Take Me to Your Paradise

Chapter 10: The Greatest Gift

A/N: This chapter is longer than the Great Wall of China but I hope you enjoy regardless. It's also kind of the last one I currently have planned for this story (apart from an epilogue, probably) but we will see what happens. THANK YOU everyone who has read, voted and commented - I appreciate you all so much.

Rating: M

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Bradley closed the front door quietly behind him, smiled at the sound of several paws scratching against the floor; a moment later all four dogs appeared, led by Charlie, each greeting him with happy whimpers and little barks. Judging by the quietness and the closed blinds, the human inhabitants of the house were still asleep, so he quickly silenced the dogs with quick scratches. "Hey, guys. It's good to see you too but let's keep it down, okay?"

Charlie yawned deeply in response, flopped down next to his bag and closed his eyes; Asia, Koji and Gustavo followed the example and Bradley chuckled, made his way to the living room. Once there, he stalled, took a deep breath at the beautiful sight that greeted him: his wife, asleep on the couch, partly covered by a blanket and their baby daughter gently cradled against her chest, tightly wrapped in very familiar-looking light brown fabric. He swallowed, shook his head, feeling tears prickle at the corners of his eyes; what a damn lucky man he really was, coming home to this.

Stefani looked tired even in her sleep and he pressed a feather-soft kiss onto her forehead, then Francesca's cheek, careful to not wake either of them, headed to fetch the suitcase and carried it upstairs. Quietly heading into the kitchen, he started a pot of coffee; it was clear from everyone's exhausted state that the night hadn't been very peaceful, and he was in dire need of some caffeine too after catching an early morning flight home from a three-day stint in New York and Philadelphia. The coffee had just finished dripping when the blonde took a deep breath, a slight frown drifting over her face and Bradley smiled, crouched down next to the couch and watched as the deep green eyes fluttered open.

"Hey, gorgeous."

Stefani blinked, stared at him for a moment before smiling and closing her eyes again briefly. "Hey, you. When did you get home?"

"Just a while ago." He kissed her softly, remained against her for a while, just enjoying the closeness and the feel of her gently rubbing his neck. "Missed you."

"I missed you too." She kissed him again, smiled against his lips, glancing at Francesca and lowering her voice to a whisper. "And I know someone who was very much longing for daddy as well; she has been little miss cranky pants for pretty much the entire 72 hours you were gone, so for the love of God, please don't wake her up yet."

"Oh." Bradley grinned, gently brushing his fingers against the baby's head. "What's up with you, little girl?"

"I don't know but she has certainly not been a very happy camper." Stefani sat up very carefully, glanced at the clock and he swallowed at the sight of her gorgeous body, clad in just a pair of black lace panties; she chuckled softly, brushed his cheek. "In case you were wondering about my attire or lack thereof, she only calmed down a couple of hours ago once I gave her the shirt off my back, literally."

"Can't say that I mind." He smiled, again feeling his eyes getting a little damp; the baby was swaddled securely in the light brown shirt of Jackson's that he had worn in the movie and Stefani had pinched from the set, still loved to wear regularly four years later. His mouth dried every time she did, both from all the memories and emotions the shirt brought up and from how absolutely breathtaking she looked in it; their daughter looked very, very adorable wearing it too, her hair a little messy, long eyelashes shadowing her cheeks as she breathed calmly and evenly. He kissed her head, took a deep breath, so touched to know the shirt had done its part in calming Francesca down to sleep.