This is the second part of the story which began in Without You. It's dedicated to the lovely people who have reviewed Without You, especially oliya, tlh45, lily moonlight and cornish pasties.

Enjoy,

Christina x

XOXOXOX

"Hey," Jo smiled as she entered Mac's office. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Mac replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Ever since he'd found Mackenzie Bonasera three weeks ago, Jo had been constantly asking him how he was, although he had no idea why. It was as if she expected him to break down at any moment for some reason. She also seemed to expect him to know every detail of Kenzie's recovery, asking regularly how she and Stella were and was surprised when he said he didn't know, even though he always gave to same answer.

"I was helping Hawkes sort through the stuff we found at Ulster's and he came across this," she said, handing him two pieces of paper. "It's a letter about a DNA test, confirming that a Michaela Brown is his daughter. But I checked the DNA profile, and it's nothing like Ulster's. And there is no record of him having a daughter. I checked for three year old Michaela Browns, there's one in Connecticut but she's definitely not Ulster's daughter. Thought it might be of interest."

"Thanks," he replied, skim reading the covering letter as Jo left his office. Another mystery left by Ulster. Mac sighed. It seemed that the more evidence they found, the less things made sense where Michael Ulster was concerned. The thing that bothered him most was that phone call, the one with the little girl's voice imploring him to find her and calling him daddy. His heart clenched, the same way it did every time he remembered it, the same way it had when the voice first called him daddy. Another cruel reminder of what he and Claire could've had. Or what he and- No. He wasn't going there. It hurt too much.

"Suck it up Bonasera," Stella muttered, wishing the herd of butterflies doing elephant impressions in her stomach would disappear. If she hadn't made such stupid choices in the past, she wouldn't have to do this now. But, you couldn't change the past, and she'd promised that if Kenzie was found alive and well, she would tell Mac the truth about her daughter. She'd been putting it off, but had decided that today was the day. She had no classes to give after lunch, so instead of picking Kenzie up early, she was riding in the elevator to the crime lab, which seemed to take a lot longer than the last time she'd ridden in it.

The doors slid open and it felt like nothing had changed, she was still Detective Bonasera, CSI and assistant supervisor of the crime lab. Walking through the corridors to Mac's office felt so familiar, but she was glad she didn't meet any of her friends. Not that she didn't want to see them, just not right now. She really didn't want to have to explain why she was here, not yet anyway. Mac was at his desk, staring at a piece of paper, and Stella could tell something was bugging him. It wouldn't be obvious to most people, but even after four years away, she could read him like a book. Taking a deep breath and summoning her courage, she knocked on the door.

Mac was surprised to see Stella leaning in the doorway, trying to look casual and relaxed.

"Hi," he smiled, genuinely happy to see her.

"Hey," she replied.

"Come in," he said, before closing the door behind her, guessing that whatever had her so uptight was important and she wouldn't want half the lab hearing.

"Thanks," Stella managed a tight lipped smile as she sat down.

"How's Kenzie?" Mac asked. Despite any impressions he'd given Jo, he'd thought a lot about Stella's daughter.

"Huh? Oh she's good," Stella replied. "She's back at daycare without too much trouble. I thought about changing her but after moving from New Orleans, I didn't want her to have to get used to more new people. They've stepped up security though." A month too late, she thought bitterly.

"Good," he smiled again.

"Mac, I need to talk to you," she said. "It's about Kenzie. And her father."

"Okay..." he frowned.

"I should've told you a long time ago, but I was scared and trying to protect her." She took a deep breath. "Kenzie... Kenzie is your daughter Mac."

Mac heard the words but his brain couldn't process them. He was Kenzie's father. He had a daughter with Stella. He had a daughter.

"How long have you known?" he managed to force out.

"I've always known," Stella replied softly, looking into his eyes. "She could only ever have been yours. And as soon as I saw her... She's yours."

Running a hand through his hair, Mac pushed his chair back from the desk and stood up. He tried to get some sort of order from his scrambled thoughts.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Because I was scared!" she snapped defensively "Because I had a new job with added pressure, and I was in a strange town, away from home, away from my friends, my family. I was alone and pregnant after..."

"After what?" He dared her to say it, to call it a one night stand, to call it a drunken mistake, to break his heart.

"We were drunk Mac," she whispered. "We did things we wouldn't have normally. And I never wanted her called a mistake or an accident. Calling something a mistake or an accident makes it sounds like something bad that you didn't want. I always wanted her. She is the best thing I have. I could never give her up, I couldn't let her go through what I went through." She hesitated. "I named her after you. Mackenzie is as close to McKenna as I could deal with. I tried calling her Mac once but it was too weird. I wanted her to have some part of you other than your eyes. And I didn't want to have to lie to her. Because I can't. But if I'd told you and you didn't want to be there, to be part of her life, how could I tell her that? I couldn't. And I can't lie to her."

"So what did you tell her?"

"That her dad was my best friend and I moved to New Orleans before I knew I was going to have a baby and he couldn't be with us because of his job but that he would love her very much."

"You should've told me."

"I did what I thought was right for her," Stella snapped before turning on her heel and walking out, praying that her tears wouldn't start until she was out of the building.

XOXOXOX

"Hey baby, whatcha doing?" Stella asked, sitting on the floor and crossing her legs.

"Drawing," Kenzie replied, frowning in concentration. Slipping an arm around her daughter, Stella leaned forward so she could see the paper.

"What are you drawing?"

"Well that's me, and that's Sophie and we're going to see my pet unicorn," Kenzie explained.

"I see, what's the unicorn's name?"

"Sparkle."

"That's a pretty name for a unicorn." Stella attempted to smooth her daughter's wild hair down. "You want to pick a movie for us to watch tonight after dinner?"

"Yeah!" Kenzie grinned.

"What will we watch then?"

"Tangled," she decided.

"Tangled it is," Stella said, planting a kiss on her daughter's forehead.

XOXOXOX

"We're heading to Sullivan's for a drink, you coming? Mac? Anyone there?"

Realising he was being spoken to, Mac shook himself out of the reverie he'd been stuck in since Stella left. Danny was leaning into his office, looking at him like he'd lost it.

"Sorry Danny, miles away."

"Noticed. So, Sullivan's, coming?"

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself," the younger man shrugged.

Once alone again, Mac searched through the NYPD's database of files, opening the Mackenzie Bonasera kidnapping file. He doubled clicked on the picture of Mackenzie so it filled his screen. His daughter. She had Stella's curls, but dark brown, almost black, like his hair. Stella's cheekbones, his chin. Stella's smile, his eyes. She was perfect.

Suddenly, with a sickening feeling, Mac realised that he could quite easily have lost his daughter before even finding out about her. They didn't know what Michael Ulster's plan had ultimately been. What would have happened if they hadn't found Kenzie? He was surprised how the thought made him feel, considering a few hours ago he had no idea he even had a daughter. What would be worse, loosing a daughter he didn't even know he had, or loosing a daughter he's known her whole life? What would it have been like for Stella to tell him that the daughter she had just lost was also his? He remembered the anger and the hurt that had flashed in Stella's eyes as she'd left. It had taken a lot of guts for her to do what she did today. Feeling guilty, he quickly switched off his computer and grabbed his coat.