Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or it's characters.

Secrets

Chapter 7 – New Home

The next morning when Jess woke up—for a few blissful moments—it was just a normal Tuesday. Looking at her clock she saw that it was 6am, and she wondered why her alarm had gone off half an hour early. Slowly, her memories of the day before began returning to her. She remembered Becker being thrown through the anomaly, and sadness that had fallen over the ARC at the loss of their captain. She remembered spending the afternoon talking with Lester, trying to decide what to do about Becker's daughters and coming to the conclusion that they would spend the night with her. Thus the reason for the earlier alarm, she had to get Maddie and Lily to school and day-care before going to work.

Jumping out of bed, Jess wrapped a robe around herself and went to wake up the girls. Getting to the spare room where they had spent the night, she found them awake; Maddie already in her school uniform and helping Lily get ready.

"Your awake?" Jess said, surprised.

"We're used to getting up early." Maddie told her, her voice carefully emotionless, she was clearly trying to hide what she felt.

The more time I spend with that girl, the more I realise just how much like her father she is.

"Okay, well I'll just get dressed quickly then I'll make you some breakfast."

Jess quickly dressed in one of her more reserved outfits, not wanting to appear disrespectful when they went to speak to Becker's parents. She put on a white shirt, a grey pencil skirt, and a navy blue cardigan. The only form of bright colour she wore were her purple heels with matching belt and headband. Satisfied that she had found the right balance between bright and respectful, Jess set about making breakfast.

"Jessie, do I have to go to day care today?" Lily asked as she stared sadly into her bowl of cereal. "I don't wanna go. I miss Daddy too much."

"I know sweet heart, but I need you to go, just for the morning. I have to go with my boss to talk to your grandparents and tell them about Becker, we also have to work out where the two of you are going to live. I promise as soon as that's over I'll come pick you up, okay? Can you do that for me?"

Lily nodded and went back to her breakfast.

As she dropped each of them off Jess made sure to talk to their teachers, explaining what had happened and asking them to keep an eye on the two girls. She was worried about Lily and Maddie, and knowing someone was watching out for them helped her leave to go to work.

Once she was finished dropping the girls off, Jess met Lester at the ARC and together they left to tell Becker's parents what had happened.

They arrived at Becker's childhood home forty minutes later. His parents lived in a small house just outside the city, that was clearly well tended to. Pushing the gate open, Jess and Lester made their way up the flower lined path to the front door.

They knocked on the door, which was answered by a woman who appeared to be in her mid-fifties.

"Mrs Becker?" Lester asked.

"Yes." The woman answered, a wary look on her face.

"My name is James Lester and this is my colleague Ms Parker, we work with your son. May we come in? We were hoping to have a word with you and your husband if he's home."

"Of course," Mrs Becker moved out of the way to let them in. As they followed her through the house the woman called for her husband. "George, there are some people here that want to talk with us, they say they work with Hilary."

She led them to the living room where they were joined by Mr Becker. The group sat in silence until Lester decided it would be best if they just got it over with.

"Mr and Mrs Becker, I don't know how much your son told you about the work he does but the truth of the matter is it's dangerous. Though, considering your son's a captain in the military I doubt this comes as much of a surprise. Yesterday, your son accompanied his team out on a mission, and it is my unfortunate duty to tell you that he did not return from it."

"He's dead?" Mr Becker asked, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"We don't know. He was separated from his team and we haven't been able to find him since."

"I hadn't realised he still did field work. I thought he stopped that when he requested to be positioned in London." Mrs Becker's voice was quiet.

"He's positon here is a very…unique one."

Silence descended on the group once again. Jess couldn't help but think that, while the Becker's looked saddened by the news they had just received, they didn't look as upset as you would expect parents to look after being told that their only son was missing and possibly dead. They almost looked pleased to hear that Becker's job still sent him out into the field and was more important than they had originally been lead to believe.

What kind of people are glad their only son is in a dangerous line of work?

Not wanting to stay longer than necessary Jess broached the other reason for their visit.

"As I'm sure you know, Becker has two young daughters, and with him gone, they need someone to care for them."

Becker's parents' bodies went ridged at her words.

"Well, I hope you don't expect us to take them in." Mr Becker told them. "We want nothing to do with them. If it weren't for those two, my son would be well on his way to being a great military leader. He was rising through the ranks so quickly, imagine my disappointment when he quit because of his children. He didn't get that from me, so what if his daughters had to grow up without a father, he and Melissa turned out just fine."

Shocked by his words Jess looked to Lester.

"Hilary was an idiot to stay with Bianca when she fell pregnant the first time," Mrs Becker said, continuing her husband's tirade. "Then, just when I thought he couldn't be any stupider, he keeps the girls after their mother runs out."

"Well what was he supposed to do? Run out on them as well?" Jess snapped, she couldn't stand to hear anyone talk about Becker or his daughters in this way. "Look, those girls have already lost a mother and now they've lost their father, they need to know they've still got some family left."

"I think my wife and I have made ourselves perfectly clear on the subject. Thank you for informing us on the status of our son, but I think it's time you left. Please let us know if there'll be a need for a funeral."

