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A strong, steady music beat came from the closed door, pulsating throughout the entire house as it became stronger and more in tune. No one, not even the older woman sitting in the corner did anything for it as she simply continued worked on a sole for the shoe she was sewing. Coming from anyone else in the world, they would complain that the music was too loud, vulgar even. But as for Elena Rivera from Rivera Shoes, the pulsating noise didn’t bother her.

It wasn’t too long ago that music such as that had been banned in the Rivera house. And it all started with Imelda Rivera, Elena’s abuelita. When Imelda’s husband, Héctor, left to pursue his dream of sharing music with the world, he never returned. Left alone with a toddler, Imelda started up the shoe business as means to support her daughter, Coco, and banned all music from the house. No humming, no singing, no music of any kind. But that had all changed in 2017.

Miguel Rivera, Elena’s grandson, had been harboring a secret love of music and after an argument with his family, ran away and wound up in the Land of the Dead. After an intense 9-hour journey, Miguel found out that not only was Héctor murdered by his best friend and world-famous musician, Ernesto de la Cruz, but also that he had never wanted to leave Imelda and Coco. A story that Miguel had repeated to his living relatives and, much to his astonishment, they believed him.

It had been a crazy year that year, proving who Héctor was to the world and trying to get justice for him, as well as help the Rivera family mend the rift that had been there for nearly a century.

As Elena put down the shoe she was working on, she decided to go in and look at the practice room. It used to be her mamá’s room, but now it was a music room for her grandchildren and other members of the family who wanted to practice their instruments. At the sound of a shriek coming from the music room, Elena burst in, chancla armed and ready to be thrown. Instead she found a startled and somewhat sheepish Miguel.

“Abuelita?” Miguel asked nervously. “Qué pasó? Is everything alright? Did I do something wrong?”

 “Lo siento, mijo,” she said. “I heard the screech and thought something had happened.”

Shaking his head, Miguel answered sheepishly, “No, Abuelita, Rosa was just tuning her violin and I startled her. By accident, I promise!”

Rosa looked annoyed but didn’t say anything. After all, family (even the ones who annoy) comes first and it wasn’t too long ago that things had been very different. She would never have been caught dead with a violin, especially not at home! But her 13-year old cousin had changed everything and brought music back into the home.

Now at 15 years old, Rosa was quickly turning into a family beauty with a secret love of American romance novels (especially Twilight) and playing her violin. True, she and Miguel still had the occasional fights but having grown up together in the same house, they treated each other more like siblings than cousins.

“Just try to be more careful, primo!” Rosa said with a tinge of annoyance. “I don’t want to drop my violin!”

Affectionately peppering kisses onto her grandchildren, Elena smiled and said, “That’s enough for now, mijos. It’s time for dinner and I need you both to come and help me. We have company tonight. Señor Martínez and his niece are coming over!”

Cheering silently, Miguel and Rosa finished up the song they were working on and headed out, leaving four-year-old twins Benny and Manny, and 11-month old Socorro in the room with Elena. Shaking her head softly, Elena picked up her granddaughter, murmuring, “Those two are going to be the death of me some day, mija. But we all love them no matter what,” as she headed towards the kitchen to start preparations for dinner.

When the family launched their investigation into Héctor’s death, they had contacted a private investigator named Julio Martinez from México City, to come and help them. Now, he was assisting another family seeking justice for what de la Cruz did to them. But Martinez was still considered to be a part of the family and had stayed in touch with Enrique and Elena to inform them of the progress made in the case.

Dinner that night was a lively affair, Miguel firing off dozens of questions as his papá reminded him to slow down and let Señor Martinez enjoy his dinner. The others were chatting as well, mostly about Franco and Elena’s upcoming 50^thwedding anniversary. Franco had surprised Elena by signing them both up for dance lessons at the local church, something that everyone was excited about.

Later that night, as supper was winding down and the children went off to practice their instruments before bed, Elena and Enrique pulled Martinez over to the side. While Enrique was happy that everything was going okay in the investigation, Elena somehow knew that something was up.

“What is it?” Elena had asked, not beating around the bush. “You didn’t just come for a dinner. There is something important going on, isn’t there? With the case?”

“Mamá,” Enrique warned as he touched his mother’s shoulder. “Se bueno.”

“I wish there was an easy way to say this,” Martinez began slowly, wringing his hands nervously as he addressed Elena. “I’ve known you and your whole family for almost two years. I’ve helped put an evil man behind bars for attacking Miguel. I helped get a dead man justice for having his songs and his life stolen from him.”

Sensing that Martinez was not telling the full story, Elena cut to the chase. “Just tell us, Señor,” Elena said, taking deep, even breaths to control her temper. “Qué pasó?”

“Rodriguez’s family is no longer cooperating with the investigation. They are pressing charges against me and Silvana and they want us to drop the case against de la Cruz’s estate.”

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No one could say a word. Enrique looked very worried and upset as Martinez's words slowly began to sink in. The Rodriguez family is no longer cooperating with the investigation. Elena looked furious, angry tears forming in her eyes. This was a family that had been wronged and they deserved justice for what de la Cruz did to them as well.

Elena looked ready to whack Martinez with a chancla, but her son put his hand on her shoulder. It had taken nearly a year for Miguel to start trusting her again and that could easily be ruined with one wrong action. After Héctor's funeral, many of the town had forgiven Elena for her actions to protect her family. Others, though, were still very angry and outright refused to allow their children anywhere near the Riveras.

"Mamá, calmése," Enrique murmured. "Let him explain."

"Qué?" Enrique asked, once he got his voice back. "Por qué? It's been nearly a year since the investigation started. Why back out? What happened?"

"Apparently the press found out about the Rodriguez investigation, Enrique." Martinez said wearily as he addressed the family. "Someone in my office was leaking information to the media, including the home address of Rodriguez's eldest granddaughter and the contacts we used during your case. She filed charges against us for invasion of privacy, breach of trust and has refused to have anything to do with the inquiry."

Enrique frowned. Despite watching a couple of Casa Cerrado episodes with Berto and having no legal training, something seemed wrong. Especially with how quickly the family had decided to stop cooperating.

"It sounds like someone managed to get to them and threaten them," Enrique guessed. "Like someone paid them to keep silent."

Elena shook her head, anxious to get on with the topic at hand. "But what can we do? We need to help them somehow!"

Martinez nodded and answered, "And I agree with you, doña, but we need to tread carefully. The studio will still do anything they can to make sure that story will be "fixed" in some way to make it sound like the leak was done on purpose."

By that point, other members of the family arrived, some of them holding musical instruments. Miguel came in as well, nearly dropping his guitar in shock as he took in what Martinez said.

"But what's going to happen next?" Gloria asked pointedly. "We've talked to the press nearly a dozen times already."

Gloria was careful not to mention Miguel's adventure; it had been decided two years ago that the story of where Miguel really went would stay in the family. An abbreviated version was told to the press and to the public that Miguel had run away to the outskirts of town and wound up falling asleep in a cenote. The reason behind grabbing the guitar? Miguel had needed it for the competition to prove himself to his family. "It's not a complete lie," Miguel said to his family at the time. "That part is true."

At first, it made absolutely no sense to the family, but they quickly realized that Martinez had a point; why travel all the way to America?

Then the pieces fell together. De la Cruz had gone on an American tour just months prior to his death and that was the last place he was seen with Rodriguez. Despite the investigation going on for nearly a year, having Rodriguez's living family suddenly decide to stop cooperating was puzzling. It seemed reasonable from the media leak, but definitely suspicious, making it seem the family was hiding something that they didn't want to become public.

Curious Miguel asked, "But why next month, Señor? Por qué esperar?"

"Miguel," Elena warned. "No seas grosero. Let him finish."

"No, it's alright, Señora," Martinez said as he turned to address Miguel. "I want to gather some more information on the investigation here in México before I go to Texas to talk to Rodriguez's granddaughter. I'm also going to need to look through Héctor's notebook again to see if either Héctor or Coco mentioned Rodriguez, but I am fairly certain that none of them have ever met each other."

Elena sighed, wishing that things could be made simpler for everyone involved. After Martinez left to allow the family some time together, there was a hush. No one said a peep as the silence hung in the air like an unwashed blanket being aired out.

Miguel took a deep breath as he touched his left arm, "Can we try and help, Abuelita? Go to America to help them?"

Elena nodded, drawing her grandson into her arms, "We're going to try and do everything we can to help, mijo. But going to America may not be for some time. It's not cheap to fly to America."

Nodding, Luisa, Miguel's mother, said. "The shop is doing well and so is the museum, but I don't want to have to worry about seeing you and your primos on the news again, Miguel. We'll do what we can here to see how we can help."

The rest of the family made noises of agreement, promising to do what they could to find out more about de la Cruz's time in the United States. Before heading off to bed, Miguel also agreed to try and contact the ancestors in the Land of the Dead. Even though Dante was now staying mostly in the Land of the Dead as Héctor's alebreje, he would often come by and visit Miguel and deliver messages.

When the children had gone back to bed, the adults remained behind, stunned and sad of the case's turn. They had hoped that once things would settle down once everything concluded but now it looked like things would be going back to square one.

"I just don't understand why someone would do this to them," Carmen said as she held little Socorro on her lap. "The Rodriguez family has been through so much this past year and they don't deserve this."

The other adults agreed, knowing that Miguel especially would be having a tough time dealing with the shocking development.

"We need to help them, but we'll have to be very careful who we mention this to," Enrique said. "Whoever did this have powerful connections, either to Lopez or the de la Cruz estate. Absolutely not a word to anyone."

Everyone agreed to it, with Elena adding that Benny, Manny and little Socorro not be told. "They're too young to understand what's going on," Elena said. "And we don't need to scare them." But Berto had one more condition.

"No secrets, Mamá. We need to be open and honest with Rosa and Miguel about what's going on with the investigation." Berto said firmly.

"And we need to be careful about how we present any information to them," Gloria pointed out. "None of us want a repeat of what happened in August."

That had been quite a scary story. During the search for Héctor Rivera's body, Miguel had received death threats and notes from Santiago Lopez, the owner of de la Cruz's crypt. At first, the family had kept the notes from Miguel but when he found out, he ran away to confront Lopez. The reminder of how close the family came to losing Miguel again was terrifying. Especially since Miguel had been injured during the confrontation.

Patting her daughter on the shoulder, Elena stood up and said, "We'll do everything we can to help the Rodriguez familia, Glorita. Even though we've never met them, they are family to us now and family always comes first."

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The investigation was all anyone could talk about for the next couple of days—while Rosa and Miguel were at school, the adults worried about whether or not going to the U.S. would be the practical solution.

"There's nothing we can really do but wait," Enrique said one day at the workshop after Gloria had enquired again the possibility of going to the U.S.. "Señor Martinez is flying out in two weeks from México City."

Slamming her hands down on the table, Elena stood up. "We still need to help them though! Carmen's right! That family has had everything taken from them! It makes our music ban look like child's play compared to what they've been through."

Wincing slightly at his mamá's word choice, Enrique kept going. "Mamá, I'm not saying we can't help them, but we need to tread carefully. Someone is clearly pulling the strings to keep Rodriguez's family quiet. And for all we know, Rodriguez's family may not even want to talk to us."

Nodding silently, Gloria stood up from the table and added in quiet voice, "If we do go to the U.S., we'll have to be extra careful who we mention it to. Some people in this town still think that Lopez didn't deserve to be locked up for hurting Miguel."

"He definitely does deserve it!" Berto exclaimed. "Miguel could have been killed!"

Feeling Luisa tense slightly, Enrique gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Luisita?" Enrique asked. "What's wrong?"

Luisa shakily took a breath, her eyes filled with concern, "I just don't want the Rodriguez family to go through almost losing a child the way we nearly did. I fear if we get involved in the case that things could…" Trailing off as tears pooled in her eyes, Enrique hugged his wife close. Luisa's fear of almost losing her son was extremely evident two years later and as a result, Miguel had been very careful not to bring up what had happened with Lopez or Día de los Muertos.

"Luisa, no one is going to touch any of my nietas while I'm around," Elena said firmly as she grasped her daughter-in-law's shoulders. "I promise."

When the children came home from school later, Enrique and Elena sat them both down, making them promise not to tell anyone at school or in town about what was happening.

"Your mamá is right," Enrique told Miguel. "I don't want to see either you or your primos on las noticias nacionales. It may attract the wrong kind of attention from the wrong kinds of people."

"But we're Riveras! We would go and face it head on!" Rosa said boldly. "We would go right up to those villanos and confront them for what they did! Just like Edward did!"

Deciding to leave the discussion of his niece's choice of literature for another time, Enrique kept going. "Sí, but we also have to consider the fact that these people could be out to hurt you and Miguel. Not all fans are friendly, Rosa. Consider what happened to Lennon and Selena."

Miguel looked up at his papá, "Maybe we could create a YouTube channel and ask the Internet for help. Almost everyone in the world knows the real story of what that de la Cruz did."

Miguel had been pleading with his papá over the past month to let him set up a YouTube channel or a Facebook page for the family business, but Enrique had said no. On top of Miguel being too young, Enrique knew that an online audience could be very harsh and that it wouldn't stop Elena from going after angry fans who dared to hurt Miguel.

"When you turn 15, Miguel, hablaremos de eso." Elena said, sharing her feelings with her son about Miguel's want to set up a YouTube channel. "For the moment, we need to keep things out of the public eye in order to avoid drawing any more attention to the Rodriguez family. "

Miguel pouted slightly but he understood, knowing that Elena just wanted to keep her family safe. Taking a deep breath, he said, "What can we do from here, Abuelita? Qué podemos hacer para ayudar?"

Enrique spoke up instead, saying, "Well, your abuelita, Tía Gloria, and I are going to the U.S. with Señor Martinez next month to try and assist in the case. We'll do our research on de la Cruz's tour of his early years here before we leave."

Frowning slightly, Miguel asked, "Why Tía Gloria, Papá? Why not Papá Franco or Abel?"

Putting her arm around Miguel, Elena responded, "Papá Franco is going to stay behind to help with the shop while I'm gone, mijo. And your primo is starting his winter term at la universidad local soon."

Without adding any more details, Miguel knew that the reason why Gloria is going was due to the fact that she is the only Rivera who has been to the U.S. before and is the most fluent in English. Miguel had been learning some English too, mostly to help communicate with English-speaking tourists who came to see the museum.

Nodding, Miguel continued, "But I can come? To help? I've been doing all the research and everything!"

Elena was about to say no, but her son touched her shoulder gently as he addressed Miguel. "We'll think about it, Miguel. Plane tickets aren't cheap and I'm not sure how your mamá will feel about you going off to the U.S. This could easily take a very nasty turn."

Agreeing with her son, Elena sent Miguel off to go and play with his sister, who was very busy playing with a rattle in the sunroom. Because of the ban years earlier, none of the Rivera children (with the exception of Victoria and Elena) had rattles when they were infants, due to the striking similarity to maracas.

"I just wish things were easier for Miguel," Elena murmured as she watched Miguel tickle his sister's tummy, making her shriek with laughter. "He's been through so much, the weight on his shoulders seems staggering and we need to consider what could happen."

"Para ser justo, Mamá, Miguel's been through things that most adults don't go through." Enrique said.

Elena hugged herself trying to repress the dark thoughts of what had happened to Miguel. "No child should have to go through what he had." She murmured.

Enrique's eyes hardened with thoughts of what had transpired raced through his head but gave his mother a comforting hug, silently promising that everything would be ok.

The tension seemed to calm slightly as they watched Miguel play with his sister, feeling the troubles in their mind slowly fade. If only it could stay this way, just a simple family life with no life-threatening situations or legal situations. But these real problems were not going to go away soon, Enrique thought. If anything, they were just beginning.

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"Time for bed, Miguel," Enrique said as he stood in the doorway, watching as Miguel's sleep-deprived body looked up countless Google pages on the U.S. and the Land of the Dead. With his parents' permission, Miguel had been editing the Spanish Wikipedia page on the Land of the Dead (anonymously of course) with some help from Abel and Silvana Martinez.

So far, not too many people had made many corrections. There were a few "did-that-really-happen" questions about what the Land of the Dead could look like, but nothing crazy. Miguel had been very careful not to post anything that alluded to his adventure, mostly to avoid raising suspicion. He also noticed the Ernesto de la Cruz page had been receiving changes, most of them blasting the man for murder, but Miguel had decided to not get involved in that.

"Almost done, Papá," Miguel replied as he finished up his search. Turning off the computer monitor, Miguel turned around to face his papá. "Do you think that everything is going to be okay, Papá? I mean it seems that Silvana is getting blamed for everything! And I'm the one responsible for it."

When Silvana had come forward with the information that proved that de la Cruz had murdered Héctor and stolen his songs, she had been contacted by several colleges and universities almost immediately to confirm the truth. To go along with Luisa and Enrique's wishes, she had not mentioned Miguel's name in any of it. And Miguel was fine with that. After all, he didn't want to draw any more attention to himself than necessary. He had more than enough to keep him busy, starting with the new computer that his family had gotten.

There was even a Wiki page on the Rivera shoe business but after countless trolls (most of them from Lopez's nephew Antonio and de la Cruz supporters) began to blast Elena Rivera for "child abuse" and "unpaid labor," the page had to be taken down. But little did anyone know that Miguel had been working on getting it up and running again.

Elena was also not aware that Enrique had been helping Miguel when time allowed, and Rosa had been helping as well. Rosa had been learning English from reading Twilight (unknown to both of her parents) as well as helping out in the museum by giving tours to English-speaking groups.

Abel was utilizing his computer skills to help out too. Part of the restitution money went into a college fund for Rosa, Miguel, little Socorro, Benny and Manny; and the other portion went into funding Abel's studies for his computer science degree from the local university.

Enrique shrugged slightly. "Lo no se, Miguel. These kind of investigations can last for months, years even. It really depends on the Rodriguez family."

Miguel nodded and, as he turned towards the kitchen to bid Elena and Luisa goodnight, he had a quick thought.

"Abuelita?" Miguel asked quietly. "Can I try and get in touch with the Rodriguez family? Just to see if they'll cooperate again?

Elena shook her head no, hugging Miguel to her. "It's a good idea, mijo, but I don't think they're ready to talk to anyone yet. Señor Martinez told me that if we try to contact them, they could think that we were responsible for the leak too."

Kissing her son on the head, Luisa also added, "We need to be careful who we talk to, mijo. If the Rodriguez family took it as badly as Señor Martinez said they did, it could be that things could get a whole lot worse."

Miguel frowned slightly and asked, "Worse how, Mamá? Abuelita, como es peor?Usted pude decirme?"

But Elena shushed him and hugged him tight. "That's enough questions for now, Miguelito. We can talk more about this tomorrow, when you come back from school."

Although he was disappointed, Miguel simply hugged his abuelita goodnight and went off to bed. Elena watched him as he headed for his room. Pulling a piece of paper out of her apron, Elena sat down, her head in her hands. Enrique approached her slowly, not wanting to set off his mamá's fiery temper.

"Mamá? Que pasa?"

"If only life was easier for him," Elena murmured softly. "I wouldn't have said it at the time, but he was right to run away from us on Día de los Muertos. If he hadn't… I would have damaged him beyond belief."

Enrique was tempted to slam his hands into the table but Luisa's pointed glare stopped him. If he did that then not only would he wake up the others, but it would also injure his hand. Berto had been out of action for a few weeks, thanks to an arm injury due to a delivery accident, so Enrique was taking over all orders for the shop that his brother had been working on.

"Mamá, stop blaming yourself. Miguel has already forgiven us for what happened," Luisa said boldly as she fed little Coco. "Both times. There was nothing we could have done. If Miguel hadn't come forward about his love for music, it probably would have resulted in him resenting us behind our backs."

Enrique nodded, remembering how Miguel now had a zigzag scar on his left arm from the previous run-away incident. It had taken some time for Miguel to fully forgive Elena for her actions against him. Even at school, things were difficult. While Rosa was willing to stand up for Elena at school when the students spoke out, it took some time for Miguel to do that.

There were still incidents that had happened at school, but thankfully for everyone, they were fewer and farther between. Almost everyone at school was in shock over what had happened with Miguel but as soon as Silvana published her report on de la Cruz's true motives, they had become very supportive. There were a few students who still had doubts, but Miguel had learned to accept that not everyone would believe him.

"Why bring all this up, Mamá?" Luisa asked softly as she burped her daughter. "Que esta pasando? Is Miguel getting more threatening messages? I thought that was all over when Lopez went to jail."

Shaking her head to get rid of the horrible memories, Elena kept going. "The messages aren't just for me, mija. Gloria is getting them too."

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Show Me Chapter 5

Hey everyone! Hope you're all doing great! It's been a crazy week for me and my beta with school and job searching, but overall it was okay!

We are coming close to the Land of the Dead, probably in the next chapter or so. In the meantime, feel free to read, comment, recommend and enjoy this chapter!

Enrique's mouth dropped open and stayed open for a good long while. He knew that his mamá had a bit of a temper on her but for her and Gloria to receive death threats! Sitting down in a chair, Enrique simply asked, "Mamá? How long has this been going on?"

Elena shakily moved a piece of hair back from her face. "Since November, mijo. I honestly thought the notes would stop after what had happened to Miguel but it looks like it hasn't. And they're not from Lopez either."

From another room Berto walked in shakily, clutching his bandaged arm to his side. "Does Miguel know about this, Mamá?"

Shaking her head, Elena said, "He knows about the notes, but not what they contain."

Everyone was stunned. Death threats were a punishable offense in Santa Cecilia and as her children stood up in protest, Elena gestured them to sit down. "There is nothing we can do about it! These notes are coming from the U.S! And they're all in English!"

Gloria nodded in agreement as she handed one of the notes over to her brother. Over the course of the past week, she had been translating all these notes for her mother. Elena's English was not good enough to respond to these letters—not that anyone would have let her respond to them anyway. Enrique and Berto both knew that if the letters had come from Mexico, Elena would have hunted down the writer and given them a piece of her mind.

"English or not, Mamá, that's beside the point," Enrique pointed out, somewhat frustrated as he threw the note down on the table. "We need to find out who is sending these notes."

"It's probably someone like Lopez or close to Lopez," a soft voice spoke up. Jumping slightly, Enrique turned around to see a pajama-clad Miguel and Rosa, looking concerned as they noted their abuelita's facial expression.

Sighing in exasperation, Enrique went up to his son and niece. "How many times have we told you both not to eavesdrop? And why aren't you in bed? Tienes clase mañana!"

Hanging their heads slightly, Miguel said, "Lo siento Papá, but we were worried about Abuelita and Tía Gloria. We wanted to make sure that they were alright and to ask a few questions."

Rosa nodded affirmatively, adding, "We just want to make sure that everything is going okay, Tío Enrique. We had some thoughts of our own. What if there's someone who, um, is working for Lopez that's on Martinez's team or working for de la Cruz Productions while pretending to be on our side? Someone who lives in Santa Cecilia."

Enrique immediately considered the suggestion; having someone working for Lopez on de la Cruz Productions would definitely be a possibility. Martinez had mentioned that the man who caused the leak was no longer with the office but that the man had seemed reluctant to admit whom he was working for.

"True. That might be something to look at, Rosa." Enrique said. "I'll bring those points up with Señor Martinez and do a little bit of research on them. Maybe I'll look into it tonight."

"You can look into it later!" Elena concluded briskly. "It's after 10:00 and we all need to try and get some rest so we can be ready for tomorrow! You both have school tomorrow morning and you're giving a tour to los turistas, Glorita!"

With a "Sí, Mamá" or "Buenos noches, Abuelita," everyone headed to bed, feeling even more tired than ever before but satisfied that things were going in the right direction. But Enrique could feel that his mamá was definitely upset about something.

Franco was just about to fall asleep when Elena entered their bedroom, but upon her sitting down on the mattress, he stirred and woke up. Elena looked absolutely devastated; Franco had not seen her like this since Coco died.

"Lena, what's wrong?" he asked. "Qué ha pasado?"

Elena nearly burst into tears, but gathering her composure, she turned to face her husband. "I just wish that Miguel and Rosa don't have to go through this, Franco. They, but Miguelito especially, have been through enough this past year. And these death threats towards me and Gloria aren't going to stop."

