Silence Ch. 12

Gently closing the door behind her, Stella went back out into the living room, where Mac was sitting. Looking up, Mac gave her a smile and pulled her onto the sofa next to him. Releasing a soft sigh, she snuggled up against his side, and Mac gave a small grin. He loved how the strong, tough CSI would allow herself to relax and depend on others in the comforts of their own home.

'Is she asleep?' Mac asked, and Stella nodded.

'Yeah. She was in pain, but she still refused to take the painkillers. Took a little coaxing before she agreed to take them,' Stella murmured, exhausted.

It had been a month since Daniela was taken from Mrs. Sampson's house, and a week since she was discharged from the hospital. Daniela had been staying with Stella and Mac since she was taken out of the hospital, and tomorrow, the judge would be announcing whether they could have permanent custody of Daniela.

'What are you thinking about?' Mac asked as he pulled Stella closer to him.

'What if something goes wrong?' Stella asked, her fear seeming more real once she said them out loud. 'What if the judge doesn't allow Daniela to come back with us?'

'Daniela is going to come back to us, Stella,' Mac assured her, suppressing the fears that have risen within his chest. Stella pulled away from their embrace, looking at him in the eye.

'There's no guarantee that that will happen, Mac,' Stella told him the harsh truth, and Mac nodded.

'Yes, Stella, but we have done everything that we could possibly do, and more importantly, we love Daniela. No matter what happens tomorrow, nothing will ever change that,' Mac told her as they enjoyed the warmth in each other's arms, knowing that Daniela is safe in their house, sound asleep on her bed.

*Silence*

'I don't want to go,' Daniela shrieked, struggling against Stella as she tried to pull a T-shirt over her head.

'Dani, please. Just get into these clothes,' Stella begged as the T-shirt came flying off Dani for the fourth time in a row. Throwing herself on to the ground, Dani absolutely refused to listen, and Stella was at her wit's end.

'Dani, please. We have to get there on time,' Stella pleaded with her as she tried to stop Dani from throwing another temper tantrum.

'What does it matter? If I go, I'll never come back to you,' Dani confessed her worries and curled up into a ball, refusing to meet Stella's gaze.

'Dani. You will come back. This room will always be yours,' Stella told her, but Dani shook her head.

'They'll take me away, just like last time. I won't be able to see you or Uncle Mac anymore. I don't want to leave,' Dani protested in a small voice, staring at the floor steadfastly.

'Oh, Dani, is that why you don't want to go see the judge today? Because you think that he would take you away from here?' Stella asked, and Dani nodded.

'If I don't get to come back, you and Uncle Mac won't love me anymore,' admitted Daniela, voicing out her deepest fear.

'Dani, listen to me. No matter what happens today, Uncle Mac and I will never stop loving you. Everything will be fine,' Stella told her firmly, using one finger to tilt her head up so she can look at her in the eye. 'Do you understand?'

Daniela nodded, but she still looked unconvinced.

*Silence*

'Daniela, my name is Donald,' Judge Stevens smiled, introducing himself to Daniela. After the testimonies from both child services and the detective, Judge Stevens decided that he wanted to talk to Daniela alone in the judge's chambers, as he wanted to know what her own wish was.

Nodding slightly, Daniela kept her eyes on the floor, and made no attempt to return the greeting.

'Daniela, are Stella and Mac nice to you at home?' Judge Stevens asked, wasting no time to get to the point.

Looking up immediately, Daniela gave an enthusiastic nod. 'They are the nicest people ever,' she declared.

'Are they ever mean to you?' Judge Stevens questioned, and Daniela scrunched up her nose.

'If I do something wrong, they will punish me by taking away some of my pri-vil-eges,' Daniela told him, spelling privileges out slowly and a small smile blossomed on her face after she managed to pronounce it correctly. 'Does that count as being mean? Because I don't think it is, it never hurts like when the old lady hit me.'

"Last of all, would you like to stay with Mac and Stella or would you like to leave the house?' Judge Stevens asked, and Daniela immediately jumped up.

'Please, Mr. Judge, please let me stay with Uncle Mac and Aunt Stella,' Daniela begged, staring at him with her watery, hopeful eyes, and Judge Stevens could not find it in him to say no to the little girl.

'I'll see what I can do, Daniela,' Judge Stevens promised.

*Silence*

'After going through all the evidence that was presented to me, and after having a chat with Daniela, I officially grant permanent custody of Daniela Myerson to Detective McKenna Taylor and Detective Stella Bonasera,' Judge Stevens announced, allowing a rare smile to break through his usually calm and collected façade.

Jumping up from her seat, Daniela rushed over to Mac and Stella, and was welcomed with open arms. The three of them hugged each other tightly, as the outside world ceased to matter within their little bubble of happiness.

Tears were streaming down Stella's face as she hugged the little girl that was now officially her daughter, and Mac smiled proudly and ruffled Daniela's hair, his grin almost splitting his face into half.

It was official: they were finally a family.

Epilogue (six months later):

'Pretty please, mommy,' Daniela Taylor pleaded and Stella sighed. Whenever Dani pouted and looked at her with her puppy dog eyes, Stella could never say no to her.

'Alright, Dani. Get your jacket on, and we'll go,' Stella answered as she slipped on her shoes. Smiling happily, Dani quickly shrugged on her jacket and tugged Stella along to a small bookstore.

'What book do you need so urgen-,' Stella was cut off when Dani avoided the bookstore and took Stella into the alleyway right next to the store, and saw Mac standing there, along with Danny, Lindsay, Adam, Sid, Sheldon and Flack.

'What's happening?' Stella asked, as Mac walked towards her.

'Stella, exactly twelve years ago, I met you right here, where we worked on our very first crime scene together. Since that day, you have been the person that took care of me. No matter how hard I tried to push away, you would never budge. You were my best friend, and now, the person that matters the most to me, along with Daniela. Stella Bonasera, will you do me the honor of marrying me?' Mac asked, getting down on one knee, his blue eyes gazing into her shining green ones.

'Y-yes,' Stella stuttered, completely shocked, as she had no idea that he was planning to proposed, but was absolutely sure that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

Slipping the ring onto her finger, his lips caught hers in a sweet kiss, as their audience clapped madly and cheered.

They knew that there will be different challenges ahead of them, but they knew that as a family, they could overcome all the hurdles together.

The End

A/N: And here we are at the end of this story. I would like to say a massive thank you for everyone who reviewed/favorite/alerted this story. You guys are the people who gave me the motivation to write this up.

A special thank you must be given to Bianca tabbycat for betaing this story for me, and getting them back to me at an astonishing speed so I can upload it. Another thank you must be given to Project 66, for forcing me to focus on one story at a time, and allowing me to finish this story.

As usual, please REVIEW. Criticisms are much appreciated, but no flamers please.

Zoe tabbycat