Cooper's Children's Home // BradGa

E L E V E N

Stefani looked up with a risen eyebrow when the kids all gathered around her with big smiles on their faces. She sat up on the couch to be able to pay them better attention and tilted her head to the side with a smile. "What's going on here?"

Anna was the one to step forward and speak up, clearing her throat before she did so. "Today is your last day here and we will all miss you very much. You've become part of our family by now and we usually never accept people into our family!" She started.

Stefani could already feel the tears form in her eyes and caught Bradley's eyes on her from a bit further away. He was leant against the door frame, connecting the kitchen to the living room area with his arms crossed and a small smile on his face.

"We all know that you love that type writer thing and use it so often, I literally get nightmares from the sound it makes." Anna joked, the kids snickering behind her.

Stefani giggled through the tears as well and wiped at her eyes to keep them from falling.

"So we all threw our pocket money together and got you this." She announced, struggling to place the heavy box on the table in front of her. "We painted on it and wrote something nice on it so you'll always remember us and won't forget all of our names." She smiled widely.

Stefani opened the beige box and when her eyes landed on the messily painted typewriter for the first time she broke down in tears and sobs. She jumped off of the couch, opened her arms widely and smiled when the kids wrapped their arms around her, some of their little hands circling her legs, others her waist and some hands clutched her shirt or neck tightly. "It's beautiful, thank you guys so much. I will never forget any of you, I promise. I love you, you're my family now too." She said, wiping over her wet eyes with a smile on her face.

"We also know you've got the hots for Bradley." Anna then blurted out, a mischievous smirk on her round face.

Stefani gasped and glared at Bradley who's eyes were widened. "What did you tell them?" She asked.

Bradley held his hands up in protest and shook his head. "Nothing!"

Anna giggled. "He didn't have to! Please, it was so obvious. The way you look at each other? Rose and Jack from Titanic have no chance against you!" She teased. "He also keeps staring at your ass." She added in a quieter voice.

The little ones around them snickered, repeating the 'funny' word under a fit of giggles.

"Oh my god." Stefani hid her face behind her hands with a laugh escaping her lips. "By the way!" She held her finger up. "It's Bradley who has the hots for me." She said, making Anna roll her eyes.

"I don't care who the first one to make a move was, y'all better enjoy the dinner we ordered for you. Hope you like Chinese." She finished, right as the doorbell rang. She blew them both a kiss and the kids all ran upstairs into their rooms, laughing and playing again already.

"You should learn from her, that was much smoother than anything else you've ever done." Stefani teased him while they both walked to the door to pay for their food and take it inside.

Bradley chuckled and sat down next to her on the floor in front of the couch, the food on the table in front of them. He covered them up with a thin blanket and handed her a takeaway box full of noodles and a pair of chopsticks. "I didn't know about any of this by the way."

Stefani rose an eyebrow and looked at him, her chopsticks loaded with the noodles already. "What do you mean?"

"The typewriter they bought and painted, the dinner." He paused to look at her. "That was all them. We've had plenty of charity workers here before and they've never done anything like this. They seem to really love you." He smiled.