She places a hand on her stomach.

And just like that⁠—

Everything stops.

Giselle lets out a tiny gasp. Her hands fly to her mouth, eyes wide and wild. Alaska tilts her head like she doesn’t understand. Johnny blinks once. Then again.

Indie speaks softly. “I’m pregnant.”

The silence is loud.

For a moment, no one moves. The world feels like it’s holding its breath. Even the gods go still.

And then Giselle screams.

“Oh my fucking gods—Indie!” She launches herself into Indie’s arms, cackling and sobbing all at once. “You’re gonna be a mom! A hot mom! Like a MILF with a whip and a baby carrier!”

Johnny stumbles backward, hand on his heart. “I—What—I’m not emotionally equipped for this! Someone hold me. Alaska, get over here. I need support.”

“Oooh, I love babies,” Alaska says, already hugging him. “Are we gonna throw a party? Do we get to eat the placenta?”

Johnny sobs into her shoulder. “Oh my god, Uncle Johnny? I’m teach it how to juggle knives.”

Giselle spins toward me, grabbing my arm. “Did you hear that, Bjorn? We’re gonna have a little spawnling!”

“I heard,” I murmur, voice tight in my chest. “Loud and clear.”

And I did. But more than that, I felt it.

The gods may be full, but they are watching. They saw this coming.

Lux meets my gaze.

“I didn’t grow up safe,” Lux says, voice low, steady. “I was used. Beaten. Sold like I didn’t matter. The man who raised me—he ruled with belts and silence. There was no warmth. No safety. Just pain passed down like tradition.”

He glances at Indie, and his hand brushes her stomach with a reverence that almost hurts to see.

“This child… it won’t be born in shadows. It won’t be raised on fear. I’ll give them everything I never had. A home. A family. A fucking childhood.”

I nod, voice low but steady. “Then we do it. Together.”

Lux blinks. “Wait… what?”

He stares at me like I’ve just grown horns—or worse, gone soft. And I get it. Lux isn’t used to anyone standing beside him without needing something in return. He’s always been the one offering the stage, the weapons, the home.

But this time?

This is us offering him something back.

“You’re serious?” he asks, gaze sweeping across our blood-soaked little crew. “You’re all stepping back?”

Giselle leans into my side, her fingers laced through mine, voice airy but sure. “Of course we are. You brought us together, Lux. You gave us this life. This family.”

“Now it’s our turn,” I add, meeting his gaze. “You gave us shelter. Purpose. You let me bring the old gods into this madness, and you never questioned it. You gave us everything. And now—you have something worth protecting.”