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

Secrets

Chapter 13 – Home Coming

Jess sat beside Lily as the little girl drew in her colouring book. She was incredibly happy that they had managed to find Becker and bring him home, but she was also nervous about seeing him again. What was he going to think about her looking after the girls while he was gone? Would he be mad that they hadn't gone to stay with his parents?

Not that we didn't try going down that road.

Or will he just be happy that they hadn't had to go into foster care?

Then there's the fact that Lily's still calling me mummy. Surly that won't go down well.

And what will happen to their relationship? Will what they've both been through over the last few months change anything between them? If it does, will it be a good change? Or a bad one?

He had seemed happy to speak to her earlier, though that could've been because he's been on his own for months now. But then what was all that about thinking he was never going to hear her voice again? You don't really say things like that to someone you considerd just a friend. A friend's voice isn't exactly high on the list of things you miss when you've been cut off from everything you've ever known.

Great. He's been back just over an hour, I haven't even seen him yet, and he's already confusing me.

Emily entered the hub and came over to Jess, drawing her mind away from the thoughts of Becker that were swirling around inside.

"I have spoken with Matt and he says that they should be arriving here any minute now, shall I go collect Maddie so she may see her father?"

Crap, I forgot about Maddie. How did I forget about someone who's essentially been my daughter for the last five months?

Well you have had a lot on your mind.

"Yeah we should probably bring her back here, Becker will want to see her. Are you sure you don't mind going? I can go get her, you've already done so much for me today."

"No, you should be here when the Captain returns. I shall go."

"Thanks Emily."

Jess hugged the older woman, grateful that she had friends that were willing to do so much for her.

###

Not long after Emily left Jess heard people running towards the hub. She turned to the entrance to see what the commotion was, only to freeze up when she saw who had come running in.

Becker stood there, looking just the same as he had the day he went missing. He had obviously showered, as all the blood and dirt was gone, and the beard he had been sporting had been shaved off. He had been given a new set of cloths and his hair had even been cut. At first Jess wondered why they had bothered doing this, but then she realised they must have wanted to make him look as normal as possible, so his daughters would recognise him.

They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them moving. Jess wanted nothing more than to run across the room and throw herself into his arms, like she had after defusing that bomb. But there were too many people around. Besides, there was someone else who needed a hug from him more than she did.

Jess tapped on Lily's shoulder, and when the girl looked at her she nodded to the entrance. Lily looked in the direction Jess indicated and once she saw who was standing there, she was out of her seat and running across the room.

"Daddy!" She cried as Becker scooped her up.

The team watched on as Becker held his daughter tight, her body shaking as she sobbed into his shoulder. Becker gently bounced from side to side as he held her—like he did when he was trying to get her to go to sleep as a baby—and murmured reassurances in her ear.

It was a sight that surprised the other people in the room, bringing tears to most of their eyes. No one except for Jess had ever seen what Becker was liked when he interacted with his daughters, and it was amazing to see how soft and loving the man could be.

"Mummy said you'd be back, and she was right."

Becker looked at Jess, frowning in confusion at Lily's words, and effectively breaking the spell that had fallen over them.

Jess knew that she needed to say something, that she had to explain what Lily meant, but she was at a loss for words. Surprisingly, it was Connor who came to her rescue.

"Come on Lil, why don't we let your dad and Jess talk. You and me can go finish watching Tangled."

"Okay." Lily reached over to Connor, who took her from her dad and carried her from the room.

Jess and Becker went into one of the unused labs attached to the hub so they could talk in private.

"I'm sorry about that Becker," Jess said as soon as the door closed behind her. "That probably came as a shock to you, but then a lot of things today probably have. We needed someone to look after them and this was the only solution we could come up with, your parents weren't…able to do it so we went with the only other good option we could think of. I swear Lester and I didn't mean for your secret to come out, it just sorta happened. Though if Lily didn't introduce herself so formally it probably wouldn't have happened, sometimes I wonder…"

"Jess, slow down," Becker said cutting her off. "It's a lot of information to take in."

"Right, sorry. Maybe I should start from the beginning."

"That would be good. How did the team find out about the girls?"

