A girl.
The child was a girl.
Salazar Slytherin cursed as he looked down at the infant in his arms. For this, his wife had died in childbirth, leaving him without an heir? For this?
The baby girl stared up at her father's face, a solemn look in her eyes. A tiny hand slipped out of the cocoon of blankets, coming to curl all five fingers around her father's thumb.
Salazar's face hardened slightly, and he jerked his finger out of the baby's grip. The baby's eyes narrowed, and she grabbed at his thumb again, sinking her tiny fingernails in. Salazar's eyes widened slightly.
"You may be a girl," he told the infant, allowing her to grasp his thumb comfortably again, "but I daresay we'll make a Slytherin of you yet. It may be that you will not bring embarrassment to me."
The baby acknowledged this with a gummy smile. Salazar smiled back at her.
...
"Oh," Helga breathed. "She's beautiful!"
She reached out for the baby, cuddling the tiny girl on her lap. "You'll have to name her after her mother."
Salazar's face darkened. "I had understood Calypso's child to be male. We had intended to name the boy Stellas. I see no reason to deviate from my wife's wishes."
"The reason," Godric cut in, "is that the child is a girl."
"So, I shall have a girl named Stellas," Salazar retorted.
"She doesn't seem to mind," Rowena put in gently. "Come, Godric, we must respect Calypso's final wish."
"Of course," Godric agreed, taking the baby. "Her eyes do sparkle like stars."
"You're be godfather, Godric?" Slytherin asked quietly. Godric nodded.
"How is your brother, Salazar?" Helga asked after a minute, to break the silence. "The Baron?"
"Marcellus's wife has given birth as well," Salazar replied. "A boy. I intend for him to marry my daughter, thus continuing the Slytherin line. And how is your Helena, Rowena?"