Franco looked upset but gestured for his esposa to keep going. "What have these notes said?" Even though Franco was not a violent man by nature, he was absolutely livid that someone had the gall to threaten both his wife and only daughter. Gloria was, by nature, a daddy's girl and remained close to her papá, just like Victoria was with Julio. When Gloria had broken down in guilt for her role in Miguel running away on Día de los Muertos, Franco had comforted her.

"Gloria translated the note and it said that the world would be better off without me in it and that if we don't stop speaking out about de la Cruz, something bad would happen to someone in the family."

Shaking her head in frustration, Elena crumpled up the letter and threw it to the ground. Franco leaned over, smoothed the letter out and read its contains. Much to his sadness, the terrible things that Gloria translated were indeed true.

You damaged your grandson beyond belief. If you don't stop speaking out about de la Cruz, something bad will happen to your daughter. And then something will happen to your grandson. You have 31 days.

Franco knew that Elena would normally never get this rattled about a note, but he also knew that things were different now after everything that had happened in the past year. Because the note was in English, Elena couldn't respond or even confront the note writer. If anything, Franco knew that the note writer had probably written this note in English on purpose, knowing that Elena couldn't fully understand it but that the note writer had wanted her to feel threatened.

Silently patting his wife's shoulder, Franco simply asked, "How long has this been going on, Lena?"

Elena turned around, a fiery intensity glowing in her eyes. "Since December. At first, I thought it was from Lopez's nephew, but he doesn't speak any English. And Lopez and the mariachi that I hi-encountered are in jail."

Franco nodded, remembering how only a month ago, the mariachi's wife had confronted Elena at the market, screaming at her for ruining her family's life. This mariachi had been attacked by Elena when the ban was still active back in 2017 and as a result, his family had not let Elena forget it, despite her numerous apologies.

"His daughter kicked me in the shin and screamed that I hurt her papá, Franco," Elena reminded him. "And his wife still refuses to even look at me when I go to the Plaza, much write anything to me. She wouldn't write a note like this. Couldn't. Not in a million years."

Franco agreed with her and said, "Lopez probably threatened the man's family if he didn't cooperate with his request to spy on us."

Elena nodded, guilt taking over as she went about getting ready for bed. Even though it had been nearly two years since the ban was lifted, Elena's remorse was still evident. Especially since the guitar shop in town refused her service and even went as far as to advertise all the guitars as So Strong That Even Your Abuelita Can't Smash It! Enrique had nearly blown a gasket when that sign went up but the shop owner remained adamant: Elena Rivera would not be allowed inside the shop, only the other members of the family would be.

"Lena, let's go to bed," Franco murmured. "We can talk more about this in the morning."

Agreeing, Elena got into bed, her conflicted feelings about what had transpired earlier that evening still there.

"Do you think things will get better? Para nosotros?" Elena asked.

"I don't know, Lena," Franco answered. "I just don't know."

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The Riveras worked hard in the workshop, a fan blowing air around to cool everyone off. It was a teacher's workday so both Rosa and Miguel were home from school, taking advantage of the extra time to browse on the family computer, doing research on de la Cruz and any mention of a third band mate. Every now and again, Miguel would glance over to Elena, who was unusually silent as she helped Luisa work on a pair of dancing shoes.

It had been several days since she had confided in Franco about how bad things had gotten. Oh, if life were simpler. She wished nothing more than to go back in time and stop de la Cruz from murdering Héctor, but even she didn't have that power.

"Elena,"

Startled, Elena raised her head and looked around. Nothing. Although Miguel could communicate with the ancestors when they came over for Día de los Muertos, he had kept that knowledge secret and Elena wasn't aware that he or possibly anyone else in the family could have that ability.

"I must be hearing things." She muttered to herself as she walked over to her workbench.

"Elena." The voice said again. This time, Elena walked over to Franco and asked, "Mi amor, did you just call my name? Or hear something a little while ago?"

Shaking his head, Franco said, "No, why? Is something wrong?"

Briefly peeking outside the window, Elena said, "I hope not. I thought I heard someone calling my name but there's no one there."

Peeking outside briefly, Franco just said, "You didn't sleep well last night, Lena. Lo sé y tú lo sabes. Why don't you try and get some rest? I'll work on the Diaz order for you."

At first, she wanted to protest but one pleading look from Franco and she yielded. Elena headed back to the main house to get some rest as Gloria and Luisa looked on. They too knew that Elena hadn't been sleeping well and that ever since Miguel's nightmares had started up again, she had been taking it on herself to comfort him whenever they occurred. Luisa had tried suggesting that her son talk to the local priest, but Miguel remained vehemently against it. When the ban was still active, Miguel had been bullied relentlessly at school and even came close to repeating a grade due to a missing credit (music class) on his report card.

"How is Miguel doing, Luisa?" Gloria asked. "Sometimes I don't know whether or not I'm doing the right thing by him." Ever since Día de los Muertos 2017 and after Miguel's attack the previous year, Gloria had been trying to make up for her behavior towards her nephew, even though Miguel had claimed over and over again that he forgave her.

"It will take some time, Gloria. But to be honest, ojalá supiera," Luisa said. "I spoke to his teacher last week and she agrees that we need to make up for lost time in terms of the ban."

Frowning slightly, Gloria gestured for her to continue. "What do you mean, Luisita?"

"She said that allowing him to play at home and at the Plaza may not be enough. Let him have opportunities that we couldn't give to him prior to the ban. Rosa, too. She even suggested sending them both to a music camp in México City when school lets out for spring break."

"Does Mamá know about this?" Gloria asked as Luisa handed her a pamphlet that described the camp.

"No, but con toda honestidad, I don't know how I feel about this. I want Miguel to have this opportunity, but I don't want him to have to worry about whether or not a de la Cruz supporter would find out who he is." Luisa said. "Or how Mamá Elena would feel about it. You know how she was when Abel left for Universidad."

Gently pulling her sister-in-law into a hug, Gloria simply said, "The camp pamphlet says it's only for 2 weeks, not an eternity, not even a month. Let Miguel and Rosa decide, Luisa, and see what happens from there. It might be good for both of them to experience this, to enjoy a normal life before this all goes crazy. For all we know, Mamá may be on board with the idea."

Murmuring a polite "gracias," Luisa sat back down at the work bench as Enrique walked into the room. Greeting his esposa with a quick kiss, he said, "De qué están hablando ustedes dos? If it's about Miguel and the twins dyeing my mustache green again..."

Stifling her laughter, Luisa shook her head no and said, "No, Quique. It's not that. It's about Miguel."

Trying to appear as serious as he could, Enrique said, "What's going on, Luisa?" Handing her esposo the pamphlet about the camp, Enrique read it over as quickly as possible.

"What do you think, Quique?" Luisa said anxiously. "Your hermana thinks it would be good for Miguel and Rosa to go to this camp, but I don't know if it is the right time now. Especially with everything going on with the Rodriguez family."

"Well, I don't disagree with Gloria, mi amor. It might be good for them." Enrique said, choosing his words carefully. "But let's bring the idea up to Miguel and Rosa and see what they say."

Nodding, Luisa headed inside, giving in to the distractions and taking a break for the afternoon to talk to Elena, Miguel, and Rosa. Carmen and Berto were out on a supply run in a nearby town, so, knowing they would bring it up with Rosa later, Enrique decided just to discuss the possibility with Miguel.

Miguel was sitting in the family room, immersed in a book on music theory and frowning slightly as he attempted to play the provided examples on his guitar. As the instructions were in English (Miguel had refused to go to the only guitar store in town after learning what Elena had gone through there), learning to read written music wasn't coming easily for Miguel, who had thus far only played by ear, but he saw it as a learning opportunity.

"Miguelito?" Luisa called softly. "Can we talk to you for a minute, por favor?"

Nodding, Miguel set his guitar on the couch and headed over to his mamá as she gestured for him to take a seat.

"You're not in trouble, mijo," Luisa said, observing Miguel's worried look. "Esta bien. But I do want to talk to you about something."

Frowning slightly, Miguel answered, "Okay, Mamá. Is everything ok? Have we heard anything from Señor Martinez?"

Luisa shook her head. "Nothing new, Miguel. Señor Martinez said that when he arrives in America next week, he'll let us know about any new updates. But I wanted to talk to you about something else, Miguel."

Taking a deep breath, Luisa pulled out the camp brochure and handed to her son. Miguel skimmed through it slowly, not saying a word as he took it all in. Luisa watched in concern as Miguel slowly put the brochure down, unable to read her son's reaction. "Miguelito?"

"Lo no se, Mamá," Miguel said. "I don't want to just leave! What about the investigation? What about the Plaza? How can I help from México City?"

"Miguel, relájate,"Enrique said as he walked into the room. "It's not for a few more months. We just wanted to let you know about it in case you wanted to go."

"Does Abuelita know about it?" Miguel asked warily.

"Not yet, Miguel." Enrique answered. "I'm going to talk to her about it tonight and we'll go from there, bien?"

Nodding silently, Miguel agreed and said, "Okay, Papá. But in the meantime, can I still go to Los Estados Unidos with you, Abuelita, and Tía Gloria next week?"

On top of asking to set up a Facebook page, Miguel also had been asking to accompany his family to America. His English skills were improving at a steady rate thanks to the music theory books and Wikipedia. Miguel also had been helping Elena with English flyers for the family museum.

Sharing a glance, both Luisa and Enrique nodded slowly. They couldn't keep Miguel in a protective bubble all his life and he needed to have this experience, whether it was at the camp or in Texas.

"We talked it over with Abuelita," Enrique said. "And she doesn't mind under the condition that you stay close to us and not tell anyone outside of the family what we are doing."

With a big grin, Miguel let out an excited grito and ran off to pack. Finally, the Rodriguez family would receive the help they needed, and he got to help!

"Just promise me that you'll bring him home safe, Quique," Luisa said. "You know how adventurous Miguel can be."

Hugging his wife close, Enrique promised, also silently promising to himself to talk to his mamá about the camp the next day. If the last few months didn't do anything, it proved that Miguel needed a break to just be a normal kid.

Little did Enrique know, that a break was not going to happen right away.

Chapter Text

Date: February 1, 2019

The big day when four of the Riveras were headed to America had arrived. Everyone had gotten up early to see them off, even baby Socorro, who was currently playing with luggage tags. As Enrique secured the last bit of luggage, which also included Miguel's guitar and some of his music theory books, Luisa came around to the other side, picking Socorro up as she played with her papá's suitcase.

"Be safe, Quique," Luisa said as she gave him Socorro. "I want both of my boys to come home in one piece."

"We will," Enrique said as he blew a raspberry on little Socorro's stomach. "Te amo, Luisa."

Gently kissing her husband and taking her daughter back into her arms, Luisa said, "Yo también te amo, Quique. You probably should get going, you don't want to miss your flight."

Hopping into the car, Enrique, Gloria, Elena and Miguel settled in for the long ride to the México City airport. Turning around from the front seat, Señor Quesada, their next-door neighbor said, "Is everyone ready to go?"

Elena said, "Sí! Let's get moving! We've got a family to go and help!"

Gloria and Miguel both nodded. Gloria had nearly backed out from the trip earlier in the week, unsure of how her nephew would react to her presence. But Miguel reassured his tía that he held no grudges against her and asked for her help in learning some more English for the trip. Rosa had taught him some, but most of it came from her American romance novels.

"Gracias, Guy," Enrique said. "If you want me to repay you in some way—."

Cutting him off, Guy Quesada said, "No hay necesidad, Enrique. Just promise me that you'll bring that awful man to justice once and for all!"

Enrique looked like he wanted to press the matter further, but one look from his mamá and he relented.

"We're off to get justice!" Miguel said excitedly as he looked out the window.

Smiling softly, Enrique settled in for the long car ride.

The trip to the airport took a lot longer than anyone expected thanks to the traffic, but finally, the Riveras pulled up at the gate, passports and tickets in hand. After a hurried thank you to Guy Quesada and an unexpectedly quick trip through security, the four Riveras started walking towards their gate.

"We're flying to Hoo-stone, right, Papá?" Miguel said as he attempted to pronounce the English name of the city. "Did I say it right?"

"Almost, Miguel. It's Houston. Señor Martinez said that he'll meet us at the airport as soon as we arrive." Enrique said as he sat down on a nearby bench. As there was nothing left to due but sit and wait, Elena and Gloria both agreed to go and look for some food, having had almost nothing eat earlier that morning.

"You both are going to be twigs if you don't eat something!" Elena said as she looked at her son and grandson.

"But Abuelita, we had a big breakfast before we left!" Miguel said, slowly beginning to look sheepish as Elena fixed him with a glare. "And I'm not hungry?"

"Nice try, mijo," Elena said. "But no Rivera is going to starve on my watch! While it's not my cooking, some coffee and maybe a tamale from one of the restaurants wouldn't hurt."

Sighing resignedly, both Rivera men decided to try to read more of the research as Gloria and Elena headed for one of the small shops. There was no arguing with Elena Rivera when it came to food or the wellbeing of the other members of the family.

Enrique had mentioned the camp to his mamá the day before they left. And much to his surprise, she was completely on board with the idea.

"Miguel needs to experience a normal childhood! He couldn't have that with the ban!" Elena said as Luisa and Enrique brought the idea up.

"And I agree, Mamá. Miguel needs to experience things that he couldn't do when the ban was active! It's what Abuelita would have wanted." Enrique said, knowing that Coco would have wanted Miguel to experience everything.

At the mention of her mamá, Elena's eyes saddened but quickly brightened again. "I think this camp thing is a good idea," Elena pondered softly. "It might do Miguel and Rosa some good to see the world outside of Santa Cecilia. And the museum is doing very well as well as the shop, so it is not like we can't afford it."

While the women went to go grab something to eat, Miguel decided to go exploring.

"Just make sure to come back before 11:00, mijo. That's when boarding starts." Enrique said.

With an affirmative nod, Miguel took off towards one of the shops that he saw Gloria and Elena walk into. While walking, he watched as the television blared the latest news from America and México City. Nothing new or crazy, he noted. Cleanup from the recent earthquake the previous week had been ongoing in Santa Cecilia but thankfully, the shop remained undamaged. A few windows were broken, and some local buildings had some minor structural damage, but overall everything looked to be fine. Compared to other towns in the State of Oaxaca, things could have been much, much worse.

I'm pretty sure that Mamá Imelda and our ancestors were looking after us that day. Miguel thought as he continued walking. Suddenly a poster made him come to a screeching halt.

A photo of his family coming out of the courthouse on the day that Lopez was sentenced was there for all to see. And next to that photo was a photo of Ernesto de la Cruz, in all of his charming glory. As Miguel took a closer look at the headline, he reeled back in shock. Is de la Cruz Being Framed? Find Out Tonight in An Exclusive Jailhouse Interview with Santiago Lopez!

Too shaken to continue exploring the rest of the terminal, Miguel headed back to where his family was, numb and in disbelief.

"Miguel?" Enrique asked in a low voice, so Elena wouldn't overhear. "Qué paso?"

"Another advertisement, Papá." Miguel whispered. "From that talk show that Tía Carmen watches."

Silently squeezing his son's shoulders, Enrique said, "Díos, those locos have nothing better to do with their time. Don't worry, Miguel. We will show the world what really happened. But it's not going to happen overnight."

Just as Miguel was about to respond, the flight attendant said, "Attention. AeroMéxico Flight 1138 from México City to Houston, Texas, is now boarding."

Miguel had never been on an airplane before, so it was only natural that he was bouncing slightly in his seat and looking out the window. Gloria and Franco had been to the U.S. before on a business trip, years before the ban had been lifted. But Elena and Enrique had never been outside of the country or even on a plane before and they were looking a bit queasy.

"Miguel, settle down," Elena said, eyes closed shut as she fought against the movie. "We've got a couple hours before we land! Ay, you're squirming worse than Dante when he's got a treat coming!"

Obediently, Miguel sat back in his seat, fidgeting slightly as he looked out the window. The flight to Houston would be a couple of hours but he didn't mind. All that he was excited about was getting justice for the Rodriguez family and seeing whether or not they would change their minds.

Miguel slept for some of the flight, excitement taking over as he watched bits of an inflight movie (which was about a Spanish guy wearing a mask saving a beautiful woman) and read a bit of his music theory book.

"Atención a todos los pasajeros," The flight attendant announced. "We're making our final descent into Houston. Please return to your seats, stow all carry-on items and put back the tray tables back."

As Elena, Gloria (who had fallen asleep watching a Spanish telenovela) and Enrique began to stir, Miguel excitedly said "Despierta a todos! We're here in America!"

Chapter Text

As the living relatives were off to Texas in the Land of the Living, in the Land of the Dead had gotten off to a normal start that morning had gotten off to a normal start. Rosita Rivera and Coco Rivera went about preparing breakfast for their family and keeping an eye on the window. Dante had been bringing news and updates from the living family as often as he could, but it had gotten somewhat difficult. The border guards at the bridge were growing tired of dealing with the crazy dog's antics and wanted the Riveras to limit Dante's "living" visits to three times a week.

Hopefully, Miguel and the others are okay, Rosita thought as she made the finishing touches on her huevos rancheros. Miguelito needs all the support he can get right now.

A few days ago, Dante had delivered a message from Miguel to the rest of the ancestors. Things had not been going well in the Land of the Living, the note stated. The other family involved in the case against the de la Cruz estate no longer wanted to press charges and Miguel had begged Rosita and Victoria not to tell Imelda. Another note directed to Imelda had hidden everything that was going on in the investigation and acted like everything was fine.

She had enough stress on her plate already with having a huge order of dance shoes to work on as well as the anniversary of her death coming up soon and rehearsing with Héctor. At first, the twins disagreed with Miguel, stating that Imelda would figure it out before anyone had the chance to tell her, but they backed down once Rosita said that they needed more facts about what was happening before telling Imelda.

Giving herself a shake to get the thought out of her head, Rosita headed for the stairs to let the other family members know that breakfast was ready to go, while Coco stayed behind to continue cooking. Just as Rosita was about to set foot on the step, she spotted the twins, Oscar and Felipe, looking up to no good. If Rosita had to guess, knowing them, she knew a prank would soon be underway. And judging by the water balloons perched on the top of the door, it meant a prank was going to happen.

"Buenos dias," Rosita whispered cheerfully. Startled, the twins jumped and turned around, grinning sheepishly. Almost immediately, the twins began making denials over what was going on.

"This isn't-," Oscar said.

"What it-." Felipe continued.

"Looks like-" Oscar added on, guiltily hiding behind his apron.

Putting her hands on her hips, Rosita said, "Well, it looks like you two were about to go and play a prank on Victoria. Aren't you both a bit old to be playing pranks?"

Gently tapping the wall with her hand, the water balloons came crashing down on both twins. In an instant, both twins were soaking wet and speechless as Rosita stood over them.

"Buen intento, ustedes dos. Now, do me a favor and help me make sure everyone's up. We've got a long day of work ahead of us." Rosita said as she made her way back downstairs.

Nodding resignedly, the two skeletons headed back to their room to change into their everyday clothes as Victoria came out, remnants of the water balloon falling on her face.

"Lo que en el mundo?" Victoria muttered as her tía reached forward to help her. Victoria still pulling out bits of the balloon from her hair as she made her way to the kitchen where her mamá was busy getting breakfast ready to go.

"Buenos días, Vicita." Coco greeted her daughter.

"Buenos días, Mamá," Victoria answered. "Is no one else down yet? I thought I heard Papá getting up early this morning."

Nodding softly as she handed Victoria a mug of steaming hot coffee, Coco replied, "Sí, mija. Your papá got up early to go get more supplies for the workshop and to get your Abuelito's guitar tuned as a surprise for him before he woke up. Papá said that he and Mamá were sleeping in a bit today."

At that statement, Victoria went wide-eyed. The last time the twins had woken the couple, it had turned out that they were doing more than just 'sleeping in'.

"Ummmm, Tía," Victoria said. "Remember the last time that Oscar and Felipe woke them up when they were 'sleeping in'?" using air quotes for the last two words. Rosita and Coco both nodded, shocked realization hitting them quickly.

Just as Rosita was about to head upstairs to warn the twins, a loud "QUE DEMONIOS?" and "GET OUT!" came from upstairs as the twins bolted downstairs as if their afterlife depended on it, slippers being thrown from the general direction of Héctor and Imelda's room.

The twins quickly shook their heads to get the image out of their scarred minds, as the women in the kitchen tried not to laugh. Definitely not 'sleeping in' Victoria thought to herself as Oscar and Felipe ran in, looking if one could use the phrase "scarred for life".

"I take it they weren't sleeping in?" Rosita asked cheerfully as Victoria rolled her eyes. The twins shook their heads in unison.

Less than 20 minutes later, Héctor and Imelda Rivera came downstairs, Héctor looking a bit embarrassed whilst his wife looked serious. The twins had wisely decided to make themselves scarce and went to work in their section of the workshop on a new invention. Ever since Héctor had come back, he had managed to convince Imelda to let the twins sell their inventions. Imelda agreed as long as it didn't A) set the house on fire or B) anger the neighbors.

"Buenos días, familia!" Héctor said as he greeted everyone at the table. "What does everyone have planned today?"

Smiling softly, Rosita said, "Vicita, Coco, and I are going to help out Ceci today. Her assistant had a new family member arrive at the bridge today and she wanted to get them settled in."

Coco nodded, understanding. Being the most recent Rivera arrival in the Land of the Dead, she understood just how discombobulating it could be for someone.

"What about you Papá Hèctor?" Rosita asked softly. "What are you doing?"

"The usual. Writing songs, visiting my cousins, installing a lock on our bedroom door, driving Imelda loco." Héctor said jokingly as Imelda gave him a stern but loving look at the last one.

"I'll be working, too," Imelda said. "Maria's coming over for a bit and I have to respond to Miguel's note, too. Ah no, wait. He, Enrique, Elena, and Gloria are in Tech-sass, this week. Guess I'll address it to little Socorro."

None of the living relatives (except for Miguel and maybe Luisa) had any idea that the youngest Rivera could hear or speak to anyone in the Land of the Dead. Imelda had suspected it at first and decided to send little Socorro a piece of papel picado. According to Miguel, the papel had not vanished as it did for the other living relatives. In fact, it stayed unwrinkled and clean, astonishing Miguel and frightening Luisa.

Imelda immediately had gone to the Department of Families, but the clerk warned her to be careful. Little Socorro was too little to understand what was going on and having supernatural powers at a young age could be dangerous, maybe even fatal. No more than 3 letters to Socorro or Miguel a week.

"Abuelita? Qué pasó?" Victoria's voice broke Imelda from her reverie. Nodding to her nieta that she was fine, everyone else got to work on their separate errands as Héctor went to the family room. There were two things he had to ask his esposa about.

"Frida's writing a new show," Héctor said as he and Imelda sat in the family room twenty minutes later, breakfast finished, watching a news program. Gauging his wife's reaction as "not about to be whacked with a shoe", he cautiously went on. "It's about Miguel's adventure on Día de los Muertos two years ago. Frida wanted to know if it was okay with you to retell the story, mi amor. And wondered if you would be interested in starring in it." At those words, Imelda nearly fell off the couch in shock but managed to regain composure.

"Lo no se, Héctor," Imelda said uncertainly. "I don't mind performing but not in front of thousands of people. And I don't want to be reminded of what nearly happened to you. I'm not proud of what I did."

Gently embracing his wife, Héctor murmured, "Frida said to take all the time you need to think about it, mi amor. You don't have to make a decision right away and no one will judge you if you say no. Miguel is going through the same thing at home. His teacher is suggesting that he and Rosa try out a music camp in México City, but Miguel's not too sure of the idea either."

Looking up at her husband, Imelda agreed and then, narrowing her eyes slightly, asked, "What else is on your mind, Héctor?"

Taking a small piece of wrinkled paper from his pants pocket, Héctor said "Your mamá wrote to me again, mi amor. She wants to meet up with you and talk."

Scoffing, Imelda said, "Ah ah ah! No! I want nothing to do with that woman ever again."

Putting his arm around her, Héctor said, "I know, mi amor, but she's trying to make an effort to make up for everything and she's—."

Imelda's eyes flashed with anger. "Y ella qué? Where was she after you died? Where was she when I needed help with Coco when she was ill?"

