Prompt: Pleased
Rating: K+/T

He wasn't pleased when Lester suddenly decided he needed Jess's attention elsewhere and he stopped hearing her voice in his ear.

He wasn't pleased when her trainee Coordinator, Mark, told him he couldn't patch him through to her "because she was busy."

He wasn't pleased when one of his newest recruits got nervous and ran away from the giant rodent-like creatures that had come through the anomaly, knocking over the locking device as he did.

He wasn't pleased when, after eventually getting the incursion under control and the anomaly locked, he returned to the ARC to find Lester had left him a message at the first security checkpoint ordering him to report to the medical bay.

He wasn't pleased when he realised why his boss would leave such a strange order.

"Jess. Oh, God. The baby!"

He wasn't pleased when instead of sharing his concern, his teammates started to get giddy. Abby and Emily beamed at each other, Connor and Matt grinned, and he wasn't pleased when he started running towards the medical bay and sensed they were close on his heels.

He wasn't pleased to get there and find out that his wife was in labour and had made everyone promise not to tell him for fear he'd be distracted whilst out in the field.

He wasn't pleased when one of the nurses refused to allow him entry, until he'd changed out of his dusty uniform and scrubbed up.

He wasn't pleased to finally get through the doors and see Jess on one of the hospital beds, her cheeks flushed and her brow damp, holding Lester's hand in a death grip if the expression on their boss's face was anything to go by.

He was pleased when she looked up and noticed him, the relieved smile on her face making all of his displeasure fade.

He was pleased when she let go of Lester's hand to reach out for him, her fingers wrapping around his as soon as he closed the distance between them and arrived at her bedside.

He was pleased when she leaned into him, letting him hold her and kiss her forehead and push her damp hair back from her face.

"I'm so glad you're here," she murmured, lifting her face to kiss him a little clumsily. "I was worried you wouldn't make it, that I'd have to do this without you."

"I'm here," he assured her quietly, cupping her face and kissing her sweetly. "I would've been here sooner if you'd told me –"

"I didn't want you to worry. Didn't want you to rush." She tensed under his hands as the beginnings of another contraction began. "Your driving can be scary at the best of times," she tried to joke in between deep breaths.

Becker laughed and shook his head, holding her hand as tightly as she held onto his. "If you think I'm bad, you should get in a car with Emily when she's in a hurry," he retorted. "That's a truly terrifying experience."

"I'll take... your word for it," Jess gasped as the contraction hit.

Lester backed away from the bed, glancing at the doctor for reassurance when she cried out. When Doctor Ellis nodded to let him know everything was progressing normally, he exhaled in relief and headed for the door. "If you have no need of me, I'll leave you to it."

"Thank you," Jess managed, trying to smile for him.

"Yes, thank you," Becker added, glancing up from his wife to look at his boss.

The two men exchanged a glance and Lester gave a small smile at what he saw on Becker's face. "I'll be right outside if you need anything."

He left them alone with Doctor Ellis and a nurse, both of whom Becker easily forgot about as he turned his attention back to his wife. "Are you okay?" He asked her once the pain had passed. "I mean, I know you're probably hurting right now but... You're okay, aren't you? Everything's... everything's okay?"

"Everything's fine, I think." Jess, a little breathless, glanced passed him to Doctor Ellis, who was standing beside one of the machines in the room, looking at the readings it was producing. "Doctor Ellis? Is everything okay?"

The doctor smiled reassuringly. "Everything's progressing fine, Mrs Becker, Captain Becker," she reported calmly. "We'll check you again in a little while to see how far you're dilated. Last time we checked, your wife was at four centimetres."

"It feels like I've been here forever," Jess confessed when Becker turned his attention back to her, leaning into him as he settled on the bed beside her. "I can't wait for this to be over."

"Me, either." Both, Becker thought, because he wanted to meet their child and because he hated the thought of his wife being in any degree of pain or discomfort. "When did it start? How long have you known?"

Jess gave him a sheepish smile. "I didn't know until after you'd left the ARC. I felt something this morning," she admitted, biting her lip. "I thought it was Braxton Hicks. Your Mum said she had them with you, and I know Andi had them with Lizzie so I thought... I thought that's what it was and I didn't want to worry you because I thought it was too early to be real labour."

"Obviously baby Becker is as anxious to meet us as we are to meet him or her," Becker grinned, stroking back a lock of hair that had fallen across her face. "You should have told me, though. Even if you weren't sure, you should have said and I would have stayed –"

"If I wasn't in real labour, you would have stayed for no reason," Jess pointed out. "And it doesn't matter now. Our baby's coming and you're here with me. And that's all that matters."

"You're right." He kissed her forehead and pulled back to look at her, excitement beginning to course through him at the thought of soon being able to hold their child for the first time. "This is going to be amazing, Jess. I can't wait to meet our baby."

"Me, either." She smiled again, both anxious and eager. "Hopefully we won't have to wait much longer."

Continued in 'Brilliant'.