Title: Babysitting

Author: little_profiler

Fandom: Primeval

Pairing: Becker/Jess

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to ITV1. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time. The idea of the story as well as the story itself – including all possible pre- or sequels published afterwards – are mine.

Summary: Written for the just-kiss-her vanilla kink meme. The prompt was "Becker is left holding the baby. Literally! Maybe they're at a family get together, or even better if it's because he's just done an emergency rescue during a creature incursion (because then you get the great image of him holding a baby whilst dressed in his black combat gear and also holding at least one gun!).
Jess sees this and thinks it's adorable/hilarious/terrifying/any or all of the above!" by deinonychus_1.

Warnings: not beta-read

Author notes: Well, I had this little sequel to 'Quarantine' and 'Miracle' in mind for a long time, but I wasn't really sure if I actually wanted to write it. Then there was this prompt, and… well, here's the story. ;)

And, oh, the creature incursion is just for you, prompter. ;)

"The anomaly is closed," Matt reported, handing back his black box at the ADD. "We sent the Deinonychus back through before we locked it. The nanny's been brought to a hospital, she'll probably make it. Until the parents arrive, we have to take care of junior here."

That being said, Matt disappeared through the main corridor.

"Hey, um… what about…" Becker asked, but couldn't even finish the sentence before Matt was out of sight. "Great," he grumbled.

"I don't know, it kind of suits you," Abby teased with a wide grin on her face.

Jess, her curiosity aroused, turned around – and froze in her chair. There he was, standing in the middle of the ADD, holding a baby in his arms. A baby!

Well, actually he was holding the baby in one arm while holding his EMD in the other hand which made the whole scene look kind of… out of a Marvel comic. Normally, she would have laughed about it – but she didn't feel one bit like laughing at the moment.

"He seems to like you," Lester commented from the door to his office. "Why don't you take care of him until his parents get here? And put the gun away when his parents arrive, it might ruin the impression you took good care of their son."

"I… um… Abby, isn't that a woman thing?" he tried. "You know, natural maternal instinct and all that?"

"Sorry, not for me," Abby told him with a smirk. "Why do you even worry? You're doing really great."

"Yeah, as long as he's not doing a poo," he grunted.

Abby giggled. "Then you'll have to change his nappies."

"I'm not going to change anyone," Becker argued, gently swaying the baby without really noticing it as the little boy stirred in his arms.

Jess almost wasn't able to hold back the tears that wanted to spring to her eyes. Abby was right, the baby suited Becker really well – and he was indeed doing great with the little boy. But he didn't seem to enjoy it one bit.

The sight scared her in the strangest of all ways. He looked much more handsome and much more attractive than ever with the baby scooped up in his arms – and he looked just as horrified by the idea of holding the baby.

Seeing him like this made Jess realise that there was no way they were ever going to have children. He didn't like children. He didn't want them. They wouldn't have any.

"It's okay, just… give him to me," Jess offered. "I'll take care of him."

Becker stared at her for a second, before sighing with relief and handing the baby over to her. "You're a life-saver," he whispered, gently kissing the top of her head.

"Yeah, you know, it's a woman thing," she told him, lovingly looking at the baby in her arms. "Natural maternal instinct and all that."

He smiled as he watched Jess cradle the baby. She looked… beautiful, and in a strange way sexy with the baby in her arms. And for a moment, just for a brief moment, Becker imagined her holding their baby.

"Children aren't all that bad, huh?" Abby whispered next to him.

"Oh, look who's talking," he grumbled.

"She seems to be a natural talent," Abby said, pointing her head towards Jess. "Unfortunately, I'm not."

"Have you ever really tried?" he asked in all honesty.

Abby blinked at him. "No," she admitted. "But I guess I would if I had to. I mean, if by any chance I got pregnant… Not that Connor and I are actually thinking about it… Well, you know what I mean."

"Yeah," he replied, chuckling slightly.

"What about you?" Abby wanted to know.

He turned to raise his eyebrow at her. Then he shrugged, turning back to Jess. "I always thought I never wanted children. I mean, with everything that's out there and my job…"

"You thought?" she pressed him.

He frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Yeah, at one time."

"She really seems to enjoy taking care of the baby," Abby said with a wide grin.

