Title: Words of Innocence

Author: Athar Riordan

Character(s): Matt Anderson; Emily Merchant; Charlotte "Charley" Anderson (OC)

Genre(s): AU;Family; Fluff

Summary: After losing three civilians to an incursion from the Jurassic, Matt blames himself. However, he finds an unexpected source of comfort, when he reads a piece of Charley's homework; Emily has left for him to read.

Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval, and I don't own the Life Unexpected concept. I only own Charley ^^

Author's Note: This came to mind when I was watching episode 1x04 of "Life unexpected". I think the letter written by Lux to Santa when she was younger was so poignant, that I wanted to try something similar here. Some words are taken from the letter, but the rest is mine.

They had lost three innocents today; Three lives that could have been saved, if only they had been reached them in time.

Matthew Anderson – 'Matt' to those who knew him- hit his steering wheel as he sat in the parking complex near his home. It had been a rough day at the ARC after a large Carnivorous Dinosaur from the Jurassic had run amok in a student residential area near Hertfordshire and had killed three students. The team, including Abby and Emily who had both been called in as back-up, had all worked tirelessly in the hopes of lessening the human cost, but Matt still felt angry at himself that – as the team leader- he should have been able to save those lives that were lost.

You can't save everyone, Emily had told him, before she had given him a kiss and a warm embrace in the hopes of lessening his pain.

I should have been able to, Matt had thought bitterly.

After spending his life training for a mission that would involve him coming into contact with dangerous prehistoric creatures – both in the hopes of saving his future home and saving innocent bystanders who were caught in the anomaly crossfire –Matt still took every loss suffered as a hard blow. Emily hadn't been able to stay with him, although she had offered, as she had to pick up their daughter Charlotte (known as 'Charley') from school.

What if had been Charley there? Matt's mind mocked. You couldn't save those students, and it stands to reason you wouldn't have been able to save her.

Matt shook his head at the dark thought. Charley was fine. She was probably in bed right now at this late hour after excitedly recounting her school day to Emily, who always responded with enthusiasm at their daughter's stories.

Charley was the best of her parents; inheriting her blue eyes from Matt, and her complexion from Emily. Her personality was a mixture of both of them, yet she also had a natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge that had been known to get the young girl into trouble – particularly around the ARC when she and Nicholas were told not to go into the menagerie unsupervised, and yet they somehow found their way in.

Thinking of his wife and daughter, Matt dragged himself out of his car, and made his way back to the spacious apartment the family lived in.

When Matt had first bought the spacious home, he would never have thought that it would be filled with laughter and constant activity. His mission had come first, and such trivialities as Love and a Family were not even on his radar. But then he had met Emily, a woman also out of her time who had managed to break through the walls Matt had built up in the belief that he could keep everyone out. Then, a year after Matt had completed a mission he didn't think he would survive, Charlotte had come along – a surprise to both parents, but a welcome one all the same after Matt got used the idea of being a father.

Putting his key into the door, and turning it in the lock, Matt quietly opened the door and slipped into the darkened house. Light could be seen from upstairs in the main living area, but the house was otherwise silent. Locking up for the night, Matt shrugged off his worn leather jacket, and held it in one hand as he held onto the banister, dragging his tired feet a short distance up the flight of stairs.

Reaching the living area, Matt deposited his jacket on the couch and walked over to the kitchen area to get a bottle of water from the fridge to have before he made ready for bed. Closing the refrigerator door, Matt smiled to himself as he took in the pictures that were held up by magnets, drawn expertly by his daughter. Charley was in the middle of another dinosaur phase, and one of the pictures reminded Matt suspiciously of a certain flying lizard the children just wouldn't leave alone – not that Rex himself minded of course.

Shaking his head, Matt was headed toward the settee, when he noticed one of Charley's schoolbooks laying open on the counter top with a note written in Emily's hand on it. Reaching over, Matt carefully took them in his hand, as he headed to the couch. Matt sat down with the schoolbook, his eyes beginning to itch from tiredness. He glanced toward the bedroom he and Emily shared to see his wife sleeping soundly. He had heard her quiet snores as he reached the living area from the open door of their dark bedroom, but she had left a note ontop of the page Matt now opened with a note for her workaholic husband. It read:

Charley brought this home from school today.

Thought you might like to read it.

Love you, Emily x

Bringing the page up, Matt couldn't help but give a tired smile at the sight of his daughter's still slightly messy script. She wasn't the best at handwriting - even though she was at school- but when she put her mind into the words she set about writing, her scripting changed into something beautiful - Matt marvelled at it.

