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39.

As the time drew closer to the designated evening, Bradley constantly worried that he'd forgotten something, omitted a small detail that was paramount to executing the plan perfectly.

It was unfounded, he knew, because every single person who was in on the proposal, from Natali to Sarah and everyone in between, had made certain no stone was left unturned and each cog in the wheel moved smoothly.

Three days before, Stefani had just gotten off the phone with Bobby, a frown crossing over her pretty features.

"What's up?" He bent to kiss her and Lea, balancing on her hip, chewing happily on a homemade chocolate chip cookie.

"Bob said they cancelled my interview," she smoothed down some flyaways from Lea's pigtails. "Well, that stinks, huh? I was looking forward to getting away with you two and seeing my mom and dad. And Irina, too. I'm sure she was excited to get to see this little lady again," she tickled Lea's foot and the little girl giggled. "We could still go. Make a vacation out of it."

"We could," he agreed, taking pains to keep any panic out of his voice, "but I was just going to tell you, Dave wants to plan a tasting thing on Saturday, really casual and last minute, for some big wigs in the restaurant industry. He doesn't need me there, of course, he'll have Lukas and the rest of the crew, so if you still wanted to go..."

"That's amazing, baby!" She enthused, turning to Lea. "Pretty cool, huh? No, of course, stay! My parents will understand if we postpone until next weekend. I'll just have to let Irina know."

"I can do that," he offered quickly, garnering another one of her strange looks, which had become commonplace as of late. Natali had informed him that she had tried to press her for information but she managed to distract her with asking for her help to pick out a dress for a date with Lukas and it had worked, for the time being, anyway.

"Okay, perfect. Do you mind if I go, then? I could help. Or do you think that would be too distracting?"

The way she was constantly aware that at times her presence created a commotion still managed to send a pang into the center of his chest and he shook his head. "You're never a distraction. Not a bad one."

He winked and she rolled her eyes. "You're silly."

Lea grinned, picking up on the teasing. "Yeah, Daddy. So silly," she put extra emphasis on "so", making them both laugh.

"I am, I guess. And of course I want you there, honey. If you want to be."

"Tell me what time and what to wear and I'm all yours."

The ease in which the entire thing was coming together was almost too good to be true and the pessimist in him had to wonder if a problem would arise to screw things up.

He kissed her temple, both of his girls leaning into him before Lea asked to be let down and she scampered off to play before bath time.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

He wrapped an arm around Stefani's waist, indulging in a kiss now that they were alone. "I'm good. Great, actually. Excited about Saturday. Thanks for being so flexible with your plans, love."

"I'm actually glad the trip got pushed back," she admitted. "I would've felt so guilty if you had to miss this. I could've gone alone but I wouldn't want to miss it, either. This is a big deal." Thoughtfully, she glanced at him, "the only question is, why so last minute? Four days is an awfully short time to prepare, isn't it?"

His heart beat erratically in his chest and frantically, he grasped for an explanation that wouldn't further arose anymore suspicions. "Well," he began, feeling horrified as he realized sweat had gathered at his temples, "Dave was trying to secure something for the past few weeks but I didn't want to say anything until he had, you know? I didn't want to jinx us. And honestly, it's really just casual. Bo will be there, too. A few important people, so Lukas wants to make a good impression but I think it'll be fine."