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Ilmo doesn’t want to tell them, doesn’t want to relive the events in the sheriff’s station, doesn’t want to tell his niece and nephew that they’re orphans after something terrible happened to their dad—but Ilmo doesn’t have the right to hide the truth from Charlene and Charlie. So, he tells them that Jaakko passed away only hours earlier, and his niece and nephew stare at them with horror in their eyes as the awful news sinks in; they tremble before him, seeming so small and young as they ask him questions in broken voices, and Ilmo longs to take their pain away… but he can’t.
But that won’t stop him comforting them, so when Charlene and Charlie burst into harsh, ugly sobs, tears and snot streaming down their faces as they break down, Ilmo strides forward and wraps them in a tight hug, cradling them in his arms—and all too soon, he cries too, missing Jaakko so fucking much.