I'm supposed to be finishing my other Jecker 'Nobody's Perfect', I know! And I'm sorry it's taking me longer than planned to upload, but I got so stuck on Chapter 4 'Shock'. It's coming but… I'm not very pleased with it.
This fic, on the other hand, would not leave me, so I had to write it down! I hope you like it, and I loved writing it!
And thank you to SabreDae for being amazing and helping give advice to all my questions!
It was supposed to be a good day for Becker: he had finally come across a Saturday with which he hadn't planned anything. Purposefully. So he could have one day out of three hundred and sixty five in which he could relax.
But that had all been ruined as soon as he heard the knock on the door, signalling the arrival of his siblings.
"You don't look happy to see us, Hils?" Tami, the youngest of his elder sisters, commented wearily as he opened the door and simply stared at them in shock.
"Well, let us in then!" Melissa commanded before he could shut the door in their face - something which he wished he could do, but knew he never would.
"You can gawk at us later," Jonah, his younger brother, only twenty one, added with a smirk as he barged past and made himself comfortable on the sofa.
Becker sighed, knowing it was pointless to argue, especially because they had travelled all the way to visit him, and pushed the door open to reluctantly let them in.
Only Tami gave him a welcoming hug when she crossed over the threshold - Jonah was in the living room before he could say 'hello', Melissa scrutinised him critically for a moment, and Paulina simply ruffled her brother's hair.
Even when Paulina and Melissa took their seats near Jonah at the breakfast bar linking the open plan kitchen and living room and Tami claimed a seat by the fridge at the small two-person dining table, Becker hadn't found his voice.
"What's the matter, Hils?" Melissa smirked as if their arrival was the best joke in the century. "Surprised to see us?"
"You could say that," He snapped, a little more forcefully than planned.
"What's wrong?" Paulina asked, a little taken aback by his contrast in mood.
"Oh no! Don't tell me you already had plans?" Tami worried suddenly.
"Of course he didn't have plans," Melissa interjected as Becker opened his mouth to speak. "He's only wearing jeans. He hasn't even got socks on! It's not like he was planning on going out, right?"
She finally looked to him for confirmation and he unwillingly agreed that she was right.
I suppose it would be nice to spend a day with them…
"So, what?" Becker asked as he made himself a cup of coffee, being careful not to spill the hot water on his bare chest or feet. "You just decided to drop by unannounced?"
"Is that a problem?" Melissa asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Don't tell us you had work?" Tami asked, looking genuinely apologetic.
Before Becker could answer he was interrupted again, this time by an excited Jonah, "Oh man, do you have a girl here?"
He immediately launched himself from the sofa in his typical gung ho manner and made to head for the bedroom.
"Jonah!" Becker commanded in his military voice. "Sit back down. There isn't anyone else here - and I wouldn't let you near them if there was. I'm just… This is my only day off for months and I was looking forward to doing nothing."
"Hilary Becker, slacking?" Paulina asked suddenly. "Never!"
Becker shot her a false glare and rolled his eyes. "It's not slacking when I work the other three hundred and sixty three days a year."
"What's on the other day, then?" Jonah questioned as he took his seat back at the sofa, slumping over casually and kicking his shoes off.
"Christmas," Becker pointed out, as if it was obvious.
They all laughed. "Sometimes I worry about you," Paulina said. "You're too much of a workaholic."
"I just like my job," He protested flatly.
"But… to even work on your birthday?" Jonah questioned, shaking his head in disbelief. "What about holiday time?"
Becker gave him a genuinely confused look. "I don't go on holiday."
"Of course not," Melissa added dryly.
"Oh, come on!" Jonah complained. "You work for the government, and you get paid a ton! Don't you want to lie back on a beach somewhere and relax for a week or two?"
Depends who I'm with.
"I never understood the attraction, to be honest, Jonah," Becker stated, sipping his coffee.
"What about a social life?" Paulina asked.
"Tell me you go out drinking?" Jonah accused, his expression and tone evidently suggesting he excepted this at the least from his brother. When Becker shook his head, he continued, disbelieving. "Not even with your work mates?"
"Not often, I don't really have time," Becker sighed. "And why the sudden interest in my life anyway? Last I heard you were working as an electrician, Paulina was thinking of adopting, Melissa had that new promotion and Tami - you were applying to become a primary school teacher."
"That's all still happening," Paulina smiled.
"We just wondered what was up with you," Tami explained. "None of us had heard from you in a while and you said your job was kind of dangerous-"
"I used to be in the army, Tami," Becker stated, a hint of boastfulness creeping into his tone. "Then special ops, now I'm head of security… my job has always been dangerous."
"And your boss called us," Jonah blurted out.
"What?" Becker suddenly exclaimed, spilling some of his coffee on the counter. "Why? What did he say?"
"He just wanted to remind us that you were supposed to be taking time off, and that he needed someone to make sure you did…"
"So you came all the way down here to check I wasn't at work?"
"Tami wanted to see you," Melissa sighed. Becker suddenly felt ashamed - Tami was his favourite sibling for a reason, and he shouldn't have been so unwilling to accept that she just wanted to spend time with him. He smiled at her.
