Far from Home.

Four Years Later.

"Lucy!" Emily called after her four year old daughter as she approached the lake. Lucy ignored her mom and kept throwing rocks into the lake. Emily smiled softly and crept up behind the brunette child, picking her up. She squealed.

"Mommy, put me down!"

"Hm, I don't think so," Emily grinned, hugging her tightly,"It's lunch time, aren't you hungry?"

Lucy nodded. "Is daddy coming home for lunch?"

"Why don't we call him and beg him to come, yeah?" Emily set Lucy on her feet. Hand in hand, the two walked back to the house, Lucy playing with her mother's engagement ring.

Just three years ago, Brian had been lucky enough to work his way up to a raise. With his raise (and a few saved paychecks) he bought a house by the lake, with two bedrooms and a lot more living space. He nearly died of pride overload when Lucy's first words were: "Thank you, daddy".

He'd just purchased her a talking teddy bear she'd been begging for, and the way her face lit up made his heart swell.

And that same night, he made the decision to propose to Emily. It was a simple proposal. Down on one knee, in the privacy of their home. His exact words were 'We both love each other and you blessed me with the most beautiful child on this planet. I've been trying to think of ways to repay you, and I think this is my best option. Emily, fuck a long speech, will you marry me?'.

Emily closed the front door behind them as Lucy ran into the kitchen, grabbing Emily's phone from the charger. She put in the passcode and went through her contacts, until she saw her daddy's face. Lucy smiled and hit the green phone icon, hearing it ring. Emily put the phone on speaker for her, as she began to whip up Lucy's plate.

"Hello?" Brian answered, muffled shouting was heard in the background. He must've been walking away from his coworkers.

"Daddy!" Lucy greeted him.

"Hey, babygirl," It was evident that he was smiling; Emily could just hear it in his voice,"What're you up to?"

Lucy ignored his question completely. "Daddy, can you pretty, pretty please come home and eat lunch with me? Pleaaaaase! With sugar on top? And a cherry? I'll let you sleep with Jangles!" Brian laughed heartedly.

"But I thought Jangles protected you from the evil monsters?"

"I want him to protect you, now!"

"Why's that, Lucy?"

"Because you protect mommy, and you need someone to protect you!"

Brian smiled softly, his heart clenching. "Give me one second, baby," There was indistinct talk on Brian's half of the line for a few seconds,"I'm on my way home, okay?"

Lucy cheered,"I'll be waiting for you, daddy, be safe, please."

"I will, just go eat your food, okay? I can hear your tummy growling from here!"

"Oh hush, daddy," Lucy giggled,"Hurry up and get here!"

"I'm getting in the car right now, baby. I'll see you in a little bit."

"Okay. I love you, daddy."

"I love you too."

Lucy hung up and put Emily's phone back on the charger. She smiled up at her mom as she sat down at the dining table, where her plate of food was already waiting for her.

"Aw, mommy, you made my peas!" She exclaimed, putting a spoonful in her mouth.

Emily laughed,"I sure did, sweetheart. Where's Jangles?"

Lucy gasped, shooting out of her seat. "I left him at the lake, mom-"

"Sit down, Lucy, I'll go get him, okay? You just eat." Emily kissed her head and put on her shoes, jogging out to the lake.

It took Emily a long few minutes until she spotted the little doll with the hard plastic head and felt cotton body. It'd been Lucy's favorite thing since she came home from the hospital. Emily brushed off Jangles and walked back to the house.

By the time she got there, Brian's SUV was already in the driveway. She trudged up the steps, dirt and grass sticking to her shoes, and opened the door.

"Mommy's back!" Lucy shouted. The sound of a chair scraping across the floor echoed throughout the quiet house, and the brunette little girl showed up, beaming a giant smile,"Did you find Jangles? Please tell me you did!" Emily laughed and nodded, handing over her beloved doll.

"I wouldn't have came back until I found him, you should know that." Emily kissed her daughters head and led her back to the kitchen.

Brian grinned up at Emily and pulled her into his lap. "Guess who's home for the rest of the day." He murmured in her ear, running his hands up and down her arms. She shivered softly at his touch, kissing the tip of his nose.

"Your boss is that nice?" Emily asked him.

"He's understanding. He has a wife and four kids - Safe to say he treats me like I'm his own son."

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddy!"