Jess mouth dropped open at his words, and it took all of her self-control not to yell at the retired military man as she and Lester left the house.

###

Back in the car Jess was fuming. She couldn't believe how little those people cared about their son, nor could she believe that they would leave their granddaughters to fend for themselves. What kind of people cared more about social standing and career status than they did their own family?

"What'll happen to Lily and Maddie now?" Jess asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"They'll probably end up in foster care, unless you know of another family member that can take them in."

Jess didn't. The only other family member that she knew of was Melissa, and she was in no position to take in two young girls.

There had to be another option. Jess had grown up with friends in the foster system, and the stories they had told her horrifying. Foster kids were always being bounced from house to house, with nothing more than a garbage bag to put their few meagre possession in. More often than not they'd end up under the guardianship of people who had no business raising a child. The amount of stories she'd heard about kids ending up with abusive foster parents was truly terrifying. No child deserved to be put through that, especially those who had lost loving parents.

I can't let that happen to Lily and Maddi. I won't.

It was then that Jess made the decision to have the girls stay with her permanently. Or at least until they found a way to bring Becker back.

"They can't go into the foster care system; Lily's devastated and she's only lost the one parent, I can't imagine what Maddie's going through. The last thing they need is to feel like there's no one left in the world who cares about them."

"I agree it's not the best of situations, but if Mr and Mrs Becker don't want to take them in there's nothing you or I can do."

"There is, they can stay with me."

Lester looked at her in shock.

"Look, they can't go into foster care, I won't allow it. The only other family they have that I know of is Becker's sister, Melissa, and there's no way she'd be able to take them in. She's a university student, living in a dorm house with ten other people, she has neither the space or the means to take care of them. I do, so they'll stay with me."

"You do realise you'll have to become a parent to those girls."

"I do. But Becker's been doing this since he was 17, granted he's only been alone for the last four years, but still, surly I'll be able to work it out. At least I won't have to deal with midnight feedings and changing nappies."

Jess' attempt at humour did nothing to reassure Lester.

"Jessica, this isn't like looking after the Captain's kids while he's on a business trip. It could very well become permanent."

"I know," Jess' voice was quiet. "That's why I need you to help me be granted guardianship of Lily and Maddie. I want to make sure any decision I make on their behalf is legal and, more importantly, that no one can take them away from me."

Lester could tell he wasn't going to change Jess' mind and reluctantly agreed to help her however he could.

When they arrive back at the ARC Jess and Lester went their separate ways. Lester up to his office, while Jess—having been given the rest of the day off—went to collect Maddie and Lily.

It was just midday when Jess got home with Lily and Maddie, who both seemed relieved to be away from school. According to their teachers both girls had been very quiet that day, preferring to be by themselves than to interact with the group. It was unlike them but at this point Jess wasn't worried, it was to be expected considering everything they had gone through in less than twenty-four hours. If the behaviour kept up, then she'd think about consulting someone about it.

When she had arrived at the day care centre to collect Lily the girl had thrown herself at Jess and started crying. Apparently she had been worried someone would come to pick her up that afternoon and tell her that Jess had gone missing as well. It had taken ten minutes for her to reassure Lily that she was fine before they were able to get in the car and go home.

But now it was time for her to tell the girls what had happened that morning, and she was worried about how they would react to the news.

Once they had all discarded their coats and shoes, Jess told the girls she wanted to talk to them. Going into the living room Jess sat down on the couch and pulled Lily in to her lap—like the night before—while Maddie sat beside her.

"Like I told you this morning, I went to meet with your grandparents today. They were very sad to hear about what happened to your dad, and they're very worried about the both of you." Jess thought it would be best if she hid the truth of how the meeting went from Lily and Maddie, she didn't want to make them feel any worse than they already did.

"But, unfortunately, they're not going to be able to take you in like we had hoped."

Maddie's face fell, knowing what that meant. Lily, on the other hand, just looked up at Jess in confusion, she couldn't understand why this was a bad thing.

"That's why I've decided that you're going to stay here with me." Jess said, trying to keep her voice light so the girls wouldn't think that she didn't really want them to stay with her.

They looked at her, and for the first time since yesterday afternoon Jess saw some joy in their faces.

"Really?" Lily asked, clearly happy at the prospect of living with Jess.

"Really. Someone at work is even going to help me get the necessary paperwork done so it's legal."

"What's that mean?" Maddi asked, frowning.

"It means that I'll be able to do anything for you that your dad can do. If there are any school forms that need to be taken care of I'll be able to sign them for you, and if there's an emergency I'll be allowed to stay with you the whole time. More importantly, it means no one will be able to take you away from me."

"Would some do that?" Lily asked, a slight tremor in her voice.

"I don't know sweetie, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

By the time that night came around Lily and Maddie seemed to be doing better. They were clearly still worried about their father but it looked to Jess like having their living situation worked out had given them some hope back. They were a bit more talkative than they had been the night before—or even that morning—and it didn't take as much coaxing on Jess' part to get them to eat.

They obviously still missed Becker—she did as well—but they looked hopeful; like they were ready to believe that maybe their dad really would come back to them.