Sicilian Nights

Part 4: Truths and Revelations

A/N: Hey guys, another chapter is finally here. Sorry for the wait!

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Stefani watched, very amused, as her sister squirmed on her seat; Natali was terrible at keeping secrets even at the best of times and the blonde couldn't even imagine how hard keeping this particular one probably was for her. She was hiding her hands tightly in the pockets of her white hoodie so Natali wouldn't see she was already engaged, wanting to playfully torture her sister just a little longer.

"So." Natali gave her a quick glance, moving restlessly. "Bradley returning early must have been a nice surprise."

"Yep. The best kind." She bit her cheek to keep from laughing, removed her right hand from her pocket to pick up her coffee mug, took a sip. "He's out now... running some errands."

That wasn't quite true, strictly speaking; he was in fact at his house, starting the process of getting it packed up and onto the market. Stefani smiled, a tremendous wave of happiness moving through her and Natali eyed her suspiciously.

"Why do you look like a cat in front of a particularly delicious bowl of cream?"

The blonde shrugged, slid down from her seat by the breakfast bar. "I had a good night."

"Oh, I'm sure you did." Her sister chuckled. "Speaking of, you still owe me that report; start spilling some details."

"I wasn't referring to sex. Well, not exclusively." She placed her mug into the sink, decided it was time to let Natali out of her misery. Returning to the breakfast bar, she slowly pulled her left hand out of her pocket, took a deep breath and presented it to her sister.

"Some other stuff happened last night too."

Natali's eyes fell down to her hand; then there was a very sharp intake of breath and the blonde prepared herself, making a face one second later as her sister's scream echoed through the kitchen, frightening her dogs that had been sleeping peacefully on the floor. Asia whined, trembling slightly and Stefani shook her head, moving to pet the small dog comfortingly, her ears ringing.

"Jesus Christ, Natali. I'm a singer, I need my eardrums intact."
"Oh, who cares about your eardrums right now?" Natali jumped from her seat, bounced to her, enclosing her in a massive hug. "Oh my God, Stef. Oh my God, oh my God."

She chuckled, wrapping her arms around her little sister in turn. "It can't be a huge surprise; according to Bradley he asked for your permission."

"He did, but he was supposed to do this tomorrow; he had this amazing plan that had me crying on the phone like a baby, but of course you two never stick to plans." Natali grasped her hand, looked at the ring, sniffling. "It's so beautiful. Oh Stef."

"I know." A few tears ran down her face. "I've had too many rings on this finger but this one is forever; I need my wedding ring to be a good match because they'll be together and neither of them is ever coming off."

Natali nodded, brushed her thumb against the diamond. "I'm so happy for you. And can we take a second to reflect on the fact that Bradley Cooper is going to be my brother-in-law? Holy mother of God."

She laughed, kissed her sister's head, glancing at her phone as it rang, smiling and picking it up. "Hey, baby."

"Hey, gorgeous." Bradley's warm voice drifted through the phone, accompanied by a chuckle. "This is going to be a fun operation. I really don't know how I have managed to accumulate this much stuff."

"Let me know if you need help packing it all up." She grinned, watched as Natali's eyes grew into saucers, held up a hand. "Do not scream."

"Well, I'm not quite that desperate yet... hang on. Who are you talking to?" Bradley sounded confused and Stefani laughed.