Prompt: Show & Tell
Rating: K+
The table in the rarely used dining room was perfectly arranged. Jess fussed with the flowers in the small glass vase in the centre of the table until Becker wrapped his arms around her, stilling her actions as he kissed the back of her neck.
"It looks perfect," he told her quietly.
Even without looking at him, Jess knew his attention wasn't focused on the flowers but on the copy of the picture they'd left almost carelessly beside the vase.
A picture of their baby.
As if reading her thoughts, Becker let his hand rest over the slight swell of her stomach.
"Who do you think will see it first?" Jess wondered aloud, her hand moving to rest over his. Her money would be on her sister-in-law; Andi didn't miss a trick and had been hinting for a few months, wondering if her children would ever have a playmate in the form of a niece or nephew...
"Andi or my mum." He didn't hesitate, his chin resting on her shoulder as they stood staring at the scan on the table. "Possibly mum," he continued thoughtfully. "Especially since the women in her knitting group apparently keep asking her when they'll be able to make booties and whatever else a baby needs for her first grandchild."
A smile tugging the corners of her mouth, Jess turned in the circle of his arms to look up at him. "You talk to your mum about her knitting group?"
"I do talk to my mother, you know. Usually in the five minutes before she asks to speak to you." He rolled his eyes but she noticed the tips of his ears turning red. "And she brought it up."
"I'm sure she did." Her smile grew as his embarrassment deepened.
"It was probably her way of dropping hints!" Becker protested. "It's not very subtle of her when you think about it."
Pushing up on her toes so she could kiss him quickly, Jess laughed when he immediately tried to follow as she pulled away. "You can admit to being a good son, Hil. It's not a bad thing to be. Good son, brilliant husband. Means you're going to be a brilliant father, too."
His arms tightened around her momentarily. "I'll do my best," he promised, hazel eyes solemn as he gazed down into hers.
"I know you will." Starting in his arms when the doorbell rang, Jess broke away and smoothed down imaginary wrinkles in her dress. She gave him a quick smile, earning a grin in response, before the couple headed to the door to greet their visiting family.
As with most family gatherings in the Becker household, it took a while for the arriving guests to gravitate towards the dining room, which was only really used when the couple were entertaining. While they waited for Jess's side of the family to arrive – her brother and sister-in-law were usually late, on account of having two children under the age of ten to get ready – Becker's side of the family were ushered into the living room, where they were offered tea and coffee.
After making small talk and evading Margaret Becker's curious questions as to why they'd suddenly felt the need to have a family get together, the doorbell rang again and Jess jumped up to answer.
Almost immediately on opening the door, she found herself engulfed in hugs from her niece and nephew. Her seven year old niece, Lizzie, beamed up at her and took hold of one hand after having hugged her while her five year old nephew, Tom, wrapped his arms around her legs in a squeezing hug that would've had her losing her balance if not for the steadying hands that landed on her shoulders.
As those hands were attached to another of Tom and Lizzie's favourite people, the children quickly let go of their aunt in favour of throwing themselves at their uncle.
Surveying the picture they made for a moment, Jess turned back to the door to greet her brother and sister-in-law.
"You'd think it'd been a year since they last saw you and not a few weeks," Andi commented wryly as she took her turn in hugging Jess. "How are you feeling now? You look so much better."
Knowing Andi was referring to the injuries she'd sustained at work – though neither her sister-in-law or her brother knew exactly how she'd come to be hurt – Jess smiled brightly. "I'm fine. Better than fine. Go on through, the others are already here."
Stepping back so Andi could follow her children, both of whom were still clinging to their uncle, into the living room, Jess almost jumped when her brother moved closer, lifting his hand to her face. She rolled her eyes as Davey tilted her head first one way, and then the next, studying her intently.
"No new bruises," her brother announced after a moment. "I'm impressed."
"Don't be." Shaking her head at him, Jess moved in for a quick hug. "It was a one-off, Davey. An exception, not the rule."
"Glad to hear it." Her brother didn't smile at her. "You're still not going to tell me what happened?"
"If I could, I would." She meant it, too. "All I can tell you is that the chances of it happening again are slim to none." And that was true, too. Becker had personally carried out a complete over-haul of the internal security procedures at the ARC, and there was now a permanent security presence in the Ops room at all times. More often than not, unless he was in the field or running drills with his men, her husband would be sat at the designated station himself, doing his paperwork within easy reach of her station at the ADD.
"That's something," Davey said after a while.
"It is. Now let's go through and be sociable, shall we?" Hooking her arm through his, Jess gave him little choice in the matter, leading him into the living room where the rest of the family waited.
