The mansion no longer felt haunted. Morning light spilt through the wide windows, touching every corner that had once echoed with arguments and apologies. Laughter had replaced the shouting; Ellie's laughter, mostly.
She was seven now—opinionated, brilliant, and every inch her parents' child. Today she wore Aaron's sunglasses, far too big for her face, pretending to read the financial paper upside down.
"Daddy," she said seriously, "we're out of chocolate milk. That's a crisis."
Aaron looked up from his laptop. "You sound like your mother."
"Thank you," she said, already skipping away.
Mina stood in the doorway, arms folded, trying not to smile. She'd been feeling strange for days—tired, a little dizzy—but she hadn't said anything yet. She wasn't sure how to.
The sound of tyres crunching on the gravel saved her for the moment. A second later, Naarah's voice exploded through the hall:
"Where's my goddaughter, the only sensible person in this entire house?"
Mina groaned. "Oh no,"
Aaron smirked. "You invited her."
"I said she could visit, not stage a takeover."
Naarah swept in wearing sunglasses and an attitude that could stop traffic. "Please, I brought sanity. And pastries. You two still toxic?"
Aaron handed her a coffee. "We've evolved."
"Into what?"
Mina grinned. "A more functional species of chaos."
Naarah rolled her eyes. "Right. Functional. That explains why your child just told me you've been sleeping more than usual, Mina."
Mina froze. Aaron turned, frowning lightly. "Sleeping more?"
Naarah's grin turned predatory. "Oh my God. Don't tell me—"
Mina raised both hands. "Stop. You don't know anything."
Aaron's brow lifted. "She knows something, clearly."
"I was going to tell you tonight," Mina muttered, voice breaking into a shy laugh.
Aaron blinked once, twice, then his whole expression softened, stunned and gentle all at once. "You're serious?"
Mina nodded, tears slipping out before she could stop them. "I'm pregnant."
Ellie peeked in from the hallway. "What's pregnant?"
"More trouble for Daddy," Naarah said, raising her cup in a toast. "Cheers to that."
Aaron pulled Mina into his arms, ignoring Naarah's laughter and Ellie's questions. "Another heartbeat," he whispered into her hair. "You keep giving me more reasons to believe in forever."
Mina smiled against his chest. "That's because you never stop earning it."
Naarah sniffed. "Ugh, gross. If you two start with your shameless acts, I'm taking Ellie for ice cream."
"Deal," Aaron said, not even looking away from Mina.
The front door slammed, Naarah's voice fading down the driveway, Ellie chattering beside her. The house grew quiet again—just the two of them, just the soft hum of a new beginning.
Aaron kissed her temple, his hand resting over her stomach. "You think she'd laugh if we told her we're naming this one after her?"
Mina laughed through her tears. "She'd never recover."
They stayed there a while, sunlight spilling across them, the same warmth that had carried them through every lifetime they'd survived together.
For once, there was no fire, no fight—only love, laughter, and a future expanding quietly between heartbeats.