Author's note: This idea's been playing around in my head for a while now, so I've decided that it must be written. I think it will end up being a lot lighter than Open Mic Night was, as well as shorter (I hope). I've rated it T because of language that may occur in later chapters, but other than that it could probably pass as a K or K+ story. I hope you enjoy the story; I'm certainly enjoying writing it, please feel welcome to leave reviews, feedback is always appreciated. I will try to update as frequently as I was my last story.

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

Secrets

Chapter 1 – Revealed

Jess was finishing off the last of her paper work for the day and getting ready to head home when Lester came storming out of his office. He came marching over to the ADD and Jess tried to repress a sigh, she had a feeling she wasn't as finished with work for the day as she had originally thought.

"Jess, where are those reports I asked for?" Lester demanded as soon as he was within hearing range.

"They're in the folder I left on your desk."

"There is only one folder on my desk and the only things in it are incomplete security reports and EMD replacement request forms."

"Damn it. Becker must have taken the wrong folder off my desk."

"Well could you please tell him to come and switch the folders immediately?"

"I can't. He's already left for the day."

"Then you're just going to have to go and collect them. I need those reports for my meeting with the minister tomorrow morning." Before Jess could say anything to argue, Lester turned and went back into his office.

Finished with the paper work Jess collected her things and the folder that was meant for Becker, and left the ARC for the day.

Jess decided to stop by Becker's place on her way home rather than on her way to work the next day. Lester's meeting was first thing and Jess didn't want to disturb Becker that early in the morning, as he had the following day off.

Arriving at Becker's house, Jess checked the address one last time before going to knock on the door. As she waited for Becker to answer, Jess took in her surroundings. It was a nice neighbourhood; houses lined both sides of the street and Jess couldn't see one that didn't have an immaculately kept lawn. Becker's house was modest sized and looked like it could comfortably house a small family. She couldn't help but wonder why the Captain would need so much space.

The front door opened and Jess was surprised to see a woman—who looked to be a couple years older than her—on the other side.

"I'm sorry," Jess said, a frown forming. "I must have the wrong address. I'm looking for a Captain Becker?"

"No, you've got the right place. How do you know Hil?"

"Oh, right. My name is Jess Parker, I work with Becker." Jess tried to hide her confusion. Who was this woman? She clearly knew Becker well since she knew his first name.

"I'm Melissa Becker." The woman told her, shaking Jess' hand. Jess' heart broke when she heard the woman's name. Was this Becker's wife?

"So you're Jess? Hilary's told me so much about you." Melissa continued, oblivious to the turmoil Jess was experiencing. "Hil had to go out quickly, but he should be home soon. Why don't you come in?"

Before she had a chance to answer, Becker's truck pulled up in the drive way and then he was making his way towards them.

"Daddy!" came a call from inside and then two little girls were pushing past the women in the doorway and running towards Becker, who crouched down to catch them in his arms.

Daddy?! Becker's married?! And he has two daughters?! How does no one know about this?

Jess felt like her whole world was falling apart as she watched Becker stand up, carrying the youngest—who looked to be around three—and make his way to the door.

"Jess? What are you doing here?" Becker's surprised voice brought Jess' thoughts back to the task at hand.

"You accidently took the wrong folder from my desk earlier, the one you took has the reports that Lester needs for his meeting tomorrow in it. Since you had already left and won't be in tomorrow he asked me if I could collect the folder. I also brought you the one you were meant to take home." Jess hoped no one heard the tremor in her voice. She felt like crying, but would rather wait until she was in the privacy of her car to do that.

"Ah sorry I-"

"Mel let us watch movies all day." said the older girl, cutting off Becker's reply. Looking at her Jess guessed she was around nine years old.

"Oh she did, did she?" Becker said, looking at the woman Jess had assumed was his wife. "I'll have to have a talk to her about that."

"And that sounds like my que to leave."

"But Auntie Mel, you promised to play fairy princess with me!" chirped the girl in Becker's arms.

Wait, Auntie?

"Sorry kiddo, next time. I promise."

The girl pouted but didn't argue further. Melissa disappeared inside, only to return moments later with a bag slung over her shoulder. She said goodbye to her three family members and then turned to Jess.

"It was lovely to meet you Jess. I hope next time we get more of a chance to talk, I'd love to see what it is that makes my brother talk so much about you."

Throwing a grin at Becker—who was making sure he looked anywhere but at Jess—Melissa got in her car.

"Why don't you come inside Jess and I'll get that folder for you."

Jess nodded and followed Becker into the house.

###

The inside of the house was as spacious as Jess had thought it would be. The front door lead into a small alcove and from there Jess could see a kitchen/dining area to the left and a living room to the right. The living room currently looked like a play room, as it had toys of every nature scattered across it. Seeing the mess Becker told his daughters to tidy it up, before walking down a corridor that Jess assumed led to the bedrooms, to get Jess' folder.

Jess stood in the alcove trying not to obsess over what she had just learnt. But it turned out that finding out that the man you thought you were falling in love with had two daughters and possibly a wife, was not something that could easily be pushed aside.

