him as well, she would just light up when she held him. “I brought him Grandmother.”
Thoth, who had been cooing at Seth, started choking. Maat took the baby from her husband who had apparently forgotten how to breathe with the way he was gasping. Ra, standing next to Seshat, laughed at her son in-law.
“Hello mother. What brings you here today?”
“Hello to you too, daughter. There is a great deal more sand than I remember you having here. Not to mention the pack of sha. Anyways, I heard that my granddaughter Nut had given birth to four children. I decided that I should go visit them, see these babies that she tricked out of me. Imagine my surprise when I find that she only has three little gods running around. And seems to have no clue where her youngest is. Bastet was the one to inform me that Nut’s youngest had been all but abandoned by his parents, leading to you taking him as yours.”
Maat knew that it was only a matter of time until her mother came to meet her new grandson, but she wished that she hadn’t just showed up. Thoth always got so flustered when Ra was around, he never knew what to say or how to act. It was even worse when she showed up unexpectedly and Thoth wasn’t expecting her.
“That’s correct Mother, Thoth and I have taken in Seth since Nut and Geb deemed him unworthy of their time and attention.” Seth observed Ra from Maat’s arms, his red eyes curious.
“Gaaahhhhh! Bah bo bah gah.”
“Yes, that is your Grandmother. Would you like to say hello?” Matt asked the babbling baby. She believed that you should talk to infants as you would an adult. It helped them build their vocabulary.
“He’s gotten so much more talkative since I saw him last. Is he crawling yet?” Seshat asked her mother. It had only been a little over a week since she had last been able to visit, but Seth was already so much more developed.
“Gah!”
“Yes, I’m talking about you little man.”
“He has been quite the chirpy little bird lately. He keeps trying to crawl, but he hasn’t quite gotten there. No you haven’t have you?”
“Bah!”
Maat nodded at Seth and carried him to her mother. She handed the boy to her mother who held him with the arms of an experienced parent. Seth was a little wary being in the arms of someone new, but he could still see his Mom, Dad, and Sister, so he didn’t start crying. Instead he studied the new person, trying to decide if he liked them or not.
“Well, aren't you a cute one? Red hair and eyes, now that’s just adorable. Yes, you are a cute little god, aren't you?”
“AHHH! Gaba, ahah.” Seth liked this lady. He giggled and tried to grab her pretty jewelry. She shifted him so that he couldn’t reach her shiny jewels, much to Seth’s annoyance. “Ahhhh! Goob.” The sand outside stirred a little, whisps dancing across the ground. A sha barked.
Thoth grabbed one of Seth’s toys and handed it to him. He knew from experience that once the sha started responding to Seth’s emotions a tantrum was soon to follow. They had just got him to settle down, he didn’t want his sweet little boy to get upset all over again. Luckily the cloth doll that Thoth handed him worked perfectly. Seth was soon giggling again, one of the doll’s legs in his mouth.
“Ahh, he controls it. The sand, that is. And he has something to do with the sha.” Thoth explained to Ra.
Ra looked at the innocent little child in her arms who was currently chewing on his doll. She raised an eyebrow at him. “So your powers are a little chaotic, hmm? Well that’s ok. That just means that you will get along quite nicely with me. Yes it does. Yes. I love me some chaos.” She kissed Seth on the cheek and was rewarded with a slobbery baby kiss in return.
Thoth was rather confused by what he was witnessing. Ra was being oddly sweet. She normally would be teasing him and calling him names by now. But she hadn’t called him a single name, not even bird brain. “Maat,” he turned to his wife, “is she alright?”
“Yes dear. Our son has just won her over, that’s all.”
“I don’t remember her being like this with Seshat.”
“When Seshat was Seth’s age you would still run from the room screaming every time Mother came to visit. Trust me, she was just as kind with our daughter as she is with our son.” When Seshat had been an infant Thoth had still been petrified of Ra and would flee the room whenever she came to visit. Ra, naturally, found it hilarious and made fun of Thoth for his behavior, which only made him more afraid of her. It had been a vicious cycle, honestly. Thoth hadn’t begun to even somewhat trust Ra until Seshat was a teenager, and by then Seshat would go and visit Ra so Thoth didn’t see the two interact.
“Please don’t remind her of that. She still teases me about it.”
“Hehehe. I noticed that you aren’t migrating, Thoth!” Ra called to him as she bounced Seth on her hips. Seth had a look of extreme concentration on his face. Ra sniffed his bottom and wrinkled her nose. “Uggh. Thoth, he’s all yours. He stinks.”
“Gaah! Poo Poo bii ploo”
Thoth took his son so that he could change him. While he was changing him, something that he had mastered over the last six months, Maat talked with her mother.
“Mother, what are your thoughts about how Geb and Nut acted, about their rejection of him. I sometimes worry that they will try and claim him as theirs when he is older and that Thoth and I will have no ground to stand on.”
Ra looked at her daughter. Despite the act she put on in public she was a different person with her family. She cared for her children, and she would do whatever she had to in order to prevent them from suffering. It had been part of the reason that she had forbidden Nut and Geb from having children in the first place. Yes, them not having children caused them heartache, but Thoth’s prophecy had indicated that if they had children then the rest of her family would be impacted. She couldn’t tell if the impact on her family would be good or bad, so she hadn’t been willing to risk it. Of course, Nut and Geb still found a way to have their children, and her family was hurt in the process.
“I will not allow them to ever lay claim on him. He is yours. As the God Supreme and Pharaoh of Egypt, I decree that Seth is no longer the son of Nut and Geb but he is now the son of Maat and Thoth. Nut and Geb abandoned him, they rejected him in favor of their other, more perfect children. The moment that they cast him aside they relinquished all claims on him. So mote it be.”
A golden spark rose up from Ra and split into three. One of the sparks sank into Maat, one into Thoth, and one into Seth. Ra’s magic made it official, Seth was now their child in every way. He was theirs in spirit, in the eyes of the law, and in the eyes of magic. Nothing could take him away from them.
Thoth carried the now clean baby back to his mother and grandmother. “Honey, what was that magic?” He asked. Seth had found the golden spark very enjoyable and wiggled around trying to catch it, making the diaper change more difficult than usual. But Thoth persevered and Seth now had a clean bottom. He passed the infant to Seshat.
“Mother made it official. Seth is ours and no one can ever take him away.”
Thoth smiled and, for the first time ever, he hugged Ra. Ra hugged him back and gently patted him on the back. “Ok, ok. No need to get all emotional on me ,Feathers. You can let go of me now.” Ra wasn’t sure what was worse, when he ran from her screaming, or him hugging her. At least when he was running away from her she could laugh at him, the hugging was just unnerving. Ra felt like Thoth was trying to play a trick on her.
“Just deal with it mother.” Maat told her mother as she joined in on the hug.
Not to be left out, Seshat joined in. “Aww, group hug!” she yelled.
“AHHH!” Seth squealed. He had his entire family in one place. He was a very happy little baby.