Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me. This is fan fiction, not for profit.
Any references to people, places, businesses etc is entirely fictitious.
A/N: A collaboration with Mijo54. A/N2: story takes place after Detour.
10.4 Closer
…seems to matter…
-x-x-x-x-x-x
January flew by.
On the evening of the first Friday in February, Jess received a phone call. It was Connor.
"Jess," said Connor anxiously, "Beth isn't answering her cell phone. Can I ask you to watch Sarah tonight?"
Jess knew that Connor's sister had a special date tonight. She glanced at the man cuddled on the sofa beside her. She and Becker had been looking forward to a quiet night at home. The television screen was showing the opening credits of one of Jess's favorite movies, Chocolat. In spite of Becker's protests that it was too soon, "we watched that just a couple months ago", she had coaxed him into watching it again.
"Tonight," began Jess in a questioning tone.
"Like right now," blurted out Connor as if she hadn't spoken, "Abby's in labor."
The beautiful woman sat up straight on the sofa, knocking the warm throw blanket to the floor. Becker grabbed the soft gray cloth and pulled it up again as she continued to talk.
"Of course," responded Jess, "I'll be right over."
She snapped the cell phone shut and got up from the sofa.
"We'll be right over," said Becker when Jess explained the situation. They scrambled to dress for outside. The soldier grabbed the DVD out of the machine and stuffed it in his coat pocket. "It might be a while."
Jess and Becker hurried across the snowy park. The pair arrived at the Temple home to find that Connor already had the small compact car started. The engine was warming up. Jess went inside. Abby was standing in the hallway. A small overnight case sat on the floor beside her, while on the other side, little Sarah was clinging to Abby's leg.
"Oh good," greeted Abby, "you're here."
Jess smiled brightly and knelt down beside the little girl.
"Sarah," coaxed Jess as she held out her hands, "would you like me to pick you up?"
The child emphatically shook her head from left to right. The pouting lip began to tremble.
"She knows we're going somewhere," explained Abby. A sharp indrawn breath followed this statement. The blonde rubbed the side of her abdomen.
Jess started to say something, but the door opened. Connor came in, grabbed the overnight bag, turned around and disappeared out the door again. After a moment, Becker came inside.
"Jess," said Becker, "I think I should drive them, Connor, he's uh…"
Jess never found out what Becker was going to say, as Connor chose that moment to reenter the front door. The relief in Connor's face when he saw Abby was readily evident.
"Abby," exclaimed Connor, "what are you doing in here? We need to get you in the car."
Abby rolled her eyes. She looked down at Jess still kneeling in front of little Sarah.
"He's been in a right tizzy," confided Abby, "ever since I told him the contractions had started."
"Sarah sweetie," pleaded Jess, "come with me."
Connor tugged on Abby's arm, as Jess disentangled the child from Abby's leg and lifted the little girl up off the floor. Her parents kissed the child and then Connor and Abby were out the door. Little Sarah blinked, opened her mouth, and let out a howl. Becker's eyes widened. He looked from Jess and Sarah to the open door.
"Really Jess," said Becker, "I think I should…"
Jess jiggled the wailing child and then settled Sarah more securely on her hip. Becker blanched and leaned away from Jess and the howling child.
"Does this scare you?" asked Jess with a chuckle. She didn't really think so, as she'd seen how the soldier interacted with his nieces, but it was almost comical the way Hil looked so nervous.
"The only thing that scares me right now," replied Becker, "is the thought of Connor driving through the streets of London."
"Go," said Jess as she patted the wailing child on the back.
-x-x-x-x-x-x
Jess took Sarah upstairs and soon had the little girl settled. After a warm bath and a bedtime story, the child went right to sleep. Jess turned out the bedroom light, and went downstairs. She crossed the front room to pull the window curtains. That's when Jess noticed the overnight bag sitting on the walkway near where the car had been parked.
"Really," sighed Jess.
She brought the bag inside and went to turn on the telly. Jess frowned as she realized that the DVD she had hoped to watch was still in Becker's coat pocket. Jess sat down on the sofa, kicked off her shoes, curled up her legs on the cushions, and begin flipping through channels. Zombie movies, vampire movies, repeats of old Star Trek shows… it was going to be a long night.
-x-x-x-x-x-x
Sunlight was beginning to peek through the slots in the kitchen blinds when Jess heard the sound of a car out front. She hurried to the living room window and pulled back the heavy drapes. Becker was standing on the walkway paying a cab driver. As the cabby pulled away from the curb, the soldier turned to face the Temple home. Jess waved at Becker and then went to the door to let him in.
"Hil," greeted Jess, "I thought you would have been back ages ago."
"Meant to be back after taking Connor and Abby to the hospital," sighed Becker as he stepped inside the house. He sat down on the second step and began to untie his boots. "But I had to go fill out accident reports…"
"Accident?" squeaked Jess in alarm. "What happened?"
"Some fool ran a stop light, I tried to take evasive action," replied Becker, "but he still clipped into the front passenger side of the car."
Jess shivered listening to Becker's words.
"Is Abby alright? Connor?" asked Jess, "The baby?"
"It's a good thing I was driving," concluded Becker, "or both Abby and Connor would have been in the front. Abby would have been sitting in the front passenger seat."
Becker dropped his heavy black boot to the floor and looked up at Jess. His hazel eyes glowed with happiness.
"Connor will be back soon," assured Becker. "He just wanted to spend a little more time with Abby and his new son."
Jess sagged back against the wall in relief. She felt the tension ooze out of her shoulder muscles.
"I hope you don't mind," continued Becker, "I told Connor to take his time, that we'd be glad to watch Sarah a while longer."
"No, of course not," answered Jess, "but Hil, tell me about the baby."
"What's to tell? He's a baby," replied Becker. "Red, wrinkly, a headful of Connor's dark brown hair."
Jess rolled her eyes at the soldier, sometimes the man could be maddening.
"He's got good lungs," added Becker with a chuckle, "Thomas James Temple howls every bit as good as his sister did earlier."
-x-x-x-x-x-x
Connor returned home while Jess and Becker were feeding little Sarah breakfast. He looked tired, but his lips were turned up in a happy grin.
"Hello Princess," Connor said as he picked up Sarah. He turned to Jess and Becker and walked with them to the coat rack. "Thank you both, so, so very much. For being here, for, for, well just everything."
"It's just what friends do," replied Becker looking embarrassed.
"Let us know if you need anything Connor," replied Jess as she pulled her coat off the hall tree.
-x-x-x-x-x-x
Jess and Becker walked slowly across the park as they returned to their home. A clear blue sky was overhead. Sunlight sparkled on the snow. Their fingers entwined as they leaned closer together.
"Hil," said Jess, "I know we talked about having a baby someday, but we never really talked about when."
Becker stopped walking and turned to face the beautiful woman at his side. He brought one hand up to the side of Jess's face.
"I don't want to rush you," replied the soldier, "but our sister's children are older. I would like our children to know their cousins, play with them I mean, not just grow up with these older relatives that they don't really know."
Jess's lips curled up in a smile at his words. The word children brought a happy glow to her eyes. She and Becker had only ever used the word baby in their conversations before, but she knew now he was thinking of more than just one. She nodded happily.
"I don't feel rushed at all," said Jess. She gave a cheeky smirk. "These things do take time, nine months at least. When were you thinking we should start?"
Becker gave the same answer he made when they were planning a wedding date.
"Sooner would be better," answered the soldier.
-x-x-x-x-x-x