Montana Sky

Chapter 8: The Sun Will Shine

I've seen that look somewhere before
Your sorrow's like an open door
You've been this way for much too long
Somebody must have done you wrong
But one day the sun will shine on you
Turn all your tears to laughter
One day your dreams may all come true
One day the sun will shine on you
– Gary Moore: One Day –

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The room was starting to lighten up when he woke, the clock on the nightstand opposite just hitting six thirty; the house was quiet, even though Bradley was sure Mary at least was up already. The baby monitor, also on the nightstand, was turned off and he remembered Lea was with Irina, sighed a little as one of his favorite things of all time was to receive a happy greeting and a sunny smile from his daughter at the start of the new day. But this morning was different; this morning he was greeted with something entirely new instead, something very beautiful.

Stefani was on her side facing him, breathing steadily and evenly; her long eyelashes were fluttering, cheeks rosy with sleep and his arms were still securely around her, the fingers of her free hand pressed against his chest. Clearly they had both slept like logs, without moving much at all and Bradley watched her gorgeous face, feeling so unbelievably blessed and still quite amazed to have this woman in his life, this immensely powerful and famous woman who at the same time was the kindest, most caring and most genuine person he had ever known. He thought back to the day before, smiled at the memory of her determination to save the adorable little calf; while he had already made a note of that particular one himself right after her birth, and most likely would have kept her even without the intervention, the small animal was doubly lucky now to have the blonde as her fairy godmother, just as lucky as him and Lea and everyone whose life Stefani's magic touched in any way.

He was drawn from his thoughts by a little whimper, noticing her face was constricting slightly in what looked like pain; Bradley eased his hold of her, worried he was making it worse, feeling her tense up.

"Are you hurting?" he whispered, touched her cheek. "A flareup?"

She gave a small nod and bit her lip, keeping her eyes closed, whimpering again; he swallowed, not sure what to do, feeling so helpless just like in the ambulance right after the accident. "Can I get... do you need medication or...?"

"Just hold me?" The deep green eyes cracked open briefly, misty and filled with pain. "Your warmth... it helps. If you're not in a hurry to get up."

"God, no. Not at all." He returned his arms around her, kissing her forehead; he was definitely not going anywhere right now, no matter how long his to-do list for the day was. He bunched the duvet more securely over her hip to create additional warmth in case that was hurting, very gently rubbed her shoulders; Stefani's eyes were closed again, her face pale, breathing fitful and slightly labored and God, he hated this so much, hated this condition she had to deal with, hated how much it was making her hurt and that she had to wake up to the pain.

"Thank you," she muttered, her face pressed against his as she tried to take slow, deeper breaths; Bradley kept her enclosed on his arms as securely as possible while at the same time trying to make sure his hold wasn't too tight. It took a while but eventually she started to relax, the rock-like stiffness of her shoulders diminishing as the spasm eased slowly, and he withdrew just a little to be able to see her face; the room was quite well lit now and he felt relieved as her expression of pain receded bit by bit. Still he held on for a moment longer until her breathing had normalized, and her face had regained some color.

"Better?" He wasn't quite sure if she had fallen back to sleep but Stefani nodded, opening her eyes again; they looked very green and very tired and he gently touched his lips to hers, pulled the duvet back over her.