Becker couldn't help but smile. It was obvious that Jess got along really well with the baby, and that she got great pleasure from it.

Jess was indeed enjoying taking care of the baby, whose name was Adam, as a tag on his clothes told her. In fact, she was enjoying it way too much for her own good. She really shouldn't get used to this. It was never going to be, not when she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Becker – and she absolutely wanted to.

She was sad when Adam's parents came to pick him up. Gently stroking her abdomen, she allowed her mind for a brief second to imagine having an own child, cradling it in her arms, nursing it, feeding it, taking it to bed…

"Thanks for saving me from taking care of him," Becker told her with a smile. "You know, I'm… really not all that good with kids. I mean, not as good as you are."

That almost was enough to let the dam break, but again she managed to hold her tears back. "You're welcome," she simply said, before quickly – much too quickly – heading back to the ADD.

Becker frowned as he watched her leave. Apparently, he had said something wrong. But he honestly didn't know what it was. Even after almost two months, he sometimes simply wasn't able to make sense of her behaviour.

He would buy her chocolate and apologize, even if he wasn't sure for what. Maybe he could get her to talk about it.

He left the building for lunch instead of eating with the others to buy some of her favourite chocolate and some prawn crackers, just in case – and was surprised not to find her in the ADD. A few minutes later he was in panic because he couldn't find her at all.

They had pretty much searched the whole building for her, until it occurred to Abby where she might be hiding. Something had been wrong this morning. She had been different after Adam's parents had picked him up.

As a matter of fact, she had seemed distraught about it – or maybe about something else, but she refused to talk. She'd told everyone she was just fine.

Abby had guessed she and Becker had fought about something, but Becker had assured her it wasn't the case. Yet something was wrong about their field coordinator.

Carefully, Abby opened the door to the lady's rest room. She heard sniffling coming from one of the cubicles.

"Jess," she softly asked, knocking on the door. "Jess, open up! We've been searching the whole building for you for almost two hours."

"I just wanted to be alone," she sniffled behind the closed door. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because you disappeared without notice, and because you're all in tears," Abby told her. "Please, Jess, tell me what's wrong."

She reluctantly opened the door, looking at Abby, her face covered in tears. "I don't know what to do," she admitted between sobs.

"What happened, Jess?" Abby pressed her. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

She looked down, shaking her head. She couldn't tell Abby – or anyone else for that matter. It wouldn't change anything anyway. And she was sure Becker wouldn't want anyone to know; if he had known.

"It's about Adam, isn't it?" Abby guessed. Her mood had changed after his parents had picked him up, after all.

"No, yes… somehow," she mumbled.

Abby frowned at her. "Jess, I honestly don't know how to help you," she finally said. "Please, tell me what's wrong!"

She raised her head to look at Abby, and then sniffled. "Becker doesn't want kids," she whispered.

Okay, that certainly wasn't what a girl wanted to hear – but they were both still very young and they had only just started dating after they'd almost died about two months ago. It wasn't like this was a relevant matter, unless…

"Oh, my God," Abby burst out. "You're pregnant!"

Jess nodded, and then burst into tears again.

"Wow," was all Abby managed to say. She honestly hadn't expected this.

"I… I know it was stupid, there are so many ways not to get pregnant," she mumbled between sniffles. "But we thought we were going to die, and the last thing we thought about was… using protecting…"

"Wait a second," Abby exclaimed, interrupting her. "Here, in the medical bay, while you were in quarantine?"

She nodded, sobbing once more.

Gently pulling her into a tight embrace, Abby asked, "Does Becker know?"

Jess shook her head, sniffling.

"You should talk to him first," Abby advised. "You might be surprised."

"I can't," Jess replied between soft sobs. "He… doesn't want children."

"Talk to him, Jess," Abby insisted. "He's really worried about you."

Not waiting for Jess's permission, Abby walked outside, nodding at Becker to tell him that Jess was inside.

"Be careful with her," she whispered. "This is bigger than you can imagine."

Frowning, Becker stepped inside. He found Jess huddled up against the wall, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

Rushing to her side, he gently pulled her into his arms. "Jess, what's wrong?" he whispered. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm… so… s… sorry," she stuttered between hard sobs.

"About what, Jess?" he carefully pressed her. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

She raised her head to look at him. "I'm… pr… pregnant," she whispered.