Ronin called it a day early. Nim had taken the information to the Child Advocacy Commission, and they would handle contacting Barnet. For his own peace of mind, Ronin had put out some inquiries about him as well. Just because he was family didn't mean he would be a fit guardian for Nod, and Ronin would feel better giving Nod to him if he knew more about him.
He wasn't sure how Nod was going to react to the news of his parents' death. While it had happened almost two years ago, it would be new to Nod and would probably upset him. So would the news that he would be leaving Ronin to go live with his great-great uncle on the other side of the forest.
Ronin didn't plan on telling him about both today. He would tell Nod about his parents when he got home, and see how he took it, then tell him tomorrow about Barnet. He had already contacted Finn and told him he was taking the day off. If Nod was really upset by either piece of news, it would be better if Ronin could stay with him.
As soon as Ronin opened the front door, Nod squealed in delight and bolted to him. Ronin sometimes came home for lunch, but he was rarely home this early in the afternoon. Ronin scooped him up without bothering with his armor or weapons, holding him close and covering his face in kisses until he was breathless with laughter.
Ronin didn't put him down even after he had stopped, and Nod wrapped his arms and legs around him, giggling gleefully.
"You're home early," the boy informed him, "you should stay home. It's better when you stay home with me."
"I am staying home," Ronin gave him a squeeze.
Orla gave him a questioning look.
"Nim got back to me," Ronin explained, "I'm going to take tomorrow off too."
"You're taking tomorrow off!" Nim bounced in his arms.
"I am," Ronin pressed another kiss to his cheek.
"Was it good news?" Orla asked cautiously.
"It was what we had suspected," Ronin said.
"Oh," Orla knew what that meant.
She and Ronin had both agreed that the most likely scenario was that Nod's parents had been killed somehow. It was still disappointing to find out the child really was orphaned.
"I'll fill you in on the details later," Ronin assured her, "it will be alright though."
He wished he was more sure of that, but in lieu of his parents being alive, finding that Nod had relatives really was the next best thing.
"What will be alright?" Nod looked up at him curiously.
"Everything," Ronin hugged him tight, "everything is going to be fine."
Nod chatted away about his day while Ronin took off his armor. Miss Orla had let him play with paint, and he had liked it, but she had made him take a bath afterwards, and he didn't think he had needed one, because the paint had looked pretty on his hands.
Ronin tried to shake off his growing sense of sorrow; he wasn't going to be coming home to this for much longer, and he knew he would miss it. He would just have to enjoy it while he could.
He had other things to worry about right now though.
"Come sit on the couch with me," Ronin lead the boy into the living room after locking the weapons cabinet.
Nod crawled onto his lap as soon as he sat down, sitting facing him and looking up at him expectantly.
"Does the name Arlen sound familiar to you?" Ronin asked, lacing his hands behind Nod's back.
"No," Nod shook his head, "who's that? Is it someone good?"
"It's someone very good," Ronin nodded, "Arlen is your name."
"My name is Nod," the boy wrinkled his nose.
"Your name is Nod," Ronin agreed, not wanting to argue with the child, "but it used to be Arlen."
"Nod is better," Nod informed him, "you named me Nod and that makes it better."
"You can still be Nod," Ronin nuzzled his nose against the boy's, "your parents named you Arlen though. Do you remember anything about your parents?"
Ronin had asked him before, but maybe hearing his own name would help him remember something.
"No," Nod shrugged, "I don't need parents. I have you."
Ronin sighed softly and pulled Nod closer to rest against his chest. The boy offered no resistance, always happy to be held by Ronin.
"Mr. Nim found out who your parents were," Ronin told him, "they died before you got lost in the forest."
"But I always lived in the forest," Nod said in confusion, "and then you found me and now I live with you and it's better than the forest because there's lots of food and less things try to eat me but I miss the chickadees and I think you should let me growl at people who I don't know because they might be mean and try to come get me."
