I Wanna Sing You a Sunrise

Chapter 24: Love Me Like You Do

A/N: Hi guys, here's another M-rated chapter to cheer up your Monday:) Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

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April 2019

Bradley scooped up his daughter, giving the little girl a smile, brushing blonde strands of hair from her face. "Ready to go on a plane, sweetheart?"

Lea grinned widely, bouncing excitedly on his arms. "Big plane, daddy! Big plane!"

"Well, not a very big one this time." He kissed her cheek, walked to the window of the Van Nuys Airport departures building, pointing at the white private jet parked on the runway. "That one over there."

His daughter nodded. "Stef's plane."

"Yes, that's right." He smiled, rubbing her back, watching into the late April mid-morning; it was hot, air rippling over the vast, currently empty runways of the airport. They were about to board the jet to head to New York; Lea had been with him for the past two weeks as Irina had had back-to-back work commitments, and he was dropping his daughter off to her mother now, having thoroughly enjoyed spending a lot of time with the little girl. Stefani was joining them, heading over to New York for meetings that would start on the following day; today, both of their schedules were blissfully empty.

"Hey guys." Hannah walked to them with a smile, touched Lea's hand. "Hello, beautiful girl; it's very nice to finally meet you. Come on through; Stefani's running a bit late, but I don't think we will be too badly delayed."

"I had a feeling she'd be late." Bradley rolled his eyes with a grin, followed her outside and to the plane, carrying the very excited Lea. "This one has been talking about our trip all week long, looking forward to finally seeing Stef's plane."

Hannah laughed, led the way up the stairs onboard. "She has clearly inherited your love of airplanes. Do you two want anything to drink, or snacks?"

"I think we're good for now." He waved at Rob and lowered Lea onto his usual seat; the little girl was having none of it, jumping down immediately and making her way further along the corridor, wide-eyed. "Be careful, sweetheart, okay?"

He placed their bags into the overhead storage, then followed his daughter; she pointed at the enlarged concert photo of the blonde on the back wall.

"Pretty Stef."

"Yeah." He pressed a kiss on the top of her head, watched the picture for a moment himself, smiling; Stefani really was so beautiful in it. "Very, very pretty."

Lea explored every seat, climbing on, then shaking her head, declaring it unfit and moving onto the next one and he laughed, very entertained by his daughter's antics. She had just climbed onto the couch when they heard the sound of heels clicking against the plane's stairs and a huge grin spread on the little girl's face.

"Stefi!"

She rolled off the couch, ran over before he could open his mouth, squealing with excitement and Bradley watched as the two blondes met by the plane's entrance, Stefani smiling widely and picking Lea up.

"Hi there, princess. It's so good to see you."

Lea flung her arms around her neck, squeezed tightly and he couldn't help tearing up a little at the sight. The two were so close, had been since Lea's birth and it was just as incredible to see every single time; looking at them, it was very clear that they had missed each other terribly. They hadn't met in nearly a month, not since the day of his daughter's second birthday party when Stefani had stopped by once the other guests had departed, on her way to the airport to catch a plane to Mexico to celebrate her own birthday with Natali and a bunch of friends, bringing Lea several stunning presents. Bradley had really wanted to go to Cabo with her but they had both agreed it would be a huge risk and judging by the amount of paparazzi photos of her trip, they had made the right decision; when she had returned, he had carried a bunch of gifts into her house, among them a pair of emerald earrings that matched her bracelet, and they had more than made up for the break, spending a very blissful couple of days in bed.