I Wanna Sing You a Sunrise

Chapter 27: Let's Pretend We're Strangers for Tonight

A/N: So, it is time to deal with those photos of Stefani and Dan... I hope this chapter is okay, I have been rewriting and editing it like crazy to get it just right, but I'm such a perfectionist that I'm still not sure. Going to post it now anyway.

Rating: M

Lyrics: Is That Alright? (Songwriters: Aaron Ratiere / Lukas Nelson / Mark Jr. Nilan / Nick Monson / Paul Blair / Stefani Germanotta)

****

July 2019

It was an absolutely sweltering Sunday afternoon, summer heat mercilessly engulfing Los Angeles and Stefani was irritable as hell, trying in vain to turn the air-conditioning up even higher. "Why doesn't this damn thing work?"

Bradley glanced up from his script, smiled at the adorable sight of the tiny blonde squinting at the climate controller, a huge pout on her face. "Because it's already cranked up to the maximum?"

"Can't possibly be," she muttered, pressing a couple of buttons, releasing a frustrated groan. "I hate summer."

He chuckled, stood and made his way to her, gently massaging her shoulders; she was in a very sexy black bikini top and tiny denim shorts, showing a lot of bare, smooth skin and he really appreciated the sight. "You love summer; come on now. What's wrong, baby?"

Stefani sighed, pressed her face into his chest. "I'm just cranky; everything's fine."

"Are you sure?" He rubbed her upper back, feeling her nod against him. "Are you sure that you're sure?"

She snorted, wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her head. "I'm sure. What time is Irina bringing Lea over tomorrow? I have to run to the studio quickly in the morning but I really want to be back on time."

"She said around two, maybe; they're having lunch together with some friends first." He kissed her forehead, smiled, very happy at the thought of sharing the next week with both her and his daughter.

After Stefani had finished Enigma and returned from Las Vegas, they had been spending a lot of time together, making up for the busy spring, mostly in Malibu; his belongings at her house were steadily increasing and Charlie had clearly moved in already, was so comfortable there he didn't even want to leave anymore apart from happy long walks on the beach, usually with someone from the Haus for now, her three dogs thoroughly enjoying their canine companion as well. Bradley had finally reached an agreement with Irina for the terms of their co-parenting a couple of weeks ago and while it had been a very amicable negotiation, she wanted to settle permanently into New York and that meant a lot of travelling back and forth; Lea seemed to still be her usual happy, sparkly self so he hoped she wasn't too badly affected by the new arrangement and thanks to her unbridled love of airplanes, they were doing well with all the flying at least for now.

Stefani nodded, gave him a little kiss. "Do you have any special plans for next Saturday? I was thinking of maybe inviting your mother to dinner, and Natali and Mike too, at least. A bit of a send-off before you go to Italy and get imprisoned by Google."

"Sounds great; I'm looking forward to it." He stared into her green eyes, frowned a little; there was something there, some sort of a shadow. "Stefani Germanotta, I can see there's something bugging you. Spill."

She groaned, extracted herself from him, walking to the kitchen and getting some iced tea out. "I'm sometimes seriously terrified by how well you can read me."

"Well, it goes both ways." He followed her, gratefully accepted the cold glass. "So?"

Stefani released a heavy sigh, closing the fridge door. "I think I have to do something and you're not going to like it. At all."