A/N: This chapter is dedicated to TVCrimeDramaFANATIC who gave me the push to actually finish it. Hope you feel better sweetie!
Right now, I'm not entirely sure where I want this story to go, so from now on it's probably going to be shorter chapters, at least until I get an idea what's going on. I hope that's okay!
Enjoy! Please, review!x

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI New York or any of it's characters.

Chapter Twenty One

When Mac left Stella, Madeline and Isla it was almost 6 in the evening and he had barely eaten all day. He stopped at the grocery store, picked up some dinner and headed back to Stella's apartment.

As he unlocked the door, he chuckled to himself at the sight of all the unpacked boxes lining the hallway. He walked through the apartment and checked what needed to be done. Mac knew how Stella liked things perfect, and he wanted to make sure that she wouldn't have to worry about unpacking when she got home, especially with a new baby around.

Mac walked in to the kitchen, dumped the grocery bags on the table and started unpacking. He checked through the cupboards to see that Stella had everything she would need, at least for the first week of bringing Isla home.

He left the kitchen and walked into the room directly across - Madeline's room. Piles of clean baby clothes sat on the bed; Mac picked them up and started putting them away, leaving a few out to take back to the hospital.

It took him little over an hour to get the whole apartment ready. He tided and cleaned everything, before finally settling down to eat something. The quiet of Stella's apartment felt unnerving after the chaos of the hospital. He couldn't believe that Stella was now not just a mother, but a grandmother too. She was so lucky to have Madeline and Isla in her life, and he was lucky to have them in his.

At the hospital, Stella had finally managed to convince Madeline to get some sleep. Within minutes she had drifted into a deep sleep. Stella sat quietly on the chair next to the bed, smiling at her daughter. She fiddled with the silver ring on her finger and pulled at the small diamond charm hanging around her neck. Stella was completely lost in her thoughts when Isla started gurgling.

Stella stood up and tip-toed over to the crib. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw the big, bright eyes looking up at her.

"Hello, beautiful girl!" Stella said tenderly.

She picked up Isla and held her close; she paced the floor with Isla in her arms, softly singing lullabies to her in Greek. Stella sat back down on the chair and cradled Isla. She gently stroked Isla's face with her cool fingers.

"Isla, you look so much like your mommy, sweetie." Stella grinned, kissing Isla repeatedly. "You're lucky you know, Isla. Your mommy loves you very much and I love you very much and Mac, Mac loves you too. We're always going to be here to protect you and care for you. I still think of your mommy as a baby. She'll always be my baby, but I have to face up to the fact that she's a grown up now. She's going to be a much better mother than I was, I can promise you that. I was alone and scared when she was born and I didn't want to fail her, because she deserved so much better than what I could give to her. And, even though she was scared when she found out you were on your way, she wasn't alone. She had me to help her, and I'm not going anywhere, baby. I love you. I love both of you." Stella quickly wiped away a tear from her cheek.

The whole time Stella was speaking, Isla kept her gaze on her, like she was completely entranced by the sound of her grandmother's voice. Stella rocked Madeline back and forth until she once again fell asleep. She carefully placed Isla back into the crib and sat back down, holding her head in her hands. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted by talking Isla, despite the fact that she couldn't understand a thing.

"I love you too, mum." Madeline croaked, her eyes slowly flickering open.

Stella made her way over to the other side of the bed, so she could sit comfortably next to Madeline. Carefully, she sat down and put her arm around her daughter. Madeline curled herself up against Stella and rested her head on her chest.

"You should go back to sleep." Stella ran her fingers through Madeline's hair.

"I know, but my belly hurts. My whole body hurts." Madeline complained, running her hand across the bandages covering her stomach.

"You want me to go get a nurse to give you some more pain medication?" Stella asked, already starting to stand up.

Madeline shook her head and held on to Stella's hand.

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine."

"You don't have to be a hero Madeline. If you're in pain, take the meds."

"I'm not mad at you, you know." Madeline said as she closed her eyes and nuzzled back into Stella. "I heard what you said to Isla. I really do understand why you gave me up. I'm not going anywhere either, by the way."

Stella tried to speak, but the words just caught in her throat. She took a deep breath and kissed the top of Madeline's head.