To fully move on from the past, Imelda had started referring to Héctor leaving as his "death", to prove that she was aware of the truth now. She had even written to Miguel and Elena, telling them that's how she would like Héctor's leaving to be addressed.

Knowing that he wasn't going to be able to talk to her about her mamá again without getting whacked in the head with a boot, Héctor settled for pulling Imelda down onto the couch with him as he attempted to calm her down. Imelda turned to look him in the eye.

"I don't want to see her, Héctor." Imelda's firm voice said. "Never."

Chapter Text

Imelda stared at the sketchpad in front of her, pen in her hand, knowing that she should be focusing on designing shoes, not on what was happening otherwise. Except for Julio, everyone else was out and about, focusing on their various tasks. Julio worked nearby, fixing up his snare drum and occasionally shooting worried looks towards his mother-in-law. The other women of the house had left earlier, helping Ceci get the ballet ready for its performance later that night. Héctor had gone to Shantytown, to send off one of his cousins.

"Mamá Imelda?" Julio asked timidly. "Are you alright?"

Startled, Imelda dropped her pen on her apron, leaving a dark ink stain on it and causing Julio to hide underneath his hat. Swearing, she quickly picked up a nearby towel and started furiously blotting the stain with a napkin.

"Sí, Julio," Imelda murmured as she turned towards her son-in-law. "I'm alright. Just a bit tired, is all."

Even Julio was smart enough to know that wasn't the truth, but he didn't press it. Everyone had been tired lately, given the fact that there was a huge order to fill for a dance company and for a group of musicians who were performing for the mayor of a nearby town not far from Santa Cecilia. But they had seen rough days before and like all the other families in the world, the Riveras got through it. Héctor had even taken to helping out in the workshop to help take lighten Imelda's workload.

Julio nodded, going back to his workshop to get some more work done on the house, leaving Imelda to sit by herself at the window. A lot had been happening lately with Imelda's mamá and it hadn't been easy.

When Julio wasn't looking, Imelda finished blotting up the stain and took a piece of crumpled paper from her desk. As she unfolded it, her anger began to grow. Ever since Imelda's papá, Marco, had been arrested for harboring de la Cruz, Josefina had been trying to get in touch with her children to apologize. Imelda had refused to even speak to her and the twins, not wanting to be disloyal to their sister, followed suit.

Imeldita,

Please talk to me. I know that forgiving me won't happen but please mija, try to find it in your heart to talk to me.

Te quiero and never forget it.

Mamá

Crumpling up the note into a tight ball, Imelda threw it into the waste bin, satisfied as she heard a dull thud, but yet reminded of the time that she had done that with Héctor's photo. Thank goodness that Coco had kept it. Otherwise who knew what could have happened? She was so caught up in her reverie that she didn't even notice when Julio fished the note out of the waste bin. Although Julio would never normally do this, he knew that otherwise Héctor would be worried about her. After all, "for better and for worse," right?

Even though Imelda had told her family countless times that she could take care of herself, even fearless matriarchs had their limits.

While the family matriarch was having a crisis, the women of the family were out and about, running errands and helping Ceci fix up her costumes. Héctor had joined them, a bit glum from having to send off a longtime friend who had been there for almost 40 years.

"Who was it, Abuelito?" Victoria asked softly as she touched Héctor's shoulder.

"Tía Chelo, mija." Héctor said sadly. Normally he wouldn't allow a Final Death to hit him this hard, but Chelo had been there it seemed since time immemorial. "But at least her friends were with her, no?"

Shrugging off his sadness, Héctor immediately got to work on helping Ceci, who gently patted Héctor on the shoulder and gestured for him to take a seat. More and more of Héctor's cousins were going through the Final Death now and each one hit him hard.

If the change in mood was detected by the others, no one said anything. Rosita made an attempt to lighten the atmosphere a bit: "So did you hear that our boy's gone to Tech-sass, Ceci?" Rosita said brightly as she handed a piece of fabric to the seamstress.

"Apparently, Miguel, Elena, Gloria and Enrique went to the United States of America to talk to the Rodriguez family," Victoria said. "The family stopped cooperating with the police and, according to Miguel, they wanted to see if they could talk to them and change their minds."

Ceci nodded empathetically, "Let's hope they change their minds, Victoria. No será fácil, even here. But that family deserves the right to know what happened to their ancestor."

Cocking her head in curiosity, Rosita said, "Do you think that Jorge Rodriguez is still remembered in the Land of the Dead?"

"It's hard to say, Tía." Victoria added. "And remember, we promised not to bring it up with Abuelita. She's already stressed enough about what's happening."

Cramming his hat on to his head, Héctor pointed out "She's not going to be happy if she finds out the real reason behind Miguel's trip, Vita. We have to tell her."

Silently agreeing with her abuelito, Victoria simply "It's not a matter of protecting her, but we just want her to be happy and stress-free."

"She's going to find out about it at some point!" Héctor said as they worked in the workshop later that evening, a radio playing silently in the background. "There's no point this from hiding it from her! Remember when Dante got into one of the paint jars in the workshop?"

Rosita sighed softly, agreeing with her father-in-law. Imelda had been keeping busy lately and even with all the drama, the family matriarch always managed to find out about things.

"If we don't tell her, she could find out in other ways. And that's the last thing we want right now." Héctor said.

Even with the ban being lifted, the radio in the kitchen suddenly turned to static as the twins walked in, turned the radio off, and handed Héctor the crumpled-up note from Josefina. As he skimmed it, Héctor pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Julio looked worried, half-expecting Imelda to come walking in, but Héctor patted his shoulder in reassurance. He knew that Julio's intentions were good and he simply wanted to this to end well for everyone.

"Should we—" Oscar began.

"Write to Mamá?" Felipe added.

"And ask her to leave Imelda alone?" they concluded together to various nods from the rest of the family. With one exception.

"Lo no se, gemelos," Héctor said reluctantly. "Josefina may have done something horrible to Imelda, but she's still her mamá. And Josefina deserves the chance to explain herself. But I don't want to see Imelda hurt from something that her mamá does."

Even though Héctor had only been in his wife's family for almost two years now, he knew deep down that Imelda was more than capable of taking care of herself. But he also knew that Imelda had spent the days after her papá's arrest in tears, overwhelmed from the emotions that she had been bottling up. This latest drama involving her mamá would hurt Imelda deeply.

Héctor was about to suggest talking to Imelda when the lady in question walked in, looking somewhat fatigued. If Héctor could take a guess, Imelda had just woken up from a nap.

"Imelda?" Héctor asked as his wife sat down in her designated chair. "Mí corazon, are you all right?"

Nodding, Imelda said, "Sí, Héctor. Have we heard anything from Miguel? About his trip?"

Taking a deep breath, Héctor said, "No, mí amor. But there is something we need to tell you."

Pulling out the note from Miguel that was tucked in her apron pocket, Victoria sat down across from her shocked abuelita.

"Miguel wrote to me a few days ago, Abuelita," Victoria said. "He said that the living Rodriguez family is not cooperating with the case against the de la Cruz estate anymore. And they're pressing charges against the investigator's office for breach of privacy."

Imelda couldn't even speak, as she stood up and grabbed the note from her nieta's hands. After quickly skimming through it, Imelda crumpled it up into a ball and chucked it into the waste bin that sat nearby.

"So, it wasn't a supply trip." Imelda said in an uncharacteristically shocked voice.

"Imelda?" Héctor asked. "Mí amor?"

Shaking her head to ward off tears, Imelda said, "We have to track down Jorge Rodriguez and get his side of the story, Héctor. He's the only one who knows what really happened."

Deciding not to bring up his mother-in-law, Héctor agreed with his wife in order to avoid an argument. They could easily look for Rodriguez the next day and ask everyone in the Arts District for help, just as they did when they were looking for de la Cruz.

But would it be that easy?

Chapter Text

Héctor knew that sleep was a given sometimes. The dead neither required it nor relished from it. It had simply become a habit. But on this particular night, Héctor found that sleep was escaping him. It had only been a few months since his and Imelda's relationship had returned to what it had been in their happiest days, but Héctor couldn't shake the feeling of dread that came over him. Today had been a mess.

Miguel had taken off towards this unfamiliar place called Texas and, with no way of contacting him, it was safe to say that the dead relatives were nervous wrecks. Imelda had shown no emotion when the true contents of the letter were revealed, but Héctor knew that she must be worried sick.

And to top it all off, Josefina had written to Imelda again, pleading for a chance at reconciliation. Josefina had also included a side note for Héctor, asking him to try and talk to Imelda, and that if he wanted to meet up with her to talk, let her know. At that request, the two notes soon wound up as confetti on the Rivera's kitchen table.

But now, at nearly 1:29 AM, Imelda was fast asleep, her hair spilling out in ringlets on the pillow, her breathing even and slow. Even Pepita couldn't wake her up, Héctor noted as he moved the covers to better cover her sleeping form.

She had worn herself out worrying about Miguel earlier in the day, frantically writing and rewriting a letter to him, pleading for him to be careful and to not trust anything that Rodriguez said outright.

"Something feels wrong about this, Héctor," Imelda had said earlier as she was getting ready for bed. "It has de la Cruz written all over it."

"Imeldita," Héctor said softly as he got into bed. "We won't know for sure until we talk to him. And according to the poderes superiores, de la Cruz has been forbidden to have contact with any of his former 'amigos'. And that includes me!"

Imelda looked weary, almost tearful at that point. "But that won't stop him from trying to get revenge on our family, Héctor. And until we can find out whether Rodriguez is telling the truth or not, I can't trust him."

Snapping out of his daydream, Héctor gave up on sleep and quietly wandered downstairs, taking his blue notebook with him (the old red one used for songwriting had been locked away in the family safe). New songs filled the inside, but tonight Héctor couldn't think of any songs or write any poems. Deciding to head for the Arts District to talk to Frida about what was happening, Héctor was millimeters away from touching the door handle when a voice made him jump.

"Papá? Where are you going?"

Turning around, he saw Coco standing there, a look of concern written all over her face as she addressed her papá. Not wanting to alarm his only child, Héctor made his way over to her and quickly gave her a hug.

"Are you going to find Rodriguez, Papá?" Coco asked softly, getting her boots on as she readied herself to leave the house.

"Sí, mija," Héctor said. "This man lost everything and more and I owe it to him to help him get his legacy back on track."

Coco nodded, sympathy in her eyes. But then she asked. "But Papá, why in the middle of the night?"

"Because I know one artist who is exceptionally amazing at planning search parties and likes to paint until 4:00 am."

Coco had only been to the Arts District three times since her arrival; once to meet up with the search party for de la Cruz, another time to deliver a pair of tap shoes to Frida's assistant, Riya, and another time to formally introduce herself to the orchestra that had given her papá so much grief.

Having briefly woken Imelda to tell her where they would be going, Héctor and Coco quietly left the safety of the Rivera hacienda with Pepita in tow. When they landed at the Arts District, it was well after 3:00 am, and Pepita's haphazard flying indicated the alebreje was half-asleep and not used to being up this late (except on Día de los Muertos of course).

Héctor aimed his arm for the windowsill and tapped, hoping that someone, anyone, was still awake. Less than a minute later, Ceci came over, her hair in curlers and wearing a bathrobe, yawning as she opened the window.

"You do know what time it is, right, Héctor?" Ceci said as she looked at Héctor in annoyance.

"Hola, Ceci," Héctor said as he and Coco made their way into the main studio. Greeting Coco with a hug, Ceci continued:

"What are you y Coco doing in the Arts District at this time of night?"

Shaking her head softly, Coco said, "It's a long story, Ceci, but we can explain. Do you know if Frida's awake?"

Grumbling slightly, Ceci went into the back where the artists stayed if they wanted to work on their art pieces overnight. After a brief moment, Frida came out. Unlike Ceci, she was full of energy and despite being covered in paint, she looked utterly delighted at seeing Héctor again.

"Héctor! So good to see you again, amigo! And Coco! It's a pleasure" Frida said as she went over and greeted Coco with a kiss on each cheekbone.

"Igualmente." Coco said in her soft voice.

"So how can I help Mexico's greatest musician tonight?"

Héctor shrugged and became nervous, "Ah, well see, Frida. It's difficult to explain but, uh, we need to find someone. Again."

Frida became slightly sulky, "If it's that de la Cruz, Héctor…."

Coco shook her head, "No, no, it's not him. It's someone else. It's Jorge Rodriguez."

Ceci frowned slightly, "The bandmate? Héctor, qué pasa?"

Héctor sat down on a chair and started to talk. He knew this would take a while.

For the next two hours, the three women in the room listened with increased horror as Héctor explained what his living descendants were going through and why they would need the help of everyone in the Arts District.

When Héctor finally finished his story, there was a sudden hush as everyone took everything in. Finally, after a few tense moments, Frida spoke up, none of her usual bite existing as she sat down next to Coco, whose eyes had filled up with tears.

"Please, let us know if there's anything we can do to help," Frida said as she handed Coco a tissue. "And if it includes bashing that de la Cruz on the head or doing another search party, call me! But in the meantime, I'll see what I can do to find out about Rodriguez from my other amigos."

Coco smiled softly and with a polite 'gracias', she and Héctor reboarded Pepita to head back to the shoe shop.

"Papá?" Coco said. "What about asking Mamá Josefina for help? She would definitely know how someone could disappear and hide without going through the Final Death."

Nodding, Héctor said, "True, mija, but I'm not sure that your mamá would feel comfortable with her around. I think we need to give that idea time and I'll ask your mamá again later."

Coco sighed and agreed, not wishing to hurt her mother in any way. After all, Imelda had been a single parent for a very long time. Forgiving Héctor after everything was explained? No problem! But forgiving the mother who stood by and let her husband disown his only daughter? In Imelda's book, that wasn't going to happen.

Much to Héctor's relief, everyone was still sleeping by the time father and daughter returned to the shoe shop. As Coco went upstairs to go back to bed, Héctor stayed downstairs. He knew that Imelda would not agree with him on this, but he felt that Josefina should get a second chance and that she was their best bet for finding Rodriguez. After all, Imelda's parents had tried to set her up with Rodriguez before she was with Héctor so Josefina was bound to know something.

"Héctor? What's wrong?" a sleepy voice asked. Quickly straightening himself up, Héctor turned around to see Imelda, coming downstairs with an exhausted expression on her face. It was very clear that it had been another night with no sleep for the family's matriarch. And judging by the tear streaks on her skull? Probably caused by a dream about her mamá or Miguel. Héctor winced, suddenly feeling guilty at leaving in the middle of the night.

Ever since Héctor came back to the family, he had been refusing late-night gigs at various concert halls in the Land of the Dead. When asked about it, Héctor simply said that he wanted to be with his family and that performing gigs after dark was not something he wanted to do. To him, it felt a bit shady. If it was anything Héctor missed whilst touring with Ernesto, it was being with his beloved diosa.

"Nothing, amor," Héctor said as he embraced his wife. "But what about you? It looks like you've been crying."

Snuggling herself into her husband's arms, Imelda said, "Never mind me, Héctor. I just hate feeling so useless. We can't do anything. We have to wait and see what happens when Miguel comes home. What if something happens to him? Qué podemos hacer desde aquí?"

After giving her a hug to calm her down, Héctor said, "We'll contact the Department of Family Reunions to see if we can find out how he died. And as long as Miguelito has his family with him in Texas, no harm will come to our chamaco."

Chapter Text

Show Me Chapter 11

Miguel walked quietly up and down the library hallway, his hands in his pockets. It had been two days since he, Elena, Enrique and Gloria had arrived in Texas and so far, things had been going fine. Martinez had let the family settle in for the first two days so he could work on getting permission to access the library's science lab to look over physical evidence.

Unfortunately for Miguel, he was considered to be too young to be in the lab itself, so Martinez secured access for both Elena and Enrique to work in the lab instead. In the meantime, Gloria and Miguel had another important job: looking up information on de la Cruz's life from 1935-1942 on the library's main floor.

"Unfortunately, you have to be at least 18 to work in the research lab," Martinez said. "But there is something that I could use some help on. You and your Tía Gloria can look up more information about de la Cruz's 1942 Wartime Tour in the computer lab. See if you can find out more about the bandmates that accompanied him or even about de la Cruz's family."

With Gloria accompanying him to the main level of the library, Miguel pulled out his big red notebook, filled to the brim with information that he had written in about de la Cruz, the connection to Lopez, and more. This was a notebook that Miguel had started ever since Día de los Muertos 2017. Every note, every clue, even drawings that he had done of Héctor from memory were in there, tightly bound together by a long piece of string.

Opening up a laptop borrowed from the computer area, Gloria quickly accessed the library's main archive page. With a few quick clicks, the news appeared flashing FEBRUARY 4, 2019 along with the highlights of the day. Gloria stiffened slightly when she saw one of the headlines spoke about the conflict in Venezuela. There was also an article about science, but she had skimmed through it so quickly that Miguel didn't have a chance to read it, but he could tell that article had upset her more than the previous one.

"Tía Gloria," Miguel began slowly. "Esta bien? Was it the article? Fui yo?"

Shaking her head, Gloria ruffled her nephew's hair. "No, mijo, you didn't do anything. It's just that—ah, no importa. I'll explain it to you later."

Miguel had wanted to ask more questions, but one look from his tía and he relented. Whatever this was, it had deeply upset her, and Miguel knew that it was something that he shouldn't ask about until she felt ready. While he hadn't exactly had a completely sheltered life (apart from the ban of course), the adults in the family were always careful about talking about world news in front of the kids.

"No business at the dinner table!" was Elena's firm rule. It had been there since Imelda had run the shop and it had stuck around.

Scrolling through more websites, Miguel finally found one that was of interest: ERNESTO DE LA CRUZ: WARTIME

"Does that mean he fought in a big war, Tía?" Miguel asked as Gloria looked at the website. After scrolling through it she shook her head, but immediately closed the website as she realized that there was just some stuff that she couldn't share with Miguel, no matter how curious he was.

"No, but according to this, he performed for soldiers during Segunda Guerra Mundial. Traveled all over Mexico and made dozens of movies for the war effort." Gloria said. Most of them, Miguel noted, were cheesy romance movies.

Rolling his eyes, Miguel kept scrolling through the website until he reached the sources page. Printing out the list, he turned to Gloria and said, "Can we show this to Papá and Abuelita?"

Nodding, Gloria went to go check out the two books that they had looked at earlier, one discussing de la Cruz's life and one discussing conspiracy theories on de la Cruz's death.

With little to go on in terms of facts, they decided to go get food at the hotel's restaurant with the others. If Miguel had thought his tía was acting odd, he didn't comment on it.

Gloria stirred a bowl of chili, her thoughts racing as Elena watched her with concern. It was very clear that something had upset Gloria during her research session at the library.

"Ay mija, you should try and eat," Elena said gently. "It's going to get cold."

Inclining her head, Gloria ate as much as she could under Elena's watchful eye. Enrique had left earlier to go call Luisa and let her know of what progress had been made while Miguel headed back to the hotel room for a nap.

"How did your day go, Mamá?" Gloria said, determined to change the subject. "Did you find out anything?"

Shaking her head, Elena went on, "We couldn't find out much apart from things we already knew. Who knew doing research like this could be so difícil?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Gloria said, "Mamá, we all knew that it was going to be difficult. Not everyone in the world will be convinced that de la Cruz did anything wrong."

Elena looked like she was about to start shouting but she quickly quieted down at her daughter's request. "And if we can't get the Rodriguez family to cooperate, estamos atornillados. But let's worry about that when the time comes. What did you find out with Miguelito?"

Pulling out three sheets of paper, Gloria translated most of it out loud, Elena looking over her shoulder. Even though she couldn't read it due to the language barrier, Elena looked absolutely disgusted as she stared at a picture of de la Cruz with two women swooning at his side.

"He fought in the Mexican Revolution when he was 17 and performed for troops during his Wartime Tour in the 1940s." Gloria read out aloud and paused, this time reading about de la Cruz's love life, something that she did not want Miguel to hear while they were at the library as she wasn't sure that it was appropriate for him. Elena had yelled at her once for accidentally leaving a telenovela on with a questionable love scene when Miguel was four.

"He was never married but had affairs with a number of women over the years and rumors of illegitimate children nearly killed his career in the late 1930s. The last tour de la Cruz did before his death was an attempt to try and salvage his reputation with his American fans," Gloria read out loud. "The most notable on/off romance was with renowned actress Araceli Torres which ended in November 1941, just months before he died. She died 8 months after de la Cruz from kidney failure but, according to this, some rumored that she died due to complications in childbirth."

Elena looked a bit taken aback, her thoughts racing. "How old was Araceli Torres when she died?"

Gloria murmured the age so softly that Elena and Enrique (who had rejoined them), had to ask her to speak up.

"Ella solo tenía 20 años." Gloria said much to the shock of everyone else. "She was 17 when she started going out with de la Cruz."

Enrique looked shocked as he took in this information. What really made him upset was that this young girl was 17 and de la Cruz was in his mid-forties. Old enough to be her father, but such were the times. Definitely something to bring up with Martinez tomorrow, Enrique thought as everyone made their way back to the hotel the next day.

When they woke up the next morning, Enrique explained the information to Miguel as carefully as possible. Miguel's eyes grew bigger as his papá explained de la Cruz's affair with Araceli Torres but Enrique was careful not to mention Araceli's age or what could have happened to her.

"Miguel, are you ok?" Enrique asked as Miguel went quiet, taking in all the information. But Miguel didn't say a word, too shocked to even reply. No wonder his tía was so upset yesterday!

When breakfast was over, Enrique suggested that Gloria and Miguel went to go take a break from the research to do a bit of sight-seeing; Miguel had expressed an interest in going to the Space Center and Gloria wanted to go see a bit of the Museum District (as well as do a bit of shopping). Both places would take all day to tour, so it would be a good distraction for the depressed Gloria. Meanwhile, Elena and Enrique decided to stay behind, wanting to talk to Martinez about the developments in the research.

"This certainly explains a lot." Martinez said as Enrique and Elena presented the information the next day. "We need to find out whether or not there were any children, if those children are still around and whether or not there are any discrepancies with de la Cruz's autobiography."

Enrique closed his eyes in deep thought; that could only mean that the research would take even longer and the Riveras would only be there for 10 days and-

"Did you find anything from the lab, Julio?" Enrique asked softly. "Related to Rodriguez?"

"No, not yet, Enrique," Martinez answered, carefully wording his answer. "But we did hear back from their lawyer."

"What did they say?"

"They want to meet with us. Tomorrow."

Chapter Text

Show Me Chapter 12

Miguel's eyes got bigger and bigger as the car pulled into the entry of the office complex. While it looked nothing like the shoe shop or any of the buildings in Santa Cecilia, it was a good-looking structure, complete with cactus plants. It reminded Miguel heavily of the City Hall back home.

"Now Miguel, do you remember what I told you?" Enrique asked him softly, startling Miguel out of his reverie.

"Not to bring up anything about my adventure or de la Cruz." Miguel whispered back. "But what if they mention him, Abuelita? What should I do then?"

Kissing the top of her nieto's head, Elena said, "Just follow their lead, mijo." Suddenly, Miguel didn't feel too sure about visiting the Rodriguez family or their lawyer, but if it helped convince them to bring de la Cruz to justice, then he would do it. Even if he had to wear the most uncomfortable suit known to man.

As soon as Martinez pulled into the parking lot, Enrique, Elena and Miguel hopped out of the car. Gloria had stayed behind, doing research at the library and informing the relatives back home about the progress that had been made.

"Now remember, we have to be careful." Martinez reminded the family. "One wrong word and this whole thing could come crashing down on us. I don't mean to sound harsh, but someone is clearly pulling the strings here to keep the family silent."

With understanding nods, the family quietly left the van, praying that the meeting would go well.

Looking up at this building, Miguel knew that this family meant business. According to Abel, the taller the office building, the more grande y importa someone was.

Upon entering the main building, Miguel immediately spotted a Hispanic family, standing in a group behind a man in a suit who was clearly going to be doing all the talking. This was definitely the Rodriguez family.

"This must be the Rivera family that Julio talked of. My name is Christopher Salinas" the lawyer said in rapid English, leaving Elena confused until Enrique translated the gist of what had been said. "Please follow me to my office. We have a lot to discuss."

As he turned to follow the lawyer and the Rodriguez family, Miguel turned to see a pretty young girl, no more than 13 or 14, standing next to him. Upon noticing him look at her, the girl turned away, clearly feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Papá?" Miguel asked, now suddenly nervous and frightened of what was going to happen.