Why didn't he visit them more often?
"So…" Jonah grinned cheekily, running his hand through his hair. "You had time for a girlfriend?"
Becker spluttered and choked on his coffee, the hot liquid burning his throat. He placed the cup down, hardly noticing the small puddle of coffee now decorating his counter top.
"What?" He silently cursed his voice for raising in pitch so much.
Melissa, Jonah and Paulina immediately exchanged smirks.
"Oh," Melissa sung, that teasing sibling look crossing her face, "so there is a girl!"
"What's her name?" Tami asked excitedly, bouncing up and down on her feet.
"Is she fit?" Jonah smirked.
"It's about time you found someone!" Paulina added. "I was starting to worry you were going to die alone."
"Skip that," Melissa complained. "I was starting to worry you were gay."
"With a name like 'Hilary' I'm surprised you're not gay," Jonah laughed.
Becker glared at them all. "I am definitely not gay."
They lapsed into a mostly uncomfortable silence, which was unusual when they were all in the same room together - Becker distinctly remembered his childhood being filled with shouts and commands from Melissa, Paulina agreeing obediently, hissy fits from Jonah as the youngest who craved attention and pleas for help and guidance from Tami. And that's not including the constant stressed shrieks from his mum and his dad's booming military tone.
"Just sayin-" Jonah started.
"-And if you even suggest that again, I will shot you," Becker snapped.
Jonah looked worried, and rightly so judging by the look of vehement anger plastered across Becker's face, but Melissa just laughed and waved off the comment.
"As if you're allowed guns outside of work!" She pointed out breezily.
"Oh, yeah?" Becker challenged, grinning because he knew he had won this argument before they did. "We don't carry guns."
And he opened the draw in the counter directly in front of him, pulling out an EMD and hitting the charger button on the side. He teasingly aimed it straight at a shocked and regretful Jonah.
Then Tami laughed at the shocked expressions on the other's faces. "I love you, Hilary, but you really are a workaholic."
He grumbled and placed it back in the draw.
Before anyone could comment, although thankfully the others were now grinning at his joke, Becker's phone rang.
It was on the coffee table by Jonah, all the way across the room from Becker, every one of his siblings between him and it.
Jonah reached over casually as the others looked on, curious, and read from the caller ID.
Please be work! I could use an anomaly right now, Becker pleaded in his mind.
"Who is it?" He asked.
Jonah smirked as he looked up at them all. "Someone called Jess."
Becker's alarmed expression, and keenness to get to the phone before any of them could, caused suspicion amongst his siblings.
"Give me the phone, Jonah," Becker ordered his brother as he strode across the room and tried to snatch it out of his hand.
But Jonah had already answered it.
"Hello? Hilary's phone."
"Oh, erm…" Came the confused voice on the other end of the line, loud and clear in the apartment as Jonah put her on speaker. "This is Jess Parker… could… could I speak to Becker please?"
"Becker?"
"Hilary Becker," Jess's voice became firmer as she got over the surprise of somebody unexpected answering his phone. "The person whose phone I just called?"
"He's busy, can I get him to call you back?" Jonah grinned playfully at his brother as he tried to swipe the phone out of his hands. He threw it across the room to Paulina, who caught it, laughing.
"Well, this is kind of important," Jess pressed. "I need to talk to him. It's about work."
"You really are a workaholic," Tami laughed.
"Yes, he is," Jess agreed instinctively, her voice slightly bemused as she heard the sound of multiple laughter from the other end of the line. Becker glared at Jess by staring at the phone. "But he's really good at his job. So can I speak to him… please?"
"Hold on, Jessica," Becker sighed as he walked back to the other end of his apartment and attempted to take the phone out of Paulina's grasp. She held it away from him, so he was forced to speak to her through the loud speaker. "What's going on? Is there an alert?"
"Well, there was," She told him reluctantly. He snapped to attention on impulse for a moment, before her next words calmed him. "But Matt and Abby dealt with it. Some cute hedgehog type creatures came through - they're busy putting them in the menagerie now."
"So…" Becker began, staring at the phone so that he didn't have to judge his siblings reaction to his phone call or, most likely, to what they could gauge of his relationship with Jess.
"So," Jess repeated cheerfully. "I called because two of your genius soldiers got injured and you have to fill out the paperwork."
"Paperwork?" He echoed, suddenly losing emotion. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Nope," He could practically hear the smile in her words. "I'm heading past yours now. Do you want me to drop it off on my way?"
"No!" Becker cried rashly, desperate to prevent his siblings scaring off Jess by meeting her. "I mean… It's not that I don't-"
"Becker," She laughed. "No worries. You've got company and I'll be intruding, I get it."
"Oh, don't worry about us," Melissa suddenly jolted across the breakfast counter and called down the phone. "You're more than welcome. We were looking forward to meeting you anyway."
"Yeah, by all means, stop by," Paulina added, friendly. "We'd love to meet you."
"Well…" Jess began after a moment, to Becker's horror. "I'm only a minute or two away, and it'll save me two trips…"
"Jessica," Becker started, snatching the phone off Melissa. "You don't have to-"
"-Oh, shush, Becker," She laughed, causing grins to spread across his sibling's faces - they hadn't known anyone with the audacity to argue back to their brother, apart from themselves. "I won't bite. See you in a bit."
