Chapter Two: Stella and Louie 1995-2006
“I called him the successivo giorno and we talked for like two and half hours and then decided to go out that Saturday night just for drinks and to get to know each other. Well that went well and so we did it again and then again. Finally Louie asked me out on an official “first date”, and we started dating at the beginning of June 1995. He was such a gentleman; he always opened the doors for me, and insisted on paying for every meal o movie we went too. He was such a sweetheart and really made me laugh. We dated for four months and then towards the beginning of October he asked me to sposta in with him. I had already spent a few nights over at his place but wasn’t sure. At first I was kind of nervous because though I hadn’t seen it yet I knew everyone had a bad side. I saw Frankie’s and well te know how that ended up. I told Louie how I felt and he couldn’t have been nicer about it. He completely understood and told me I didn’t have to make a decision right then, he just wanted to ask me anyway. It was so sweet I had stayed the night over at his place after he cooked for me and I attempted to mostra him how to dance. He was pretty good at everything but dancing just didn’t work for him. He had two left feet and always stepped on my toes. The successivo morning when I woke up he was just laying there looking at me and so I asked him what he was thinking?
“Good morning…you have that look on your face like you’re very deep in thought about something, want to talk about it?”
“Actually, I just have a question. We’ve been dating for a few months now and there’s no other girl I want to be with. I was just wondering if te would consider moving in with me.”
“Louie don’t get me wrong I’m very happy with te and te treat me better than Frankie o any other guy ever has but it’s too soon after the whole Frankie fiasco. I realize it’s been almost five months but I don’t want to ruin this good thing we already have going.”
“Okay, its cool Stella te don’t have to decide right now but I just needed to go ahead and ask you. Think about it for a couple of days o however long te need and let me know. I’m going to go get breakfast ready for us; does my amazing girlfriend have any requests?”
“You’re so good to me where have te been my whole life?”
“Heh, no offense babe but you’re only twenty years old.”
“I know but I never knew my biological parents and the three foster homes I was in until I was seventeen never showed me real love. I mean they tried and I guess they did mostra it to me but I never felt it. I feel that with you. te make me feel wanted, needed, and loved and it’s something I’ve never felt before. I don’t want to screw that up da moving too fast that’s all. For the first time in my life I’m actually really happy.”
Louie just laid there and smiled at her.
“Stella, I don’t want to scare te off da saying this but… I think I’m falling in Amore with you. I’ve been with several chicks in my twenty- five years of life but none of them have got to me the way te do. You’re different, special; I don’t think any other girl could ever measure up to you.”
“You’re not going to scare me off Louie because honestly I think I’m falling in Amore with te too.”
“He kissed me and just held me for a few minuti before we finally got up and went to eat breakfast. A couple days later I made up my mind that I wanted to go ahead and take that successivo step and sposta in with him. I wanted to let him mostra me that not all guys are the same, and he did. I moved in with him in the middle of October and the successivo couple of months just went da so fast. We spent Thanksgiving with his family since I had none and they were so great. His mother told me that she had never seen Louie this happy before and that I was really a special woman because I not only made him happy but I also kept him in line. Louie had told me about how he used to be a Tanglewood Boy and that he was basically just a young punk kid when he joined. When he found out what they were really all about he regretted ever meeting Sonny Sassone o anyone affiliated with the gang. According to his mother he had been having some financial trouble with college loans that were due and some other unpaid expenses the he still owed and the whole family were worried that he was going to fall back into the gang lifestyle. Then I came along and “saved” him. I don’t really see it that way I see it più as him saving me but that’s what his mom thought about me. She even detto Louie called me his angel.”
“It sounds like te finally found the family te had been wanting your whole life.”
“Yeah I adore his mother and his father was so accepting of me. Then there’s Danny. He may come off as a cocky troublemaker at times but he really has a cuore of oro and is a wonderful man. I’m lucky they accepted me into their family the way they did. Well around the first of January I got really sick with what seemed like a stomach virus but then I realized I was late for my period that mese as well. I had never been so scared before in my life, not even when everything went down with Frankie. I told Louie after about four days of not getting over the stomach virus that I thought I might be pregnant and that he needed to take me to the doctor. We made an appointment for the successivo giorno and when we went we found out that I was about three months pregnant. I was so excited and so scared at the same time. I was twenty years old, living with my boyfriend, working as a waitress. It wasn’t exactly the life I wanted to bring a child into but I don’t regret any of it for a second. Louie was amazing through the whole thing he took me to every appointment, went to the store at three o’clock in the morning for whatever weird craving I was having, and even massaged my feet when I would come from work. Not to mention he worked about fifteen hours overtime every week so that we could save money for our baby. The successivo six months were long and miserable but it was all worth it. Then on July 11, 1996 after fifteen hours in labor I gave birth to Alexandra Catherine Messer. I let Louie name her and we agreed I would name our successivo child if we had one. We waited a couple of years and then got married on March 8th, 1998. secondo to Alexandra being born that was the happiest giorno of my life.”
