La vie en Rose (paused)

Part 09 - Awkward

It was Saturday morning when Stefani woke up with someone knocking on her Hotel room door. She slowly gets up so Bradley won't wake up. She tip toes to the door and opens it silently.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" She's surprised. Her dad thinks she's acting weird, she usually is very happy about seeing him. She walks out of the room and closes the door behind her, even though she's only in a bathrobe.

"Can I come in?" He asks and she shakes her head. That's even weirder. "Loopy, is everything alright?" He asks again and she smiles.

"Everything is awesome, but we gotta talk." She says smiling. No one from her family knew she broke up with Christian, let alone knowing about Bradley. She knows she's doing nothing wrong, but having her dad seeing her naked boyfriend in her bed isn't something nice, as much liberal as both are. Unfortunately, at this moment she hears Bradley's voice.

"Stef?? Are you here?" Joe's eyes widen.

"That's not Christian. Stefani, what's going on?" Her dad asks and she blushes. She has no idea what to say. "I know you're a grown woman, but I don't want you to get into trouble." When Joe notices his daughter won't say anything he pushes her aside kindly and opens the door. There is Bradley only in his underwear sitting on the bed. Both men's eyes widen and Stefani walks back inside closing the door behind her.

"Well, dad, Christian and I broke up a few days ago. I didn't want things to go like this, but this is Bradley, my new boyfriend." She speaks and then there's silence.

"Oh Loopy, your mom is gonna order fireworks when she finds this out." Joe says and both Stefani and Bradley laugh.

"What?" She laughs even louder.

"Honey, we were so worried about you when you showed up with Carino, I mean, he looks like me. I thought you were going through some freaudian fase." He laughs along with them and Bradley finally get up.

"Nice to meet you, Joe. I'm sorry about this situation." Bradley had already put on some clothes. They shake hands, but suddenly Joe stops.

"Wait, didn't you have a wife?" He asks and Bradley shakes his head.

"Irina was my girlfriend. We actually broke up before Stefani and Carino did. I'm not playing with Stefani." He explains himself and Joe seems satisfied with his reply.

"Alright then. It's nice to meet you too." Joe turns to his daughter. "Loopy, you might want to get dressed because your mom and Natali will be here soon." He informs her and excuses himself. As soon as he leaves the room, Stefani bursts out laughing hard. Bradley goes near her.

"That was the first time in all my 44 years that I got caught by my girlfriend's dad." He says and she laughs even harder.

"B, that was hilarious. My dad never caught me with a man before, he must really approve of us, because he's usually very protective of me." She speaks as she dresses herself. "Are you ready for breakfast with the Germanotta's? Because that's exactly what's gonna happen." He sighs dramatically making fun of her.

"Oh, the things I do for you." She rolls her eyes.

"Idiot."

—//—

Joe gets a text from his daughter telling him to come back to the room and bring the whole family because the breakfast is served.

"Cindy, you won't believe who's gonna join us for breakfast." He speaks to his wife and she rolls her eyes.

"Cassino?" Natali laughs, she was the one who started calling him that and her mom loved it. Joe smirks.

"Oh no, it's another Italian. A much better Italian guy. I can even forget I caught him in bed with Loopy, so much better he is." Cynthia's eyes widen.

"You caught Stefani with a man that's not her fiancé in bed and it's acting like nothing happened?" She questions her husband.

"Loopy will explain everything to you. Now come on."

—//—

Stefani is waiting for her family by the door. She wants to explain everything to them before they actually see Bradley there.

"Mama!" She says and hugs her mom tight. Cindy hugs her back.

"Stef, your dad told me worrying things about what he just saw." She says and Stefani sighs. She hugs Natali and keeps holding her sister's hand while she starts speaking.

"Well, long story short: Christian and I broke up. He knew I was in love with another man and let me go. My new boyfriend used to have a girlfriend as well, but he broke up with her even before I did with Christian. So, we're doing nothing wrong. He's nervous, be nice to him." She explains and finally opens the door to let them in.

Cynthia's eyes widen when she sees Bradley Cooper standing there. She can't hide her smile. Natali bursts out laughing when she sees who Stefani's boyfriend is. She always mocked her sister saying that she was in love with her co-star and look what happened.

"Hum... hello?" Bradley says not knowing what to do. Natali is laughing like a maniac whispering something on her sister's ear. Cynthia looks shocked. Stefani elbows her sister and she takes a deep breath.

"Hello!" She answers hugging Bradley. Cynthia hugs him next. Everything is so awkward.

"C'mon, let's have breakfast! I'm starving." Joe says trying to light the air in the room. Stefani promptly nods and everyone sits on the table by the window.

"So, when did this start?" Cynthia asks pointing to her daughter and Bradley. The man is still shy, so Stefani knows she'll be the one giving all the answers.

"Just this Monday. Christian and I broke up on Sunday night after the SAG Awards. We had dinner on Monday night and that was when it all started." She explains and her mom nods. Cynthia turns to Bradley.

"Since when are you single? Don't get me wrong, I just wanna be sure you are indeed available to be with my daughter." Stefani blushes hard and rolls her eyes. She's fucking 32, she doesn't need to go through that. Bradley answers anyway.

"Irina and I broke up three weeks ago. Things' been rough for a while before the inevitable happened. It's hard because of Lea, but I'm sure we'll manage it." He replies honestly and finally Cynthia relaxes.

"By the way, don't be surprised when Bradley and Irina go to Bafta and the Oscars together, it's all part of some PR shit we need to do." Stefani warns them. The rest of the breakfast goes alright and in the end Bradley is being treated like someone from the family. Cynthia finally confesses how much she didn't like Christian and the whole family agrees. Stefani isn't shocked by the news and agrees she did quite an upgrade from Christian to Bradley. To summarize the whole situation: it was awkward, but nice.  

—//—

After a troubled morning, the couple decided to stay in the hotel for the afternoon. Stefani is laying down on Bradley's shoulder while they watch some tv show.

"B, I'm going to Mexico with my girls on Valentine's day. I was wondering if you want to come along?" She asks and he turns to look at her.

"I want to, but I'll be coming back from London on the 14th. And I have an interview on some talk show on Tuesday." He says and she pouts.

"That's a shame, but we can celebrate when we're both back in LA. Oh, I'm gonna get a new tattoo." She tells him.

"Yeah? What will it be this time?" She smiles.

"My new album name. I gotta keep the tradition." He pecks her lips, she's so cute telling him about her new album, her eyes shine when she talks about her work. He loves that about her.

—//—

During the Jazz and Piano night Bradley and the Germanotta's are sitting together on the VIP area. Bradley is hypnotized by the goddess on the stage. Cynthia elbows Joe.

"Look at Bradley, he's completely in love with Stefani." She says and Joe smiles. He truly hopes this relationship works, his Loopy deserves to find happiness and have a family of her own.