Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of the show CSI: New York

Chapter Three

Back at her apartment, Stella rushed around tidying. She was hardly ever home, and when she was home, she didn't want to spend her time cleaning. Her apartment only had one bedroom, but her sofa pulled out into a double bed. It didn't seem like a good place for a child to be.

"Of course, she's not a child anymore, she's an adult." Stella reminded herself, picking up another shirt off the floor.

Stella had somehow managed to clean the whole apartment in less than 3 hours. After a quick survey of the kitchen, she realised that she'd probably need to get groceries. She grabbed her car keys, and headed out to the store.

As she walked up and down the aisles, Stella couldn't help but stare at every mother and daughter that walked past her. She saw a woman holding a newborn to her a chest, a woman and a toddler who was crying over a dropped teddy, and a woman arguing with a teenage girl over a failed test. Seeing all these women with their children made her heart ache.

Stella thought about her daughter every day, but it wasn't until now, a day away from seeing her, that she actually began to think of what she had missed. First steps, first words, first day of school, everything had just flown past her. Every important milestone that her daughter crossed, Stella only ever heard about.

She pushed her shopping cart, now filled with food, towards the till. As she opened her purse to pay, her eyes drifted to the first ever picture of her daughter. Stella had kept it in her purse ever since the day the picture was taken, and when anyone asked who it was, she always told them it was 'just a cousin'.

With all the shopping and cleaning done, Stella headed back to the office. She felt far too restless sitting at home.

They day flew by quickly after that and by the time she crawled into bed that night, she had almost forgotten about the impending visit. As the darkness over took her and her eyes became heavy she dropped into a deep sleep.

All through the night she dreamed of her little girl. It was like she was seeing her from a distance, watching through a window. She was always there but never near enough to hold.

A loud beeping noise tore her from her dream. Stella yawned and stretched out her arm towards the alarm clock, switching it off. Silence engulfed the room again. Kicking back the bed covers, she stumbled towards the bathroom.

It usually didn't take her too long to get ready, but today she spent a considerable amount of her morning make sure she looked perfect. It was the nerves making her worry. She vacuumed the apartment again before she left. A quick look at her watch told her that she didn't have enough to eat breakfast; she grabbed her purse off of the kitchen table and bolted towards the door.

Walking into the office, Stella nearly tripped over Lindsay in her attempt to not be late.

"Woah, where's the fire?" Lindsay giggled, grabbing hold of Stella's arm.

"Sorry Lindsay, I'm just, this morning's been kinda crazy. This whole day is kinda crazy." Stella sighed as she shrugged her shoulders, knocking away Lindsay's hand.

"Yeah, Mac said you had some mystery guest coming this afternoon. So, who is it?" Lindsay inquired, but Stella had already walked off, leaving Lindsay standing in the reception.

All morning, Stella struggled to concentrate on her work. She checked her watch every 5 minutes, and spent a lot of time pacing up and down the office. A feeling in her stomach told her something was going to go wrong today. It was only 12 o'clock she still had over an hour until she had to leave.

Meanwhile, in the office reception, a young girl walked up to the front desk.

"Hi" she spoke in a British accent. "Does Stella Bonasera work here?"

Just as she asked her question, Mac Taylor walked passed.

"Hey, yeah, Stella works here; can I help you with something?"

"Is it possible to speak to her?"

"Well, she's working, but I'll see what I can do." Mac replied, he looked the girl up and down. There was something strangely familiar about her. Was this Stella's mystery guest, a sister, perhaps?

Mac pulled out is cell phone, and dialled Stella's number.

"Hey, Mac" said the voice on the phone.

"Stell, where are you?"

"I'm in my office, why?"

"There's someone down here to see you."

"Okay, I'll be right there." She replied, hanging up her phone and taking another glance at her watch. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long.

As the elevator doors opened, she saw Mac and the back of the young girl he was talking too. Her heart stopped. The girl had curly dark hair all the way down her back. Her skin was a light olive colour. She was small and delicate. Stella looked up just as Mac saw her. He narrowed his eyes and pointed towards her. The young girl turned around.

"Madeline." Stella gasped.

"Hi, mum." The girl said with a little smile.