At first glance, Matt gathered that the topic the class had been asked to write about had been Parents, for example, what they liked and didn't like about them. They were then asked to sum it up. Reading the main piece of writing, Matt chuckled as Charley picked up on mannerisms she did and didn't like about her parents, not realising that those traits were the ones people recognised in her the most – especially her stubbornness, it seemed.

However, it was the last paragraph of the piece that hit home to the man-from-the-future, as he found himself reading it aloud to the silent room, all tiredness momentarily forgotten:

I know my parent's arent perfect and that's okay; because I'm not perfect either.

I hate peas, and I don't like bugs, because they're icky.

Matt smiled as he read his daughter's confession. Neither do I, he mused, as his heart warmed at the next lines.

I love my parent's the way they are.

They don't always have to say stuff right and do stuff right. They don't even have to like the same things I do. It's okay if they don't. All they ever have to do is try, and my mummy and daddy do.

I spend time with mummy at her work, and I get to learn new things with her everyday and she always helps me with my homework - even though she's busy. And she takes me places on the weekends and we have fun.

Matt smiled warmly at Charley's description of her mother. Emily loved those weekends just as much as Charley seemed to. As his blue eyes reached the last sentence, Matt paused momentarily, as he took the time to read it over several times before speaking them aloud- His voice thickening as he continued:

I don't see daddy all the time because he works really long days and helps save the world. But that's okay, because he's one of the good guys, and I know he'll be there when he can.

Matt closed his eyes, as he felt a tear form behind his eyelid as he read the last line. Charley's words had been so sincere. But they held wisdom beyond her young years. She knew her parents were unconventional – even if she didn't quite understand how – but she didn't care. She loved them anyway.

"You read her homework then?" A quiet voice, filled with sleep, spoke up. Looking up, Matt turned to see Emily out of bed and walking over to sit beside him on the couch. As she sat down, the Irishman offered the Victorian woman a nod and a smile. He looked down at the page, before speaking.

"It's beautiful." He commented softly, as his eyes gave a twinkle of fatherly pride. Emily smiled at his simple statement.

When she had gone to collect their daughter from primary school, Emily had been surprised when Charley's teacher, Miss. Simmons, had asked to speak to her for a moment. Emily had been curious, thinking something had happened and that Charley was in trouble. Instead, however, Miss Simmons had shown her Charley's homework book, and the piece the young girl had written the week before. Upon her first reading, Emily had reacted in a similar fashion to Matt, as she read the summary Charley had penned.

"It's her best piece of work Miss Simmons has read," Emily told him, referring to an earlier conversation she had with Charley's teacher. "She was impressed with it so much."

"I'm impressed by it also," Matt answered truthfully, as he fell silent.

"Are you alright?" Emily asked, knowing how hard Matt had taken the deaths of the students on the campus earlier that day- how civilian deaths always affected him.

"Not really," he answered truthfully, gesturing to the book he had placed on the low coffee table. "But i think reading this helped."

Emily nodded. "I thought it would. I know it helped me when I first saw it."

"She's growing up fast," Matt commented, with a sad smile. He had missed alot of Charley growing up – even if she could be found around the ARC. It was the smaller aspects Matt seemed to have missed the most, and it was those aspects that Charley had relied upon when she had written the piece.

"Yes she is." Emily nodded. "And she understands a lot more than we give her credit for."

"That she does," Matt agreed, thinking on what she had written about her parents working all the time, and yet accepting it.

Noticing Emily's eyes closing again, as she tried to keep awake, Matt gave her a gentle nudge. "Go back to bed. I'll be there in a minute."

Emily smiled. He knew her better than anyone. With a nod, she brushed her lips against Matt's cheek. "Love you."

"Love you too." Matt replied, as he watched his wife return to their bed; his body wanting nothing more than to follow suit. However, there was something he had to do first.

Stepping lightly down the hallway, Matt- as quietly as possible- opened the door to his daughter's bedroom. The light from the hallway enveloped the head of the bed, where Matt could see his daughter's head turned away from him. Treading carefully to avoid the toys and other objects that cluttered the young girl's bedroom floor, Matt sat down gently on the edge of his daughter's bed, and lightly brushed a strand of brown hair from her face- being careful not to wake her.

Watching her for a moment, Matt knew why he continued to do the work he did. He could have retired after his mission was completed, but he didn't. He did it to keep people safe, Charley being one of the most important.

With a smile, Matt gently bent down and planted a kiss on his daughter's cheek, before pulling away.

"Goodnight, baby girl," He whispered, before easing himself off the bed and leaving the room to join Emily in sleep.

Fini

Author's note: Okay, maybe not the best one shot in the world, but I hope you like it.