“So Louie not only left behind a widow but a daughter as well? Danny has never mentioned her and I’ve known him for più than eight years.”
“After Alex, which is what we call her, was born I asked Danny not to tell any of the people he worked with about her in case anything ever went bad and for some reason Sonny o another one of the Tanglewood boys came after Louie they wouldn’t know he had a child so they couldn’t hurt her. Danny agreed. Hell, no one Danny worked with really even knew about Louie they knew Danny had a brother but that was pretty much it. Then in 2006 when Danny was a suspect in the 1991 death of Bobby Manning everyone found out about Louie and that he had a wife but we didn’t let anyone know about Alex. After Louie talked to te about the night of the murder as te already know Sonny and his gang tracked Louie down and beat the hell out of him. It was horrible I’ll never forget when I got the phone call from Danny saying Louie had been in an accident and it wasn’t looking good for him. I went and got Alex and took her to her grandparent’s house then I went to the hospital. I must have arrived after te and your team were there because no one came and questioned me except Danny. I detto I knew nothing about what had happened which was the truth. Then I went in to see my husband and I could barely recognize him. I didn’t leave his side for the successivo two days. He was in a coma. He stayed that way for a couple of days and then started to come out of it and we thought he was going to make a full recovery. He was conscience again but the amount of damage done to his liver was irreversible and nothing could be done the doctors told us he had about one giorno to live. His parents and Danny came and spent as much time with him as they could and detto they’re goodbyes then Alex and I stayed with him for the remainder of his life. When I received the news that he wasn’t going to make it I went into the ladies room there at the hospital and just collapsed in one of the stalls. I cried for probably an ora and then remembered I had to stay strong for Alexandra. Louie’s mother brought Alex up to the hospital so she could see and say goodbye to her father. I almost came unglued when she sat da Louie’s side on his letto and said,
“I Amore te daddy, don’t be afraid when te get up to heaven the angeli will take care of te and make sure te don’t hurt anymore. They even have a letto of clouds waiting for you”
Then she hugged him, kissed him on the cheek, and listened to what he had to say before he detto goodbye.
“Allie Cat I Amore te sweetie and I’ll always be with te alright wherever te go and whatever te do daddy will be with you. Never forget that. I Amore te più than anything sweetie and te are the best thing that ever happened to me. Do me a favor and take care of your mom alright the two of te are going to need each other. Amore te Alexandra now why don’t te let me talk to mommy for a few minuti alright?”
“Alright daddy I Amore te so much.”
“I Amore te too sweetheart.”
She’s so Ribelle - The Brave she didn’t cry one tear I know she wanted too but she listened to her father and stayed strong for me. She walked out of the room and I spent the last few minuti of his life with my husband. I crawled in letto with him and wrapped my arms around him.
“Louie te can’t leave me I’m not strong enough to do this without you. Please baby fight maybe they can do something to save te just...”
“Stella, hey, ciao listen to me, te and I both know I’m not walking out of here. I’m sorry Angel I should have never went to Sonny but I had to make things right for Danny he’s worked too hard to lose everything because of my stupid mistakes in the past. I Amore te so much and what I told Alex goes for te too I will always be with you, you’ll never be alone. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me Stella and I’m a lucky man that I got to have te for eleven amazing years. te gave me the best gift a guy could ever get, te gave me Alex and for that I’m a better man. te have to promise me one thing though. After I’m gone don’t allow your cuore to close up. Let another man come into your life and Amore you. I don’t want te to be miserable the rest of your life I want te to find another man, one that makes te happy and will Amore you. Please Stella promise me you’ll do that!”
I looked him straight in the eyes and then I couldn’t help it I just started bawling.
“I Amore te so much Louie, how am I going to do this without you? I promise though it’s what te want so I will fall in Amore again but no man will ever compare to you. te were my first Amore and my baby’s father no one will ever replace that. I’ll never forget te and will Amore te forever.”
“I Amore te too angel. I’ll always be with you.”
Then the cuore monitor went off and he flat lined there in my arms. The nurses came in and walked me out of the room. Once I was out I just fell to the floor before Alex and wrapped her in my arms.
