As soon as Ronin sat on the couch, Nod crawled into his lap, bringing Cheep-Cheep and a picture book with him. Ronin set the picture book aside and shifted Nod so he was facing him.
"I had an idea," he told the boy.
"Is it a good idea?" Nod cocked his head to the side curiously.
"Well, I want you to decide that," Ronin looped his arms behind the boy's back.
Ronin had been mulling over the idea of Nod having his own room for a few days, and he had contacted a few people with inquiries about the things he would need and felt he had a good grasp of what they would have to do to change the study into a bedroom.
In the end though, he had decided he would let Nod chose what he wanted to do. The boy had been denied a choice when Barnet had come, maybe having one now, even if it was a relatively small one, would help him feel like he was more in control.
"I think having honey brittle for dinner tonight is a good idea," Nod informed him.
"I bet you do," Ronin laughed, nuzzling his nose against Nod's and making him giggle, "but we're having cattail fritters for dinner. We can have honey brittle after dinner though."
"Riding birds is a good idea," Nod offered, "especially if you let me steer."
"I'm off in a few days. If the weather is good, we can go out," Ronin grinned, "but I had another idea."
"Pie is a good idea, with blackberries," Nod had decided this was a game, and he had to guess what Ronin's idea was; he wanted it to be a good idea, so he was only going to guess good things.
"What about black-caps?" Ronin asked.
"Those are good too," Nod agreed, "also strawberries."
Ronin chuckled, giving Nod a squeeze.
"So, here's my idea," Ronin put in before Nod could make another guess, "what if we turn my study into your very own bedroom?"
"With a bed?" Nod looked slightly perplexed.
"Yes, with a bed, although you don't have to sleep in it," Ronin confirmed, "you can sleep with me as long as you want, but we could get you drawers to put all your clothes in, and put your books on the shelves, and move your toy chest in there."
"Can I put things under the bed?" Nod asked.
"Maybe not food," Ronin said, "but you can put other things under it."
"Like glow-y plants?" Nod slowly warmed up to the idea of having his own bed to keep things under.
"We could put a lumencent under it," Ronin nodded, "we would just have to remember to put it in the sun sometimes or it won't glow."
"How about blankets?" Nod asked, "and pillows."
"Those can go under the bed too," Ronin suspected Nod was already imagining the nest he would build under the bed, which was fine with Ronin, "we'll make sure there's enough blankets and pillows to go on the bed and under it."
"What about your desk?" Nod frowned slightly, "where will your desk go?"
"Well, maybe if there's enough room, we'll leave it in there for you to use," Ronin hadn't expected him to be worried about that, "if not, we'll get rid of it."
"But then you'll have to go back to working someplace else," Nod protested, "I like it when you work at home. If you don't work at home anymore then it's a bad idea."
Ronin laughed and cuddled Nod close, blowing raspberries against his cheeks until he stopped pouting. He was eventually going to need to get back to working out of his office. It was inefficient for Ronin to do all his administrative work at home, but he would make it work for as long as Nod needed him to. He had been trying to gradually increase the time he was gone during the day over the last few weeks, but whether he had a desk or not wouldn't have much bearing on that.
"I'll just work at the dining table," Ronin reassure him, "it will be fine."
"And it would be my room, like your room is your room?" Nod tilted his head to the side thoughtfully.
"That's right," Ronin nodded.
"And I could still sleep with you and play under your bed and keep my buttons there?" Nod asked.
"Absolutely," Ronin suspected Nod had more than buttons stashed under his bed, but that was alright, "what do you think? Do you want to give it a try?"
Nod considered for a moment, then nodded, "okay, but maybe I won't sleep there. I'll just play there and keep my toys there and I'll make a nest for Bee and Crunch and Ribbit, but not Cheep-Cheep because Cheep-Cheep only likes sleeping with me."
"That sounds perfect," Ronin kissed his forehead, "on my next day off we'll go talk to Eben's dad, Mr. Kendon, about making you a bed. You can tell him what you want him to carve on it."
"Will he carve pictures of birds on it?" Nod asked eagerly.
"I'm sure he will," Ronin nodded.
"I'll draw him pictures!" Nod wiggled off Ronin's lap, running to look for paper and pencil, "then he'll know what birds to put on it!"
"That sounds like a great idea," Ronin grinned, "I'm sure it will help him."
Nod returned with sheets of paper and a pencil, plopping down on the ground between Ronin's feet and spreading his supplies on the coffee table.
"You hold Cheep-Cheep," the boy set his stuffed animal in Ronin's lap, "he likes being held."
"Alright," Ronin shifted the bird to the crook of his arm and reached for the book Nod had brought with him, "do you want me to read to you while you draw?"
"Yes," Nod leaned over his paper, concentrating on his drawing, "I like that book. It has foxes and deer and bears and also moon owls. I like moon owls. I'll draw a moon owl for Mr. Kendon, and then he'll know to put one on my bed."
"And the moon owls will watch over you if you ever decide you want to sleep there," Ronin rumpled Nod's hair.
"No, I won't sleep there. The moon owls will take care of Bee and Crunch and Ribbit," Nod focused very hard on drawing little fluffy owls, "I have you to take care of me."
