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

Secrets

Chapter 3 – The Zoo

By the time Jess had packed everything she thought they'd need for their day at the zoo, and got them all seated comfortably in her small car it was after 9 o'clock. Meaning they didn't actually get to the zoo until 10, and when they did they found a long ticket line waiting for them.

It was 11 o'clock by the time they actually made it through the front gate. They decided that instead of going to see every exhibit, they would pick four each and those were the ones they would see. The first exhibit they went to was one of Lily's choices, as the three-year-old couldn't wait to see the monkeys. They spent a good twenty minutes at that exhibit—Jess taking countless photos on her phone—before Lily allowed them to move on.

Up next was Maddie's first choice; the tiger habitat. It was a large enclosure with floor to ceiling glass that allowed you to see the tigers no matter where they were. All three of them enjoyed watching the tigers prowl through the habitat and climbing the tall trees. Though Jess thought Lily got a bit frightened when she saw one attack the post that its food was on.

From there they moved on to the African animals' exhibit. This enclosure was even larger than the tiger's one and housed a variety of animals. They could see zebras, okapis, warthogs—which Jess thought looked better animated—and African hunting dogs. But the best part by far was seeing the giraffes up close. They were huge, far bigger in person than in pictures or on TV. Seeing them took Jess' breath away, they just looked so majestic, and she couldn't believe how long their tongues were. Jess could have stood there looking at them all day, but eventually, Lily and Maddie made them move on.

After that they decided to stop for lunch. They chose a picnic table under a tree that protected them from most of the sun. While they ate they discussed the animals they had seen so far, sharing which ones were their favourites, and deciding on which other enclosures they'd like to see while they were there. Like at dinner earlier that week Lily kept up most of the conversation—the three-year-old clearly liked to talk—and Jess and Maddie were quite content to let her continue to do so. Though Jess was pleased to see that Maddie was starting to open up around her, it didn't take as much prompting from Jess to get the girl to interact with her.

When they were finished eating they continued making their way through the zoo, taking turns choosing what animals they would see. Lily was a fan of visiting the cuter animals, choosing to go see the meerkats, the butterfly enclosure, and the small aquarium that was a part of the zoo. Like when they went and saw the monkeys, Lily had Jess take lots of pictures at each habitat. Especially when they were in the butterfly enclosure and the butterflies would come and land on her.

Jess, like Lily, preferred going to see the cuddlier looking animals, choosing that they go and visit the lemurs, otters, and penguins. When they saw the lemurs, Jess couldn't help but think that they were another animal that looked cuter in animated movies than they did in real life. The otters were adorable, though she couldn't see why people were always comparing Benedict Cumberbatch to one. Jess always enjoyed watching the penguins waddle about, it never failed to make her laugh; and it seemed Lily enjoyed seeing them waddle just as much as Jess did.

Maddie on the other hand was a bit more adventurous than Jess and Lily, choosing to see the reptile habitat, the fruit bat enclosure, and—much to Jess' dismay—the bug exhibit. Jess had a feeling that the nine-year-old would get along very well with Abby if they ever got the chance to meet. Visiting the reptile and fruit bat enclosures hadn't been too bad, Jess was more than happy to stand back and watch as Maddie read all the information she could about the animals. Visiting the bug exhibit on the other hand was harder. Despite all the bugs being in enclosures with think walls of glass separating them, Jess still felt like they were crawling all over her. Luckily by the time they got to that exhibit they had already been walking around the zoo all afternoon and both of the girls were tired.

They left the zoo after a quick stop in the gift shop, in which they each picked out a souvenir. Maddie choosing a lizard pencil case for school, Lily a plush monkey whose arms wrapped around her neck, and Jess a giraffe key chain to add to her key ring and ever growing collection of key chains.

"Jess," Maddi said as she helped the woman move the now sleeping Lily into the car seat and buckle her up.

"Yeah hon."

"Thanks for bringing us to the zoo today. Dad works a lot, so it's been a while since we've done something like this, it was fun."

"You're welcome kiddo, I had fun too. What d' you say to picking up something to make for dinner on our way home, and then when Becker comes to pick you up we can all have dinner together."

"Sounds good," Maddie said, smiling at Jess.

Jess was glad she had been able to give the girls a fun day; she hadn't realised Becker's heavy work schedule had such a negative impact on his daughters.

Though up until a week ago I hadn't known he had daughters.

Jess and the girls were in her kitchen getting dinner ready. On the way home from the zoo they had stopped at the grocery store near Jess' flat to pick up some premade pizza bases and toppings to cook that night.