"You didn't fail me either. You were a better mother for giving me away. I know I had a go at you before, but I didn't mean it, promise." Madeline whispered through a yawn. "Are you crying?"

"Yes." Stella sniffed.

Madeline quietly laughed and lifted her arm up to wipe away the tears from Stella's cheek. As Madeline's hands passed her lips, Stella took hold of her hand and kissed it.

"Madeline, I, ah, need to tell you something that you're not going to want to hear."

Madeline lifted her head up and looked at Stella, confused.

"Honey, it's about Alyssa. She didn't make it through the surgery." Stella practically whispered the last part. "She lost too much blood, I'm so sorry Madeline."

Madeline let out a few painful sobs and gripped her arm securely around Stella's waist. Stella wrapped her arms tighter around her daughter, holding her closely, stroking the side of her face and wiping away her tears.

"It's not fair." Madeline choked.

"I know."

Soon, Stella could hear Madeline's breathing become heavy as she drifted to sleep and it wasn't long before Stella fell asleep too. A light knocking at the door woke her up, just as she was about to slip off of the bed.

"Mac!" She exclaimed.

Mac chuckled at his partner and walked over to the bed. He held out his hand and helped Stella stand up, being careful not to wake up Madeline or Isla. As she stood up, Stella misplaced her footing, her knee buckling underneath her. Mac caught her by her elbows and pulled her in close.

Unexpectedly, Stella began quietly weeping on Mac's shoulder, her hands covering her face. It took Mac by surprised, he held on to her. He let the bag he was carrying drop to the floor and slowly he led her out of the room.

A row of chairs lined the wall outside of Madeline's room. Carefully, he lowered Stella down on to one of the chairs, and sat himself down next to her. Stella wiped her eyes on the back of her hands and took a deep breath.

"Anyone would think that I'd just had a baby." Stella laughed through her tears. "Madeline was sleeping and I started talking to Isla about, about how Madeline was going to be such a great mother, and how awful I was. What the hell was I thinking giving her up? And, you know the worst part is, is that Madeline understands. She understands why I did it, and she's not mad at me."

"So these are happy tears?" Mac asked cautiously.

"I don't know. I feel like I deserve her to be angry at me. I know she used to be, but now she has a baby of her own it's different. When I decided to give her away, I never expected this to happen."

"No-one can predict the future Stella. You have two wonderful girls in there, who love you unconditionally." Mac stretched his arm around Stella's shoulder. "And we're all here for you. Everyone at the lab hasn't stopped talking about Madeline and Isla."

"Thank you, Mac - for everything." She planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

A small cry from the room behind them made them jump up out of their seats. Stella made a reach for the door handle, but Mac pulled her back before she could open it. He shook his head and pointed through the window.

"You gotta let her do this one Stell." Mac smiled.

"You're right." Stella nodded in agreement.

They watched as Madeline's eyes fluttered open. She sat up in bed and yawned. Madeline carefully eased herself up off of the bed and walked over to the crib where Isla was crying. Madeline picked Isla up and held her close.

"She's doing pretty well on her own." Mac noted.

"I know. I've got to let her do things for herself. As much as I want to, I can't do everything." Stella smiled as she watched Madeline sit back down on the bed.

"It's a learning process. For the both of you." Mac crossed his arms across his chest.

"I still can't believe I have a granddaughter. How crazy is that?"

"Yeah, you're so old." Mac chuckled.

The smart-ass comment earned him a soft punch on the arm from Stella.

"I'm not old, she's young. I'm young!" She laughed defensively.

"You're only as young as you feel Stell. You know, people are still shocked that you have a grown up daughter?"

"Honestly, I'm still shocked that I have a grown up daughter, and now a baby granddaughter. It feels so strange saying that. Isla's just going to have to call me Stella. Grandma sounds too old."

"Grandma works just fine." Mac laughed.

He pulled Stella into a hug, which she quickly fought her way out of. They watched Madeline sit with Isla.

"I suppose I should be proud of that title. I didn't have a grandmother, so I'll make sure as hell that Isla does." Stella quiet and frowned slightly. "Of course, I didn't really have a mother either..."

Mac held a finger up to her lips and shook his head. "Don't go there Stella. Please."