Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me. This is fan fiction, not for profit.

Any references to people, places, businesses, etc. are entirely fictitious.

Inspiration?

Per website, a friend shared, regarding new dinosaur – Murusraptor barrosaensis –"this new monstrous being would resemble a rather demonic, furry Dr. Seuss character." This one's for you.

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"Awww, they're both sleeping," cooed a soft happy voice from the front room.

Becker's head jerked up at the sound of Abby's words. Mustard continued to dribble unnoticed from the squeeze bottle in his hands. Some of the mustard landed on the sandwich he was building, but a thin yellow trail spattered on the kitchen counter and followed his hand as he spun around. Becker faced the living room. Unnoticed, mustard puddled on the floor beside his black booted feet. Abby and Jess were back. How? The dark haired soldier hadn't heard the front door.

"They look so sweet together," agreed Jess.

"Sweet?" Becker snorted under his breath, remembering the past hour.

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With her mum barely out of the house, Little Sarah turned her dark eyes upon her father. Bottom lip trembled. A piercing wail filled the flat.

"I'm sure you've got security stuff to do," Connor offered Becker an escape. "Really Abby and Jess were just teasing. You don't have to stay."

The temporal scientist gently patted his six week old daughter between her tiny shoulder blades. Deep purple circles made Connor's dark eyes look even darker than usual. Becker had been very tempted to leave, but he wouldn't leave his friend alone. Besides, Becker had promised Jess.

"She's not quite as loud as an anomaly alert," smiled Becker. "Besides, I'm the experienced one."

"Really?"

"I've survived nieces you know," confirmed Becker. "Babies are not as bad as raptors."

"Do they ever sleep?"

You would have to be deaf not to hear the desperation in Connor's voice.

"Eventually," assured the brave Captain.

A huge belch erupted from the topmost orifice of the tiny human. Something else spewed from the other end. After cleaning Little Sarah and outfitting her with a fresh nappy and onesie, Connor paced through the flat singing an off key rendition of Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.

"I'm gonna put in for hazardous duty pay," teased Becker.

"She's not that bad," protested Connor looking hurt.

"No," smirked Becker. "But your singing is!"

Connor finally settled in an overstuffed chair by the fireplace. He cradled the infant in his left arm. Reaching with his right hand, the genius picked up a brightly colored picture book with a large yellow bird on the front.

"You're gonna read to her?" Becker couldn't keep his astonishment from out of his voice. "She's too young to understand."

"Abby says sometimes Sarah likes a story," insisted Connor.

"Alright," conceded Becker raising his hands to either side of his broad shoulders. "I'm not arguing."

"It's nearly lunch time, you should get yourself a sandwich," suggested Connor.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Dunno," answered Connor. He paused. "I had cuppa tea and a cold slice of pizza earlier. Not sure when exactly."

The tall soldier returned with a ham and cheese sandwich to find the baby blinking her eyes. Connor's low voice recited "…bellies with stars". Without looking, Connor took the sandwich from Becker's hand and between bites, finished the story. Connor's dark eyes closed just moments after his daughter. Father and daughter both slept with their mouths open, little snuffles of air sounding in the now quiet flat. Both drooled too. Becker tiptoed away from the pair sleeping in the big chair while he went to make his own sandwich.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"You're back," greeted Becker.

"Ssssh!" admonished both women.

Abby set her shopping bag down beside Connor's chair and gently lifted the sleeping infant from her husband's arms.

"I'll just get you to your crib," smiled the blonde woman.

Jess' hazel eyes beamed at Becker. The field coordinator knelt down to pick up the book Connor had dropped as Abby carried the baby upstairs. The oblivious new father snored on.

"Not half bad," praised Jess with a smirk.

"I can do the baby thing you know," responded Becker with a warm smile.

"What about kitchens?"

"Huh?"

Jess pointed a red polished finger to the floor at Becker's left. Belatedly the captain righted the mustard bottle.

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Becker pulled the flat door shut behind him. Jess waited at the bottom of the steps. As he joined her, she tucked her left arm in to the crook of his right elbow and leaned into Becker's black greatcoat. The pair began walking to the tube station. Becker reined in his long stride to match Jess' smaller steps.

"I can't imagine why Connor would read scary books about creatures to Little Sarah for a bedtime story."

Becker felt Jess' shudder. He reached his left hand over to clasp her hand. His thumb rubbed across the gold band on her fourth finger. As his bigger hand covered her slender fingers, the band on his own ring finger met hers.

"Scary?" Becker objected. "It's a children's book, a Doctor Seuss book!"

"The picture of that big yellow Sneetch looked an awfully lot like the thing that came through last week's anomaly," countered Jess. "Even had stars."

"Ornamental feathers," reminded the SAS officer. "Nothing but fluff."

"That time period would probably fill in one of those holes on Connor's anomaly map," smiled Jess.

Becker's hazel eyes blinked. Matt hadn't been able to confirm the species of last week's new creature. The yellow and green creature was too big to be a raptor, but vicious and fast. The anomaly had fluctuated like the one to the Victorian period. Had the creature come from the Jurassic era, or the twentieth century? Next to Connor, his wife knew the most about anomalies.

"Do you really think so?"

"Inspiration has to come from somewhere," smirked Jess. "Right?"

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