“Don’t cry mommy daddy’s with the angeli now and is no longer in any pain.”
“I know baby but it just hurts so much.”
“Daddy will always be with te mom and me too.”
She put her hand on my chest and said,
“In here, he will always be here!”
I just sat there and held me little girl for the successivo twenty minutes. Danny finally came over and pulled me up and hugged me.
“I’m so sorry Stella this is all my fault if…”
“Don’t te dare! Danny don’t te dare blame yourself for Louie’s death he knew what he was getting into da going to Sonny he did this to himself don’t blame yourself it’s not your fault.”
“Regardless I’m sorry Stella. I’ll be here for te for anything whatever te might need I’ll be there. Louie told me to look out for te after he died and I intend to do just that.”
“Thanks Danny that means a lot. te could start da driving me and Alex home I just want to hold my little girl and cry before his funeral in the successivo few days. Your mother is going to need my help in making the funeral preparations and I don’t want to be useless so I need to go home and go to sleep.”
“You got it Stella, get Alex and I’ll take the two of te home.”
I held Alex’s hand as we walked out of the hospital and Danny took us home. Once we were home I put on a sweater that Louie had worn a few days fa and a pair of his sweatpants then I laid down in letto with Alex and just held her crying myself to sleep. We buried Louie on April 27th, 2006. That giorno I made another promise though. If Sonny Sassone ever got out of prison I made a vow to either have him locked right back up and if that didn’t work I would kill him myself. I’ve kept that promise to this day.”
“I understand your hatred for Sassone I’m no fan of his either but committing homicide will not do te o your daughter any good.”
“Well lucky for him he’s doing a life sentence so hopefully I will never have to kill again.”
“Thanks for telling me all of this we will be working on a case together soon enough but for now I want te to meet up with Danny and he will mostra te around the lab and introduce te to the staff. Then I want te to work with Adam and Lindsay to process evidence found at a crime scene yesterday. The killer is still in the wind. Let me know if te have any domande o need help. You’re going to be a great CSI - Scena del crimine Stella I can tell so go get to work. I’ll talk to te later and welcome to the team.”
“Thank te Mac and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Stella went to find Danny and start her first giorno as a crime scene investigator for the city of New York.
“I called him the successivo giorno and we talked for like two and half hours and then decided to go out that Saturday night just for drinks and to get to know each other. Well that went well and so we did it again and then again. Finally Louie asked me out on an official “first date”, and we started dating at the beginning of June 1995. He was such a gentleman; he always opened the doors for me, and insisted on paying for every meal o movie we went too. He was such a sweetheart and really made me laugh. We dated for four months and then towards the beginning of October he asked me to sposta in with him. I had already spent a few nights over at his place but wasn’t sure. At first I was kind of nervous because though I hadn’t seen it yet I knew everyone had a bad side. I saw Frankie’s and well te know how that ended up. I told Louie how I felt and he couldn’t have been nicer about it. He completely understood and told me I didn’t have to make a decision right then, he just wanted to ask me anyway. It was so sweet I had stayed the night over at his place after he cooked for me and I attempted to mostra him how to dance. He was pretty good at everything but dancing just didn’t work for him. He had two left feet and always stepped on my toes. The successivo morning when I woke up he was just laying there looking at me and so I asked him what he was thinking?
“Good morning…you have that look on your face like you’re very deep in thought about something, want to talk about it?”
“Actually, I just have a question. We’ve been dating for a few months now and there’s no other girl I want to be with. I was just wondering if te would consider moving in with me.”
“Louie don’t get me wrong I’m very happy with te and te treat me better than Frankie o any other guy ever has but it’s too soon after the whole Frankie fiasco. I realize it’s been almost five months but I don’t want to ruin this good thing we already have going.”
“Okay, its cool Stella te don’t have to decide right now but I just needed to go ahead and ask you. Think about it for a couple of days o however long te need and let me know. I’m going to go get breakfast ready for us; does my amazing girlfriend have any requests?”
“You’re so good to me where have te been my whole life?”
“Heh, no offense babe but you’re only twenty years old.”
“I know but I never knew my biological parents and the three foster homes I was in until I was seventeen never showed me real love. I mean they tried and I guess they did mostra it to me but I never felt it. I feel that with you. te make me feel wanted, needed, and loved and it’s something I’ve never felt before. I don’t want to screw that up da moving too fast that’s all. For the first time in my life I’m actually really happy.”
Louie just laid there and smiled at her.