And the line went dead.
Becker glared at the amused expressions on the other's faces. "Well, this is going to be a joy, isn't it?"
"Relax, Hil," Paulina replied. "We won't scare her off… and, if we do, just don't talk to her at work."
Becker froze on his way over to place his mug in the sink.
The person he really didn't want his siblings meeting was Jessica Parker.
Why? Because he liked Jess. He really liked Jess, and he really didn't want his annoying family to ruin something that was finally going to plan and making him happy in his life. Jess brightened up his day.
"Ooooh," Jonah suddenly burst out. "Jess is the girl!"
"What?" Becker's voice mimicked it's earlier pitch, giving away the truth. "N-N… What?"
They all roared with laughter as he blushed.
Yes, he actually blushed.
He hated his siblings for knowing all the tricks around his deadpan bravado.
"I hope she doesn't only wear black like you, Hils," Tami complained as she moved a pile of his washing - numerous black tops, trousers and socks.
Then Becker heard what he considered to be the most terrifying sound at that moment - the noise of Jess's light knock on his door.
Becker found himself confused with emotions: he suddenly felt butterflies in his stomach - it wasn't manly, he knew that, but it was one of the things that he loved about Jess, that she could make him feel like a hopeless teenager again; but the other half of him felt the sudden desire to crawl back to bed until his siblings left.
Ah, he thought. That was why he didn't visit them often.
When he pulled back the door Tami's previous question was answered when Jess was revealed, wearing a bright yellow skirt, a baby blue blouse and an orange cardigan. As she stepped over the threshold her ridiculously high purple heels came into view.
Melissa, Paulina and Jonah stared in shock.
"Hey, you must be Jess," Tami bounded out of her seat and gave the rather surprised Jess a hug. "I'm Tami, Hilary's youngest older sister… if that makes sense."
Jess laughed good-naturedly. "It does, and it's nice to meet you… it's nice to meet you all. I would say I've heard all about you, but trying to get information out of Becker is just as difficult as trying to understand football for me."
They laughed.
Jess hardly gave any indication that Becker being shirtless fazed her - only the one time did her eyes flicker to his chest and back.
"Becker?" Jonah questioned. "Look at you, big brother, shedding your girly name!"
Becker rolled his eyes. "You have the files then, Jess?"
"Of course, right here," She smiled as she handed them over, addressing his grimace with her next words. "Don't look like that, Becker. You should try doing my job."
"I don't think anybody could do it as well as you, Jessica," He said it in a joking tone, but they all knew he was serious.
"Well, of course not," She grinned as she waltzed past him to raid his fridge, shooting a teasing look over her shoulder as she did so. "I'm brilliant, remember?"
"I remember," He smirked for a moment, until the expression was wiped off his face by Melissa's smirk at their bantering.
"So, Jess," Paulina began. "What exactly do you do? I thought Hilary was involved in the military department?"
"It's military," She assured them slowly as she straightened up with a can of 7up in her hands. "It's just… a really specialised kind. I'm the field coordinator."
"So you-"
"-Make sure we're in the right place at the right time," Becker interrupted, shooting Melissa a glare to tell her to stop asking questions, lest the conversation turned into an interrogation. And with a long line of soldiers in their family, it wouldn't have surprised him.
"Kind of like a SatNav?" Jonah joked.
Jess laughed. "Kind of."
"I hope you don't mind me asking," Melissa addressed Jess, intrigued and bursting with her question. "But how old are you?"
"Nineteen," Jess replied immediately. "Almost twenty, though."
"She's awfully young, Hils," Melissa teased, earning herself a glare from Becker.
"You're more Jonah's age," Tami commented openly. "He's twenty one."
"You might be dating the wrong Becker," Jonah joked.
Becker's whole body stiffened and Jess blushed.
"And you work for the government in some secret military sector?" Paulina clarified, interrupting the short awkward silence.
Jess nodded.
"Wow… I bet you earn loads."
"Jonah!" Becker rolled his eyes at his brother.
"It's okay," Jess smiled, casually and, as if on instinct, cleaned up the coffee Becker had spilt earlier. "I'm naturally organised, so sometimes I think it's easy money."
Becker knew the 'sometimes' referred to times when there wasn't an anomaly.
"I wish I was organised," Tami sighed.
"Oh, and speaking of organisation," Jess suddenly turned to Becker as he stood beside her. "Have you seen my planner? I think I left it here."
"I cleaned in here this morning and I didn't find it," Becker replied practically.
"Okay," Jess smiled in thanks and headed towards the corridor. "I'll just check the bedroom quickly."
I'll leave you to decide the nature of the Jecker relationship in this one. :D I kinda like not clarifying - I feel like a rebel. Lol.
Please review! I really loved writing this, so I couldn't bear if there were no reviews! Thank you for reading though.
In case it wasn't very clear and you were wondering, from oldest to youngest, the Becker's go: Melissa, Paulina, Tami, (Hilary Becker), and Jonah.