Disclaimer: I do not own Primeval or its characters

Haunted

Chapter 1 – Anniversary

Jess swiped the lipstick wand across her bottom lip one last time, making sure the colour had gone on evenly. She was absolutely in love with this shade. It was a new release by her favourite makeup brand and it looked amazing. The deep red stood out against her pale skin and complemented the red highlights in her hair. It was a bold choice—especially when paired with her new black cocktail dress—but Jess had never been one to shy away from bold fashion choices. She added some shimmery bronze eyeshadow then set her makeup aside, satisfied that it was appropriate for the occasion. After all, it wasn't everyday she got to celebrate being married to Becker for two years.

The pair had officially become a couple and moved in together after Becker had been rescued from the late Jurassic, where he had spent five months trapped. During that time Jess had taken in his two young daughters—Lily and Maddie—and cared for them as if they were her own. It wasn't a hard decision to make. Jess had been spending a lot of time with the Becker family before the captain had been lost through the anomaly, and she had come to care for the girls as much as she did their father. When Becker had finally been found months later and learnt that Jess cared about his daughters almost as much as he did, he had at last been comfortable admitting that he loved the young woman. They moved in together days later and truly became a family. The four of them had been living together for two years when Becker proposed to Jess. A year later the couple was married in an intimate ceremony with only their closest family and friends in attendance.

'You look pretty Mummy,' Lily said, coming into the room and taking a seat on the bed.

'Yeah, you look hot,' Abby said, following the nine-year-old in.

'Thanks. And thanks for babysitting Abs, I know it was last minute, but Maddie really wanted to go tonight.'

'No sweat Jess, Maddie's a teenager, of course she'd rather be out with her friends.'

'Yeah. It caused a fight between her and Becker though. I swear the older she gets the more protective he becomes.'

'Teenagers are hard to handle, I'm not looking forward to the day my kids turn into one, but it's not like you have anything to worry about with Maddie. She's a smart girl.'

'I know. And Becker knows that too. I think he was more upset that she made a commitment and was then trying to get out of it. But it's not like she does this all the time, and this slumber party seemed really important to her, she should be allowed to blow off her responsibilities every once in a while. I'm glad we were able to work it out.'

'And I'm glad I'm able to help. Now go, your husband's waiting for you.'

Jess laughed as Abby began shooing her out the door.

Becker was waiting for her in the living room. He looked up as the women came into the room, unable to hide his smile at seeing Jess. Standing up, he crossed the room and took Jess's hand, running his thumb over her wedding ring.

'You look amazing.'

Jess smiled. 'Thanks.'

They stood staring at each other in silence. It was Abby, standing behind them, who spoke first.

'Alright lovebirds, you can stare at each other at the restaurant, but you should go if you want to make your reservation.'

'Right.' Becker took a step back from Jess but didn't let her hand go. The two of them kissed their daughter good bye, then made their way out to the car.

The restaurant Becker took her to was intimate and not too over the top, something they both appreciated. They had gone to an upscale restaurant for their anniversary last year, but neither of them had felt comfortable there, it simply wasn't who they were. This place, however, was far less extravagant and Jess felt at ease the moment they stepped through the door. The dining area was softly lit, and the décor was romantic, yet simple.

As the hostess lead them it their table, Jess realised where they were. Clasping Becker's arm, she leaned into his side, unable to believe that he had remembered this place. Becker looked down at her, smiling.

'I take it you remember this place,' Becker said once they had been seated.

'How could I forget where we had our first date.'

'I don't think we can really call it a first date. We had already been living together for two months, plus it was, what? Our fifth attempt at going out?'

Jess laughed. Despite officially being a couple and living together, it had taken them ages to actually go out on a date. Their first couple of attempts had been ruined by anomalies, then there was the problem of never being able to find a babysitter. Eventually Becker had decided that drastic measures were needed.

The pair had been on their way home from an anomaly, and weren't in the best mood. The anomaly had lasted well past the end of their shift and as if that wasn't bad enough, Emily had been injured while out in the field. Thankfully it hadn't been anything serious, just a few fractured ribs and a broken ankle. Unfortunately for Jess and Becker it meant that her and Matt wouldn't be able to look after Lily and Maddie the following evening, cancelling their most recent attempt at going out.

Jess had been staring out the window, thinking they should just stop trying to go out as it clearly never worked, when Becker turned suddenly. Bracing herself, Jess looked up. Becker had pulled into a restaurant carpark.

'Becker, what are we doing here?'

'We can't go out tomorrow.'

'I know.' Jess frowned in confusion. 'But there's nothing we can do about it. Emily and Matt were the only ones available to look after the girls.'

'No, I mean, we can't go out tomorrow night, so we're going out now.'

'We can't. We're still in our work stuff.'

'I hardly think that matters, not when you look as beautiful as you do. Besides I've got another shirt in the back.'

'You keep spare clothes in your car?'

'You do the job we do and you don't?'

He had a point. 'What about Melissa?' Jess asked.

'Call and tell her we'll be a few hours. I'll go change.'

'Becker, we can't just go out, spur of the moment.'

'Jess, I don't think it's too much to ask that I get to spend one night with my girlfriend without our kids around. Call Melissa, she'll understand.'

Jess gave in and called Melissa, telling her to call them in an emergency and that if she needed to leave before they got back, to call Abby and Connor since they lived close by.

'It was the first time we had gone out, just the two of us, that's makes it our first date. Even if you did spend too much time worrying about the fact Connor was looking after the girls.'

'Hey, I was still getting used to Temple knowing I had kids, let alone him looking after him.'

They fell into a companionable silence as they decided what to order.

'You don't regret it do you?' Becker asked once their waiter had left.

Jess frowned. 'Regret what?'

'This. Us.'

'No! How could you think I could ever regret this? Hil, I love you.'

'I love you too. But our relationship's never been normal.'

'Nothing in our lives is normal.'

'I know. But I feel like I've robbed you of the one normal thing you could've had.'

'We've been together for five years, and married for two of them. What's brought this on?' Jess's mind was spinning. She couldn't begin to understand why he would bring this up on their anniversary. 'This isn't your way of telling me you want a divorce is it? Because that'd be a really crap anniversary,' her voice shook as she spoke.

'No! God Jess, no. Never. I don't know what I'd do without you. I guess, talking about how hard it was to have our first date made me realise how unconventional our relationship's been. I just, don't want a day to come where you realise everything you've missed, and you start hating me for it. I don't think I could handle it if you left me.'

Jess reached across the table, taking Becker's hand tightly in her own. She looked him in the eye, wanting to convey how serious she was. 'Never. I knew what I was getting into from the beginning, and I could never hate you. I love you.'

Becker brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. 'I love you too.'