“Stella, I don’t want to scare te off da saying this but… I think I’m falling in Amore with you. I’ve been with several chicks in my twenty- five years of life but none of them have got to me the way te do. You’re different, special; I don’t think any other girl could ever measure up to you.”
“You’re not going to scare me off Louie because honestly I think I’m falling in Amore with te too.”
“He kissed me and just held me for a few minuti before we finally got up and went to eat breakfast. A couple days later I made up my mind that I wanted to go ahead and take that successivo step and sposta in with him. I wanted to let him mostra me that not all guys are the same, and he did. I moved in with him in the middle of October and the successivo couple of months just went da so fast. We spent Thanksgiving with his family since I had none and they were so great. His mother told me that she had never seen Louie this happy before and that I was really a special woman because I not only made him happy but I also kept him in line. Louie had told me about how he used to be a Tanglewood Boy and that he was basically just a young punk kid when he joined. When he found out what they were really all about he regretted ever meeting Sonny Sassone o anyone affiliated with the gang. According to his mother he had been having some financial trouble with college loans that were due and some other unpaid expenses the he still owed and the whole family were worried that he was going to fall back into the gang lifestyle. Then I came along and “saved” him. I don’t really see it that way I see it più as him saving me but that’s what his mom thought about me. She even detto Louie called me his angel.”
“It sounds like te finally found the family te had been wanting your whole life.”
“Yeah I adore his mother and his father was so accepting of me. Then there’s Danny. He may come off as a cocky troublemaker at times but he really has a cuore of oro and is a wonderful man. I’m lucky they accepted me into their family the way they did. Well around the first of January I got really sick with what seemed like a stomach virus but then I realized I was late for my period that mese as well. I had never been so scared before in my life, not even when everything went down with Frankie. I told Louie after about four days of not getting over the stomach virus that I thought I might be pregnant and that he needed to take me to the doctor. We made an appointment for the successivo giorno and when we went we found out that I was about three months pregnant. I was so excited and so scared at the same time. I was twenty years old, living with my boyfriend, working as a waitress. It wasn’t exactly the life I wanted to bring a child into but I don’t regret any of it for a second. Louie was amazing through the whole thing he took me to every appointment, went to the store at three o’clock in the morning for whatever weird craving I was having, and even massaged my feet when I would come from work. Not to mention he worked about fifteen hours overtime every week so that we could save money for our baby. The successivo six months were long and miserable but it was all worth it. Then on July 11, 1996 after fifteen hours in labor I gave birth to Alexandra Catherine Messer. I let Louie name her and we agreed I would name our successivo child if we had one. We waited a couple of years and then got married on March 8th, 1998. secondo to Alexandra being born that was the happiest giorno of my life.”
“So Louie not only left behind a widow but a daughter as well? Danny has never mentioned her and I’ve known him for più than eight years.”
“After Alex, which is what we call her, was born I asked Danny not to tell any of the people he worked with about her in case anything ever went bad and for some reason Sonny o another one of the Tanglewood boys came after Louie they wouldn’t know he had a child so they couldn’t hurt her. Danny agreed. Hell, no one Danny worked with really even knew about Louie they knew Danny had a brother but that was pretty much it. Then in 2006 when Danny was a suspect in the 1991 death of Bobby Manning everyone found out about Louie and that he had a wife but we didn’t let anyone know about Alex. After Louie talked to te about the night of the murder as te already know Sonny and his gang tracked Louie down and beat the hell out of him. It was horrible I’ll never forget when I got the phone call from Danny saying Louie had been in an accident and it wasn’t looking good for him. I went and got Alex and took her to her grandparent’s house then I went to the hospital. I must have arrived after te and your team were there because no one came and questioned me except Danny. I detto I knew nothing about what had happened which was the truth. Then I went in to see my husband and I could barely recognize him. I didn’t leave his side for the successivo two days. He was in a coma. He stayed that way for a couple of days and then started to come out of it and we thought he was going to make a full recovery. He was conscience again but the amount of damage done to his liver was irreversible and nothing could be done the doctors told us he had about one giorno to live. His parents and Danny came and spent as much time with him as they could and detto they’re goodbyes then Alex and I stayed with him for the remainder of his life. When I received the news that he wasn’t going to make it I went into the ladies room there at the hospital and just collapsed in one of the stalls. I cried for probably an ora and then remembered I had to stay strong for Alexandra. Louie’s mother brought Alex up to the hospital so she could see and say goodbye to her father. I almost came unglued when she sat da Louie’s side on his letto and said,
“I Amore te daddy, don’t be afraid when te get up to heaven the angeli will take care of te and make sure te don’t hurt anymore. They even have a letto of clouds waiting for you”
Then she hugged him, kissed him on the cheek, and listened to what he had to say before he detto goodbye.
