Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or its characters.

Secrets

Chapter 2 – Babysitting

Jess leant back in her oversized chair; it was finally the end of what had turned out to be a very long week. She had just finished guiding the team through their fourth alert this week, which also happened to be their second anomaly of the day. This anomaly had been a difficult one and a few of the soldiers had been injured, though not seriously. Now all Jess had to do was wait for the team to get back, download the data from their black boxes, and then she was home free. A relaxing night at home watching her favourite movie, with a glass of wine and some takeout was exactly what she needed.

The team arrived in the hub as Jess was musing over her evening plans. As each black box was returned, Jess connected it to the ADD to download its data, grateful that it wasn't a long process as it meant she would soon be able to head home. Connecting the last black box Jess noticed Becker lingering in her peripheral. Jess turned to Becker and smiled up at him.

"Was there something you needed Becker?"

Becker sighed before coming to stand beside her. "I'm in a bit of a situation and was wondering if you'd be willing to help me out?"

"Of course Becker, what did you need?"

"With Johnson and Blake out injured I have to come into work tomorrow and I was wondering if you'd be able to look after the girls. Normally I'd ask Mel to do it but she's started university in Manchester and it's too late for me call one of the services I use when Mel is unavailable."

"I'd be happy to watch them, if you're sure Maddie and Lily won't mind spending the day with me."

"I'm sure they won't mind, Lily hasn't stopped talking about how pretty you are since you were over on Monday. I can drop them off at you place on the way to work if that's easiest."

Jess blushed at being called pretty by Becker, even if the compliment was technically coming from his three year old daughter.

"That'd be great."

"Great. I'll be by around seven. Thanks Jess this is a big help."

With that Becker was gone and Jess was left wondering if agreeing to babysit had been a good idea.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Jess woke up to the shrill sound of her alarm. Groaning she rolled over to look at the time.

Ugh, why on earth is my alarm going off at 6am on a Saturday?

Hitting the off button Jess rolled over, pulled her quilt up to under her chin, and tried to go back to sleep. It was as her mind was receding into unconsciousness that she remembered the reason she set her alarm last night. Becker was bringing Maddie and Lily over at seven o'clock so Jess could watch them for the day. Looking at her clock again Jess saw twenty minutes had passed since the alarm had woke her up.

Shit! They'll be here in forty minutes.

Jess scrambled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to take a shower. After a quick shower—which was hard for Jess as she usually preferred long ones—Jess was back in her room searching for something to wear. Thinking that it be best if she wore something comfortable since she'd be spending the day with kids, Jess decided on a pair of blue skinny jeans, a pale pink long sleeved t-shirt, and black flats. Throwing her hair up into a quick pony tail, Jess looked herself over in the mirror. Deciding she looked presentable Jess went to make sure the rest of the flat did as well.

By the time seven o'clock came around, Jess had tidied her flat and managed to have a small breakfast. She had just collapsed on the couch when there was a knock on the door.

Opening the door Jess saw Becker, Lily asleep in his arms and Maddie by his side.

"Hey, come in." Jess said moving out of the way.

"Hey, is there somewhere I can lay Lily down, she fell asleep in the car."

"No I didn't Daddy; I just didn't want to walk." Lily exclaimed, lifting her head from his shoulder.

Becker put Lily down; giving her the small Barbie backpack he was holding. "Is that so? Well, you better not pull any of that on Jess."

"Don't worry Dad; I'll make sure she behaves."

"That's my girl." Becker smiled at Maddie, and then turned to Jess. "They've already…" Becker's voice trailed off as he took in what Jess was wearing. He was so surprised that he stood there, staring at her with a frown on his face.

"What?" Jess asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his gaze.

"I've just…never seen you in something so…normal."

"I thought it best to be dressed comfortably. Does it look bad?"

"No, not at all; just different." He smiled at her and Jess blushed, both at the comment he made and at the look he was giving her.

"You were saying?" Jess prompted after they had been standing in silence for a while.

"Right. They've already had breakfast but will probably be hungry again in a couple of hours. They've got numerous things to entertain themselves in their bags but will probably still try to talk you into letting them watch TV all day, I'd really prefer it if they didn't. They've also got a packed lunch each."

"Becker you didn't have to do that, I do have food in the house you know."

"I know. But you're already doing this for me; I didn't want to put you out anymore."

Jess smiled at him, she loved how thoughtful Becker was.

"Thanks again Jess, this really means a lot."

"It's no problem Becker."

He smiled at her and then turned to his daughters.

"Okay you two, be good. I'll see you tonight."

Crouching down Becker pulled each of his daughters to him and kissed them both on the cheek, before standing and kissing Jess' cheek as well. They both froze; Jess biting her lip to keep from grinning, and Becker blushing when he realised what he had done.

"Um…I'll see you later." Becker muttered before making a hasty retreat.

With Becker gone Jess turned to look at the two little girls she had been left in charge of. Lily had made herself comfortable on the floor of Jess' living room, pulling out a colouring book and crayons. Maddie, on the other hand, was looking up at Jess with an expression on her face that Jess couldn't quite interpret the meaning of. But a second later it was gone and Maddie was joining her sister on the floor, leaving Jess to wonder if she had imagined the whole thing.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Jess saw that it was only just 7:15 and wondered what she was going to do with the girls. Sure Becker said they had brought things to keep them entertained, but Jess didn't really believe that those two tiny backpacks held enough things to keep them amused for what could easily be the whole day, longer if a particularly bad anomaly opened up. Plus she'd feel bad keeping them cooped up all day.

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Jess checked the weather for the day, an idea forming in her head. According to the weather report it was going to be warm and sunny, just what she was hoping for.

"Hey girls, what do you say to taking a trip to the zoo today?"

"Really?" Lily asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

"Sure, you've both already got lunch packed, I'll make something for myself, and we can take it all with us and have a picnic."

"I don't know," Maddie said. "Dad doesn't like not knowing where we are, and he won't know we're at the zoo."

"Becker will be fine with it. He knows you're with me and I won't let anything happen to you."

"Okay." Maddie still sounded reluctant when she agreed to go, but Jess could tell that there was a part of her that was looking forward to getting to spend the day outdoors.