"Ronin, calm down," Finn sat backwards in his chair, watching the general pace, "Willowbrook is a long trip."
"I know," Ronin snapped, "but he's the only family Nod has, and even though his seven year old nephew has been lost and presumed dead for over a year and a half, he's going to make him wait two weeks before he comes to get him because he doesn't feel like making the trip twice."
"At least that gives Nod more time to get used to the idea, although it's not the most encouraging sign," Finn admitted, resting his head on his hand, "but it doesn't necessarily mean he'll be a bad guardian."
"It means he's not making Nod a priority," Ronin growled, pivoting sharply to pace in the other direction, "he's a child, not just something to deal with when it's convenient."
"You could keep him," Finn suggested mildly.
"Of course I can't keep him," Ronin glared, "I'm busy all the time, and if I were to die, he'd be orphaned a second time."
"As your second-in-command, who is too lazy to do your job, could you please not die?" Finn asked drolly.
Ronin stopped pacing to look at him.
"I'm just saying," Finn shrugged, "I'd like to put off having your job for a while longer."
"That's not what we're talking about," Ronin resumed pacing.
Finn snickered softly.
"Barnet is his uncle…" Ronin gripped.
"Great-great uncle," Finn put in.
"And he should care," Ronin ignored him.
"Yeah, he should," Finn agreed, "so we should take a closer look at him than we already have to make sure Nod will be safe with him."
"Even if he's safe, he might not be happy," Ronin finally slumped into his desk chair, "Nod needs attention, and he needs someone who will be patient with him."
"We could try discreetly talking to Barnet's sons," Finn suggested.
"There's no way to guarantee that won't get back to him," Ronin shook his head, "I'll check in with Bufo's people and see if they've heard anything about him."
"That's always so expensive," Finn complained.
"Usually worth it though," Ronin said.
"I'll take care of it then," Finn pushed himself up, "I'm taking your afternoon meeting with the spring harvesting committee, right?"
"Yes, thank you," Ronin sighed, "Nod is not taking this well."
"It will all work out," Finn said confidently, "you'll see."
Finn saluted and left, and Ronin got back to work. He had a lot to do if he wanted to get home early.
Nod dove into his nest behind the couch at the sound of the door. Not surprisingly, the boy had been thrilled when Ronin had told him his uncle wouldn't be there for another two weeks, but apparently he was still feeling a little jumpy. Nod had gotten much better at understanding time and how it passed, but he still sometimes got confused, especially when it involved something he didn't like. Two weeks and two days didn't seem to sound that different to him.
"Hello General Ronin," Eben greeted him when he opened the door, tipping his head back to look up at him.
"Eben?" Ronin looked down at him in surprise, "what are you doing here?"
"He's helping me!" Nod announced, darting suddenly under Ronin's arm and grabbing Eben's hand, "we're planning."
Before Ronin could protest, Nod had pulled Eben down the hall in the direction of Ronin's room.
"Eben, does your mother know you're here?" Ronin called, shutting the door and heading after them.
"No!" Eben called back, "I'm on my way home from school. I'm just stopping to help Nod first."
"Help him do what?" Ronin pushed open the door to his room and looked around.
Eben's backpack was on the ground next to the nightstand, but neither boy was anywhere to be seen.
"We're planning!" Nod repeated from under the bed.
"Come out from under there," Ronin said firmly.
"No!" Nod yelled back, "we're planning how I can stay here and not go with Uncle Barnet. We're busy."
"Nod," Ronin sighed.
There was whispering from under the bed as the boy's discussed whether to come out or not, and Ronin did his best to wait patiently. Trying to fish Nod out from under furniture was never fun for either of them.
After a few minutes, Eben crawled out from under the bed, followed by a reluctant Nod. Ronin dropped to one knee so he wasn't towering over the boys.
"Eben, you can't just come over without asking your mother first," Ronin said.
"But he's helping me," Nod protested.
"Nod, you need to stop planning to get away from your uncle," Ronin shook his head, "you haven't even met him yet. He's your family. You might really like him."
"No, I won't!" Nod pouted, "I don't want to go with him! I want to stay here, and Eben is helping me because you won't and you're making me go even though I don't want to."
"I know you don't want to, but…" Ronin tried to explain.
"So Eben will help me instead," Nod scowled, then dropped down and wiggled under the bed again before Ronin could catch him.
"I'm still going home," Eben said helpfully, "I'm just stopping here first."
Ronin rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. He hated being the one who wasn't helping Nod, but he didn't know how to make him understand that he was trying to do what was best for him.
"Have you met Nod's uncle?" Eben asked curiously.