After a little more small talk, and the children taking turns to catch Rachel and Margaret up on the latest tales from school, Becker and Jess were able to usher the gathered group into the dining room.
Jess held her breath as everyone took her seats but her house guests seemed too engrossed in conversation to notice the unusual addition to the table decor. Catching Becker's gaze above their heads, she rolled her eyes and looked back at the table in time to see Colonel Becker's features contort in an expression of surprise before he was able to get it under control.
The older Becker glanced around quickly as if checking to see if anyone else had seen it, before looking up at his son and daughter-in-law. He didn't say anything but a small smile quirked the corners of his mouth as he gave them what could only be a nod of approval.
Relief flooding through her, Jess smiled back before leading her husband into the kitchen to start bringing through the meal they'd prepared earlier.
"One down," Becker murmured, reaching past her for the heaviest dish. "Four to go."
"Six including the kids," Jess corrected, turning her head to kiss his cheek quickly. "I wonder who..."
A squeal came from the dining room before she could finish the sentence. Recognising it as being his sister, they shared a quick smile before returning to their guests.
"Everything okay, Rach?" Becker asked, striving for casual as his little sister jumped up from her chair, picture in hand as everyone but her father looked at her as though she'd gone insane.
Rachel's answer was another squeal before she threw her arms around Becker, hugging him tightly for a few moments. She then moved to a beaming Jess to do the same thing. "This... You're... I'm going to be an aunty!"
Returning the teenager's embrace, Jess laughed at the stunned looks on the faces of the adults at the table who still hadn't figured out what was going on. "I take it you're pleased?"
Rachel squealed again – thankfully at a lower pitch – and let Jess go so she could study the picture she still clutched in her hands. "Is it a boy or girl? Do you know yet? Have you thought of any names? When's it due?"
"It's too soon to tell so no, no, and around the 25th March." Becker moved to stand beside Jess, rolling his eyes at the questions his sister fired at them.
"You're pregnant?" Catching on, finally, Margaret Becker slowly got to her feet. Her eyes began to shimmer as she looked at her only son and daughter-in-law. "I'm going to be a grandma?"
"I'm going to be an aunty!" Rachel declared again, bouncing up and down as her mum approached to take the picture from her. "I so can't wait!"
"Me, either." Her own eyes suspiciously bright, Andi rose from her seat and hurried to Jess's side, drawing her sister-in-law into her arms. "Oh, Jess. I'm so happy for you. For both of you."
Hugging Andi back just as tightly, Jess blinked away tears of her own. "Me, too. We wanted to tell you sooner but had to wait till the scan to be sure everything was okay." Feeling a little guilty, knowing she'd been the second person Andi had told she was pregnant after Davey, Jess pulled back to look at her sister-in-law.
"And everything's okay?" Andi smiled, wiping her cheeks when Jess nodded. "Then that's all that matters."
As Andi moved to congratulate Becker, Davey moved up to take his wife's place. Without a word, he drew his sister against him, kissing the top of her head as he tried to get his own emotional response under control. "I'm happy for you, Jessie," he said eventually. "It's about time this house was full of children again."
"There's only one for now but it's a start." Understanding his reaction, Jess gave him a watery smile when he let her go. They'd grown up together in the house that she'd reclaimed as her home with Becker's help and the thought of starting her own family there felt right though it was a little bittersweet to know their parents weren't around to be part of it. "Mum and Dad would be pleased, wouldn't they?"
"They would," he answered without hesitation. "They really, really would."
"Mum?" The note of concern in Becker's voice caught Jess's attention and she fixed her gaze on her mother-in-law, who stood staring at the photo from the scan. "Are you okay?"
Tears ran unchecked down Margaret's cheeks as she nodded wordlessly. Her husband moved to stand behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm just so happy," Becker's mother managed eventually, lifting her gaze from the picture to smile at the anxious couple. "I'm just so very, very happy."
She moved to hug Becker first, murmuring an "I'm so proud of you, Hilary" in his ear before turning to Jess and hugging her just as warmly. "Thank you," she whispered to her daughter-in-law. "Thank you so much, Jessica."
Unable to speak past the lump in her throat, Jess could only hug Margaret back, watching over the older woman's shoulder as her father-in-law clapped Becker on the shoulder, beaming with rare pride, and her brother shook his hand and said something that made her husband grin.
Smiling, feeling teary again, Jess looked around at her family after Margaret let her go to gush over the scan picture with Andi and felt warmth flood through her as she placed her hand over the small bump at her midsection and let herself truly relax, confident that no matter what the future held in store for herself and Becker, if the worst were to happen to them, their child would be loved.
Continued in 'Scared'