"Está bien, mijo," Enrique said. "Just stay close to Abuelita or me, ok?"

As they arrived in the office, Miguel took a seat next to his papá, shaking a bit until Elena gently put her hand on his knee.

"Now I called this meeting today to discuss what our plan is going forward," Salinas said. "My clients want this to work out for all parties involved without having to go to court over this. And according to you, Señor Martinez, you fired the man responsible for leaking this information to the press."

Nodding politely, Martinez went on, but this time in Spanish. He and the Riveras knew fully well that this lawyer was speaking English on purpose to antagonize them. The other family looked embarrassed.

Miguel suddenly remembered an English phrase he had learned at school: sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Well that's definitely a lie. Miguel thought as he watched Elena trying not to lose her temper. Words can hurt. Especially if you can't understand them.

"My former subordinate was fired the moment this came to light," Martinez said. "As well as receiving a lifetime ban from any law enforcement agency for his actions."

Salinas looked a bit wary at that, but after a quick word in English between the two men, Martinez asked the Rivera family to wait outside. There were things that he couldn't discuss with them present.

"It's more of a legality," Martinez murmured. "Just wait for me in the lobby and I'll come get you."

Elena looked like she wanted to argue but Enrique shook his head. They were already pushing their luck by being allowed into the meeting and a slip-up could mean a fast trip back home. But Miguel was confused.

"Papá, what's going on?" Miguel asked. "Why are we waiting outside?"

"He just wants to talk the Rodriguez family alone, mijo," Elena answered as she sat down on a bench. "There may be things that he can't let us hear. They'll ask us back inside, soon enough."

Grumbling a bit, Miguel sat down on a bench, deciding to read the book he brought with him from the library back home: de la Cruz's autobiography. Miguel had bookmarked the pages carefully, knowing that even the smallest of details could be used to help convince the Rodriguez family to cooperate. But for some reason, one thing stuck out in particular.

"Abuelita?" Miguel asked quietly as he thumbed through the pages of the book. "What was up with that lawyer? He was acting kind of sospechoso."

Gently patting Miguel's back, Elena replied, "I don't know, mijo. I thought he was acting kind of strange too, but we'll let Señor Martinez know about it."

Coming back to the main doorway, Martinez gestured for the three Riveras to come back in. Something was definitely up.

The Rodriguez family looked very wary as the Riveras came back in and sat down across from them. Salinas looked a bit haughty as Miguel sat down. Clearly, this man had zero experience in dealing with pre-adolescent children and did not enjoy having the two children in the room.

"My clients have agreed to settle with you and your niece out of court," Salinas said, standing up and walking towards Martinez, hand outstretched. "But they would like to press charges against the individual who leaked the information to the American press. It was a breach of privacy after all."

Nodding politely, Martinez agreed, knowing that there was no way that they would be able to get out of that agreement. After shaking hands with the remaining Rodriguez family, he quietly got up. The Riveras looked shocked-what could have happened that made the Rodriguez family drop the charges against Martinez and his niece? No one knew.

The meeting was over but the Riveras and Martinez thought that one huge thing didn't get covered.

"What about de la Cruz?" Miguel whispered to his papá. "Will the Rodríguezes press charges against the estate?"

"One step at a time." Enrique whispered back. He knew that Martinez was pushing his luck with having some of the charges against him dropped, so refiling charges against the estate may take a bit of persuasion.

As the two Hispanic families made their way to the parking garage, Miguel made his way to the young girl he had seen earlier. She was pretty, probably 13 or 14 with long black hair.

"H-h-h-ello." Miguel said, his nerve gone as he held out his hand for her to shake. "My name i-ssss Miguel."

With a soft smile, the girl shook his hand. "It's alright, I understand both English and Spanish." She said. "My name is María, but you can call me Aria for short. How do you like Texas so far?"

Smiling sheepishly, Miguel said, "I like it a lot so far, it's pretty cool. How long have you lived here?"

"Almost 5 years," Aria answered, "But I was born and raised in Ciudad Juárez."

Miguel had meant to ask Aria about whether or not her family would refile charges against de la Cruz, but it was as if his words and mind had disappeared. But he didn't have to.

"This investigation is crazy!" Aria continued. "I'd give anything to go give de la Cruz a good whack in the head for what he did to your great-great grandfather!"

Miguel wanted to answer that Imelda Rivera had already done that, but not wanting to raise suspicion or make Aria think he was crazy, he settled for answering with a "It would serve him right!"

After Aria paused briefly to catch her breath, Miguel began to ask, "So, would your family ever let Martinez-."

"Aria! Time to leave, mija!" Aria's mamá called out.

"Coming, Mamá!" Aria responded. "We'll definitely have to talk again soon, Miguel! It was nice meeting you!"

After pressing a piece of paper into Miguel's hand, Aria ran ahead to meet her family and waved goodbye to Miguel. As Elena ran forward to see if Miguel needed to be protected, Enrique quickly stopped her as he approached his son.

"Aria's really nice, Papá," Miguel said. "I like her a lot."

Chuckling at the thought of Miguel finding romance in the strangest of circumstances, Enrique and Elena moved get into the car. It wasn't until Miguel gave Enrique the piece of paper that it caused an uproar.

"Díos mio," Elena murmured.

On the paper (apart from Aria's email address), were a few simple words that answered the question Miguel had forgotten to ask her when she got called away.

My family doesn't mind.

Chapter Text

"And the weather's going to be in the mid-80s today, perfect weather for getting those outdoor chores done." Luisa turned off the radio with a sigh. She had FaceTimed Enrique earlier that day to see what was going on in Texas. Elena wasn't too sure of Houston, Enrique had reported, finding it a bit too crowded for her taste, but she was slowly getting used to it. But things back in Santa Cecilia had hit a rough patch.

It was no secret that the town was willing to forgive the other members of the Rivera family, but when it came to Elena, even just her name was like a curse word: saying it out loud drew looks of fear and disgust, much to the sadness of the other Riveras. They had hoped for months that things would calm down, but it was soon becoming clear that not everyone in the town would be as forgiving.

From shopkeepers refusing to serve Elena, to the children of wealthy vendors calling her "Perra Loca" and "Asesina de la música" behind her back, circumstances were not looking good. It soon became clear to Luisa and Enrique that some of the wealthier citizens of Santa Cecilia were determined to make Elena's life a living hell. Despite numerous complaints to the police by the Rivera family, it seemed that nothing was changing.

"Tía Luisa?" a soft voice spoke up, jolting Luisa out of her thoughts. Turning around, Luisa saw Benny, who looked incredibly upset as he held a piece of paper attached to something heavy and rectangular. Luisa looked stunned as she took the note from her nephew. The note, which had no name on it, read:

If you don't move out of Santa Cecilia, this will be your daughter's moving present. This is your last warning, Asesina.

"Tía?" Benny asked, with cocern. Even though he couldn't read yet, Benny could tell it was serious. "What's going on?"

Not wanting to frighten the 5-year old, Luisa hugged him and sent him back inside, just as Rosa came out holding a book. Looking closer, Luisa saw it was that American novel that her 15-year old niece borrowed from a friend.

"Rosa?" Luisa called, causing her niece to squeak slightly and hide the book under her shirt. Luisa quickly said, "Are you sure that book is appropriate for you?"

"Don't tell Mamá, Tía!" Rosa said. "It's good for my education!"

Stifling laughter, Luisa took the book from her niece and looked it over. When those movies came out a decade ago, Gloria had brought all 4 books home from the library so she could read them, but Elena wasn't too sure about that idea. Eventually it all came to a head when 5-year old Rosa had borrowed them and took them to school for her library class, resulting in an impromptu "birds and the bees" talk with Carmen and Elena.

"Edward y Bella son tan lindos juntos," Rosa said. "And wouldn't it be awesome to be a vampire, Tía Luisa? You could never get tired and go face off vampires like los Vulturi."

As Carmen came outside with the twins, Luisa immediately composed herself and simply said to Rosa, "I'm not sure I would want to sparkle in the sun like that. Just try not to be like the people in that book, ok? Talk to your mamá about that."

As Carmen sat down next to Luisa, Rosa nodded and left to go inside.

"Go play, mijos," Carmen said to her sons. "But stay where we can see you."

As the twins took off, Carmen turned to speak to her sister-in-law, clearly very worried.

"Anything from Enrique?" Carmen asked. "And was Rosa reading that book again? Ay, I hope that she doesn't get any more ideas from that! Why do I have a feeling that I'll have to give her the Talk again?"

Luisa laughed but knew that there was a much more serious issue at hand: specifically, the issue of how to get the town of Santa Cecilia to warm up to Elena Rivera.

"Another hate note arrived today, Carmen," Luisa said as she handed her sister-in-law the note, gauging her reaction. "This is getting serious."

Reading the note, Carmen felt her blood run cold. At first these notes looked ridiculous, but now they had taken a serious turn. Involving her children in this? This had gone way too far. The scary bit was that the note didn't have a name on it or even mention which Rivera daughter it was addressed to.

"We should let Mamá Elena know, Luisa," Carmen said. "But we need to let the police know first. I'll go ahead and give them a call."

Getting up from her chair, Carmen walked back inside and headed for the family room. Since little Socorro was napping and the twins had come inside for a nap, no one was in there at that time, the phone would be available for use.

Luisa looked overwhelmed but upon steeling herself, she headed back inside.

Carmen had just finished up her phone call when Luisa rejoined her.

"The police said they'll keep a lookout and advised us to not do anything to draw attention to ourselves," Carmen said.

As they had agreed they should let the rest of the family know, Carmen decided to text Enrique later that night. The two women headed back to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Normally, if Elena, Enrique or Gloria went out on supply runs, the family would order food from a local restaurant. But given the circumstances, everyone decided a home-cooked meal would be best.

Dinner was an unusually quiet affair. After they finished eating, the three youngest children headed off to bed while Rosa stayed behind to talk to the adults. Berto's arm was healing fast and it wouldn't be long before he could go back to work. Franco had been keeping in touch with Martinez, relaying important information back to the family, but his main worry had been for his wife and daughter. Elena reported that Gloria had seemed upset by something, but both she and Franco were mystified as to what could be wrong.

"It's loco!" Rosa said. "Why can't they forgive us already? We've apologized to Miguel and to the town for the ban!"

Shaking his head, Franco simply replied, "It's not that easy, mija. You know how stubborn Abuelita is. Owning up to her mistakes is not an easy thing for her."

Everyone made noises of agreement; Elena could be so stubborn when she wanted to, just like Imelda. But the guitar shop owner was even more stubborn and refused point blank to forgive her or associate with her. Except for Miguel and the other Rivera children, when an adult member of the Rivera family went to the shop, they were treated with cold disdain. Or, in Enrique's case, shown the door.

"I thought that day at the festival would have changed everything for the town," Luisa said sadly as she thought back to the music festival where Elena had literally stood up on an orange crate to apologize for her actions. "But it's going to take time no matter what. This town has seen how Mamá Elena hated music for nearly 65 years. And for the time being, I think we need to keep away from the Plaza."

No one would argue with that.

Loud noises woke Luisa later that night. Reaching for her bedside lamp and scooping up baby Socorro from her crib, Luisa quickly headed for the hallway, meeting up with Carmen and Berto in the process.

"Qué es?" Luisa asked urgently. "What's happened?"

Carmen shook her head, "Lo no se. We heard loud noises. We thought that it might have been one of the neighbors but…"

"I think it's coming from the workshop." Berto said, holding a flashlight.

Creeping stealthily along the blackened hallway, the three adults went into the workshop and turned on the light. Much to everyone's shock and horror, the workshop had been completely and thoroughly wrecked. Orders and papers were scattered everywhere, windows and equipment almost destroyed. It would take weeks, months, to sort through the chaos. Elena would be devastated, but there was no doubt that she would also be very angry. Thankfully, the museum was untouched, as Gloria was fixing it up for the upcoming spring break, so many of the exhibits (the guitar, poems, and sheet music) were locked away.

But it wasn't until Rosa cried out, "PAPÁ FRANCO!" that the mood instantly shifted. Berto quickly ran towards his papá, telling Rosa to keep the twins and Socorro out of the workshop.

Franco was sitting upright, hidden by a couple of boxes, clutching his right ankle in pain. On the floor next to a sewing machine was a bright red brick with a note, in English, attached to it. No one needed to translate it: the meaning was perfectly clear.

I warned you, didn't I? You destroyed something that he loved, now I'll destroy something that you love. Consider it payback and maybe next time you'll be home for my message to sink in.

Chapter Text

Date: February 8, 2019

There was no time for questions, as the volunteer ambulance arrived along with the police. Since there was no dispatch, one of the neighbors had run up the street to the local fire department. Guy Quesada, the Riveras' next door neighbor, had come to help as well.

"They came out of nowhere," Franco told a police officer as an ambulance attendant bandaged his ankle. "I couldn't tell who los bastardos were. But I think one of them was that teenager that threatened Elena in the market a few months ago."

Quesada added, "Estoy bastante seguro that one of the men works for de la Cruz Productions. I've seen his picture on the news."

Guy Quesada was one of the few people outside the family who knew what was going on. Having promised both Enrique and Elena that he would look in while they were away, he had run from next door upon hearing the noises at the workshop, worried that something bad had happened.

While Guy Quesada went to the police station to make a statement, Franco stayed behind, listening intently while an EMT finished bandaging his injured ankle.

"Well, you're lucky, Señor Rivera," one of the EMTs said. "You've probably just got a sprained ankle, but I don't think it's broken. To be on the safe side, though, I think you should get this looked at the hospital and, in any case, get you some crutches."

Franco balked at the idea until Berto pointed out that he had some crutches lying around from when Abel sprained his ankle playing soccer when he was 8. With a few minor adjustments to the height, those would do for now.

After everyone left, the family slowly made their back to bed, Franco electing to sleep on the sofa in order to avoid a long trek up the stairs. The children had fallen back asleep almost instantly. But the adults laid awake: whoever had done this had gone too far.

The next morning was another whirlwind of activity; Carmen and Berto had taken Franco to the doctor's office, leaving Luisa, Rosa, and Abel (who was home on spring break) to look after the younger children.

"Guy Quesada called," Abel said as he walked back in the room. "The police are positive that the people who attacked Papá Franco were the same people at the music festival a few months ago."

Rosa looked guilty, almost disgusted with herself. She had been the reason why her tío and abuelita were at that shop! "But what about the music shop owner? He made it clear that he thought Abuelita was awful!"

Luisa sighed in frustration; she had been aware of how bad things had gotten as Luisa recalled a trip to the music store ended in disaster shortly after Día de los Muertos 2018:

"Welcome, may I assist—" the shop owner cut off his words, his expression shifting to one of deep hatred upon seeing Elena.

Enrique looked a bit put out but his mamá looked livid. Elena walked up to the owner, clearly on the verge of removing her chancla, but her son stopped her.

"We're here to look for violin sheet music for mi sobrina," Enrique said, desperate to relieve the tension. "She's going to be turning 15 this year and I'm not too sure—-."

"Violin sheet music is over on the middle shelf." The owner said curtly, turning back to his cash register. Not wanting to cause a stir, Enrique decided the best thing to do was to pick out music he thought his niece would like and leave, taking a reluctant Elena with him.

After leaving the shop, Elena suddenly let out a "QUE?" causing Enrique to jump. Upon turning around, Enrique noticed a sign in the window that read:

ANYONE WHO SMASHES INSTRUMENTS IS NOT ALLOWED IN HERE. VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW.

"I don't think he would do it," Rosa said. "It seems that he was looking out for Miguel and he just doesn't get along with Abuelita."

"But this is beyond 'not getting along with her', Rosa," Abel pointed out. "He really does not like her, and he threatened to call the police on her when she tried to go back."

Luisa agreed, having spoken to Enrique about it. While the shop owner, Morales, wasn't nice to the adults in the family, he treated the children with respect. To the adults, it seemed that Morales was all bark and no bite. So, whoever attacked Franco and wrecked the shop had to be someone who worked for de la Cruz or someone who was angry at the Riveras for how they treated Miguel.

After a reaching a quick consensus to not let Benny and Manny into the shop, Rosa, Abel and Luis set to work in the kitchen preparing lunch. Crime scene tape was all over the workshop, making it completely unrecognizable with materials and shoes scattered everywhere. The police wouldn't allow them into the workshop yet, wanting to document the scene first before allowing them to clean up. They also wanted to interview the neighbors and Skype the Riveras who were in the United States.

Knowing that Miguel or Enrique wouldn't pick up if they didn't recognize the number, the police decided to use the Rivera family computer.

Shooing Rosa, Luisa and Abel out of the living room, the police sat down at the desk, getting ready to for a tough Skype call.

After their call with the police ended, no one was able to speak. Gloria and Elena were both crying, Enrique desperately trying to offer what little comfort he could to them. Miguel was pale as a sheet, taking in the information.

After taking a minute to compose herself, Elena's sadness turned to anger.

"IF I EVER FIND OUT WHO DID THIS, I WILL THROW THEM IN JAIL AND MAKE SURE THEY NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY!" Elena yelled at the computer, her children desperately trying to calm her down. "Hurting the shop is one thing, but injuring mi familia?! Eso está muy lejos!"

Miguel shrank back. He'd only seen his abuelita this angry when she—-ah, no, probably best not to think of that. But his sadness soon became worry as he thought of one person, er, skeleton who did not know.

"Pobre Mamá Imelda," he said worriedly to his mamá. "How am I going to tell her? And what about the ofrenda? Is that ok?"

Much to everyone's relief, Luisa replied that the ofrenda had not been touched. But with a pang, they realized that Miguel was the only one who could communicate with the ancestors. What they didn't know was that Miguel had discovered another method of communication.

Right after Día de los Muertos that past year, Miguel found out that he could visit his ancestors when he was asleep or unconscious. Not wanting to freak out his parents or his abuelita, Miguel kept that piece of information a secret. If it was one thing that Miguel did not want to have happen, it was having people outside the family think he was losing touch with reality.

Luisa reassured them that Franco was going to be all right with nothing more than a sprained ankle and a minor concussion that would keep him from working for two weeks. Abel had gone ahead and set up Franco and Elena's room as a place for him to get some peace and quiet, complete with a radio and a computer.

Elena had expressed interest in coming home almost immediately after hearing about the break-in but, much to her sadness, the cost of airfare was simply too much and there was no available flight out at that moment. With only three days left to the trip, there was nothing to do except wait until the actual date of departure.

After ending the call, Elena went back to her hotel room to get to work on locating materials online that would be needed for repairs to the shop. Window replacement wouldn't be cheap, but otherwise all that the shop needed was a good clean-up. Carmen and Luisa had gotten started on that after the police had given them the all-clear as they left.

Enrique and Miguel had both decided to take a nap, mentally exhausted from the incident. But little known to Enrique, Miguel had a plan to get in touch with the ancestors. As he felt himself fall asleep, Miguel woke up in the dreamworld that was between the Land of the Dead and the Land of the Living. While he couldn't directly talk to his relatives, Miguel could leave a message instead with the agent at the Department of Supernatural Connections.

After giving his name and the names of the people who were to receive, Miguel felt that familiar tickling sensation throughout his body: he was waking up.

The agent barely read the message, glancing as he put in the mailbag to be delivered later. He could tell by the living boy's body language that something was definitely wrong. Unlike letters in the living world, a letter in the Land of the Dead could only be read by the letter's intended recipient. If someone else tried to read it, the ink and paper would vanish immediately.

Mamá Imelda y Papá Héctor,

I'm doing okay in Texas. We've discovered a lot about de la Cruz including the fact that he may have a kid out there somewhere. We were able to convince the Rodriguez family to re-file charges against the estate and Señor Martinez is going to stay in Texas for a while after we leave to look into it. But something bad happened back home.

Someone broke into the workshop and destroyed a ton of equipment as well as shoe orders. Papá Franco was injured as well as our neighbor, Guy Quesada. But they are both going to be fine. The police think someone from de la Cruz Productions is responsible.

I'll try to update you when I can.

Miguel

Chapter Text

While the letter was delivered to the Rivera ancestors, back in the living world things were chaotic. All morning and most of the afternoon, Enrique tried to arrange an earlier flight home with no success. Elena and Gloria had gone to the library to meet up with Rodriguez in one of the private study rooms to go over research before packing for the trip home. Enrique knew that work would be the only balm to soothe Elena's frazzled nerves as he and Miguel worked from the hotel.

At the library, Gloria quickly explained to Martinez what had happened back home. The investigator's immediate reaction was dismay and then he offered to do whatever he could to help, but Elena shushed him. They had come to the library to work, not worry, and Elena felt that he was already doing so much. Sensing a change in subject was needed, Gloria brought up Araceli Torres and asked how that was coming.

"We need to be absolutely sure that this information is accurate, Doña Rivera," Martinez said as he looked at the information about de la Cruz's romance with Araceli Torres. "I'm not saying that I don't believe this, but we have to be sure. The wrong information could damage this girl's legacy as well as her family's reputation. Especially considering her age. We really don't know how old she was when she died, given the huge fire that happened in the '50s that destroyed so many records."

Gloria looked serious as she considered that fact. Three different sources had different accounts of how old Torres was when she was dating de la Cruz. But the general agreement was that Torres was in her late teens/early '20s when she started seeing him.

"No matter what her age was, she didn't deserve to die so young." Elena said firmly. "She wasn't much older than Papá Héctor when he died. If one of her descendants is still out there, we have to find them."

Tears in her eyes, Gloria nodded, Martinez quietly offering her a tissue. Inclining her head in thanks, Gloria dabbed her eyes and went back to reading the book in front of her. Something about that story affected her and made her tear up; but Elena once again sensed that something was wrong. As her thoughts drifted, Elena went back to thinking about her ancestors.

Oh, Mamá Imelda, I'm so, so sorry. I wish I could tell you.

Little did Elena know, but at that moment, it was busy as usual at the Rivera hacienda in the Land of the Dead as everyone bustled around to get as much done as possible. For a few short more minutes, it was a family at peace.

Frida had come by earlier that morning with Ceci and Gustave in tow, which made Imelda suspect that they were hoping to talk her into performing in the show based on Miguel's adventure. But much to her relief, Frida didn't mention it and simply told Imelda what she had been up to since Héctor's last visit.

"I've spoken to all my friends around the Flapper District and in the Arts District," Frida said as she laid out a huge map of the Land of the Dead. "They're going to do everything they can to find out more about Rodriguez."

Imelda nodded, looking graver by the minute. She and the rest of the family knew that they were running on borrowed time. It had taken a bit of convincing from Héctor, but Imelda had slowly begun to believe Rodriguez's story. Rosita and Coco had immediately believed the story, feeling sorry for Rodriguez no matter the truth.

"Do you think he's been Forgotten, Frida?" Rosita asked softly. "I don't want him or his family to live through the pain that Papá Héctor went through."

Patting Rosita's hand, Ceci replied, "Esta bien, Rosita. We'll do everything that we can to make sure that Jorge Rodriguez isn't forgotten by anyone and that he gets a chance to have his story told."

Deciding to take their leave, the three artists left the hacienda, with promises to return the next day. Except for Coco, little did anyone know that Héctor had been secretly trying to track down his missing mother-in-law, wanting to get answers about Rodriguez.

Imelda looked on the verge of tears, but she composed herself and turned towards Héctor, who had entered the kitchen with a thin piece of paper.

"Eh….did I interrupt something?" Héctor asked sheepishly. "Melda?"

"No es nada, Héctor," Imelda replied, eyeing the paper Héctor carried. "What's that?"

"A letter from Miguel," Héctor said seriously. "Imelda, I think you need to sit down."

Shaking her head, Imelda answered, "Héctor, I'm fine. I can take whatever Miguel has to say."

But Héctor refused to acknowledge that, simply leading the family matriarch to a chair. "Por favor siéntate mi amor. It's not good, something bad happened."

Forty minutes and forty piles of crumpled up tissues later, Héctor managed to explain what had happened to everyone assembled. Everybody was in shock, but none more so than Imelda. While Rosita and Coco had both burst into tears upon hearing about the shop's destruction, both Victoria and Imelda remained stony-faced and angry. The twins and Julio stood there, stunned as they tried to come to grips with what happened.