"No," Ronin shook his head, "not yet."
"Do you know if he's nice?" the boy asked.
"I don't have any reason to think he's not," Ronin said.
He didn't have any conclusive reasons anyway. He felt uneasy about the man taking Nod, but he didn't know why, and irritating though the delay was, it didn't constitute a justification for his feelings of unease. Nod was having a hard enough time with this without Ronin adding his unfounded misgivings to it.
"Well, maybe you can find out for sure if he's nice, and Nod and I will work on a back-up plan in case he's not," Eben suggested, "Finn says you should always have a back-up plan."
It was all Ronin could do not to snicker. As someone who had known Finn since they had first enlisted, he could say with certainty, it had taken Finn a long time to come to an appreciation of back-up plans.
"I think you need to let the grown-ups worry about the back-up plan this time," Ronin told him, "I'm going to go send a message to your mother. You can stay with Nod until she gets here."
"Oh," Eben shifted uncomfortably, "you don't have to do that. I know how to get home."
"I'm sure you do," Ronin stood up, "but your mother will want to know why you're late."
"I guess," Eben sighed.
"Thank you for wanting to help Nod," Ronin patted his head, "but next time you think one of your friends needs help, you should let a grown-up know."
"I think Nod needs help," Eben tipped his head back to look up at Ronin, "can I go help him now?"
Ronin blinked, then bit back a groan, "you can help him until your mother gets here to pick you up."
"Okay," Eben dropped back down and crawled under the bed.
The whispering resumed, and Ronin went to send a message to Nora.
Eben's older sister Miriam came to pick him up, and she looked distinctly embarrassed to have to get him. She apologized profusely, but Ronin was more than a little distracted.
Nod had burst into tears when he realized there was no chance of Eben staying, and when Miriam started to scold Eben for coming over without asking and not telling their mother where he was, Nod got even more upset. From his safe hiding place behind Ronin's leg, he told Miriam that Eben was being good and helping him, and she shouldn't be angry at him. Miriam looked distinctly amused.
It reminded Ronin yet again that Nod did not take being yelled at or scolded well.
After Miriam left with her little brother in tow, Ronin picked Nod up and took him to the rocking chair, stooping to pick up Cheep-Cheep along the way.
"Nod…" Ronin settled the boy in his lap and started rocking.
"Eben is good," Nod cried, "he shouldn't be in trouble. No one else will help me, but Eben said he'd help me and bring me food while I was hiding and tell me when dumb Uncle Barnet is gone."
"Nod, you shouldn't call people dumb," Ronin told him gently, "and anyway, you haven't even met him yet."
"I don't want to meet him!" Nod sobbed, "I don't want to go with him. I live here! Why can't I stay here with you?"
"Change isn't always bad," Ronin drew the boy in closer, and Nod leaned into him, hugging Cheep-Cheep and bringing his thumb up to suck on, "it was a change going from living in the forest to living with me, but that was a good thing, wasn't it?"
The child nodded without taking his thumb out of his mouth.
"So this could be a good change too," Ronin offered, "it might be really great living with your uncle."
"No," Nod whined around his thumb, curling more tightly into Ronin, "I want to live with you."
Ronin sighed softly and continued to rock him, "I know kiddo, but we're just going to have to try this out and see how it goes. It's going to be okay."
Nod sniffled and shook his head, burying his face against Ronin's chest, "you keep the bad things away. Uncle Barnet won't be able to."
"What bad things?" Ronin asked, puzzled.
"All of them," Nod's voice was muffled against Ronin's shirt, "you're big and scary, and you scare all the bad things away. Uncle Barnet won't be able to do that because no one is as big and scary as you."
Ronin was touched, but also found himself fighting off the urge to laugh very hard. He vaguely remembered Finn saying something to that effect right after he had found Nod, and Ronin had no intention of telling him he had been right.
"I don't scare you, do I?" Ronin stroked the child's hair.
"No," Nod looked up at him, "I'm not a bad thing."
"No, you're not," Ronin pressed his forehead to the boy's, "you're very, very good."
"Then you should keep me," Nod pleaded, "you should always keep good things, like the honey brittle I keep in my cupboard, or Cheep-Cheep."
"I love you forever," Ronin told the boy, "but loving someone doesn't always mean you keep them."
"Why not?" Nod demanded.
"Because loving someone means you do what's best for them," Ronin kissed his forehead, "and sometimes that means not keeping them."
"I don't like that," Nod pouted and rested his head back against Ronin's chest.
"Yeah," Ronin agreed, tucking the boy's head under his chin, "me neither sometimes."