A/N: Hey everyone! OK, I didn't mean for it to take so long to upload this. It's just that with last week being finals and my internet totally crashed, I had no way of getting on the internet...so I apologize for the confusing prologue and hopefully this story will make a little more sense. :)

Enjoy!

It was the annual Bonasera family reunion. My nieces and nephews played in the fields while my sisters were talking in the background. I dozed off for a few minutes just gazing at how playful the kids were, how carefree and innocent their lives were at the time.

Is my son or daughter there playing with their cousins? Oh gosh, no. I'm not even married for heaven sake! Is it hard being single, well...or some it's agonizing to look at. Take, for example my mother. My always loving mother who just wanted her daughters to be happily married with a satisfying life. I, however, contradicted those expectations. It's not that I'm a cold person or anything, it's just that I knew, the moment I matured into adulthood, that I, Stella Bonasera, was not cut out to be a loving wife. Or a girlfriend. I just wasn't. My mother, of course, was very unhappy with that. My three younger sisters went off to college, fell in love, had kids just like what she had wanted. But I was different. I didn't mind it, either, being single. It does just as good a job as being married. I'm just taking on life alone. Don't take me wrong or anything, I love children and I love all my nieces and nephews. I just leave that territory to my sisters.

"Stella, Stella...STELLA!" I heard.

"Oh, Miranda," I said while pulling my hair back playfully, "Hi! I was just um..."I managed to stutter.

"Day-dreaming again?" my other sister Alicia said.

"No, I was just..."

"Oh, whatever, Stel, just tell us, what's going on in your life?" My youngest sister Elena asks.

"Ye, do tell what's going on. I mean, you're all the way in the city, you never contact us, you just come once a year to these reunions! What's happening?" Miranda eagerly asked.

I know they were badgering the question about a new man in my life, but after ten years of asking, they've found their own sneaky ways of surreptitiously asking me.

"Well, the usual...you know. Work, fighting crime. I actually just got promoted to First Grade CSI of the NYPD crime lab!" I said with a proud smile, obviously knowing that that's not what they were expecting to hear from me.

"Really? That's great, Stel!" Alicia said.

"Who's your partner gonna be?" Elena casually asked while chewing her pasta.

Here we go again...

"I actually don't know yet," I replied, "but he or she is moving in from Chicago later this week. Don't worry, I'll be sure to tell you guys all about it." I finished with a smile.

You should have seen the smiles on their faces perk up.

You see, for the past eight years in my career, not only have I been single, I've been paired up with Lindsay Monroe as my "partner in crime." Honestly, we got really close, after working all those excruciatingly long days of crime work. But my sisters, being the lovable nosy gals that they are, had their own thoughts about our work "relationship." For years, they thought I was leaning "that way" with Lindsay. Obviously, there was nothing between us since during that entire time, Lindsay was happily married to Danny Messer, another one of our CSI's. Needless to say, it was quite an awkward period of misunderstanding.

My mother called in my nieces and nephews from their playtime in order for them to start eating. My sister's husband came to join us soon after, disrupting any further conversations about my forlorn love life.

I wasn't able to see each and every one of my nieces and nephews before the started playing, being such busy-bees that they are, so they all approached me and gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek before attacking the buffet sure were the fun crowd of the party, ignoring all warnings from their parents while pushing and shoving each other out of their way just to lay their smalls hands on any piece of food they desired.

"Hi Aunt Stella!" I heard a voice say. I turned and saw my oldest niece Amy sit right next to me, her plate full of food.

"Hey Amy! What's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing much, you? Aren't you going to get something to eat?" she asked while motioning to the buffet table.

"I will," I replied, "after the mob settles down," I finished and winked.

"So, how's high school?" I asked.

"Fine, no cute boys at all, though. "she said with a disappointed smirk.

That's what I loved about my niece Amy: I could talk to her about things she'd never even DARE to mention to her mother, Alicia. In turn, I could tell her anything I'd rather not dare say to my sisters.

"How about you, Aunt Stella? Any handsome fishies in your ocean?" she asked, with curiosity sparkling from her eyes.

I sighed. Even with my nieces, the question never fails to appear.

"Nope, and not interested," I said firmly with my lips pursed. "Really, I'm fine with the way things are right now, I got a job promotion, great apartment, stable life, what more could I ask for?" I said.

"A man," she sarcastically whispered.

I nudged her side and she started to laugh. I laughed at the way she was trying so hard to keep her food inside her mouth.

"Wow, well....seriously, Aunt Stella, think about it. Have you ever been in love before?" she asked me.

"What?"I replied back.

"Have you ever...like...fallen in love with someone before? A high school sweetheart? That one crush you can never keep out of your mind?" she asked.

That was a good question. Have I gotten to the point where I couldn't feel love anymore? Would I ever be able to experience that sensation called "love?" Or is it too late?