Find Me [Completed]

P24: Detour

[A/N: Extra long chapter coz I love y'all (^з^)~♡ ]

It was about 11:30 in the morning, and Edd was sitting outside the residential building using his drawing tablet. Emma was watching the easy-to-read map Edd was drawing of the base's ventilation system, while Jake and Mateya were several feet away colouring pictures together with crayons. The sun was out, and no clouds could be seen; it was a nice day.

Edd wasn't 100% sure where Matt had gone off to, but he knew that Tom and Tord were away on a business trip, based on chatter he'd picked up on from around the base. That meant he didn't have to worry about bumping into one of them in the halls while carrying sensitive information, so Edd was a lot less tense than he usually was.

"Emmaaaaaa, loooook!" Jake's voice rang out as he held up the paper he'd been colouring on. "I drew a dragon! Isn't it so pretty?" He practically squealed.

"It's lovely, Jakey." Emma answered, glancing up at Jake for a moment and smiling. She then focused her attention back on what Edd was drawing.

"I wanna see!" Mateya chirped, looking up from her own drawing.

Jake smiled and showed his picture to the child. "Do you like it?" He asked, proud of his creation.

Mateya squinted her eyes and tilted her head. "It looks like a chicken!" She concluded, followed by a giggled.

"What?! It's obviously a dragon! See, there's his snout, and his claws, and his wings..." Jake went on to point out the different body parts of his dragon drawing.

"Can it be a chicken-dragon? Give him feathers and a gobbler!" Mateya exclaimed.

[A/N: A "gobbler" is a child's term for a chicken's wattle and sometimes comb, at least where I live :') ]

"Okay." Jake chuckled. "But what are you drawing..?" He asked, looming over Mateya's shoulder to take a look at the random lines and scribbles on her paper.

"It's a cat! I like cats." Mateya explained cheerfully.

"Aww, it's so cute!" Jake cooed. "You should show it to your dad and Emma!"

"That's a good idea!" Mateya gasped. "Papaaaaaa!" She exclaimed, jumping to her feet with her picture in hand.

"Emmaaaaaa!" Jake joined in Mateya's yelling.

Emma chuckled and nudged Edd lightly with her elbow. "Our kids are calling us."

"Yes, dear?" Edd asked Mateya, looking up from his tablet.

The little girl bounded over to show her dad her cat drawing. "Do you like it, Papa?" She asked, hoping that he did.

"It's beautiful!" Edd exclaimed, even though he had no idea what his daughter had drawn. "Are you going to be an artist like me one day?"

"Yes!" Mateya exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement.

As Emma was admiring the father-daughter moment in front of her, she felt her work phone vibrate in her pocket. She fished out the yellow-coloured smartphone and held it to her ear. "Bonjour? ...Oui, je l'appellerai." {Hello? ...Yes, I'll call him.} She answered.

Emma put the phone on mute for a moment while she grabbed her commanding officer. "Jakey! The phone's for you, chéri." She said, holding out the device.

"Do I have to?" Jake whined.

"Yes, it's your "dad". He wants to know how you're doing." Emma explained, then watched as Jake rose to his feet and hurried over to grab the phone from her.