Emily stood up and walked to the fridge, grabbing herself a drink, as Lucy ran into her dad's arms. Brian chuckled, kissing her head. "Yes?"

"I'm finished eating, can you come play with me at the lake?"

"Give me two minutes to finish my drink and I'll be right there, I promise."

"Okay, daddy." She kissed his cheek and Emily's, grabbing Jangles, before she ran out the door.

Brian stood up, standing behind Emily. "How was your day?" He asked her, wrapping his arms around her tiny waist.

"It was good, but now that you're here, it's utterly perfect." She turned around in his arms and kissed him softly. They hadn't shared an intimate moment like this by themselves in a while. Brian gently pushed her against the counter, ravishing her mouth with his teeth and tongue.

The soft sounds that escaped her lips let him know he was doing something right. His hands found the hem of her shirt and gently pushed it up, exposing her bra covered breasts to him. "You know, I just might want to get you pregnant again if it means these-" He cupped her chest, "-Get bigger and fuller. It's like my own personal heaven."

"Bri," Emily whined,"They're already big and full!"

"Hm, they were big and full before the pregnancy too, but there's nothing wrong with some more luggage uptop, is there?" He grinned, kissing her neck softly.

They spent quite a few minutes just standing there, teasing each other. Whether it was because Brian was straight out tired from work or because Emily was reluctant to kitchen sex - Neither of them knew. But the moment was being relished, nonetheless.

Emily soon found the strength to pull away from her fiance. "We can finish this later," She smiled up at him,"Go and play with Lucy. You know she misses you everyday you're at work."

"I know," He sighed quietly,"I'm trying to work my ass off to get my hours evened out."

Brian kissed Emily's head and grabbed her hand, kissing her engagement ring, before he left the house. A content sigh passed through Emily's lips as she scouted the house for dirty dishes, finding a few. She started the sink water up, piling the dirty dishes in. She turned off the water, allowing them to soak, and made her way into Lucy's room, seeing her other dolls in a circle around her dollhouse.

Emily laughed and knelt down, turning the dolls over in her hands. Lucy referred to them as her 'audience', swearing up and down that she would - one day - create the best plays ever. So good, that the president and king and queen of England would come and see them.

"My daughter," Emily smiled,"The playwright."

She looked at the dolls a little while longer before putting them up on her shelf, propping her dollhouse against the wall. Emily was in the middle of making up Lucy's bed when the backdoor slammed open - The vibrations of the screen could even be heard.

"Emily?!," Brian shouted,"Emily!"

With the upmost confusion etched onto her face, Emily called back. "I'm in Lucy's room!"

Not even a second later, Brian threw the door open. Emily was just about to scold him for probably leaving a dent in the wall, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the worried look in his eyes. "Brian..." She trailed off, dropping the sheets.

"I-I can't find Lucy. I called her name," Brian swallowed back a lump in his throat,"And she won't answer."

Emily pushed past him and ran out the back door, screaming her daughters name from the top of her lungs "Lucy! Lucy, baby, this isn't the time to play hide and seek! Come here!" Brian soon joined her, echoing her words.

"Em, call everyone - Knock on everyone's doors, now. Keep your phone with you. I'm gonna go look by the lake and in the woods. She couldn't have gone too far." Emily nodded softly and jogged inside, grabbing her phone. She teared up, seeing her daughter's smiling face as her lock screen.

"You're gonna find her." Emily told herself.

'She couldn't have gone too far.'



Hours later, Emily returned home a crying mess. She'd let the tears spring free when her phone died and she had ran out of houses to visit. No one had seen Lucy. It was nearly nine. The sun had already said it's goodbyes, the moon shined, now.

Emily, despite everything and anything she told herself, couldn't stop crying for even a second. Her daughter was god know's where in the dark, by herself.

As tired as she felt, she didn't walk to the bedroom. That meant she would have to walk past Lucy's room - And, at the moment, that was too much for her. Emily was sure that if she had to walk past the empty room, she'd lose whatever was left of her sanity.

Instead, she opted for the couch, grabbing a pillow and cuddling up to it as the tears continued to flow.

It wasn't until long after midnight when the door opened, revealing an insanely disheveled Brian who had the look of pure emptiness on his face. He looked so broken - It only made Emily cry harder. She didn't need words to confirm what she already had a dark feeling was true.

Lucy was missing.