"Who. Would. Do. This." Imelda spat out in pure disgust as Héctor attempted to scan the letter. As he was about to answer, the family matriarch put her hand up. "No, don't answer that, Héctor. I know. It was that Lopez. Or someone connected that de la Cruz. Or that woman."

Héctor knew that there was no point in getting through to his wife when she was that upset. "Mí amor, we don't know for certain if it was them," Héctor said feebly, trying to get Imelda to calm down.

Sensing the mounting tension in the room, Victoria piped up.

"At least Franco is going to be okay, Abuelita." Victoria said calmly as she put her hand on top of Imelda's curled up fist. "And it sounds like the offrenda and the museum weren't damaged."

Coco nodded but then sadly added. "Poor Elenita. I can't imagine what she's feeling right now. I wish there was something I could do to comfort her."

Calming down slightly at her daughter's words, Imelda hugged Coco tightly and murmured, "We'll do everything we can from our end to help, mija. I promise."

Deciding the best thing to was to write a letter to Miguel to be delivered when he came home, Rosita and Victoria left the room with Coco and the twins in tow. Héctor stayed behind, watching Imelda as her posture became stiff with an icy fury.

"Oh, mi vida," Héctor said as he pulled his wife into his arms. "Lo siento mucho."

Imelda didn't respond, her body stiffening with emotion, but Héctor understood immediately. The shop had been Imelda's livelihood for nearly 50 years and to hear that it was destroyed with tossed bricks and stones was a huge blow.

"Héctor," Imelda croaked out as she calmed herself down. "Why would someone do something like this? Hasn't de la Cruz done enough damage?"

Knowing that Imelda's uncharacteristic reaction was due to what had happened, Héctor simply said, "I wish I knew, mi amor. But we're all going to try and find out. As a family. Remember that story I told Coco when she was little?"

Not quite understanding her husband's point, Imelda shook her head. "The one about the time you got your head stuck in a fence?"

"No, mi amor," Héctor said, trying not to laugh. "Caja de Pandora. Bad things can happen but there is always hope. The damage can be repaired, Franco is going to be okay and we all have each other no matter what happens. En cado latido de mi orgulloso corazón."

Following a kiss on the forehead from Héctor, Imelda smiled softly, stood up from the chair and headed for the living room. Sighing softly as Imelda left the room, Héctor grabbed a piece of paper and pen from his desk.

Quickly writing a letter to Miguel to be sent when the teen got back from Texas (the communication with Miguel while he was asleep had to by initiated by Miguel), Héctor started a second letter.

After several failed attempts, Héctor finally managed to finish the second letter. Taking a deep breath, he whistled for Dulce, Victoria's owl alebreje. Similar to the owls in the Harry Potter books that Victoria loved, Dulce could deliver any messages to anyone, anywhere, no address or location required. Plus, the ink and paper would not fade when touched by an alebreje delivering a message.

"I hope this works," Héctor whispered as he glanced towards the workshop. "Por favor Dios."

Chapter Text

"After all, tomorrow is another day." Victoria read out aloud to herself as she finished reading her latest book. Closing it with a sigh, the youngest deceased member of the Rivera family looked out to the main area of the city. It had been a somewhat calm day after the craziness that was the weekend ended. But like every day that passed in the Land of the Dead, it was simply as Victoria's book described it, "another day".

Other than Ceci and Frida, no one outside of the family knew about what had happened in the Living World, Imelda having sworn everyone to secrecy. Coco had been devastated, wanting more than anything to go comfort her youngest daughter, but all she could do was pray and hope for the best. Héctor had wanted to speak to Miguel, and beyond frustrated that he couldn't initiate contact with the almost 14-year old.

Climbing down from her perch, Victoria headed for the workshop, hoping work would distract her. Imelda had been there all day, working on another dance shoe order for Ceci. Héctor had been out all day as well, claiming that he wanted to play in the Plaza to get his mind off things, but Victoria knew that was only a coping mechanism.

"Vicita?" a soft voice asked. Jumping slightly, Victoria turned around to see her mamá, entering quietly while carrying a white box. "Qué estás haciendo?"

"Hola, Mamá," Victoria answered as she bent down to kiss her mamá's cheek. "What's that you've got there?"

Smiling softly, Coco beckoned for her eldest to come sit with her at the kitchen table as she opened the box. It was full of pictures, some clothes, an old stuffed dog toy and even what appeared to be a pacifier. When Coco had passed away several months before, Elena had put this box on the offrenda.

"Is that…mine?" Victoria asked in shock as she eyed the stuffed dog. Coco smiled, hugging Victoria close to her.

"Sí, mija," Coco said. "Your Tía Rosita made him for you. You wouldn't go anywhere without him when you were little. Your papá had to drive half an hour away once to go fetch it in a shop you left him at."

Resisting the temptation to hug the stuffed animal, Victoria pulled out another stuffed animal, this time a stuffed bear. "Was this one Elena's? Didn't she name it Señor Azul?"

Laughing, Coco nodded again and pulled out another important item, this time a white gown that Victoria recognized as the family christening gown.

"Every single Rivera baby has been baptized in this gown," Coco murmured as she ran her fingers over the smooth cotton. "Your Mamá Imelda, tus tíos, me, you, Elena, and everyone else in our living family."

At that Victoria's facial expression altered. Putting the gown carefully back in the box, Coco asked, "What's wrong mija? I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, no, it's not that at all, Mamá," Victoria said. "It's just that, ah, well no es importante." With those words, Victoria abruptly left, leaving a bewildered Coco behind holding the tiny gown.

Julio had just finished polishing a new pair of wingtips when his wife called to him. Knowing that something was up, Julio walked into the kitchen. Coco was sitting there, looking stunned as she turned to face Julio.

"Is everything alright, mí amor?" Julio asked, panic striking his face.

"Lo ne se, Julio," Coco said as she handed him the tiny christening gown. "I was showing some of these old things to Vicita and she got distracted and ran off. Díos, I hope I didn't upset her."

Patting his wife's hand, Julio was quick to reassure her. "I'll talk to her later, Coco. It could just be stress or something. We've all been through a lot this week."

Frowning slightly, Coco added, "You know what, Miguel mentioned in his last letter that Gloria seemed to be upset about something, too."

As if on cue, the twins and Rosita entered carrying a large pot of coffee and a plate of tres leche.

"Tú también viste eso?" Felipe asked

"Maybe it's a love thing," Oscar added.

"After all, Victoria expressed-." Felipe said.

"No interest in any of the boys in town." Oscar added.

"When she was alive." They concluded together.

Lighting up like Las Posadas had come early, Rosita nodded eagerly. "When Gustave came yesterday, he had brought some books for Victoria. As well as flowers. But she wasn't too impressed."

Julio had wanted to point out that no man would go near Victoria when she was alive. Between her illness during her final years and the music ban, men had kept their distance from the hacienda. And the youngest Rivera ancestor was not a fan of cheesy love poems, songs and flowers. It was too corny for her.

Coco smiled softly as the rest of the family became animated in their conversation about Victoria, and then pitched in a thought of her own.

"If Gustave is an honorable man, he won't push our Vicita into anything. But I don't want to pressure her into anything. We need to let things run smoothly, otherwise it could cause Victoria to distance herself from us."

"No estoy tan seguro de lo que siento por esto," Héctor said later that evening. "I thought that she was still seeing Ce…." Stopping suddenly, Héctor immediately clasped his hand over his mouth. The woman in question would not appreciate being outed.

Thankfully, Rosita had caught on and simply murmured, "Papá Héctor, this is Gustave we're talking about. And I agree. After nearly forty years of him teasing you about your death, I would feel a bit wary about having a member of the family date him too."

Shaking his head, Héctor continued, "I can handle Gustave no problem. Pero no lo se. Imelda may have become used to having music in the house, but I don't want to see mi nieta hurt."

Rosita agreed with Héctor but then another thought came to mind. Unlike her younger sister, Victoria had never married or had any children, thanks to an illness that had claimed her shortly before her 40th birthday.

"I think Vicita will be ok, Papá Héctor. But I was just thinking about something. What if Victoria is feeling sad because she didn't get a chance to get married and have children?" Rosita said softly. "She saw it all happen with Elena and maybe she feels jealous that she couldn't get to do that?"

Nodding understandingly, Coco immediately replied, "That would explain a lot. And maybe Gloria's feeling the same way too? Miguel mentioned to me in one of his letters that Elena wishes that Gloria would settle down. But if I knew mi nieta well, I think Elena's just worried that Gloria feels trapped being stuck at the hacienda. Gloria has never been one for sitting still idly."

But they also knew that there wasn't much to do on their side. Not wanting to push the matter too far, the family agreed to keep quiet about the issue and talk to Victoria later. Héctor, however, thought of one thing they could all do.

"It's been muy estresante these past few days," he said. "We need to do something to get our minds off of this. Why not we go out to that new restaurant in the Arts District? The food is supposed to be amazing! And after that we can all go out dancing and go for nieve afterwards!"

Imelda was a bit reluctant but finally conceded when Héctor pointed out to her that she hadn't left the hacienda in almost a week. It was time for a breath of fresh air and some much-needed stress relief for the entire family.

Dinner that evening was filled with excited chatter, unlike the previous nights that were spent in silence and worry. Everyone was animatedly talking about music, painting and even the latest update on Victoria's reading list.

When the check was paid, the party of nine (including Ceci and Frida), headed for the nearest nieves stand in the Plaza de Rivera.

Letting out an excited grito, Héctor practically dragged his wife down the street in his eagerness. "I can taste that nieve de limón now!" he said. Imelda smiled, reminded of the young man she had fallen in love with all those years ago.

Upon arrival at the nieve stand, Héctor quickly ordered everyone's favorites and, after finishing his tasty treat, asked Imelda to dance. Everyone else decided to watch, enjoying their nieve and chatting quietly among themselves.

"This was a good idea!" Rosita whispered. "We all needed this break!" The twins nodded, unable to speak because their mouths were full. Victoria ate hers in silence, wanting to savor the moment and forget about her troubles. Coco and Julio eventually decided to join the dancing, occasionally peeking over to Héctor and Imelda.

"Estoy de acuerdo contigo, Tía Rosita," Victoria said as she watched her parents and grandparents dance. "I haven't seen Abuelita smile like that in a long time."

As the night slowly brightened into early morning, the members of the party made their way home, almost forgetting about the troubles of the Land of the Living. But they all knew that it would be a long road to normalcy.

Chapter Text

As early dawn began to creep into the Land of the Dead, the Rivera ancestors slowly woke up after a late night at the Arts District. Héctor's suggestion had been a good one and everyone had returned to the house in a very good mood, ready to face another day.

Even though it was technically a workday, both Héctor and Rosita decided to let Imelda sleep, knowing it had been a while since she was able to get a good night's rest. In the meantime, Rosita knew that Héctor had been hard at work, trying to locate Josefina. Dulce had come back empty-beaked, so they knew that the letter had reached its intended destination, especially as messenger alebrejes were extremely protective of the letters they carried.

"Do you think she got the latest letter?" Héctor whispered. "I've been trying to reach out for several weeks but haven't heard anything."

"Lo no se, Papá Héctor," Rosita whispered back. "But Mamá Imelda won't be happy if she finds out about this."

Héctor nodded somewhat guiltily. He knew that Imelda refused to talk to her mother ever since the night of de la Cruz's arrest. Héctor also knew that both of the twins had gone along with this, not wanting to upset their sister in any way.

"Josefina is the only one who may know what has happened to Jorge Rodriguez, Rosita," Héctor said. "And he deserves to have his story and his legacy told. Especially if he had children and a wife like I did."

Rosita nodded, understanding coming onto her face. No one deserved to go through something like this and Héctor also was aware of the fact that his family deserved to have the truth told. If the truth were only that simple.

Imelda came downstairs a short while later, dressed and ready to go for the day and if some could say, she had a certain "glow" on her face from certain activities the night before. Not wanting to ruin her day, Héctor wisely refrained from telling her about what he had been up to over the last couple weeks.

"Hola mí amor," Héctor said with a smile on his face as he greeted his wife. "Cómo estás?"

Imelda frowned, as if detecting a sense of falseness in Héctor's words, but realizing nothing, smiled and repeated the greeting back.

"Bien, mi amor," she replied. "Do you have any plans today?"

Nodding eagerly, Héctor replied, "Sí! I'm going to visit a friend in Shantytown today and then Vicita, Rosita and I are going to see whether or not Ceci needs my help with a show she and Frida are producing."

Rosita nodded in agreement; the project that Ceci had been working on had been ongoing for at least a month and she was excited to help in any way possible. Victoria had been helping too, but Héctor also knew that there was another reason why she had come along. While to the rest of the family, Victoria was a dark horse concerning her romantic life, Héctor, surprisingly was the only one that Victoria opened up to.

As Héctor had found out later, both Victoria and Ceci decided to keep things platonic; mostly due to the fact that they did not want to risk their friendship or the wrath of certain members of the community.

"That sounds muy misterioso, Héctor," Imelda pointed out. "Frida's been very quiet about what's happening in the show and you haven't said anything about it either. Que está pasando aqui?"

Gently kissing her on the forehead, Héctor simply said, "Don't worry, mi amor. Todo es bueno, we just need to work out a few minor details and that should be that."

As the three Riveras walked of the hacienda and towards the Arts District, Imelda watched with some level of trepidation. For the first several months after Hector had been accepted back into the family, watching him walk out the door, even just to go down to the Plaza de la Rivera to get a tamale, brought back painful memories for Imelda. Memories that Imelda liked to hide. After all, she reasoned at the time. I can't keep Héctor locked up at home all the time. He needs to be free.

With Julio out with the twins on a supply run, it was just Coco, Pepita and Imelda at the house. Dante had been in the Land of the Living for some time now, ready and willing in case Miguel had a message to deliver back to his ancestors.

Coco had been sewing in the workshop, working on a sampler that she was going to give to a friend the next week, worrying about her daughters all the while. Between Victoria's budding romantic relationship with Gustave and Elena's worry over Franco being injured, Coco had a lot of time to think.

"What do you think about Gustave, Mamá?" Coco asked, startling her mamá who nearly dropped a pair of shoes she had been working on.

"Lo no se, mija," Imelda said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Making jokes about your Papá's murder is not exactly something I'd want at my dinner table. Even if he did apologize."

Coco nodded, quietly sticking the needle back into the sampler as she prepared to get up from her chair. "Lo entiendo, Mamá, but let's take some time to get to know Gustave. He might not be all—"

Slipping on some papers left on the floor, Coco lost her balance and nearly fell, using a nearby chair with some papers on it as support. Imelda rushed forward, helping her daughter up.

"Mija! Estás bien? Anything broken?" Imelda asked frantically, maternal instinct taking over. "Ay, I should really tell your tíos to be more careful in—oye, what's this?"

Picking up a scrap of paper with Héctor's handwriting on it, Imelda quietly read it, fury taking over her features. Coco gasped, knowing that Imelda had found one of Héctor's rough drafts to Josefina. Mierde. Hector would know better than to leave that lying around— it must have been mixed in with bills or something.

"Socorro," Imelda said in a dangerously calm voice. "Go fetch your papá please."

Knowing that arguing would be no use, Coco signaled for Pepita and the two of them took off into the sky, leaving a very irate Imelda behind.

Coco reached her destination within minutes, out of breath as she banged on Ceci's window. Upon seeing her, Ceci opened the window and instantly realizing that something was very wrong, ran to go fetch Héctor and the others.

"Mamá needs to see you!" Coco said to Héctor, causing his happy face to fade.

No one spoke a word as they all clambered onboard Pepita and headed for the hacienda, leaving a perplexed Ceci and Frida behind.

"And what did you think would happen, Héctor?" Imelda screamed. "That I wouldn't find out about this? I told you that I didn't want that woman anywhere near mi familia!"

"No, Imelda!" Héctor said as he frantically tried to calm her down. "Your mamá misses you and wants to be in your life! She may be the only one who knows what may have happened to Jorge Rodriguez! And he deserves una oportunidad para la justiciar as well as your mamá!"

Silence ensued as Héctor quickly realized that was the wrong thing to say. Imelda gave him a cold stare. Pepita growled warningly, causing Héctor to rephrase his sentence.

"I know about justice, Héctor," Imelda said coldly. "When I watched that woman throw me out of the house and when those men was arrested in September. No te atrevas a asumir that what mi mamá deserves is justice."

Héctor attempted to answer back, but found no words escaping his lips as Imelda turned away, no emotion in her eyes.

"I'm just going to go for a walk," Héctor said shakily to the others. "Give Mamá Imelda a chance to calm down." Noticing Imelda sitting in a chair, Héctor slowly made his way out of the house, not wanting to see the twins' looks of sympathy. He blew it. Big time.

"I still love you, mi amor," Héctor said. "Lo siento mucho, I never meant to hurt you."

Several minutes later, Rosita tried to console Coco, who was shaken by everything she had witnessed. Imelda had retreated upstairs, claiming she wanted to be alone despite the twins' attempt to go see her. Victoria had left for the workshop, knowing it was probably best to stay out of the aftermath of the conflict for the moment.

Deciding to get started on a pair of huaraches for a valued client, Victoria had just begun to cut fabric when a familiar face appeared at the window and tapped.

"Frida sent me over to see if you were okay," Gustave said, uncharacteristically quiet for once. "You left in a bit of a hurry."

Shaking slightly, Victoria told him the whole story, not pausing to answer questions or even slow down. Gustave's eyes got bigger and bigger, until they fell out in shock. He hadn't felt like this in months, not since Victoria harshly scolded him for joking about Héctor's death in front of the entire orchestra.

When Victoria had finished the story, Gustave gently placed his hand on top of hers in silent reassurance. It wasn't the time for a grand romantic gesture or corny jokes; Victoria needed a friend, someone to listen to her. After gauging Victoria's emotions, Gustave sat her down on the couch and just hugged her, feeling drops of moisture on his shirt. The evening had worn Victoria out emotionally.

They were just like that when Rosita found them together a few hours later, asleep in each other's arms. Shutting the door to the living room, she quietly went back to the kitchen to get started on dinner. More than anything, she wished that scene she had walked in just now on was one for Héctor and Imelda, but she smiled softly anyway—her little Vicita was falling in love.

Something bright in the dark world.

Chapter Text

Miguel slowly stared at the flight departure board, willing it to change. It had been two days since the shop was destroyed in a break-in, and to say everyone's nerves were shot was an understatement.

Miguel hadn't been able to see Aria again but had kept his promise and emailed her from an internet café at the airport. He told her about what had happened but also requested that she delete the email in case one of her relatives saw it. Miguel did not want her family scared off from re-pressing charges. Aria promised to keep in touch with Miguel via phone, giving him her cell phone number.

Martinez had seen them off that morning at the hotel and went straight to where the Rodriguez family lived. They weren't 100 percent convinced about renewing pressing charges, but they were getting there.

Several hours later, Elena was anxiously checking Enrique's phone for texts from the family, as she had been all day, worried sick about Franco and whether or not the music shop owner was responsible for the break-in.

"Mamá, there haven't been any new texts," Enrique pointed out tiredly as Elena watched Gloria scroll through her phone. "Te prometo, the minute I get a text from Papá or from Luisa, I'll let you know."

Huffing slightly, Elena nodded and, pecking her son on the cheek, walked off with Miguel to go get some food. Miguel had been taking everything in stride, acting strong for everyone. This of course, was observed by Elena and Luisa who worried a bit that he wasn't being his true self.

Little Socorro was also becoming her own little personality, strongly reminding Elena of how others had described her when she was a child. Despite inheriting her looks from both Luisa and Enrique, Socorro had inherited her abuelita's personality traits, which including throwing her rattle at reporters that dared try to interview the family.

"Miguel?" Elena asked softly as Miguel sat down with the food. "Did I ruin your life? Before the ban?"

Startled, Miguel nearly choked on the hash browns he was eating, coughing a bit. "Qué? Abuelita, qué paso? Did I do something wrong?"

Shaking her head slightly, Elena gave Miguel one of her famous hugs. "Oh, no, no, Miguelito. You didn't do anything wrong. But I just want to know."

Taking a deep breath, Miguel carefully planned out his next words. "Well its kinda hard to say. Going to school wasn't easy. People on that YouTube site wanted to go and hold a #NoMusicChallenge once word got out about what happened on Día de los Muertos. They had to go through a whole day without music. If anyone failed, they had to smash themselves or a friend on the head with the shoes they were wearing."

Elena winced at that statement but patted Miguel on the shoulder. It wasn't his fault that a bunch of locos decided to pull stupid stunts like that; if anything, it was her fault. Maybe when they got home, she could convince Enrique to teach her more about how the Internet works. And teach those locos to not do stuff like that.

"But Abuelita," Miguel continued. "You were just trying to protect me, and I guess I didn't realize it then. You didn't ruin my life."

Hugging him, Elena replied, "Gracias, Miguelito. It warms my heart to hear you say that. Now, let's get back to the gate, so we don't miss our flight."

Cheering silently, Miguel power-walked back to the gate, feeling slightly better. But Elena was wondering about one thing as she made a request to Enrique and Gloria.

"There was actually a challenge out there called a #NoMusicChallenge?" Enrique asked shocked. "Why didn't we hear about it sooner?"

"It was before Guy helped us install WiFi at the shop, Quique," Gloria said as she fixed her makeup. "And who on Earth would be estúpido enough to do a loco stunt like that?"

Muttering "Loco chicos," under her breath, Elena jerked to attention as the flight attendant announced it was time to board. The Riveras were going home.

Meanwhile, things back at the hacienda were relatively calm for the moment. After the break-in, the neighbors got together and decided to not only help clean up the shop but also hold a fundraiser to help raise money to replace the broken equipment.

Carmen and Luisa had spent most of that morning, in addition to the previous day, cleaning. And after doing a quick check, only two sewing machines were broken, one with an easy fix but the other was no longer operable. And several pairs of shoes had some paint spilled on them, but luckily Berto managed to create something to help remove the stain.

"How's Papá Franco?" Luisa asked Carmen when she got back from taking Franco to the doctors.

"He's doing much better, Luisa," Carmen replied. "It looks like the swelling has gone down a bit in his ankle and the concussion is healing just fine on its own. They don't want him to walk on his ankle yet though, it's a bit early. He wasn't too thrilled about that."

Picking up little Socorro as she toddled into the room, Luisa replied, "Apparently, he signed himself and Mamá Elena up for dance classes when she gets home. Which reminds me, their 50 aniversario de boda is coming up and Enrique wanted to know if we should throw a party or not?"

Carmen nodded, "I think that's a great idea. School's out for spring break and it would give Papá a chance to practice those new dance steps with Mamá once his ankle heals. But it shouldn't be a huge party. Maybe just close friends and family? I'm not sure Mamá would feel comfortable having lots of people at the hacienda, given what just happened."

Nodding, the two women decided to go back to work in the workshop and they could plan the party there.

"So, who would be invited? Other than the family and the Quesadas?" Luisa asked Carmen as they got to work on sewing dance shoes.

"A few of the mariachis, maybe. The ones who aren't too upset. And some friends of both Mamá and Papá. Maybe we could also invite friends of the kids." Carmen suggested. "But we should definitely ask Mamá about this after she comes back. Once Papá is feeling better."

At that point, Rosa walked into the room, holding her phone in one hand.

"Tía Gloria texted me—they landed in México City and are waiting for Abel to drive them back home." She reported with a smile. "And I like that idea! It's been too long since we threw a party and it'll make everyone happy."

"But the most important thing is that we're celebrating Abuelita and Papá Franco, mija," Carmen said. "And celebrating everything that represents them."

Socorro clapped her little hands enthusiastically—it seemed that everyone was on board for the party idea and they were all excited.

After a few short hours, a familiar van rolled up to the entrance of the hacienda. The Riveras poured out of the car, happy to be home.

Once everyone welcomed home the weary travelers, Luisa suggested that they should all go and get some rest. While Miguel had fallen asleep the moment his head touched the pillow, the adults stayed up, those who had remained at home wanting to know every detail of the trip.

"We were able to convince the Rodriguez family to continue the investigation, but they were very reluctant," Enrique said. "According to their youngest daughter, someone from de la Cruz Productions visited them shortly before we arrived and basically threatened them into silence."