"You shouldn't growl at people," Ronin laughed despite himself and stroked Nod's hair, "before you were in the forest, you lived with your parents. Do you remember that?"
"No," Nod frowned, then added worriedly, "am I supposed to?"
"No," Ronin reassured him, "it's alright if you don't remember, but you did live with them before they died."
"How did they die?" Nod asked curiously, still showing no signs of distress.
"They were killed by boggans," Ronin answered him carefully.
He wasn't going to go into any of the details that Nod seemed to not remember, but he wasn't going to lie to the boy either.
"What are boggans?" Nod gave him a confused look.
Ronin blinked. He tried to not talk about work around Nod, especially about things that might frighten or upset him, but he hadn't thought Nod didn't know what boggans were at all. Actually, he might have known from being in the forest, and just not known what they were call. They had found that happened often with animals that he knew but didn't have a name for.
"You and Queen Tara talk about them sometimes, but I don't know what they are," Nod frowned at him, "are they bad things?"
"Yes, they are," Ronin tried to think of where he might have an image of one, "maybe I have a picture in one of my books."
"I can look at my books!" Nod announced brightly, "maybe there's a boggan in my books!"
Ronin let him slide of his lap. He was sure there were no boggans in Nod's picture books, but it didn't hurt to let him look while Ronin looked through his own collection. He finally found a not too grotesque drawing of one in a book of epic poetry.
"Here's one," Ronin crouched down beside the boy who was flipping through the pages of his favorite picture book, making the sounds for all the animals in it.
"Ronin will you read me this book," Nod held it out to him, "it has about moon owls. I like those."
"Maybe a little later," Ronin sat on the floor beside him, setting the book aside and opening the book he had found to show Nod the picture, "this is a boggan."
"Those are bad!" Nod scowled and reached out to snap the book shut, "I don't like those! You told Queen Tara that you chased them, but you shouldn't chase them, you should run away. They're mean, and they do bad things!"
Ronin looked down at the boy in surprise. This wasn't the first time Nod has scolded him for doing things he didn't like, but usually it involved not getting enough sweets or not being home enough. Ronin set the book aside and picked Nod up, settling him in his lap.
"They are bad," Ronin agreed, "it's part of my job to help keep people safe from them."
"That's a bad job," Nod huffed, "I don't want you to chase boggans."
"It's a good job," Ronin shook his head, "it lets me help people and find little chickadees when they're lost in the woods."
Ronin tickled the boy, and Nod tried to resist and keep the scowl on his face, but he dissolved quickly into squirming giggles.
"Can't you do that without chasing boggans?" Nod asked breathlessly once Ronin stopped.
"Afraid not," Ronin kissed his forehead, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect your parents."
"And they're dead," Nod repeated, head cocked to the side, "because the boggans killed them."
"That's right," Ronin brushed back Nod's hair, "do you know what that means, to be dead?"
"Yes," Nod wiggled a little, "when foxes catch mice, they crunch them and then they're dead, and sometimes there are birds and they fall down and don't get up anymore and I don't like it when that happens. Dead means they're not there anymore."
"That's right," Ronin tried not to cringe at Nod's examples.
"So my parents aren't there anymore," the boy concluded, then smiled up at Ronin, "but that's alright because you're here. Will you read to me about the moon owls now?"
It felt like Nod had missed something vital in Ronin's explanation, but Ronin wasn't sure how else to explain it to him, and he had understood all the pieces, that they had found out who his parents were, and that they were dead, and what death meant, but he didn't seem to be connecting all those things to himself.
Maybe that was alright for now. Nod had plenty of time to understand better, and for now he was still happy. He wouldn't be once Ronin told him he was going to live with his great-great uncle on the other side of the forest, but that could wait until tomorrow.
"Yep, let's read about the moon owls," Ronin picked the book up off the floor and held it so Nod could see the pictures.
Nod hooted cheerfully and settled in Ronin's lap, chattering happily about how much he liked moon owls in-between each page turn.