Suddenly she was crying harder and breathing faster, her chest rising and falling rapidly. For a moment, Dionysus felt panicked, but then he remembered one thing he’d learned about women in labor—and that was how they were supposed to breathe. “Hee-hee-hooooo,” he started. “Hee-hee-hooooo.” He kept going even when he noticed Lilaia glaring at him and the other nurse staring at him in horror, but then Phaedra joined in, following his lead. Before long, they were all breathing in tandem, and when Phaedra was calm again, Dionysus looked down between her legs, and his breaths dissolved into a
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