Demon lies at school on the last day before the Lee Lady Leaders’ Christmas charity party, exaggerating that he will spend Christmas in a shelter. Demon does it to make sure Maggot will pass the story along to adults with influence, since Demon wants leverage and sympathy while stuck in foster care.

Maggot is eager for Demon to come to Knoxville for Christmas, but Mrs. Peggot is hesitant, and the truck ride feels tense and closed-off. Demon worries he is unwanted and ashamed, reading the family’s silence as proof that he has become “the dead junkie’s kid” who takes up space. When they arrive, Demon is startled by how much Emmy has changed, acting older and confident as she ushers them into the apartment where Aunt June now lets Emmy call her “Mom.”

That night, Aunt June announces she is moving back home to Lee County. She is exhausted by Knoxville’s ER grind and disrespect from doctors, and she has taken a new clinic job at Pennington that will advance her career. The Peggots are thrilled, and Aunt June also reveals the adoption is finalized: Emmy is officially her daughter, and both of them glow with relief and belonging while Demon watches, stunned by how life can turn around for someone.

Over Christmas, Emmy becomes fixated on a news story about a murdered family and a baby left alive among the bodies. Demon also notices city desperation during the cold snap, with homeless people crowding public buildings and crime rising when people have nowhere to go and nothing to take. Aunt June finally forbids more talk about the murdered family and the baby.

Unable to let it go, Emmy comes out late at night and quietly talks to Demon while Maggot sleeps. Emmy apologizes for her past meanness and asks about foster care; Demon describes it as relentless, hungry, and dangerous, and admits he constantly watches his back. As they trade fears and coping fantasies, Demon explains his belief that being born “in the caul” means he cannot drown, making the ocean a safe place in his imagination. The talk turns raw when Demon says death can be better than lifelong orphanhood; Emmy touches Demon’s head and asks why no one adopts him, and Demon explains there are too many kids and too few families, with an overburdened caseworker. They lie back down, sharing a rare, quiet moment of being sad together.