Becker returned and handed Jess the folder she had come for. She quickly checked inside to make sure it was the reports Lester needed. Satisfied that she had what she came for, Jess looked up at Becker.

"So, that was your sister."

"Yeah. She looks after the girls for me occasionally."

They stood in silence, neither of them sure of what to say.

"How come none of us know you're married and have two daughters?" Jess blurted out before she could stop herself.

Sighing Becker ran a hand through his hair. "We're going to have to talk about this, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I think we are."

"Well, we may as well have a coffee while we talk."

Becker led her into the kitchen and started making the drinks. While he did that, Jess sat at the counter and waited until he was ready to start talking.

"Well, firstly, I'm not married and before you ask, no I never have been. As for the girls, Lester knows about them, and it's not like I was trying to hide them from the rest of you."

"Then why didn't you tell us?"

Jess wrapped her hands around the mug Becker had placed in front of her. They were both keeping their voices low, neither of them wanting the girls to overhear the conversation.

"There was never a good time to. First, I was new to the team and didn't know anyone well enough to feel comfortable telling them. Then Abby, Connor, and Danny disappeared. After that it just seemed like too much time had passed."

They sat, drinking their coffees in silence. Jess could empathise with Becker. The situation with his daughters was clearly a complicated one and she could understand how he might find it hard to talk about it. But there was still a part of her that was hurt by the fact that Becker hadn't trusted her enough to tell her. She had thought they were closer than that.

"I guess you're wondering about their mother." Becker said, breaking the silence that had once again fallen over them.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, you may as well know the whole story." Becker took a deep breath before continuing. "Maddie was the product of a drunken night with my girlfriend when I was 17. I hate referring to her like that; it makes her sound like something I regret, which I could never do. I adore both my daughters and wouldn't give them up for anything. But, unfortunately, that is how Maddie came into my life and there's no point pretending she didn't."

Jess was taken aback by how open Becker was being with her. Sure, they were close and he told her more than he did anyone else, but he was shearing personal stuff with her now. Something Becker never did.

"After we learnt Maddie was on the way Bianca and I moved in together. Maddie was born and we were happy. Bianca and I got engaged when Maddie was three, though neither of us was in a hurry to set a date and get married. We decided we wanted Maddie to have a sibling and thought we may as well do that before getting married. Bianca fell pregnant again and I couldn't have been happier, turned out Bianca could have been. She reconnected with an old boyfriend a few months before Lily was born and left with him just hours after she had Lily."

"Oh my God! What kind of a person does that? You must have been devastated."

"To be honest, I had almost expected it. We had been drifting apart for months. What was hard was explaining to a five year old that she had a little sister now but her mother was gone. You should have seen the pitying looks the nurses gave me as I took Lily home."

Jess couldn't stop herself from pulling Becker into a tight hug. He looked so sad as he relieved what must have been an incredibly painful part of his life. She couldn't believe that Becker had been raising these two young girls by himself for three years. Jess hated Bianca for what she put this family through and if Jess ever had the displeasure of meeting her, she was going to give the woman a piece of her mind.

After a moment's hesitation Becker returned the embrace, pulling her close. They stayed that way until Jess felt a tug on her cardigan. Looking down Jess's gaze was met with big brown eyes and a toothy grin.

"I'm Lily. Who are you?"

"My name's Jess."

"Are you a friend of Daddy's?"

"I like to think I am."

"Will you stay for dinner?"

"Oh…um…I um…" Jess stammered, not sure of how to answer. Truthfully, she would have loved to stay and have dinner with Becker, and get to watch him interact with his daughters more, but she wasn't sure if Becker would want her to.

"Please. We never get to meet any of Daddy's friends."

"I was beginning to think he didn't have any," came a voice from the door way. Looking over Jess saw Maddie standing there with a smile on her face that was so much like Becker's it was startling.

"Well now you're going to have to stay. I can't have my daughter thinking I'm some sort of friendless loser." Becker said from next to Jess, one of his arms still wrapped around her; a fact that didn't go unnoticed by Maddie.

"Okay, I'll stay."

Jess didn't get home until late that night. Dinner had been just as enjoyable as Jess had hoped it would be. Lily had kept up most of the conversation, telling Jess all about her life at day care and asking her every question imaginable, which Jess answered to the best of her ability. Maddie was a little harder to engage, she seemed almost wary of Jess, but she was more than happy to interact with her father and Jess was content observing the relationship between the two of them.

After dinner, once Becker had taken Lily to bed and Maddie had gone to do homework, Jess found herself back in the kitchen with Becker, talking over a cup of tea. He told her about how he took time off after bringing Lily home so he could care for her, and how he'd taken the job at the ARC so he wouldn't have to worry about the possibility of deployment. He had wanted to be around for his daughters as much as he could, and had felt working at the ARC would allow him to do that, while still being able to serve his country.

Jess had always thought very highly of Becker, but learning that he had been doing the job they did, while raising two girls on his own had increased her opinion of him—something she hadn't thought possible—and made her feelings for him that much stronger.

My God, I'm in deep.