"Always," Ronin leaned forward to kiss Nod's head, then opened the book, "there are many different animals in the forest…"
Ronin had warned Nod that Kendon would be bringing people with him to help him set up the bed, but the boy still ran to hide in Ronin's room when he saw the strangers at the door.
Ronin and Nod had spent the last few weeks empting Ronin's study and rearranging the bookshelves in the living room to fit his books on and moving all of Nod's things into the study. Nod had picked out a nightstand with a polished malachite top he claimed looked like a tree top, which was fitting since the shade of the oil lamp Ronin had gotten him had chickadees on it.
He had already had a toy chest, but he had had Ronin move it into a new location almost every time he came in the room, and spent what felt like hours sitting on Ronin's shoulders, rearranging his 'extra special treasures' on the top shelves of the built in book cases.
The nest had been taken apart and reassembled in four different spots before Ronin had finally mapped out the spot the bed was going in so Nod could see where there would be room for his nest, and Nod had decided he wanted the nest in Ronin's room, at least until he could rebuild it under the bed.
Nod had been asking about the bed every day since they had gone to Kendon's to talk to him about it. Kendon had listened carefully as Nod had explained all his pictures, then asked if he could keep them for reference and promised there would be birds on the head and foot board.
Ronin almost wished that he hadn't told Nod the bed was coming today. He had been asking every twenty minutes since he got up this morning when the bed was going to be there.
Now that it was here, Ronin was more than a little amused that Nod was hiding.
Ronin leaned against the doorway to Nod's new room, staying out of the way while they put the bed together. He wasn't at all surprised when Nod crept out and hid behind him.
"It's all wrapped up," Nod whispered, peering around Ronin's leg to see into the room.
"That's to protect it while they're putting it together," Ronin patted Nod's head.
"What does it look like?" the boy asked.
"You'll have to wait and see," Ronin grinned down at him.
"Hey Nod," Kendon beckoned from where he was sitting on the floor near the footboard fitting pegs into place, "do you want a sneak peak?"
Nod hesitated, looking up at Ronin, and Ronin smiled down at him encouragingly. The boy darted into the room and crouched down beside the woodworker. Kendon pulled back the blanket to reveal two fox cubs playing together in the grass next to the bed post, which had been carved to look like a tree trunk.
"There's baby foxes!" Nod called happily, running his fingers over the carvings, "Ronin look! They're happy foxes!"
Kendon laughed, "I thought the boy with the fox sweater might like that."
Ronin grinned. Kendon had done a beautiful job carving the toy birds for Nod, and Ronin had been confident the bed would be well done, and Nod would love it.
"You hold this for me," Kendon handed Nod his hammer, and picked up another tool, "and we'll get this done even quicker, and then you can see the rest of the bed."
"Okay!" Nod agreed enthusiastically.
Nod followed Kendon around for the next half hour, holding whatever tool he handed him and squealing with delight every time he caught a glimpse of the carvings. It took less than half an hour to put the bed together, and Kendon had his assistance help him put the mattress on before thanking them and letting them leave.
"Ready to see the whole bed?" Kendon asked.
"Yes!" Nod cheered enthusiastically.
"Jump up here and help me undo the blankets," Kendon patted the mattress.
Nod scrambled up and started working on unknotting the ties holding the blankets in place, and Ronin came in to help him. Kendon waited for him to finish before pulling all the blankets off the headboard.
Ronin was impressed. Kendon had done much more than Ronin had expected. The bed posts were carved into trees, their leafy branches stretching out to form the top of the headboard. There were birds perched in all the branches, and a nest tucked into a hollow of one of the trees. The very top of each post had a small fluffy owl perched on it.
"Ronin look!" Nod jumped with excitement, "there are chickadees, and finches and wrens and hummingbirds and moon owls and baby chickadees and look! That one looks just like the one I drew!"
He pointed to one of the birds in the nest in the hollow. Unlike the realistic carvings of the other birds, it was blobby and much less detailed.
"It was so good, I had to put it in," Kendon grinned.
Nod beamed at him, then spotted a very special bird propped against a trunk on the carved grass that ran between the two post.
"It's Cheep-Cheep!" Nod shouted, "Cheep-Cheep is there!"
"Yeah he is," Ronin grinned.
"I have to go get him so he can see!" Nod vaulted off the bed and raced across the hall to Ronin's room where he had left his stuffed toy.
"Thank you," Ronin held his hand out to Kendon, "this is amazing."
"It was fun," Kendon shook the offered hand, "I don't get to do projects like this very often."
Nod raced back into the room with Cheep-Cheep and jumped up onto the bed again, happily showing him the picture of him, and naming all the birds that were in the trees for him.
"Hey Nod," Ronin tapped the boy's shoulder, "can you tell Mr. Kendon thank you for making this for you?"
Nod sprung to his feet and hugged Kendon, "thank you Mr. Kendon! It's the bestest bed in the whole world!"
"You are very welcome," Kendon gave him a squeeze, "and you haven't even see the footboard yet."
"There are baby foxes!" Nod told Cheep-Cheep and bounced off the bed to help Kendon take the rest of the blankets off.
Ronin couldn't help laughing. Maybe Nod would want to sleep in his own bed after all.