Gender Reveal

"Alright, Lily, one more push should do it," the doctor encouraged.

"You can do it, babe," Gabriel smoothed his girlfriend's hair back, the sweat from her brow slicking the strands.

Lily groaned and threw her head back in exhaustion.

"Come on, Lily," the doctor demanded. "One more big push."

Gabriel grabbed Lily's hand.

With a determined nod, Lily sat up, leaned forward and as Gabriel placed his other hand on her back, she bore down with one final push to bring her child into the world.

"Oh my God..." the doctor breathed.

Lily fell back against her pillow completely spent.

"What's wrong?" Gabriel asked, the excitement in his voice fading to concern and fear.

The nurse screamed in horror and ran, stumbling from the room knocking over equipment in her haste to escape.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" An exhausted Lily asked weakly from the bed, completely oblivious to the eruption.

"It's a monster!" The doctor exclaimed.

Before Gabriel could respond the doctor unceremoniously heaved the child onto Lily's chest and bolted from the room following the nurse.

The lights dimmed and began to flicker and the temperature began to rise.

Gabriel stared after the doctor in shock before looking down at the mewling infant his girlfriend now held in her quivering arms. The child's skin was pale and still covered in the blood and mucus of birth, but more startling was the long tail that twitched and curved around Lily's arm as she held the child close to her breast.

"Oh my..." she whispered in awe.

Gabriel stood in shock staring at the pair, his eyes widening as the child opened its mouth to cry, revealing a tiny forked tongue with each hissing wail.

"There, there," Lily cooed, nuzzling the child's face gently. The infant's cries calming at its mother's touch. "Oh Gabe, look what we made...together," Lily said, reaching out for his hand, grasping it tightly.

Slowly he moved in closer, staring down at this child, his child. He watched as it slowly opened its eyes to stare back at him, the irises a flickering shade of yellow and orange surrounding a serpentine black void.

"What do you think?" Lily asked, looking from their child to him.

Gabe tentatively reached out, his fingers lightly trailing over the child's cheek.

"She's beautiful..."