“Allie Cat I Amore te sweetie and I’ll always be with te alright wherever te go and whatever te do daddy will be with you. Never forget that. I Amore te più than anything sweetie and te are the best thing that ever happened to me. Do me a favor and take care of your mom alright the two of te are going to need each other. Amore te Alexandra now why don’t te let me talk to mommy for a few minuti alright?”
“Alright daddy I Amore te so much.”
“I Amore te too sweetheart.”
She’s so Ribelle - The Brave she didn’t cry one tear I know she wanted too but she listened to her father and stayed strong for me. She walked out of the room and I spent the last few minuti of his life with my husband. I crawled in letto with him and wrapped my arms around him.
“Louie te can’t leave me I’m not strong enough to do this without you. Please baby fight maybe they can do something to save te just...”
“Stella, hey, ciao listen to me, te and I both know I’m not walking out of here. I’m sorry Angel I should have never went to Sonny but I had to make things right for Danny he’s worked too hard to lose everything because of my stupid mistakes in the past. I Amore te so much and what I told Alex goes for te too I will always be with you, you’ll never be alone. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me Stella and I’m a lucky man that I got to have te for eleven amazing years. te gave me the best gift a guy could ever get, te gave me Alex and for that I’m a better man. te have to promise me one thing though. After I’m gone don’t allow your cuore to close up. Let another man come into your life and Amore you. I don’t want te to be miserable the rest of your life I want te to find another man, one that makes te happy and will Amore you. Please Stella promise me you’ll do that!”
I looked him straight in the eyes and then I couldn’t help it I just started bawling.
“I Amore te so much Louie, how am I going to do this without you? I promise though it’s what te want so I will fall in Amore again but no man will ever compare to you. te were my first Amore and my baby’s father no one will ever replace that. I’ll never forget te and will Amore te forever.”
“I Amore te too angel. I’ll always be with you.”
Then the cuore monitor went off and he flat lined there in my arms. The nurses came in and walked me out of the room. Once I was out I just fell to the floor before Alex and wrapped her in my arms.
“Don’t cry mommy daddy’s with the angeli now and is no longer in any pain.”
“I know baby but it just hurts so much.”
“Daddy will always be with te mom and me too.”
She put her hand on my chest and said,
“In here, he will always be here!”
I just sat there and held me little girl for the successivo twenty minutes. Danny finally came over and pulled me up and hugged me.
“I’m so sorry Stella this is all my fault if…”
“Don’t te dare! Danny don’t te dare blame yourself for Louie’s death he knew what he was getting into da going to Sonny he did this to himself don’t blame yourself it’s not your fault.”
“Regardless I’m sorry Stella. I’ll be here for te for anything whatever te might need I’ll be there. Louie told me to look out for te after he died and I intend to do just that.”
“Thanks Danny that means a lot. te could start da driving me and Alex home I just want to hold my little girl and cry before his funeral in the successivo few days. Your mother is going to need my help in making the funeral preparations and I don’t want to be useless so I need to go home and go to sleep.”
“You got it Stella, get Alex and I’ll take the two of te home.”
I held Alex’s hand as we walked out of the hospital and Danny took us home. Once we were home I put on a sweater that Louie had worn a few days fa and a pair of his sweatpants then I laid down in letto with Alex and just held her crying myself to sleep. We buried Louie on April 27th, 2006. That giorno I made another promise though. If Sonny Sassone ever got out of prison I made a vow to either have him locked right back up and if that didn’t work I would kill him myself. I’ve kept that promise to this day.”
“I understand your hatred for Sassone I’m no fan of his either but committing homicide will not do te o your daughter any good.”
“Well lucky for him he’s doing a life sentence so hopefully I will never have to kill again.”
“Thanks for telling me all of this we will be working on a case together soon enough but for now I want te to meet up with Danny and he will mostra te around the lab and introduce te to the staff. Then I want te to work with Adam and Lindsay to process evidence found at a crime scene yesterday. The killer is still in the wind. Let me know if te have any domande o need help. You’re going to be a great CSI - Scena del crimine Stella I can tell so go get to work. I’ll talk to te later and welcome to the team.”
“Thank te Mac and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Stella went to find Danny and start her first giorno as a crime scene investigator for the city of New York.