Shaking her head in disgust, Luisa asked, "What about the actress? Araceli Torres?"

"We weren't able to find out too much, Luisita," Enrique responded. "There is virtually nothing on her except what was written down in a conspiracy novel about de la Cruz's death and what Miguel found online. And de la Cruz himself was careful to not write about his love life in any of the books."

Deciding a change of subject was sorely needed, Carmen brought up the idea of the anniversary party to both Franco and Elena.

"It would be something fun for you both and a chance to celebrate your long marriage, Mamá," Carmen said. "We could have the party as soon as Papá feels better."

Elena looked a bit skeptical but agreed under the condition that the party would be kept on the small size. Franco also agreed, on the condition that party would be held at the house, it would be by invitation only and there would plenty of dancing.

"I don't want random reporters showing up at our anniversary. This is our time with our friends and relatives, not a media circus." Elena said firmly. "But the world needs to know that we are not going to hide away just because of the break-in. That's not who we are."

Chapter Text

You know what you need to do.

Miguel bolted awake out of a dead sleep, a cold sweat dripping down his body. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was 8:03 AM. That had been a very strange dream, he thought as he got himself ready for the day. Who was that? But it wasn't just any day; it was the day of the anniversary party.

As soon as Franco's doctor gave the all clear, Luisa, Carmen and Gloria had taken off with the party-planning, coming up with ideas for food, music and sending out the invites. At the couple's request, the party was by invitation only to avoid getting press attention. The kids would also be in charge of the music. Rosa had thought she would just hook a speaker to her iPhone, but Miguel suggested that and a mariachi band would be provided so there would be music to appeal to every generation.

Shaking off the strange dream, Miguel quickly got himself ready for the day, determined to keep his mind off of everything had been happening. After all, parties were supposed to be fun! Last year, because of Coco's death right beforehand, Elena and Franco didn't get to really celebrate their anniversary. But this was going to be great!

As Miguel walked into the living room, he quickly went over the plans for the party in his head. He, Rosa and Abel would be playing the song Proud Corazon, a favorite for the couple. Everyone was bringing a dish, so shortages on food would definitely not be a problem. Elena had been convinced to take the day off from cooking and enjoy herself.

Suddenly, the sound of a sniffle reached Miguel's ears. Alarmed, he made his way into the kitchen where he saw Gloria, apparently upset as she read something on her phone.

"Tía Gloria?" Miguel asked quietly. "Qué paso?"

Wiping her eyes on her sleeve, Gloria turned around to offer her nephew a shaky smile. "It's nothing, mijo. Just got some sad news that's all."

Miguel had wanted to ask what about, but he sensed that it wasn't the time to bring it up. Maybe it would be better to ask his mamá to talk to his tía instead.

"Mamá?" Miguel asked his mamá later that morning when they were tidying up the workshop. "Does Tía Gloria seem to be acting strange lately?"

Sighing softly as she finished brushing up debris, Luisa turned to her son. There had been something on Gloria's mind and shortly after their return home, Gloria had confided in Luisa and Carmen, admitting what had been going on.

"Gloria, is everything okay?" Luisa asked as she washed dishes with Carmen. Gloria nodded softly and quickly checking to see if there was anyone listening, asked "Why do you ask?"

"You've been acting muy triste, lately," Carmen said. "Did something bad happen with Jule while you were in Texas?"

Unknown to the rest of the family, Gloria had started dating Julio Martinez, the investigator in charge of both her family's case and the Rodriguez case. Things had gotten quite serious and now Gloria was prepping herself to break the news to the rest of the family.

Shaking slightly, Gloria handed a letter from her doctor to the two women. As they read it their eyes became more and more sympathetic until Gloria couldn't bear it anymore.

"Just something I found out from the doctor," Gloria whispered with tears in her eyes. "I'm not dying or anything but I found out right before I left for Texas and I don't know how to tell Jule. Or Mamá."

Drawing her cuñada into a hug, Luisa said, "Lo siento mucho, Gloria. Is there anything I can do to help?" Carmen nodded, adding her support as Gloria wept.

"Can you be there with me when I tell Mamá?" Gloria asked as her tears dried up. "Díos, I don't know how to tell her without disappointing her."

The two women nodded, both promising not to say anything to anyone until Gloria was ready. But Carmen added one more thing.

"Julio Martinez is one of the kindest men I know, Glorita," she said softly. "He loves you very much and I know he'll support you through anything, including this. And Mamá will understand."

Blinking her eyes slightly as she returned to the present, Luisa simply told Miguel, "Tía Gloria found out some sad news before you left for Texas, mijo. She may be sad for a while, but she has her family with her to support her."

"But what's the news?" Miguel asked. "What could be making her so sad?"

Shaking her head, Luisa simply told Miguel, "Let her tell you when she's ready, Miguel."

Miguel wanted to ask more, but one look from his mama and he knew that the questions were over.

Deciding a change of subject was best, Luisa said, "Don't worry, mijo. Let's focus on having a good time today at the party and see if that cheers Tía Gloria up a little. It might help distract her and keep her mind off things."

Smiling, Miguel nodded and ran off to continue preparations for the party, which was now only two hours away.

The party was being held in the backyard, music coming from it as guests entered. As Abel and Berto were good at photography, there were dozens of photos of Elena and Franco together, displayed in a mural. Some of the townspeople had also donated photos, some detailing their wedding day and others featuring the birthdays of their children.

But Miguel's favorite photo was one that was taken in November of the entire family decked out in full mariachi garb, shortly after the ban had been lifted. It also included the ancestors, but only Miguel and Socorro were able to see that little detail.

"Papá Heccy!" Socorro giggled to herself as she clapped her little hands. Picking her up, Miguel nodded.

"Sí, Socorro! That's Papá Héctor." Miguel whispered to her, not wanting the other guests to overhear.

Not wanting to alarm anyone, Miguel brought Socorro inside for her nap and went back out to enjoy the party. The song that he and his cousins wrote for their grandparents was coming up soon and Miguel was so excited to perform it.

Calling everyone's attention, Miguel quickly began to play the song, his cousins accompanying him on violin and accordion. Franco and Elena cheered and clapped the loudest, incredibly proud of their nietos.

When the song ended, everyone clapped. "Olé!" Elena cried out. "Well done! That was estupendo!"

Taking a bow, the three cousins rushed off stage, Miguel pausing momentarily as he felt a gust of wind sweep through his body. Looking over his shoulder, Miguel thought he spotted a familiar glow, but quickly shook his head, blaming it on fatigue.

The rest of the party went by without any incidents, much to the relief and joy of the entire family. Everyone had a good time, even the mariachis who had performed a special song for the couple. Elena had suspected they were still a bit upset with her but decided not to bring it up. Franco even got to use some of his new dance steps, much to everyone's enjoyment.

Gloria had appeared somewhat sad and melancholy but when asked, the young woman blamed it on having a lot of things on her mind. Franco had made a point to talk to his youngest child later.

"Did Gloria seem a bit sad today, Franco?" Elena said as she got ready for bed that night. "I didn't want to say anything to embarrass her, but she seemed a bit down."

"We can talk to her in the morning, Lena." Franco said as he got into bed and turned off the light. "Te promesto but for now let's try to get some rest. That was quite a fun day we had, no?"

Nodding silently, Elena hugged him and whispered:

"Happy anniversary, mí amor."

Chapter Text

Rosita looked over at the empty spot at the table, feeling very guilty. It had only been a few days since Héctor and Imelda's fight and it had been very quiet around the house. Héctor had gone to stay with a friend in Shantytown while Imelda had thrown herself into her shoemaking. No one had seen her outside of mealtimes and everyone was worried that Imelda was overdoing it.

"I'm beginning to wonder if they'll ever talk to each other again," Julio said to Rosita as he caught her glancing at the chair. "It's been three days."

"All couples argue, hermano," Rosita said in an attempt to sound cheery. "And Papá Héctor's intentions were good; he was just trying to help Mamá Imelda patch things up with her mamá."

Julio nodded; a bit reserved as he watched the family matriarch come downstairs. Saying a quick 'buenos dias' to everyone, Imelda sat down at the table and began to pour herself some coffee.

"Hermana?" the twins asked, as he touched his sister's shoulder. "Qué paso?"

"Sí," Imelda said, no hint of anger in her voice. "Estoy bíen. Just a bit tired, is all."

Not wanting to run the risk of angering Imelda, the twins backed down. Pushing an emotionally exhausted Imelda to a boiling point would not serve in anyone's best interests.

"Have you heard anything from Abuelito?" Victoria asked Imelda as they washed the breakfast dishes. At those words, Imelda stiffened, her anger rising again, mostly at her husband for hiding this from her and at her mamá for daring to attempt showing her face.

"No, Victoria," Imelda said with an uncertainty in her voice. "I haven't heard anything."

Realizing that she and her niece would have to play hardball, Rosita tried again. "Don't be too hard on him, Mamá Imelda. He was just trying to help you and your mamá make amends."

"This family runs on honesty," Imelda said firmly. "And what your Papá Héctor did was not honest!"

"No, but he did it with good reason!" Victoria replied. "I may not have known mí abuelito for very long, but I do know that he would never hurt you on purpose, Abuelita. Remember what happened when Miguel was last here in 2017?"

Taken aback by her granddaughter's words, Imelda sank down on a chair in shock. Victoria had a very good point there. Héctor may not have the best ideas at times but his intentions were always good. Just like a certain 14-year old.

"Por favor, Mamá," Coco said as she walked into the kitchen. "Talk to Papá. Get the whole story."

Nodding resignedly, Imelda simply said, "I'm going to be going out for the rest of the day. Keep the shop running as normal and don't let any reporters in. Coco, do you want to come with me?"

Nodding, Coco and Imelda headed for the backyard where Pepita sat with Dulce. When Victoria first brought her alebreje home, Pepita hadn't been too sure of her but within weeks they had become fast friends.

"Come to Mamá," Imelda said to Pepita. "We have to go to Shantytown while there's still light out."

While it only took twenty minutes to get to Shantytown, the shock that Imelda had from seeing the small village still hadn't worn off. Everything literally looked ready to fall apart within minutes. Coco had been to Shantytown a few times since her arrival, but it still saddened her to see that children were among the Forgotten as she picked up a doll sitting idle nearby.

"It still shocks me too, mija." Imelda said as she put her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Remember what I told you about Francesca? She was about the same age as Rosa."

Shuddering at the thought, the two women walked on, looking for any sign of the wayward Rivera. After about ten minutes of peeping into huts and looking around, they quickly concluded that Héctor was not in Shantytown and that he had left early that morning for the Arts District.

"He was here, but he left, doña," one of the women said when Imelda inquired after her husband. "He went to the Arts District early this morning to help Frida and Diego with one of their projects."

Huffing slightly, Imelda headed back towards Pepita while Coco decided to stay behind in case Héctor came back to the house. Having been there multiple times and having some friends in the nearby area as well as Pepita, Coco felt completely comfortable and safe being there alone.

"Just be careful, mija," Imelda said as Coco tried to protest. "I know, I know, but I'm your mamá and you're still mí hija, no matter how old you are."

Imelda had never liked taking the trolley, finding it too rough compared to Pepita's gentle flying and way too high up for her comfort, even though the trolley line was at the same height as Pepita.

"How Héctor could be a tour guide for one of these things, nunca lo sabré." Imelda muttered to herself as she made her way off the trolley car platform towards the Arts District.

As she walked a bit, she heard a guitar playing and some talking. Instantly recognizing her husband, Imelda stepped forward, determined to speak to Héctor and get this resolved.

"Gracias, Héctor. For listening. I just hope that she'll learn to forgive me one day," a voice said.

Madre! Imelda realized with a gasp. Stepping out of the shadows, Imelda put her hands on her hips and approached her mamá, who took a step back.

"Imelda!" Héctor said as he put his guitar down. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." Imelda said coldly. Turning towards her mamá, Imelda said, "How many times do I have to say, 'leave us alone'? Wasn't throwing me out bad enough?"

Bowing her head in shame, Josefina said, "I know that there will be never be enough words to say how sorry I am, mí hija. But I would like for us to have some sort of relationship and I would like to meet my granddaughter."

Noticing Imelda's reluctance, Héctor pulled her aside and said, "Imelda, I'm so sorry about what happened. But por favor, I was just trying to help you. Please, mi amor, give her a chance. I think Josefina is really very sorry about what happened, and she just wants to get to know her family."

Rolling her eyes, Imelda turned towards her mamá again but finally saying, "Alright, Héctor. I'll give this a try. But this is her one and only chance. I'm not doing this for her, I'm doing this for Coco. She deserves a chance to know her grandmother."

Smiling softly, Héctor drew Imelda into a tight hug, but Imelda pulled away slightly, causing him to frown.

"You're still on hielo delgado, Héctor. From now on, no more secrets. Entiendo?"

About a half hour later, the three Riveras and Josefina returned to the workshop, causing heads to snap to attention in shock. The twins gasped in unison.

"Madre?" Oscar asked. "What—"

"Are—" Felipe said.

"You—" Oscar added.

"Doing here?" The twins finished together. At first Josefina went to hug her two youngest children, but they stiffened slightly. Decades later, neither twin had forgotten how coldly their parents had treated Imelda. Sadly, Josefina shrank back a bit. It would be a long road to earning back her children's trust.

Curious, Coco approached her grandmother and held out her hand for her to shake. Knowing that Imelda was uncomfortable with doing introductions, Coco decided to go ahead and do the introductions herself. After all, what was the harm?

"Me llamo Coco, your granddaughter," she said. Gesturing to Julio, she added, "This is my husband, Julio and our eldest daughter, Victoria. And this is Rosita, Julio's sister."

Reaching forward to shake everyone's hand, Josefina tentatively looked towards her daughter as Coco introduced the rest of the family. Imelda looked apprehensive and if one could put a living emotion to it: very, very, nervous.

Chapter Text

Show Me Chapter 21

After Coco finished the introductions and introduced everyone, it was time for dinner. Rosita had extended Josefina a dinner invitation, but she declined. Josefina was well aware of the fact that her children did not trust her and knew that the only way to gain back trust would be to take things slowly.

Imelda had not uttered one word to her mother the entire time she had been there, still somewhat in shock about everything that had happened. Héctor had tried to fill silence with lots of lively chatter but dinner was awkward and definitely uncomfortable. Even Coco had been unusually silent.

"So how are things with you and Gustavo?" Coco asked Victoria tentatively, wanting to do something to relieve the tension in the room.

"Bueno, Mamá," Victoria said as she stood up to put plates in the sink. "He's taking me to see a piano concert that one of his friends is having tomorrow and we're going out for dinner afterwards."

Ever since the ban was lifted, Victoria began to diligently nurture an interest in classical music, specifically piano and opera. She had been taking music lessons from one of the girls in the orchestra and practiced her singing with her abuelita whenever she could.

Rosita smiled softly, adding, "He sounds amazing, mija. I hope we can meet him properly someday."

Victoria nodded silently and quickly headed to the living room to read one of her books. Héctor watched the scene quietly.

"I just hope he doesn't hurt her," Imelda said to Coco. "Making jokes about someone's death is never funny."

"Lo sé, Mamá," Coco said. "But he did apologize to Papá and he absolutely dotes on Vicita."

Héctor nodded, sharing some reluctance. "He joked about my death for almost forty years, Imelda. But I'm willing to let bygones be bygones and give him a chance. For Victoria's sake."

Imelda stiffened slightly but nodded. Victoria deserved to have some happiness in love, and it was certainly true that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. And given everything that had happened recently, this was also the perfect opportunity for everyone to unwind and allow Victoria's happiness to help brighten their own lives.

When it came time for bed, all the Riveras headed up to their own rooms. Héctor stayed put, unsure of where to go or what to do. He hadn't exactly put himself in Imelda's good graces with his actions. But then again, he hadn't done anything wrong, so….

"Imelda?" Héctor asked tentatively. "Where do you want me to sleep? Do you want me to sleep in the guest room?"

Taking a deep breath, Imelda simply said, "No me importa. As long as it's somewhere."

Translating that as "anywhere's fine", Héctor slowly stepped into the room he normally shared with her. Even though it originally had been Imelda's room, Héctor had slowly begun adding his own personal touch here and there. Sheet music neatly stacked on a chair, three guitars from de la Cruz's mansion and photographs taken at the last Día de los Muertos celebration, courtesy of Miguel, were in the room too.

Knowing that he was still on tender hooks with Imelda, Héctor quietly turned his back as she got changed into a white nightgown and quickly got himself changed and ready for bed. Imelda was already in bed by that point, but since she hadn't made any attempt to shoo Héctor out of the room, Héctor took it as a good sign and got into bed with her, deciding to read his book before going to sleep.

It only felt like minutes to Héctor but suddenly he reopened his eyes, jolting awake from a sound sleep. Blinking his eyes rapidly, Héctor sat up, quickly stealing a glance at his wife. Héctor was relieved to see her breathing evenly and deeply. Imelda hadn't been sleeping well over the past month and more often than not, Héctor would be woken by her screaming.

"No," Imelda muttered in her sleep. "No. Por favor. Por favor."

Quickly recognizing what was about to happen, Héctor shook Imelda awake. Blearily opening her eyes, Imelda focused in on Héctor and sat up, shaken by what had happened.

"It was about the day I left, wasn't it?" Héctor asked as Imelda got out of bed, pacing the rug. Deciding it would be safe to call her by a pet name, Héctor asked, "Mi amor?"

"It wasn't that Héctor," Imelda said as she sat back down on the bed. "It was about Día de los Muertos, the night we almost lost you."

Nodding his understanding, Héctor tentatively put his arm around his wife's shoulders, not wanting to set off her temper.

"I'm still here, Imelda," Héctor said. "I'm not going anywhere."

At that, Imelda agreed and simply said, "I may not agree with all your opinions and ideas, Héctor, but I know that you were only trying to help. But I'm not sure about letting mi madre back into my life. What if she tries to hurt our familia? Or even Miguel?"

Héctor went silent with worry; Imelda did have a point. But he quickly remembered what had happened on the day of her papá's arrest: Josefina had left her husband the minute she realized he had been harboring a criminal and she had burned all of the things that he had owned.

In some extreme cases, spirit copies of objects still in the Land of the Living could be burned and the originals thereby would vanish or be destroyed. It was known as the Final Resolution.

"She left your padre the minute she found out what he did last year, Imelda," Héctor pointed out. "I know it may never be enough to make up for what happened, but she does want to try to have a relationship with you."

Sighing softly, Imelda took a few minutes to think it through and then replied, "All right. But I'm only doing this for you and Coco."

Knowing that now wasn't the time to let out an excited grito, Héctor settled for drawing Imelda close to him. At first Imelda wanted to pull away but quickly settled back down and soon fell asleep, too tired to put up a fight.

Imelda awoke several hours later, feeling groggy and exhausted. The previous evening had taken its toll on her. As she made her way downstairs, she noticed that Victoria had already left for her date and Rosita was cleaning dishes leftover from the meal.

"Buenos tardes, Mamá Imelda!" Rosita said cheerfully. "Estas bien?"

"Buenos tardes? But its only…"

Rosita came over and said, "You slept until almost 11:00, Mamá Imelda. Papá Héctor thought it best to let you sleep in and Julio opened the shop."

Inclining her head in acknowledgment, Imelda walked back to the entryway, searching for her husband whom she found by the kitchen chatting with Mari Quesada. And from the looks of things, Mari looked shocked and upset.

"I feel for both of you, but I also feel for Josefina," Mari said to Héctor, unaware that Imelda was nearby. "It's going to be a long road for all of you. Did you talk to her?"

"Imelda was so upset," Héctor replied. "She accused me of going behind her back after she told everyone not to go near her. Ay, what a mess! But I never meant to hurt mi vida."

Upon noticing Imelda standing in the kitchen, Mari quietly made an excuse and left, leaving the couple alone. Taking a deep breath, Héctor stood up, coming over to Imelda as she sat down.

"I hope you slept well, mi amor," Héctor said cautiously. "You were so tired last night."

Imelda nodded, too full of emotion to find her words. But there was no need to say anything: just by her facial expression alone, Héctor knew she felt terrible about what had happened between the two of them.

Drawing his wife into a hug, Héctor heard her muffled expression, Lo siento mucho.

"Promise me, Héctor," Imelda said, standing up on tiptoe to kiss her husband. "No more secrets."

Chapter Text

Gloria stared at the scraps of material in her hands, almost willing it to make a pair of shoes appear out of nowhere. It had been several days since the anniversary party and to say Gloria was still in a funk was a bit of an understatement.

Activity at the workshop had definitely picked up since the break-in. Franco had fully recovered and within weeks, he was allowed to go back to work on the condition that he wouldn't "over-do it". Miguel had expressed some reluctance about going back to school, but after a pep-talk from his parents and Elena, he had agreed to go back.

Gloria didn't get the chance to talk to her family at the party and, not wanting to spoil the mood, she kept quiet and absolved to focus primarily on the shoe shop, despite Martinez's desire to make the relationship public.

"We can't say anything about it, Jule," Gloria said as they spoke on the phone one night. "Not until the whole lío with the Rodriguez family is over. People might see it as a conflict of interest."

Martinez sighed but agreed. He knew better than anyone that it would be better and safer for all parties involved to not make the relationship public. But he did disagree on one aspect.

"Glorita, we should probably tell your family though. Having them find out from a news report isn't the best idea." Martinez said.

Agreeing with Martinez, Gloria decided to have a sit-down talk with both of her parents that afternoon. After saying a quick good-bye, Gloria ended the call and sat back on her bed. While the talking bit was relatively easy, getting her two parents away from the other Riveras was more difficult. And especially important considering what she was about to tell them.

The next morning, as soon as she got up, Gloria asked her parents to come into the living room. Elena looked concerned, knowing that something was definitely up with her middle child. Franco looked concerned too, but having already guessed what was going on, he decided to let Gloria tell it in her own way.

"What's wrong mija?" Elena asked. "Is everything okay?"

At first Gloria sat silently but after a brief moment she took a deep breath and started to talk.

"Do you like Señor Martinez, Mamá?" Gloria asked tentatively. Smiling softly, Elena nodded.

"He seems like a very nice man. No one could ask for anything better," the matriarch answered firmly. "Why do you ask?"

"Porque…porque…." Gloria faltered slightly before taking another deep breath. "We've been dating, Mamá. For almost six months."

Elena's eyes went big for a moment as she took in the news. Then giving her daughter a bone-crushing hug, Elena said, "Why didn't you tell us, mija? That's wonderful!"

"And you're not doing anything loco, right?" Franco asked his daughter, who looked astonished.

"We're waiting, Papá," Gloria muttered as her face turned red. "And he's very kind to me. But por favor, don't tell the rest of the family or anyone else yet. We want to wait for the Rodriguez case to be over to avoid conflict of interest."

Elena frowned but nodded in agreement. The last thing the Rodriguez family needed was for people to think that Martinez only took on the case as a favor to win Gloria's heart. Franco also understood as well, but, realizing there was more on her mind, he asked a big question.

"Is there something else you want to tell us, Gloria?" Franco asked softly as he held his daughter's hands.

Taking another deep breath, Gloria said, "Well, I just found out that I—"

"Hola everyone!" the twins said as they ran into the room, laughing and giggling with excitement as they played tag. Gloria left the room, leaving both of her parents astounded at what had just happened.

Carmen walked over to the twins, her hands on her hips. "How many times have I told you two that it's rude to interrupt when people are talking?"

Apologizing sheepishly, Benny and Manny walked out of the room, followed by their grandparents.

Carmen headed for the kitchen where Gloria was, texting a friend. Not looking up, Gloria said, "I didn't get a chance to tell them about the other issue, Carma."

"But did you tell them about Jule?"

Nodding Gloria continued "They were both thrilled for me. I just have to tell Mamá about the...other issue." Stopping to catch her breath, Gloria said "I need to tell Jule in person, I can't do this sobre FaceTime. But how can I tell them if we keep getting interrupted by the family? I understand that we agreed on no more secrets in this family, but this is something I don't want los niños to know just yet."

Carmen squeezed Gloria's hand in understanding. "No te preocupes, Gloria. I'll take Miguel, Rosa and the twins out for tamales at the Plaza. It'll give you plenty of time to talk to Mamá y Papá."

"What's wrong, mija?" Franco asked as he reached out for his daughter's hand. "You've been very quiet all afternoon and you look like you have something on your mind."

