Take Me to Your Paradise

Chapter 3: His Heart's Treasure

A/N: This chapter has some mature content.

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Bradley rubbed his baby daughter's back gently, quietly making his way past her sleeping mother and into the kitchen; Stefani muttered something in her sleep but didn't wake and he sighed with relief. She was exhausted, they both were, after a few very restless nights with the baby, who had been much more hungry and fussy than usual; they had returned to Los Angeles a week ago and even though Francesca had handled the flight over like a complete pro, the time difference, change in location, much hotter weather and the growth spurt he suspected she was going through had all combined to turn their sweet princess into a very, very cranky tiny thing, or a Little Monster in the making, like Stefani had laughingly commented a couple of days ago after finally managing to settle the screaming little girl. He smiled, kissed Francesca's head, marvelling at how glimpses of her Italian heritage seemed to be already shining through in her temperament; she was in general a very happy, easy and content baby but when she was pissed off about something, she really didn't hesitate to let the entire neighbourhood know.

Charlie lifted his head, wagged his tail and Bradley reached to give him a quick pat, the baby staring with wide eyes. She was very interested in watching the dogs and it seemed to go both ways; Charlie had honed his baby skills to perfection back in the day with Lea but Asia, Koji and Gustavo were still somewhat unused to the constant presence of such a tiny human, not sure how to handle her, being a little too affectionate with her at times. Francesca whined restlessly and he started to walk again, making his way to the hall and into the guest bedroom, hoping the steady rocking motion of his steps would calm her.

"Let's try to give mommy a little more sleep, okay, sweetheart?" he whispered to her, stopping by the window and settling the baby onto his arms, kissing her forehead and starting to sing to her quietly, Always Remember Us This Way doing the trick; she listened attentively, eyes tightly focused onto his.

"That's a song your mother and a few other musicians wrote for our movie, about four months after I first met her," he told his daughter, smiling at the memory. "She has such an amazing gift; she did that whole song in just one day and sang it for me perfectly at one go. And then she really scared me with this pain attack; I don't think I'll ever forget how terrified I was."

Francesca gurgled softly in response, his voice and the gentle rocking seeming to keep her content and Bradley smiled, grasping her little hand, watching her adorable face. "We almost kissed that night too, but it wasn't quite the right time yet; your big sister was on the way then and your mom was... she was a little heartbroken after the end of an engagement."

The baby acknowledged this information with a little whimper and he chuckled, held onto her hand securely, feeling quite emotional. The love he had towards both of his daughters was so deep, so all-encompassing and so eternal; it was a little scary at times, well, more than a little to be honest because he wouldn't always be there, one day they would be grown-ups and no matter how much he loved and protected them, he knew very well that this world wasn't always safe. The mere thought of anyone ever trying to harm either Lea or Francesca in any way, even one hair in either of their heads, made him grind his teeth and Bradley took another deep breath, tried to turn his mind onto other things, better things, remembering the day Stefani had shared her amazing news with him, the day he had learned this perfect baby was on her way.

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April 2020

He dropped his suitcase by the door, yawned and rubbed a hand across his face, exhausted after the long plane ride back from Europe where he had been on a three-week stint filming. His body was trying to tell him he definitely should be sleeping right now as it was around four in the morning in France where he had departed sometime in the late afternoon; in LA it was only seven, sun starting to go down in the warm evening. He kicked off his shoes, made his way to the living room, stretching his arms; God, it was good to be home, but the house was strangely quiet, no certain gorgeous blonde in sight.