Take Me to Your Paradise

Chapter 6: Family Portrait

Lea turned the pages of the colourful children's book slowly, her face very concentrated as she pointed the animal pictures out to her little sister. "Puppy... kitty... pony..."

Stefani chuckled, reaching to pick up a few toys from the floor; the two girls were so adorable together, laying on a soft blanket in the living room, the three-year-old and the three-month-old. She could see and sense the obvious deep bond between them and it made her tear up every time, as did the obvious similarities in their looks; while Francesca did look a lot like her and Lea was still the spitting image of Bradley, it was also very clear that they were sisters, sharing some facial features they both had inherited from their father, including the big blue eyes. Francesca's were a warmer blue and Bradley swore he had seen flecks of green in them the other day, smiling at the baby and telling her she might get her mother's eye colour after all; Stefani still saw only blue despite having tried to spot any changes very regularly lately.

Car headlights reflected through the window and she headed over to open the door for him like she still very often did; in the early days it had been her way of welcoming him into her house, now it was her way of welcoming him home. Bradley smiled at her softly, pulling her into a tight hug. "Hey, gorgeous."

"Hi." Stefani gave him a longing kiss. "How was filming?"

"Pretty good; we should be done in just a couple of days." He rubbed her back for a moment, kissed her forehead and headed to the living room; Lea squealed, jumped onto her feet and rushed over, wrapping her arms tightly around her father's legs.

"Daddy!"

"Hey, sweetheart." Bradley kissed the top of her head, laughed as Francesca released an angry screech at getting left behind and started to cry, trying her very best to turn towards her father but failing, frustrated tears flowing down her adorable face; he scooped Lea up onto his arms, carried her over to the baby. "I think your little sister is starting to get quite annoyed that she can't run yet like you."

Lea nodded, clutching onto him. "Lea teaches sissy wun. Like the wind!"

"One day you can, but really carefully. Hello, little angel." He settled onto the floor, picked the baby up and settled her into the crook of his arm, pulling Lea back onto his lap and kissing both of their foreheads; Stefani watched, brushing a few tears from her own face. He truly was such an incredible father, always had time for both of the girls in equal measure, was always making sure Lea didn't feel left out in any way when she was with them. She knew it was difficult for him, to have one daughter here in California, another mostly in New York; they saw Lea as much as possible and Irina had been wonderfully flexible and helpful, a couple of times bringing the three-year-old over to LA herself but Stefani was well aware the distance wasn't easy to deal with for either the father or the daughter. Lea adored her little sister, always eager to play with her and entertain her, kissing and hugging her all the time but she did sometimes throw tantrums and cried a lot at moments of goodbye and the expression on Bradley's face always tore at the blonde's heart.

She made her way over, leaned down to press a kiss on his head. "You hungry? We had dinner about an hour ago and there's plenty left; Bo and I made some lasagne today and Lea was a really amazing help."

"Were you?" Bradley smiled at his older daughter, kissed her forehead. "I'm so glad to hear that; I think you might be a little masterchef in the making, huh?"

Stefani grinned and straightened, made a face as a slight pain flashed through her hip; he noticed of course, reached for her hand. "Are you okay?"

"Just a bit stiff." She sighed and he nodded, moved Lea a little and stood, Francesca cooing contently against his shoulder. He pulled her close, kissed her tenderly and massaged her lower back for a moment, the feeling blissful.