Show Me

25.

"Try it, baby. Seriously, it's so good. Where did you find this place? I swear, you know all of the little hidden gems in Los Angeles."

The moans of pleasure she gave in between bites of cannoli were giving him decidedly different ideas that weren't connected to dessert at all and coupled with the way she was licking runaway crumbs off of her plump bottom lip, every move she made had him inching closer to her on the bed.

"Here, B," Stefani held out the treat toward him and he took a small bite before gently resting it back on the plate.

Sliding over to her, he took her face in both hands, kissing her deeply and fully, his tounge running over her bottom lip to capture the sweetness there.

"Mmm, delicious."

For a few minutes, they enjoyed one another, taking their time to explore the other's mouth, hands trailing down backs, limbs intertwined.

"What's wrong?"

He had pulled away to glance at her. "We didn't have much of a chance to talk tonight."

"We did far more interesting things than that, B." Stefani tugged him closer by the collar of his t-shirt. "And we can probably skip the whole talking thing now, too. Highly overrated."

He allowed her to distract him for a few more minutes before he shook his head. "Something's up."

"Is this because I dyed my hair back?" She seperated them, ambling over to her side of the bed. "Just needed a change."

"It's not just that." Bradley placed a hand on her hip, feeling her skin flush against his palm. "I know everything lately has been focused on getting the resturant together and you've been amazing. But every single day when you come home or when I get home, I see your eyes, Stef. And it's exhaustion but there's something else, too." Taking a breath, he realized that maybe he didn't want to know the answer.

"Are you unhappy? At all...with anything?"

Her love was as certain as the sunset and he had no reason to believe after all of this time that the root of her being unhappy had anything to do with their relationship. Her eyes still lit up whenever he came into the room, she still snuck kisses every morning at the kitchen table.

There was something else and he wanted to kick himself with having had been too self-absorbed to notice.

"Seriously not a big deal."

"Hey," he held her hands, "if something's bothering you, baby, it's a big deal."

"So, I've been thinking a lot about the future. What I want to do."

The words seemed to be a struggle to get out and he placed the hands in hers on both of her knees, gently kneading into the flesh with just the pads of his thumbs.

"Music, it's always gonna be the thing that keeps me going. It keeps me alive. I don't think that will ever change. But the fact is, I'm getting older. I can see myself still making music in my seventies, like Elton," she managed a slight smile. "The things that seemed in the distance before...they're not now. I met you, Bradley, and we have Lea. And I'd like to give her a brother or sister one day. I know that's not something we discuss much."

She stopped to gauge his reaction and when she saw his expression, she leaned in to kiss him. "There's no rush on that, by the way. But in the not so distant future, maybe?"

"I want everything with you, Stef. The whole nine yards. Is that what was on your mind?"

"No, not entirely." She lifted a hand to rest on her lap, pick at her nail polish. "I love what I do. I love the cosmetics line, I love getting to meet different people and try different things and I'm so damn lucky I get to do that. But at the end of the day, B, I just want to come home and get down on the floor without too much pain and play Barbies with Lea. To maybe not fall asleep in my wine at night. I want to keep writing and making art but the other stuff...I don't know." She looked up at him, "I never wanted a break before. I mean, I got tired and worn-out and I was in pain a lot but to truly want a break from touring and press and everything else was never on my horizon. I have a family now. Someone calls me mama, B. Everything's changed. Am I crazy to want that?"