Disclaimer: I do not own CSI New York or any of its characters.

Chapter Nineteen

The operating room was hot. That was the first thing Stella noticed. The cap that she was wearing was making her head itch and the scrubs were making her feel claustrophobic. She wanted to scream, tear everything off and run away. Run away and act like none of this was happening. And then she saw Madeline.

Madeline, her beautiful little girl, was lying on the operating table. Madeline was awake, but she looked exhausted. A large blue cloth screen held up by wires, ran the length of Madeline's chest, dropping down either side of the table. A drip needle was hanging out of right arm, electrodes were attached to her chest, a cuff was wrapped around her left arm to monitor her heart rate and an oxygen mask was strung around her neck. A specialist team of neo-natal nurses were on standby to take care of the baby as soon as it came out.

Stella walked over to Madeline. She took hold of Madeline's hand and kissed it. Madeline twisted her neck and looked up at Stella, she smiled weakly. Madeline's hair was damp with sweat, and was sticking to Madeline's face. Stella took a hair band that was on her wrist and gathered all of Madeline's long curly hair into a pony tail. She leant down and kissed her forehead.

A nurse pushed a small stool over towards Stella, so she could sit by Madeline's head. Madeline held tightly on to Stella's hand, tears were silently running down her face. Stella saw the tears and smiled. She used her free hand to wipe them away.

"Hey, you're going to be okay. I'm right here." Stella ran her hand down the side of Madeline's hot face.

"I can't feel my legs." Madeline whispered. She looked deeply concerned about this. Stella guessed that she was a little under the effects of the drugs.

"It's the epidural, it's a good thing." Stella smiled and laughed. "You ready?"

"I'm scared." Madeline said wearily. She squeezed Stella's hand.

"I know." Stella kissed Madeline's forehead. "It'll all be over soon."

"Okay, we're ready to go!" The surgeon called out. "Now, Madeline, you're not going to feel any pain but you may feel some pressure."

Madeline nodded. Stella noticed that her hands were trembling and the tears had started flowing again, but there was a smile on her face and, despite the tears, her eyes looked bright and happy.

"Everyone, we're ready to begin the surgery. NICU team, be ready, I'm going to hand the baby straight to you. Madeline, we're going to start now." The doctor said with a comforting smile.

Stella stood by Madeline's head, holding on to her hands. She felt incredibly restless, and couldn't stay sitting on the stool. She watched as the surgeon made the incision and his hands disappearing inside Madeline's abdomen. Madeline tightened her grip on Stella's hand.

"It's okay, it's nearly over." Stella soothed.

The operating room, which had been fairly silent, was suddenly filled with the loud wailing of a tiny baby. Stella's eyes filled with tears, only a few escaping and trickling down her face.

"Congratulations Madeline. You have a baby girl." The doctor announced, with a huge smile on his face. "Ms Bonasera, would you care to do the honours?" He asked, as a nurse handed Stella a small pair of scissors.

Stella quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. She took the scissors and carefully, she cut through the umbilical cord. The baby girl was quickly whisked away by the NICU team, but everything seemed to fine.

"She's beautiful Madeline, really beautiful. You did it, I'm so proud of you honey." Stella whispered, her eyes over-flowing with tears.

The surgeon carried on working on Madeline, making sure everything was okay, and sewing her up. The baby's cries filled the room, which was a comforting sound for everyone. Stella sat with Madeline, holding her hand and stroking her hair. The NICU worked hard on the baby, making sure that her heart, brain and lungs were all working well; so far they found no problems.

"So, have you decided on her name yet?" Stella asked, twirling one of Madeline's curls between her fingers.

"I'll know when I see her." Madeline replied. "Can I see her soon?"

From the start Madeline was adamant that she didn't want to know the sex of the baby. She didn't plan any names either, she wanted to wait.

Stella looked over towards where the nurses were with the baby. They had stopped rushing around, and now it looked like they were carrying out routine tests; weighing and measuring etc.

"I think so." Stella smiled, her eyes lighting up as a nurse carried the baby over.