Gloria looked conflicted until Carmen reached over and squeezed her hand. "It's okay, Gloria."

"I heard from the doctor before I left, Papá," Gloria said in a rush. "HetoldmethatIcouldnthave..."

"Whoa, mija, slow down a bit," Elena said. "Take a deep breath and try it again."

"The doctor said I can't have children, Mamá." Gloria repeated, speaking very fast as she bowed her head in shame.

Silence.

Elena went pale, wanting to say something but couldn't find the words. Franco sat back on the couch. The Rivera matriarch knew that the next moment could easily wreck her relationship with her daughter if she said the wrong thing. Just like what had happened with Miguel two years ago and that had taken months to repair.

"Mamá?" Gloria croaked. "Por favor, say something."

Coming over to hug her daughter, Elena simply said, "It doesn't mean you are anything less, Gloria. We still love you and will always support you."

"Did you talk to Mart-Jule yet?" Franco asked his daughter. "It sounds like this relationship is getting serious pretty quickly and he needs to know."

Shaking her head, Gloria said, "I just want to be sure that he is the man I'm going to spend the rest of my life with before I break the news. I'm going to go up to Mexico City with Enrique when he goes on the supply run in a few days. I'll go and see Jule then. Díos, I hope he'll be okay."

As Gloria stood up, Franco looked at her seriously. "If he cares for you and truly loves you, he won't reject you for this."

Smiling softly, Gloria left, her heart feeling somewhat lighter for the first time in days.

After their daughter left the room, Elena and Julio sat back down, stunned. Neither of them had expected their daughter to drop that bombshell and they were very worried about her.

"I'm not upset, Franco," Elena insisted as Franco asked her how she was feeling. "I just feel so guilty. Why didn't Gloria tell us? What made her afraid of telling us?"

Franco shrugged as he put his arm around his wife's shoulders. "It could be that she didn't want us to think she was doing anything crazy. Remember that rebel phase she went through as a teenager?"

Elena cringed. That phase was difficult to forget. It seemed like no matter how many times Gloria was grounded or lectured; she was determined to rebel. It wasn't until Gloria got injured in a fight at school over the music ban that she began to take it more seriously.

"But I'm her mamá, Franco," Elena said softly as tears formed in her eyes. "Why didn't she trust me?"

"She does, Lena. I think she was just afraid of your reaction," Franco said as he handed Elena a tissue. "The last time someone told you a secret like this, you got pretty upset."

Knowing that he was referring to Miguel, Elena's shoulders slumped. But she made a promise:

"From now on, I'll try to encourage the family to be open with me about their problems. Gloria is going to need all the support she can from our familia."

Chapter Text

"Miguel can you pass the huevas por favor? And don't forget about your math homework."

"Where are my lucky socks?"

"Oye! Who took mi libro Crepúsculo?"

As a typical morning at the hacienda began, Elena went about making breakfast for her family all the while keeping a sharp eye on Gloria and Miguel (who didn't get any sleep the night before). Breakfasts at the hacienda were almost always loud and noisy, with everyone rushing every which way as they headed off to work and school respectively. Since Luisa was feeling ill, it was up to the remaining adults to keep things in check with the kids. Or in this case, Gloria, Franco and Carmen.

"Miguel, don't forget you have algebra today." Carmen answered each of the kids, "Abel, check under your bed! Rosa, I've told you dozens of times to stop reading those books! They're nothing but basura!"

As each of the Rivera children went about following their tía or mamá's directions and went about them, Gloria made her way to the sink as she helped Elena and Enrique with the dishes. Berto had gone to get the mail while Carmen had decided to walk the children to school.

"Gloria, what's wrong?" Enrique asked. "You were very quiet last night at dinner and even more quiet today at breakfast. Did something bad happen?"

Not wanting to answer her younger brother's request, Gloria simply replied, "I'm fine, hermano. Just a lot of things on my mind that's all. I'll tell you later."

Clearly suspicious but as it was apparent Gloria did not want to say more, Enrique simply nodded and reassured his sister. "If you need to talk or anything, hermana, just let me know."

A few minutes later, Carmen returned from walking the younger children to school and Abel to the bus stop. Classes would start up again soon at the college and Abel had wanted to get caught up on his schoolwork. Due to the break-in, most of Abel's professors were very kind about giving him some extensions on homework but now it was time to get life back to normal.

In terms of the other children, the twins would be in preschool at the daycare nearby and Rosa and Miguel were attending the local secundaria. The older children were allowed to walk to school with the understanding that Carmen or another adult would walk to a halfway point. And under no circumstances were they to walk anywhere alone, much to their protest.

"It's for your safety, mijos," Enrique explained. "We don't want anything to happen to you nor do we want you to get hurt in any way."

Rosa and Miguel tried to protest but Elena put her foot down. It was not going to happen-at least not until the culprits behind the break-in were caught and the Rodriguez case over. And little known to the kids, some of the townspeople who hadn't forgiven Elena were calling the kids names behind their backs. Names that Elena wouldn't have dared allowed to be spoken in her own living room.

"Do the police have any idea who caused the break-in?" Enrique asked his mamá who shrugged.

"No idea," she whispered. "But the strange thing was that nothing was taken. I just wish that—"

"Even if you had been there Mamá, there was nothing you could have done. They probably would have tried to hurt you, too." Berto said.

Elena nodded, annoyed at Gloria's absence, as she looked around for her middle child. "Has anyone seen Gloria?"

"Last I saw her she was in the kitchen, Mamá." Berto said turning to face his mamá. But Elena was already gone.

The Rivera in question was out in the courtyard, helping Carmen putting away clothes in a laundry basket while baby Socorro played nearby. In her own way, little Socorro had become the family's paparazzi detector. If any member of the press tried to get into the house (identified by their cameras and notebooks), Socorro would shake her rattle and scream.

"Glorita!" Elena's voice called, cutting across the lawn. Jumping slightly, Gloria smoothed back her hair and went to talk to her mamá.

"Sí, Mamá?" Gloria said. "What is it?"

Lowering her voice, a bit, Elena said, "I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing, mija. No need to look so frightened!"

Gloria nodded, but Elena noticed that she hadn't said anything which she knew indicated that Gloria was on the verge of tears.

"I booked my ticket for México City last night," Gloria said wobblily. "I want to let Jule know first before I tell the rest of the family. But I'm not—"

Putting up her hand to stop her daughter, Elena said, "Take your time, mija. As much of it as need be. If you don't want the kids to know, then we won't tell them."

The next few days went by in a flash, with Elena keeping Gloria as busy as possible to keep her mind off her worries. In other words, cleaning up the museum and filling an order of dance shoes for a wedding party.

When the day of departure arrived, Elena waved anxiously as Enrique and Gloria headed out on a bus. The kids were in school and Gloria didn't want an army of Riveras sending her off, so it was just Luisa, little Socorro, Franco and Elena.

"Buena suerte, mija," Elena said as she drew her daughter into a tight hug. "Todo estará bien."

Gloria nodded, part of her agreeing with her mamá but the other part not. "I hope you're right, Mamá."

Elena passed the next couple of hours anxiously glancing at the clock and waiting for the familiar sound of a truck roaring into view.

"Lena, stop worrying," Franco said as he looked up from his book. "I'm sure they're both fine. It's only been a few hours and Enrique did say that they might stay over if either the weather or traffic was bad."

Elena sighed, walking back over to the coach. "No es eso, I'm just worried about Gloria. She said that she was going to break the news to Jule today. I hope he's supportive."

Hearing the familiar sound of a truck pull up, Elena immediately became alarmed as she saw her daughter's face, tear-streaked and…happy?

"Glorita? Qué pasó?" Elena asked as she approached her daughter.

"I told him everything, Mamá. And while he was disappointed, his main worry was how I was handling it all," Gloria said with tears in her eyes. "He said that he wants to marry me one day and that if need be, we can always adopt."

At that point, Franco had come up behind his wife and daughter, looking as relieved as Elena who now had a smile on her face.

"He also said that he wanted to meet the family properly, Mamá over dinner sometime once this whole thing is over. Not as clients but as mi novio." Gloria said. "Can we-?"

"Absolutely mija!" Elena said with delight as she mentally began preparing the dinner menu for that day. "What are his favorite foods?"

"He said he'll eat almost anything!" Gloria said to her instant regret. Now Elena would probably cook enough food for forty people. But in hindsight, it wasn't such a bad thing. Some joy would definitely help cheer everyone.

As she linked arms with her daughter, Elena headed back inside, chatting excitedly about the upcoming dinner party. Franco chuckled, happy to finally see a smile on Gloria's face.

And one of Elena's famous tamales would definitely help with that.

Chapter Text

"Mija, if you don't hold still, your markings will look funny"

Victoria sighed in annoyance as Coco and Rosita got her ready for her date with Gustave. While not a romantic person at heart, the youngest Rivera ancestor still felt she understood what romance was having read many books the subject as well as watch it in action with her familia.

"Isn't this a bit grande?" Victoria interjected. "We're just going to an informal concert and dinner afterwards. It's not like we're getting married or something and no, don't get any ideas, Tía!"

Rosita's face fell for a moment then lit back up almost immediately; nothing could keep this sunny Rivera down. As Rosita spun her niece around to admire her handiwork, Victoria looked in the mirror and sighed.

Rosita had put Victoria's long hair in a braid made up of a bunch of mini-braids adorned with flowers. Since her niece was not comfortable wearing modern-day clothes, Rosita kept the wardrobe simple yet elegant, picking out a vintage turquoise colored dress embroidered with yellow flowers and matching Rivera boots.

"Oh, you look muy linda, mija!" Coco said. But she noted silently that her eldest daughter didn't look happy. In fact, Victoria was trying not to cry. Taking Victoria into her arms, Coco asked, "What's wrong, Vicita? Are you nervous?"

Carefully dabbing her eyes with a tissue, Victoria said, "No. I know it sounds loco, but I just wish Elena were here too."

Hugging her daughter, Coco simply said, "Lo se, mija. I do too." Knowing that saying more would probably cause her to start get teary as well, Coco added, "Just focus on having a fun time tonight and you can tell us all about it when you get back! Maybe even include that in your next letter to Miguel."

Nodding, and with no more signs of tears, Victoria straightened up and finished getting ready for the date. After all, Elena wouldn't want her to be sad!

After waving goodbye to Victoria, Coco sat back, happiness spilling onto her face. "I'm so happy for her, Rosita. Victoria deserves this and more."

Rosita nodded, a dreamy expression on her face. "Sí, hermana. But I just wish that things would be different between tus padres y Gustavo. They don't trust him at all."

"But can you blame them?" Julio said as he joined them. "He joked about Papá Héctor's death for years. And for all we know Gustavo could be forgotten any minute."

"Mí amor, our daughter is a grown woman," Coco said. "She can take care of herself and it's not like she's keeping secrets from us."

And Victoria had made sure to keep her family up to date on what was going on. According to her, Gustavo was widowed with no children of his own except for several living nieces and nephews. And despite a rocky start to the relationship, Victoria seemed perfectly happy.

"But I'm not sure what Mamá Imelda will—"

"You're not sure that I'll what?" a voice asked. Jumping slightly in his chair, Julio turned around to face the Rivera matriarch as she came in from the shop.

"Buenos tardes, Mamá Imelda," Julio said. "We were just talking about Victoria's new relationship and what your thoughts were."

Imelda sighed. She had been a bit reluctant to accept the idea of Victoria dating a musician, especially one who thought death jokes made appropriate dinnertime conversation. But Victoria had been very happy, and it wasn't like her to hide things from the family. Not that she could.

"I'm very happy for her, Julio," Imelda said. "But I just don't want to see her get hurt in case he turns out to be like de la—well, like him."

Shuddering at the thought, Coco said, "Gustavo is nothing like him, Mamá. If anything, he is twice the man that Ernesto is."

Agreeing with her daughter, Imelda headed over to the living room, deciding to get some mending done on a favorite pair of boots she owned.

Imelda was never a fan of watching movies, especially romance ones, so she was somewhat surprised to see Héctor and Rosita both watching a romance film that Héctor had once called cheesy.

As the dialogue went on Imelda resisted from clicking her tongue. After all she had fallen in love at a young age as did the couple in the movie. She even remembered when this historic event happened, having been a young teenager at the time. It was all anyone could could talk about for months.

Héctor watched the scene on the television with a certain level of curiosity. Gloria had left the movie on the offrenda the previous year, knowing from one of Héctor's letters to Miguel that the ancestors owned a VHS player.

After lowering the volume on the movie so as to not tune out family members, Héctor walked with Imelda out to the sunroom.

"You didn't have to stop watching the movie, Héctor," Imelda said as she sat down in a chair. "I was just coming in to get some of my sewing done."

Putting an arm around his wife's shoulders, Héctor said "I know, mi amor, but I didn't want you to think I was ignoring you. Besides, I can watch the movie later."

Knowing that was Héctor-speak for "I really didn't like the movie and I wanted to come and keep you company", Imelda shrugged and got back to working on her sewing.

"So how do you think our Vicita's date is going with Gustavo?" Héctor asked. "Espero que la trate bien."

Imelda agreed, knowing fully well that Victoria was more than capable of handling herself. But this was also Victoria's first serious novio, so….

"I think we'll just have to get to know him, Imelda," Héctor said. "Our nieta has a good head on her shoulders and she isn't the kind of person to act precipitadamente."

Several hours later, the sound of a gate being opened alerted Rosita who went downstairs to investigate. Creeping silently along the wall, Rosita watched as Victoria and Gustavo approached the house.

"…I hope you had fun tonight at the concert," Gustavo was saying. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Sí," Victoria said. "I've never heard music like that before and me gustó mucho. I hope we can do it again sometime?"

Nodding, Gustavo said, "Seguro! I enjoy spending time with you, Victoria."

Walking her to the door, Gustavo waited for a moment before leaning up and gently kissing Victoria on the lips. Victoria looked shocked but genuinely happy. She had never been kissed before and to have it be with someone she cared about so much made her feel like floating on air.

Wishing Gustavo good night, Victoria headed back inside, a smile playing on her lips. Her first kiss. Nothing like the movies.

"How did your date go, Vicita?" Rosita asked when Victoria came inside. "Did you have a good time?"

Victoria nodded, feeling a bit like a teenager who went on her first date. "Sí, it was very good. He was un perfecto caballero the entire time and we're going to go out again sometime soon."

Rosita squealed in excitement and gave her niece a hug as Victoria choked out, "C-can't breathe, Tía."

Letting Victoria go, Rosita said, "Lo siento, mija, but I'm so excited and happy for you!"

Nodding tiredly, Victoria headed upstairs to bed, her evening having completely worn her out. Imelda came out of her room and headed over to talk to Rosita before going to bed.

"How did the date go?" Imelda whispered. "Victoria looks very happy and I haven't seen her smile like that in a very long time."

Rosita whispered back, "The date went fine, Mamá Imelda. Victoria told me that they're going to go out again sometime soon."

Imelda smiled and wished Rosita goodnight. Heading back to her room, she got into bed, snuggling up next to Héctor who was sound asleep. Closing her eyes, Imelda quickly began to fall asleep, soothed by her husband's deep and even breathing as she thought of her youngest granddaughter happy and content.

Chapter Text

Show Me Chapter 25

As Victoria came downstairs, still on her own version of cloud nine after her date with Gustavo, the rest of the family turned to face her and started bombarding her with questions.

"How did it go, mija?"

"I hope he was a gentleman."

"Did you have fun?"

Using a spoon to bang against a saucepan, Imelda said, "Una pregunta a la vez!* Let Vicita catch her breath first!" Pausing briefly, Imelda signaled for Victoria to go ahead and spill the beans about her date.

"Well, we went to that new restaurant in the Arts District and then went to see a friend of his perform in a concert at the Rivera Plaza. Then he walked me home. We're going to meet up again sometime this week."

Rosita and the twins hid sneaky grins, knowing that the date had gone very well and had ended in a kiss. Victoria had been ill for the last few years of her life, so unlike Elena, she had never been interested in dating and boys. But that never meant that Victoria wasn't a faithful older sister or a protective one. When Elena first introduced Franco to the family, both Victoria and Imelda sat him down to discuss the ban.

"Do not break mí nieta's heart," Imelda said sternly. "Entiendes?"

Gulping nervously, Franco nodded. He loved Elena and would never do anything to make her unhappy. "I would rather die than break her heart," he squeaked. "I love her. But I still don't understand the ban, Seño-I mean, Mamá Imelda."

"Mamá's papá was un musico," Victoria explained. "He decided that music was more important than family and left when Mamá tenía tres años. Abuelita started up the business later that same year. Since then, there has been no music."

Blinking back tears at the sudden pain of the memory, Imelda tried to smile and said, "I'm so happy you had a good time, mija."

Victoria nodded and then whispered, "There was something else as well, Abuelita, but I can't tell you in front of the family."

Immediately alarmed, Imelda said, "No tienes relaciones sexuales con él, ¿verdad?"**

Feeling embarrassed, Victoria responded, "No, Abuelita, I'm not. But it's not that. It has to do with the Rodriguez case. I noticed something while I was out yesterday with Gustavo and I think you need to know."

After the breakfast dishes were cleared away, Imelda and Héctor, who had been called in from the workshop, sat down in the living room, anxious to what Victoria had to say.

"Mija, what's going on?" Héctor asked. "This is the first time we've heard about the Rodriguez case in a while and I thought that we were going to let the living members of the family deal with it for now."

"It has to do with Araceli Torres," Victoria said, as Imelda grimaced. "I saw an old poster for one of her movies while I was at the concert. Apparently, she and de la Cruz had starred in multiple films together when she was a child. She suddenly stopped acting in 1935 and rumors swirled that she was dating a musician that her parents didn't like."

"de la Cruz." Imelda growled angrily. "Típica para él, no?*** He goes ahead and takes advantage of an innocent girl and leaves her."

"No, Abuelita, it wasn't de la Cruz!" Victoria said. "It was Rodriguez! Apparently, they had been seeing each other but the studio and her parents didn't like it and wanted her to start dating de la Cruz to boost her career. So, de la Cruz and Torres started seeing each other in 1938, shortly after her 17th birthday. They even got engaged at one point!"

Now it was Héctor's turn to grimace. Esa pobre chica. "Has there been any luck finding any surviving relatives of Torres?" he asked.

"According to Miguel, there isn't anything on her at all," Imelda said. "All the records were destroyed during an earthquake in the '50s. We've only pieces to go with and the only thing we know is that Rodriguez vanished shortly before de la Cruz died."

The next day was a flurry of activity; Coco and Victoria headed for the library to do some more research while Imelda and Héctor decided to go to the Arts District to ask around about Torres. Julio, Rosita and the twins stayed behind to run the workshop, wanting to keep things somewhat normal.

"It's been a while since we've been to the Arts District, mí amor. Not since, well, you know." Héctor said as the couple made their way to Ceci's apartment. Imelda winced, clearly still feeling bad.

Ever since the couple's argument about Imelda reestablishing contact with her mamá, no one had seen or even heard from Josefina, who had been staying with friends in the Silent District, not too far from where the Rivera shop was. Imelda was annoyed with the situation but knew that it was unfair to deny Coco the chance to get to know Josefina properly. This was a subtle but huge change to how Imelda would normally react to circumstances she disliked.

Sling-shooting his arm to knock on the second floor windowpane, Héctor watched as Ceci and Frida made their way to the window.

"Héctor what's going on? Is it an emergency?" Ceci asked. "Something to do with Rodriguez?"

Nodding his head frantically, Héctor replied, "Can we come in? We'll tell you everything—Victoria found something out!"

Ten minutes later, Imelda and Héctor Rivera were sitting on the couch, cups of hibiscus tea in their hands as they explained everything to Ceci and Frida. The two women were not too surprised. With all the drama going on at the Rivera house, Ceci, Frida and the other artists in the Arts District had done some investigating of their own. And everything seemed to add up.

"We asked around and found out some more information, Héctor," Frida said, "Torres made a lot of movies in the 30s and 40s, so we asked several directors about what they remember from filming those movies. We even watched a few of those movies ourselves for clues."

"One of the directors said that Rodriguez and Torres were deeply in love, to the point of wanting to elope, but the studios objected." Ceci said as she put out some publicity photos to show everyone. "As de la Cruz's bandmate, that 'love triangle' between the three of them was in the news."

Imelda picked up one of the photos and put it back down again. "What about her parents? Were you able to find out anything about who her parents were?"

Frida took a deep breath, knowing that the next bit of information would shake the two Riveras to the core.

"We looked up her family in the Records at the Department of Family Connections." Ceci said as she handed Imelda a copy of the family tree.

"There wasn't much on her papá," Frida said as she described the family tree. "But according to the DFC, he was a stagehand at Paramount in Los Estados Unidos. Her mamá was un mamá típica del scenario**** and got Araceli into acting when she was 6 years old."

Imelda nodded, somewhat impatiently, hoping they would get to the point. "But what about the possibility of her having a child? Is it possible to find Araceli's child or Araceli herself in the Land of the Dead or the Living?"

"She does," Ceci answered. "We were able to find that out too but it was muy dificil. Araceli Torres died giving birth to her only child, a daughter, in January 1943, several months after de la Cruz died."

"Can we write to the living relatives at least?" Héctor asked. "Tell Miguel her name at least or whether or not there are any living descendants?"

Frida shook her head. "There's nothing on the daughter's name or anything. It's like de la Cruz wanted to deny her existence and hide her away. Everything was redacted."

Walking home was a silent affair as Héctor and Imelda slowly took in the information that they had been told. Somewhere out there was a woman who had no idea of her true heritage and was either alive, dead or worse, Forgotten.

"I just hope that she wasn't forgotten," Imelda said, squeezing Héctor's hand. "Pobre, pobre, niña. No one deserves that. But it does explain why the Rodgriuez family is so reluctant to press charges on de la Cruz's estate. They were afraid of what would happen if that romance became public and that it would brand Araceli or Jorge Rodriguez as…." Héctor winced but understood the implication.

"I have an idea, mí amor, but you're not going to like it," Héctor said cautiously. "Don't panic."

Raising a non-existent eyebrow Imelda said, "Ay, why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?"

"I need to talk to Ernesto, mí amor."

"QUE?!"

Chapter Text

Héctor, Victoria and the twins stood outside the Land of the Dead's only prison, feeling the courage slowly beginning to slip away from them. Hours after arriving home, Héctor had revealed his plan to the family and a few days later,

Initially, Imelda really wanted to come but decided against it at the last minute knowing if she got into the same room with de la Cruz, she wouldn't be able to control her temper. It was an out-of-character move for her to decide not to go, but Héctor understood. Imelda needed time to process everything and getting herself arrested for attacking someone would not be a good idea.

"Why doesn't the living family know about this, Abuelito?" Victoria asked as she walked into the holding lobby. "Shouldn't we write a letter to let him know what else we've learned?"

"It could be that…" said Oscar

"…the living Rodriguez family…" added Felipe.

"…doesn't even know about Torres," they concluded.

Putting an arm around his nieta's shoulders, Héctor said, "I already wrote a letter to Miguel and told him what was happening. I got a reply this morning. The investigator has been following a lead in America and México City. Apparently, he sent an agent to de la Cruz Productions to look into their archives for information on Torres and Rodriguez."

SighingVictoria sat back and said, "And they're looking into the break-in as well?"

"Sí," Héctor replied as he stood up as the officer beckoned for the group. "Let's hope so."

Héctor had been inside a jail cell many times before, but every time it was a new experience. This time, his family was with him as he headed for the room in the back of the holding lobby.

After Día de los Muertos 2017, many of de la Cruz's bodyguards had been arrested or had gone into hiding to avoid prosecution. Some of the charges that had been listed were attempted murder of a living child, attempted assault, not putting up signs at the cenote, graverobbing and even extortion to name a few.

A couple of the bodyguards had reached out to the Rivera family in an attempting to apologize by letter for their actions. But Héctor didn't feel ready to read those letters nor did he pass them on to Miguel, knowing that his grandson still had nightmares about that cenote.

"Señor Rivera are you sure about this?" a prison guard asked. "I can always have someone go in with you and your familia if you want."

Shaking his head, Héctor said, "No, but if I don't get this over with now, then I'll never do it."