"I was called in to help Connor fix the ADD one weekend and didn't have anyone to look after the girls so I had to bring them with me. Then Lily decided to go around introducing herself to everyone, making sure to use her full name, and…well they put two and two together."

"Okay, but why are they here now?"

"Technically only Lily's here. Maddie's at a friend's, but Emily's gone to pick her up, they should be back any minute."

"That doesn't answer my question, Jess."

"Well, it started…"

"Wait, started? How long have they been coming to the ARC?"

"Well, if you let me finish. It started when school holidays came around. I didn't know what to do with Maddie, I didn't want to leave her home alone all day, so I decided to bring her to work. I thought she could help out with some of the office work Lester always has me doing. But when Lily found out she wanted to come as well, and…well she's very good at convincing people to do what she wants."

Becker laughed at the description of his younger daughter, knowing it was an accurate one.

"You said you didn't want to leave her home alone. Jess, are you who's been taking care of them?"

Jess nodded not meeting his eyes.

Becker's head reeled, he couldn't believe Jess did that for him, that she took in his two young daughters when he wasn't there for them. Then something Lily had said tugged at his mind.

"So when Lily said Mummy, she meant…?"

"Um…yeah, she um…meant me." Jess wouldn't meet his eyes as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I know you probably don't want your daughter thinking of me as her mother. Especially when you and I are just friends. I did try to discourage it, but her reasoning was surprisingly logical."

When Becker didn't say anything Jess assumed it was because he was angry. But the next she thing she knew he had closed the space between them, and was gently cupping her face as he captured her lips with his. At first Jess was shocked, she certainly hadn't expected their conversation to take this turn. But then she was responding to the kiss, running her hands up his chest and into his hair.

The kiss ended when their need for air became too great and they pulled away, Becker resting his forehead on Jess'.

"I promised myself that if I ever got back I would tell you how I feel about you. The fact that you, Lily, and Maddie get along so well, and that you clearly care about them…it makes me love you even more."

"You love me?" Jess pulled away from him, just far enough to look into Becker's eyes.

"I love you more than I've ever loved anyone other than my daughters."

"You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that. I love so much Becker, when I saw you get thrown through that anomaly I died inside. If it wasn't for Lily and Maddie, I don't know what I would have done. They took care of me just as much as I did them."

Tears had started rolling down Jess' checks as she spoke and Becker pulled her into a tight embrace, tucking her head in under his chin.

"Shh. It's okay, Jess. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." He murmured quietly as he stroked her hair.

"I know, but… Becker I was beginning to think you were dead." She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around him, trying to get as close to him as possible. She needed the physical contact to know he was really there.

Becker held her as Jess let all the grief she had been holding back for months' flow out of her system.

"Move in with me." He said when Jess' breathing had evened out.

Jess looked up at him. "What?"

"Move in with me. I know it may seem fast, and I'll understand if you're not ready, but if this experience has taught me anything, it's that life changes in an instant. I don't want to waste any more time than I already have. I love you Jess, I want to go to sleep every night with you in my arms and I want you to be the first thing I see every morning. I want to come home after a long day at work to you, Lily, and Maddie and know that everything is right in my world."

Jess didn't know what to say. He was right, it was fast, but maybe that was okay. She had already been acting as a mother to Lily and Maddie for months now, and she'd loved Becker for as long as she's worked at the ARC. Maybe moving in together wouldn't be that crazy. If she was being honest they had been acting like a couple ever since she found out about the girls; taking turns picking Lily up from day care, the four of them going out on weekends, spending their evenings together. The only difference was eventually one of them would leave. They already acted like a family, maybe it was time to make it official?

"Okay." The moment she agreed, Becker swept her up and spun her around, a huge smile on his face.

It was as they were rejoicing that Connor came into the lab.

"Um…sorry to interrupt."

Jess and Becker both froze, they knew something had to be wrong if Connor wasn't teasing them about catching them together.

"What is it Connor?" Jess asked.

"It's just that…well, we…um…we can't exactly find Maddie."

"What do you mean you can't find her?"

"Temple, where is my daughter?"

"We don't know. Emily went to pick her up from her friend's house but she wasn't there—apparently they weren't even expecting her—so she went to your flat to see if she was there and she wasn't. We think she may have run away."