Ethereal

Chapter 8: Ignited

A/N: Hi all - I've been away from Wattpad for a little while because this new confusing (PR?/Not-PR?) situation is just giving me a headache, and I wanted to try and distance myself a bit from my Bradga addiction but here is another chapter of this one for you:) Enjoy!

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Bradley pressed a gentle kiss on his daughter's forehead and lowered her into the crib; Lea whimpered in her sleep, then settled at the soothing caress of her father's fingers against her cheek. He touched her blonde hair, watching the five-month-old baby with a tender smile on his face; this beautiful little girl may have been a complete surprise, might have turned his life entirely upside down in so many respects but he had adored her so deeply from the moment she had drawn her first breath in the middle of a dark, chilly December night. From her birth, she had looked so much like him it had astounded everyone and Bradley would never forget the moment his daughter had first looked at him with her big blue eyes, her tiny fingers closing around his in a tight hold; tears had dropped from his eyes, splashed onto her, tears of love and gratitude and relief for her safe arrival. Standing there by the window of the hospital room with the precious newborn baby on his arms, this amazing gift of his flesh and blood, had in many respects been the happiest moment he had ever experienced, but still his mind had been tinged with a slight sadness; Lea held his heart now but she was sharing it with another, the woman he never could get out of his thoughts, the woman who hadn't been there by his side to share that moment, one of life's most unique offerings.

Stefani.

"Is she asleep?"

He startled from his intense concentration on the baby, glanced over his shoulder at his girlfriend.

"Yeah."

"Good." Irina smiled, stopping next to him and brushing her fingers against the baby's soft cheek; leaning to kiss him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, studying his face. "I'm going to bed too. Are you coming?"

"I'll be there soon." Bradley kissed her forehead quickly, turned his eyes back to Lea; Irina withdrew but not before he sensed her stiffening a little, felt the brief accusatory flash from her dark blue eyes. She had grown more and more suspicious during the pregnancy because as much as he had tried keep things good and normal between them, nothing was the same anymore; he was an actor, an excellent one even but only when the cameras were rolling and when they weren't, every emotion of his was clearly readable and during the past year, his mind had resembled the wildest rollercoaster ride. Stefani had spent quite a bit of time at their house in the late summer and early fall; he had created a studio in the basement so they could write and practice songs for the movie and while Irina had always been civil towards her, he could tell she was far from happy and a couple of times when the front door had closed after the blonde, they had immediately drifted into a furious argument.

"The only time you smile is when you're around her," Irina had shouted at him once, tears streaming down her cheeks and her eyes full of rage; Bradley had startled, opened his mouth to tell her she was way off base but had immediately been slammed with the very worrying realization her accusation was very much true. And it was so desperately unfair towards her and his behaviour was terrible; after that fight he had tried to keep his distance to Stefani much more, hadn't had her in the house without Mark or Lukas or the other songwriters and had tried his best to refrain from even looking at her. Of course his eyes had had an entirely different plan, always drifting over to her no matter what control he had tried to exert over himself; his changed demeanour had clearly made her mood confused and low and Bradley had cursed silently in his mind because now he was hurting both Stefani and Irina. None of this was their fault, everything was down to him, and his pregnant girlfriend had been suffering the most; expecting her first child should have been such a happy, exciting time, and he was making it awful by being so tense and closed off with her. Stefani had fared better, she truly was a born actress and had kept herself in check perfectly when Irina had been around; at other times her emotions had showed freely and on occasion he had caught her watching him, huge green eyes filled with tears and pain and all he had wanted to do was to pull her to him, crush his lips onto hers and promise her the world, but he couldn't.