Chapter 14. Happy Birthday Becker

"Oh quit your complaining," Jess' voice scolded him for the hundredth time.

"Jessica, I hate surprises."

"We've established that," she laughed, "Just humor me this once, please?"

Becker smiled, "Alright fine," it was impossible to be annoyed at her, even though he was blindfolded and headed who knew where.

Finally the car came to a stop and Jess was helping him out of the car and leading him forward. It wasn't long thankfully before they'd come to a stop again. She undid the blindfold and he found himself in a completely dark room.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday!" several people shouted at once as the lights came back on.

They were at Jess' flat, he knew that immediately, and he couldn't help smiling as he saw all his friends and a few family members standing there. He glanced over to where Jess stood next to him, grinning.

"Ok, fine I don't hate all surprises." he said quietly to where only she could hear.

In response she leaned up and brushed her lips gently across his, "I'm going to go get us drinks, mingle and thank your sister, this was her idea." she said, before disappearing into the crowd of people.

He made his way over to Anna, who was leaning against the wall talking to Abby.

"If it isn't the birthday boy," she said, stepping forward and hugging him.

"This is great Anna, thank you." he said, hugging her back.

"No problem!" she said happily.

By the time Jess got back over to him, she'd shed the jacket she'd been wearing and he saw what she was wearing for the first time, he was used to her brightly colored clothes, but tonight she wore a black, strapless cocktail dress, her hair falling in loose waves over her shoulders. She looked exquisite.

"Becker, what are you staring at?" she asked, handing him his drink.

He smiled, "My entrancingly beautiful girlfriend, currently."

Jess giggled, and her cheeks flushed crimson, "Entrancingly beautiful? Exaggerate much?"

"Actually, I was thinking it may be an understatement," he said, sitting his cup down and taking hers from her, "Dance?" he asked extending a hand.

"I'd love to," she said, following him out into the middle of the room.

There bodies found an easy rhythm, "You're an amazing dancer," he told her, spinning her out and then back into him.

"You're not too bad yourself," she said, resting a hand on his chest.

He had no idea how long they stayed there dancing together, before Anna came over and tapped him on the shoulder.

"I hate to tear you two lovebirds apart, but are you going to open presents or not?" she asked with mock agitation.

He laughed, "Yes of course, right away Princess Anna," he said sarcastically, using the childhood nickname he'd given her. She'd always been somewhat demanding.

He had to admit that the gifts were incredibly well thought out, a electronic weapons cataloguer from Connor and Abby, that the only thing he had to do was point and press a button and it would identify the weapon. New camping equipment from Matt, how the man had even known he liked camping was beyond him. A nice ink pen set from Lester, which was a bit of a gag gift, as last time he'd turned in paperwork late he'd mused he hadn't been able to find one. Anna had bought him the collectors set of the Jason Bourne movies, his personal favorites. Lastly, he came to Jess', which was a small box on the bottom of the pile. He opened it, revealing a black leather wrist cuff with the British Special Ops emblem set into it, his name engraved along the top and the Forces motto along the bottom in Latin.

All of his gifts had meant a lot, but this one was incredibly special, as he'd come from a military family, and had always been extremely proud of his background and accomplishments in the military. His eyes found Jess' who was watching for his reaction apprehensively from where she sat.

"Thank you Jess, this is amazing," he said, his eyes he hoped conveying just how much it meant. He wanted to say more, but thought it better to wait until everyone had left.

He slipped the cuff onto his wrist and quickly tied the laces on the back.

Jess had driven him from his flat to the party, so he waited until afterwards, when she drove him back to say anymore about the gift.

"Would you like to come in?" he asked once they reached the parking lot of his complex.

"Of course," she said smiling.

Once they were inside, he turned and took her face in his hands, kissing her deeply. When he finally pulled away he rested his forehead against hers.

"Jessica, I wanted to tell you thank you again for the wrist cuff. I would have said more at the party, but I didn't want to offend anyone. You have no idea what this means to me though," he started gently fingering the cuff, "The military has always played an important role in my life and my family and to have this as a reminder of that and…you, you have no idea how special that is to me."

She smiled her cheeks blushing crimson again, "I'm glad you like it, I really wasn't…"

He cut her off by kissing her again, not wanting her to second guess the decision she'd made with the gift for a second.

"Because you live girl, my world has everything I need to survive, because you live, I live." Jesse McCartney