The nurse had the tiny little girl wrapped in a blanket. She had stopped crying and was sleeping quite peacefully. Stella and another nurse helped Madeline adjust her body position, so she was able to hold her new baby daughter.

The nurse carefully placed the sleeping infant on Madeline's chest. Madeline carefully wrapped her arms around her daughter. The little girl's eyes flickered and opened. They were a beautiful green-blue colour, just like Madeline's and Stella's. Fine brown hairs graced the top of her head. She was perfect. Madeline's eyes filled with tears, and they ran down her face as she kissed her daughter on the forehead.

"Isla" She whispered.

"Isla." Stella repeated, smiling and stroking the baby's soft head.

Madeline's eyes were fixated on the beautiful little girl, but they were starting to droop. She was tired but she couldn't bear to take her eyes away. A nurse walked over to Madeline.

"Let's get you down to the recovery ward, okay?" The nurse had kind, caring eyes. As much as she didn't want to, Madeline let the nurse take Isla away.

Madeline turned to look at Stella. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"I don't want her to go." She said quietly.

"I know baby, but you'll see her soon, promise." Stella said, comforting her.

Stella followed Madeline and baby Isla down to the maternity ward. She had not expected today to be so hectic.

"Stella!" Mac called out from behind her.

Stella looked down at Madeline, who was now fast asleep. She carried on walking beside the bed but slowed her pace.

"I'll be right up. Thank you." Stella smiled, and spun round on her heels and started to walk towards Mac.

As soon as she got close enough, Mac wrapped his arms around Stella. She was still filled with emotions from the birth so the sudden rush of love brought the tears back into her eyes.

"She's beautiful Mac." Stella said proudly as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I'm sure she is." He smiled. "She's got great genes."

Stella laughed and smiled at Mac. Her cheeks suddenly felt warm and Mac noticed a subtle pink colour rush across Stella's olive skin.

"So, how's Alyssa, is she okay? Did you catch the guys who did this?" Stella asked, desperate for some information.

Mac lifted his hand a pushed a strand of hair out of Stella's face.

"She's still in surgery. It's still too early to tell. Madeline was incredibly lucky to only come out with stitches. Lindsay and Danny are still at the crime scene, I just wanted to make sure you were both okay."

"The stress of that attack caused Madeline to have another seizure and go into labour 2 months early, Mac. I could've lost them both. That's not luck." Stella stated, getting slightly defensive.

"You know what I meant, Stella. So, are they both okay, Madeline and the baby?" Mac asked.

"Madeline and Isla" Stella grinned. "And they're absolutely fine."

Her heart swelled with pride just mentioning their names in the same sentence. Madeline and Isla; her girls. They were her whole world, and now she couldn't wait to get back to them. Mac put his hand on Stella's lower back and gestured towards the elevator ahead of them.

"C'mon, you gotta introduce me to the little lady."

Mac moved his arm up around Stella's waist and together they walked towards the elevator. Within minutes, they had whizzed up to the maternity ward. Stella spent the short trip talking, at a speed of a million miles a second, and filling Mac in on everything that happened.

When they got to Madeline's room, she was laying in bed, still fast asleep. In a crib next to her lay Isla who was also sleeping peacefully. Stella went to reach for the door handle, but decided against it. She didn't want to wake them; it had been a long day for everyone. Together, Mac and Stella stood outside Madeline's room and for a while, they watched in silence.

"I'm scared Mac." Stella whispered, her eyes fixated on Isla.

"Scared, of what?" He asked. He adjusted his position so that it was almost impossible for Stella not to look at him.

"Scared...that I'm going to screw everything up again. This whole thing is new to both of us. I didn't do the baby thing. Sure, I can prepare a bottle and change a diaper. I can teach Madeline how to look after a baby, I can't teach her how to be a mother."

"Stella, look at me." Mac ordered. He took hold of her face and turned her towards him. "No one can teach anyone how to be a mother. You can only learn. We'll work it out."

"We?" Stella questioned, confused. She raised an eyebrow and looked Mac in his eyes.

"We." He stated. He kissed her forehead and held onto her hands.