Lily and Maddie were sitting—or in Lily's case kneeling—on two of the high stools Jess had at her kitchen bench, preparing one of the pizza bases. Jess smiled as she watched them. They were using the toppings to make a face on the pizza, giggling as they gave it pepperoni eyes and a capsicum smile.

It was as they were laughing that they heard a knock on the front door.

"Daddy!" Lily exclaimed as she tried to get down from the stool she was on.

"Hang on," Jess said helping her down. "Let me go answer the door, just in case it's not your dad. You guys wait here."

"Okay, but hurry up." Lily groaned, clearly impatient to see her father.

As she opened the door Jess smiled at how eager the three-year-old was. Becker was standing on the other side, looking tired, but he smiled when he saw her.

"Hey, come in." Jess said, moving out of the way. "How was your day?"

"Long."

"Well you can relax now. Come through, we're all in the kitchen." But they hadn't got further than the living room when the girls came running in.

"Daddy!" Lily yelled as she ran to Becker, Maddie right behind her. Jess smiled as she watched Becker crouch down so he could pull both of his daughters in to a tight hug.

Oh God, that is so adorable.

"Dad, guess what," Maddie said, tugging on Becker's shirt to get his attention.

"What?"

"We went to the zoo today."

"You did?" Becker looked at Jess in surprise.

"Yeah, and it was so much fun." Maddie continued. The oven timer chimed and Jess went into the kitchen to take the finished pizza out.

"Did you girls finish putting everything you wanted on this one?" Jess called over her shoulder.

"Yeah." Maddie replied, before continuing to tell Becker about their day. "Jess showed us how to make her secret pizza sauce."

"Did she?"

"I did, and I hate to break it to you Becker, but you're all going to have to stay for dinner. There's far too much food for just one person."

Jess could hear murmuring from the living room that sounded like Becker telling the girls to go wash up. Moments later Becker joined Jess in the kitchen.

"You didn't have to do that you know."

"Well, I knew you would have had a long day and doubted you'd feel like cooking, and I figured this would be better than take out."

"That's not what I meant. But no, you didn't have to do all this either."

"Yeah, well, you've got to eat."

"Seriously Jess, you didn't have to take them out."

"Oh hush. It was a beautiful day and I wasn't going to keep them cooped up. Besides, do you know how long it's been since I've gone to the zoo? I had just as much fun as they did."

"Daddy, look what Jessie got me." Lily said coming into the kitchen to show Becker her new toy monkey.

"Wow, look at that. Did you remember to say thank you?"

"Of course," Lily said indignantly, as if suggesting that she may forget was the most preposterous thing in the world. Turning on her heels she went back into the living room.

"Really Jess? Souvenirs as well."

"Okay, maybe I got a little carried away. I do the same thing when I look after my brother's kids."

Dinner was ready then and they all sat down at the small table in Jess dining area to eat. Over the meal Jess and the girls told Becker all about their day at the zoo. Jess also showed him the photos she had taken on her phone, promising to send him all the ones of his daughters. When he asked her to also send him the one of her, Maddie and Lily in the butterfly enclosure Jess had to bite down on the grin that was threatening to take over her face; telling herself that he wanted the photo because his daughters were in it and for no other reason.

Becker listened intently, asking questions about each of the animals they had gone to visit. He seemed far less surprised than Jess had been by the selections Maddie had made, and Jess wondered why he had never introduced the girl to Abby, as she was certain the two would be the best of friends.

Though when Maddie mentioned going to see the bug exhibit, Becker was less than happy, to say the least.

"The bug exhibit? Really Jessica? Please tell me you at least had an EpiPen on you." Becker said, clearly trying not to raise his voice too much in front of Maddie and Lily.

"Of course I did. Do you really think I would spend a day outdoors without one?"

"Still, you shouldn't have gone to that exhibit."

"Becker the insects are behind thick glass walls; I was more likely to be bitten walking from one enclosure to another than I was in there."

"Did I do something wrong by choosing to go see the bugs?" Maddie spoke up timidly, obviously sensing the tension between the adults.

"Not at all," Jess told her; shooting a glare at Becker, daring him to contradict her.

Becker sighed. "No sweet heart. I'm just overreacting. You see, Jess gets very sick if she's bitten by a bug, and I was just worried about her."

"I'm sorry Jess, I didn't know."

"No, don't apologise. If I thought it wasn't safe for me to go to that exhibit I would have told you. You have nothing to apologise for, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Now why don't you tell Becker about the tigers."

The subject was dropped and they continued their earlier discussion, talking until Lily was having trouble keeping her eyes open and Becker decided it was time to go home.