With a simple incline of his head, the guard opened the cell door. Inside it looked blank and bare, papers scattered about everywhere with bits of ink on the walls. In a small corner, lay a figure dressed in prison garb and looking nothing like the man it once was once was.

"Héctor," said the scratchy voice of what was once the greatest musico in México. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Stiffening at de la Cruz's weak attempt to charm, Victoria glared at the man who had caused her family so much pain.

"I'm not coming here to set you free if that's what you're thinking," Héctor said in an uncharacteristically icy tone that usually only his wife employed. "I just want to know about you and Torres."

At first de la Cruz said nothing, but upon seeing icy glares from Victoria and the twins, he knew that he better starts talking or run the risk of getting beaten up by that crazy alebreje again.

"A beautiful lady who was mí vida," Ernesto answered. "'The love of my life' as you would say, Héctor."

After Victoria pulled out a couple of pieces of paper from the pile by the bed, de la Cruz simply looked up, gathered the remains of his non-existent courage and said, "Good luck finding the rest of the answers, musico."

"Why did you do it?" Héctor asked. "Why did you murder me? Coco grew up without a papá and Imelda hated me. Coco used to love you, ya sabes."

To make it clear that he wouldn't give them an answer, de la Cruz turned around to face the wall, causing the Riveras to leave in anger and hurt.

Hours later, at the shop, the whole Rivera poured through dozens of the papers that de la Cruz owned, anxious to find a clue to Torres' death and Rodriguez's disappearance.

"What are we looking for, mí amor?" Imelda asked, holding up a piece of paper.

"Any reference that he made to having a child or Torres being pregnant or even covering up what happened to Rodriguez," Héctor said. "But knowing de la Bastardo, he probably burned a lot of these letters and gave us duds to cover his tracks."

Looking up from the pile with an "Ah ha!" Rosita held up a letter that said something pertinent. "It's a newspaper clip about Rodriguez's disappearance. It looks like his family took out an ad to find some answers. They said that he was last seen in… "

Imelda tensed slightly, but said, "Adelante, Rosita. Sigue leyendo*."

Reading through the clipping slowly as she compared it to the letter, Rosita said, "de la Cruz mentions in his letter that he's going out to a town in el Nuevo Méjico. It's somewhere in America and it says that he's out hunting in a town called Santa Fe."

Victoria rushed off, making Héctor think that she was upset, but when the woman returned moments later, there was no sign of tears anywhere. Instead, she held a piece of paper, a pen and a map.

"I think I know where he is," Victoria said tensely. "He's buried there in Santa Fe and we need to let the living relatives know. Especially Elena."

"But mija," Coco said. "We need to be sure that this letter is about Rodriguez. For all we know, this letter could be about anyone!"

"It's dated March 1942, Mamá," Victoria said. "de la Cruz died one month later, and Rodriguez went missing a month or so prior—ay, I better write this all down."

Timeline

November-January 1941—De la Cruz ends romance with Torres?

February 1942—Rodriguez vanishes, presumably in Santa Fe.

April 1942—death of de la Cruz

January 1943—Araceli Torres dies giving birth to her daughter but the official cause of death that is released to the public was a long-term battle with liver cancer.

"So, it's possible that Torres rekindled the romance with de la Cruz before he died?" Rosita asked in confusion.

"But if that's the case, what happened to Rodriguez?" Julio said. "Wasn't he de la Cruz's bandmate for years?"

"Even if it has nothing with Rodriguez, we still need to let the familia know so that this woman can learn about who she is." Rosita said, scribbling a note to Miguel and the living family.

"We need to be careful though," Imelda said. "I don't want this family falling victim to another of one of de la Cruz's tricks."

Getting up, Héctor kissed her soundly before grasping his wife's hands. "Don't worry, mí vida, we'll be careful. We've got more than enough evidence and Rosita's sent a message to Miguel and Elena, along with copies of the letters. If the investigator asks, la familia can say that they were sent anonymously."

Chapter Text

Show Me Chapter 27

Date: March 25, 2019

Elena sat back, hanging up the phone after another disappointing conversation with the local police concerning the break-in. She had to go through it all again, talking about the helplessness she felt when she couldn't go back home and the anger she felt when she learned her husband had been injured.

To say the case had come to a screeching halt was an understatement; there had been no new leads in the case nor had anyone come forward. The only thing that the authorities were able to prove was that Santiago Lopez, the man who owned de la Cruz's crypt and many of the local businesses in town, had not been behind the break-in. Nor had the music shop owner who hated Elena.

"What about the wife of that mariachi, Abuelita?" Abel suggested when he called home later that evening. "She seems pretty angry and is famous for holding grudges."

Suddenly Miguel ran in, carrying a note and looking excited beyond belief. "THEY FOUND HIM! THEY FOUND HIM!" he screamed in excitement.

"Whoa, mijo, slow down! Who found him?" Luisa said as she came in from outside, carrying

Taking a deep breath, Miguel slowed down and spoke carefully, "Our ancestors found out where Rodriguez is buried, Mamá. Papá Héctor said that they asked around and that he is buried in Los Estados Unidos in Neeew México."

Once it was determined safe to read the letter (Miguel had to lay eyes on it first in order for it not to vanish for the other relatives), Elena read it over carefully. It seemed like Héctor Rivera had thought ahead and not even left a name or fingerprints on the letter so it could be used in court. And the handwriting was definitely de la Cruz's. Most of it was soaked through with water, but several lines remained legible.

-WENT HUNTING WITH RODRIGUEZ IN SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO-RODRIGUEZ ENJOYED IT-DOESN'T WANT TO LEAVE-GOT TO SEIZE MOMENT

Before entering the house, Miguel saw something red and gold laying on the ground. Noticing that it was a bright red clasp, normally attached to a mariachi's vest, the teen used a napkin and carefully picked it up off the ground and headed inside. Must have been from the break-in or maybe fell off my mariachi vest, Miguel thought.

"de la Cruz was definitely not a smart criminal if he kept leaving clues like this," Enrique muttered angrily as he reread the note after dinner for the other adults. "At least we can use this to find Rodriguez's body."

"Pero Santa Fe es enorme, Enrique."Berto said. "It would take months to search the whole area and it's not safe to travel back there right now considering what's been happening."

Everyone sighed. Stories about what had been happening at the U.S./Mexico border had gotten out, worrying the adults in the family who had friends in the United States of America. And much to everyone's sadness, a return trip to America to help locate Rodriguez's grave would not be a financially feasible option. But Franco had another idea.

"What if we get in touch with Martinez again? He might have contacts who can help." Franco suggested. "They helped us find Papá Héctor last year. And it's pretty easy to keep the note-writer anonymous."

"Eso es una buena idea, mí amor," Elena said as she stood up from her chair. "I'll go give Martinez a call right now and ask."

As Elena left the room to make the phone call, Franco went over to his daughter who had been quiet during the conversation. "When would you like for us to meet him as a novio, mija?"

She wanted Martinez to officially meet the family, not as clients but as a boyfriend and a potential husband. And with things slowly but surely progressing on the Rodriguez case, Gloria felt sure that Martinez could come over for that family dinner soon.

"Can we do it next month, Papá? To let everything settle down first with the Rodriguez family?" Gloria asked.

Nodding, Franco patted his daughter's hands and walked over to the main entrance to the house.

"What about Lopez's nephew?" Enrique asked as they worked at the workshop the next day. "Would he have anything to do with this?"

"He's in Los Estados Unidos, Quique," Elena said as she examined the shoe she was holding. "He's been there for almost a month. And it couldn't be the mariachi that was mad at me, he's been staying away ever since Lopez was put in jail."

"What about the music shop owner?" Luisa asked. "Hay rumores that he is a de la Cruz symphasizer, but I don't believe he'll want to hurt Miguel."

Shaking her head, Elena added, "He may not like me very much but he's not once ever implied that he doesn't like our Miguelito. Tendremos que seguir buscando."*

Despite the dead end in the case, the Riveras knew that they were getting closer to finding Rodriguez. A quick telephone call with Martinez confirmed that there would be a search team out in Santa Fe in three days and that he would talk to the Rodriguez family again. Miguel also revealed that he had heard from Aria, who told him that she had found information on Torres in an old movie magazine. At Elena's request, Miguel asked Aria to scan the article and send it over.

The family had been hard at work in the shop when suddenly a crash alerted the Riveras to something happening outside in the courtyard. At first glance, it appeared that Rosa was fighting with someone, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that it was not the case.

A boy, no more than 17, was playing tug-of-war with a crowbar with Rosa, who was determined to keep him from entering the shop. Elena and Berto ran over to break up the fight, carefully avoiding the broken glass lying nearby.

"QUÉ SUCEDE**?" Elena yelled as she yanked the two teens apart. "LET GO OF MÍ NIETA!"

Hearing in her voice that Elena meant business, the older boy stopped, letting go of the crowbar, and fell to the ground, taking Rosa with him. Scrambling to her feet, Rosa bolted away towards her mamá and younger brothers.

"Por favor," the young man said with a distinct American accent. "Don't hurt me, I had to do this. Lo see-en—to."

Quickly providing translation for the rest of the family as Carmen took a shaken Rosa inside, Gloria sharply asked the boy in English, "Why did you try to hurt my niece?"

Shaking his head, the boy said, "No, no, I wasn't trying to, I swear! I was just told to come and swing a crowbar at the window and not let anyone get in my way."

By that time the police had arrived, taking both the crowbar and the teen into custody. Much to everyone's relief, Rosa had not been injured. But the question of who the young man was remained a mystery. Telling the younger Riveras (with the exception of Miguel and Rosa) to go back to bed, Elena stayed up, knowing that there had to be more to this young man. Something or someone had driven him to go to the shop.

"His name is Joaquín de la Montoya," Martinez said the next day. "According to the police, he works for de la Cruz Productions and he was hired by them to try to destroy any evidence linking us to Torres."

"Did he say anything else?" Enrique said tiredly, knowing that the last time that someone from de la Cruz Productions was here, it resulted in a family member getting badly injured.

"Yes, he gave up the names for everyone involved in the break-in last month," Martinez said. "I don't know how much of it is true, but I'll do my due diligence and get back to you on that."

"And Torres?" Carmen asked. "Señor, what did he say about that? Did he say anything about her?"

Nodding, Martinez said, "Sí, he did. We even managed to get her daughter's name."

"What is it?"

"Riya. Triana Sofia Rodriguez."

Chapter Text

The next day was a flurry of activity—Enrique, Gloria and Martinez had driven up to México City to speak to one of his colleagues about the new lead they had found. At Elena's request, Enrique and Gloria did not mention how they found this information out and Martinez seemed to go for the "anonymous" note-writer theory. After all, people submitted information anonymously all the time, Miguel reasoned.

"So what's going to happen after Señor Martinez leaves for Los Estados Unidos, Mamá?" Miguel asked Carmen one night as they set the table for dinner.

"It's difficult to say, Miguelito," Luisa answered. "We may find answers, we might not. We have to be prepared for that possibility that this could be another dead end."

Nodding solemnly, Miguel continued on and said, "What about Araceli's daughter? She could be anywhere, and she needs to know who her parents were."

Knowing that this ventured into dangerous territory, Luisa sent Miguel out to the workshop to retrieve the other members of the family. Elena walked in, becoming concerned when she saw the look on her daughter-in-law's face.

"Qué pasò, mija?" Elena asked. "Did Miguel ask about it again?"

"I'm not sure what to tell him, Mamá Elena," Luisa said as she finished getting food out on the table. "I don't feel like this is appropriate for him. Some of this implies that Araceli was, well, taken advantage of by de la Cruz. And I don't know how I feel about Miguel knowing that. He's way too young."

Elena understood. She was aware that this could possibly be the answer behind Araceli Torres' death. But she also knew that regardless of who this woman's biological parents were, someone out there was Torres' daughter. And she had no idea who her parents were or where she came from.

"Recuérdamelo de nuevo*, why are we doing this, Mamá?" Enrique asked as he set up the video camera. "You hate using the computer!"

Feeling a sense of confidence overtake her, Elena answered, "We need help, Quique. That's no secret. If anyone out there knows or is Araceli Torres' daughter, the Internet can help us. Besides, I can't keep standing up on orange crates in the middle of Plaza de Mariachi!"

Cracking a tiny smile, Enrique finished setting up the camera and said, "Okay, Mamá if you're sure about this. Just start talking whenever you're ready, just like we rehearsed."

Taking a deep breath, Elena looked at the camera and started to talk. While Elena didn't speak any English, she knew that Gloria could help with subtitles later if need be.

"My name is Elena Rivera, and I am the matriarch of the Rivera Shoes in Santa Cecilia, México. We need your help…"

Ten minutes and three takes later (mostly due to loud noises off camera, courtesy of the twins), Elena was able to post the video online. While she never understood videos and the Internet, she understood that time was of the essence.

"How long do you think it will take, Berto?" Elena asked that night at dinner.

"It can take some time, Mamá," Berto answered truthfully. "You only posted the video an hour ago."

"We need to get some answers, Berto!" Elena said. "That pobre niña needs to know who her real parents are. After all, we didn't divulge detalles específicos."

When the video started, Elena was careful not to mention any specifics, wanting to do what she could to protect the woman's privacy. All she said was that she needed the public's help in locating a daughter of a Mexican American film star who was born in the 1940s and was raised in New Mexico. A sketch was even included in the thumbnail; one that Martinez had drawn based on the likenesses of both Torres and de la Cruz. Much to the Rivera's relief, it looked like Torres' daughter inherited a great deal of her mamá's looks.

"There are hundreds of actresses who grew up in Los Estados Unidos, Mamá," Enrique said. "Hopefully one of them can provide an answer."

When Elena woke up the next morning, the first thing she did was make her way to the computer, where Rosa and Miguel were being supervised by Carmen. Turning around briefly to say 'buenos dias' to Elena, Miguel hopped off the chair and headed over to his abuelita.

"The comments are in, Abuelita," Miguel said. "We have over 1,926 comments on the video. Most of them are in English, but several are in Spanish. We can ask Tía Gloria and Abuelito to help us go through them when they get back."

Deciding to sort through the Spanish comments first, Elena's eyes widened. This was a lot to look through for just one person. And some of the comments were clearly from disgruntled people from Santa Cecelia. But there were some good comments in there too.

I like tacos.

Have you tried looking up a census?

Can you put my sandwich inside a shoe?

SHOOT ME A MESSAGE FOR A FREE TAMALE! CLICK HERE AT THIS LINK!

"What do people think I own?" Elena grumbled in annoyance. "Un restaurante?"

Can't you just leave that poor woman alone? You've done enough damage already.

You're a nutcase.

I grew up next door to someone who lived in New Mexico in the 1950s; her mother was adopted and never knew who her biological parents were. She's since passed away but her daughter moved back to Ecatepec City. DM me for deets.

"Detalles, Mamá," Enrique clarified when Elena's brow furrowed in confusion. "And it does sound like that comment is saner than the others, but we'll have to have Gloria translate the English comments when she wakes up."

As Elena found out, Gloria's translations proved effective but most of the comments were either insanely off-point ("Why do I need a free vacation to Iceland?") or threatening ("Who does this person think she is to tell me how to raise children?")

"That one comment Miguel found sounds like something, Mamá," Gloria said as she turned the computer off. "We should get in touch with that person. Find out what they know."

Leaving Abel to get in touch with the person (helped by Gloria in case there were translation issues), Elena and Miguel left to head back to the living room.

Along the way, Miguel quietly said, "Abuelita?"

"Sí?"

"I've been thinking about that camp. Ya sabes, the one that Señor Talles mentioned en enero?"

Elena had almost forgotten about the music camp and Miguel did too. Between what was happening with the investigation to Gloria's situation, it had been three months of non-stop crazy. Turning to face her grandson, Elena said, "Sí mijo?"

"I don't want to go," Miguel said. "I don't want to leave mí familia. And I'm not sure I'd want to leave them. There's a lot going right now. And how would I contact our ancestors?"

Sitting Miguel down on the couch, Elena said, "Miguel, más lento. You don't have to make a decision right away about this camp. Take some time and think it through."

"But I have, Abuelita," Miguel answered earnestly. "I don't want to go. I want to stay here and maybe go to a camp locally."

Knowing that her grandson was serious, Elena said, "Okay, mijo. You don't have to go if you don't want to. But know that I'll support you no matter what you decide, bueno?"

"Bueno."

Chapter Text

Enrique watched the TV, trying desperately to keep his mind on other matters other than the investigation going on in New Mexico. It had been four days since the "anonymous" letter had arrived and Martinez had sent a team up to New Mexico to scan the area and ask some questions. There was just one problem.

"This town is huge, Enrique," Martinez had said. "We're talking about thousands of square miles of land to search. I don't think we have to worry about tracing the person who wrote the letter, it's obvious that de la Cruz wrote that letter, but it might take time to search all of that land."

Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Enrique had seen the investigator off at the door and went back to the workshop. The last thing that anyone wanted was for people to start asking questions about the letters. It had already been a huge struggle to convince the Rodriguez family to get reinvolved with the case against de la Cruz Productions and an even bigger fight to keep them involved.

"They're frightened," Gloria said to her mamá. "They don't want what happened to Papá to happen to them. Besides, having that letter turn up out of the blue can look a bit strange. But so far it hasn't raised any questions."

Deciding it was best to take a break and head over to the school to pick up Rosa and Miguel, Enrique headed out the front entrance, stopping only to check out something shiny he noticed on the ground nearby.

Scooping it up gently with a napkin, Enrique examined it closely. With indentations on the sides, it reminded Enrique of one of the buttons on Miguel's mariachi jacket, but he knew it wasn't his son's. Not wanting to alarm anyone, Enrique folded it carefully inside a napkin and put it in his pocket.

School wasn't quite over when Enrique arrived pick up his son and niece, so it gave him an opportunity to sit down for a spell. Ever since the year that changed everything for the family, some of the parents had been reluctant to let their children hang out with the Rivera children.

It wasn't anything personal, but Enrique knew that they didn't trust Elena, hearing the word "senile" floating around. Compared to other families in the area, the Riveras were very modern in that they used electronics and embraced technology as much as they could.

"Hola, Papá," Miguel said as he came up to Enrique. "Is everything ok? Did something happen at home?"

Shaking his head, Enrique was quick to reassure the young teenager, "No, no, mijo, nothing's wrong, I was just in the area and wanted to talk to you and Rosa. Where's your prima?"

Pointing back to the school, Miguel answered, "She's coming—there was some boy she wanted to talk to about something. I think it was that Crepúsculo book that she's been reading. You know, the one with the apple."

Refraining from rolling his eyes, Enrique quickly spotted his niece coming towards him, stealing quick glances over her shoulder. Rosa, was still a bit shaken from the almost-attack, spent as much away from the hacienda as possible to be at the library to do some research. Carmen and Berto had wanted her to talk to the priest or school counselor about what happened, but Rosa insisted that she was okay. Not wanting to pressure their daughter further, the couple decided to leave it be for now.

"Alright, mijos, let's go home," Enrique said. "We can stop by the plaza and pick up some candy on the way."

Miguel had been going to the Plaza since he was a child, but even he knew that each time could be different. Some of the mariachis and shopkeepers waved at the family, but others, including parents of Rosa's and Miguel's classmates, stayed back, nodding stiffly in greeting. It wasn't until a flash went off then Enrique quickly began to realize that maybe going to the Plaza wasn't the best idea.

Within seconds, the three Riveras were swarmed by news reporters, some shouting questions in English as well as in Spanish while others stuck microphones in their faces. Rosa tried to take off one of her ballet flats to swat the reporters away, but it was impossible.

"Did Héctor Rivera kill Jorge Rodriguez?"

"Why did you wait until now to investigate this?"

"What advice do you have for the young mariachis of today?"

Shouting "BASTA!" at the top of his lungs, Enrique shoved through the throngs of photographers and reporters and managed to reach the two teenagers. With the help of the mariachis, the Riveras quickly bolted back home, not even bothering to see if the reporters followed them.

"What happened, Papá?" Miguel asked. "Why were they there?"

"I don't know, mijo," Enrique said. "I honestly don't know."

Elena was almost a basket case when her son and her two nietos came home. Having heard what had happened from a neighbor, she had quickly rushed them inside and looked them over for injuries.

"Abuelita, we're mmph—bueno." Miguel said as Elena crushed him in a hug.

"I know, Miguel, but that shouldn't have happened. What if they had followed you into the school?" Elena said as she hugged Rosa next.

"But we're fine, Abuelita! Really!" Rosa protested.

Sensing that Elena wanted to talk to the adults alone, the parents of the two cousins told them to do their homework while they spoke to the other adults.

"Someone tipped the press off, Mamá," Enrique said. "That's the only reason why they followed us from the school."

Shaking her head in disgust, Elena said, "Don't those buitres* know how to leave us alone? Why do they go after mí nietas? If anything, they should go after me! I'm the one who posted the video!"

Walking quickly over to the computer, Enrique booted up YouTube and almost immediately his jaw fell open in shock. There, on the front page, was an image of Torres' daughter featured on an American news show as well as the original video. Which read 1.5MIL under the "Views" tab.

Knowing his English wasn't good enough to translate an entire video, Enrique said, "We'll wait until Gloria gets home."

It took almost an hour for Gloria to translate the entire news clip; mostly due to angry interruptions from Elena as well as from Miguel, who was astonished that anyone had bothered to look at the video.

The report mostly focused on the discovery of de la Cruz's true songwriter, as well as other tidbits of the news revealed at the Lopez trial. Among the people interviewed in the clip were investigators from the New Mexico team as well as ordinary members of the public.

The report also mentioned (very briefly) the search for Torres' daughter but did not dwell on specifics, claiming that for the family's safety, they could not reveal her name. They also mentioned the video and asked that if anyone had any information to please contact the number below.

"We're all going to have to be much more cauteloso from now until this whole thing isover," Elena said that night at dinner. "No more going to the Plaza, and do not mention anything about the case to anyone who has not heard about it."

If it had been a different time, Miguel would have protested the "no Plaza" rule. But that was before. Now, it was about protecting his familia at all costs.

"What about the woman who left a comment about knowing someone who might be Torres' granddaughter?" Miguel asked.

"I heard from her last week, Miguelito," Gloria said as she ruffled her nephew's hair. "I set up a meeting with her via the YouTuber who commented on the video. She's not very comfortable talking to the press and wants to remain anonymous as much as possible."

Miguel's eyes became big with excitement, "And we can find out the truth?"

Elena nodded, "Let's hope so, mijo."

Chapter Text

"Hola, you've reached Rivera Familia de Zapateros in the Land of the Dead. We're not available right now but leave your name and number at the beep."

"Imeldita, it's your madre, please call me."

"Hola, me llamo Alma Diaz. I'm calling from DNN, Death News Network, in hopes of setting up an interview with Imelda Rivera."

"I like tacos!"

Rosita sighed, quietly writing down all the messages from the family's personal voicemail. As it was a Monday, the shop was closed, and the matriarch of the Rivera family was out on a date with her husband. It had been a rough week for everyone and with the case drawing to a close in the Land of the Living, all that was left was to draw it to a close in the Land of the Dead.

Unfortunately, tracking down someone who didn't want to be found was hard work in the Land of the Dead. Other than Héctor sending the letter to the living relatives that Victoria found that day at the jail, there wasn't much the ancestors could do. Locating Torres' daughter had been a challenge and, if Coco was right, the woman probably didn't want to be found.

The only official information they had was what they were told. Similar to a doctors' office in the Land of the Living, the Department of Family Connections could not release information to non-family members. Most of what the Rivera family knew was learned from their friends in the Arts District.

When news of how the Rivera family was trying to attempt to track down Torres or her daughter became public, the phone calls, messages and even threats did not stop. But it didn't deter anyone from their mission or disrupt daily life. Even Josefina was helping out. It had taken much convincing from Héctor, but Imelda was slowly warming up to her mamá again.

"Anything from the Arts District, Tía?" Victoria asked as she walked back in from another date with Gustavo. "Anything from Miguel?"

"No, mija, nothing yet from the Arts District," Rosita said as she leafed through the mail. "But I did get something from Miguel. And I think the whole family should hear it"

"Apparently, there was another attempted break-in a few days ago but Rosa managed to intercept the would-be attacker," Victoria said as she read Miguel's letter out loud to the rest of the family later that night. "He was arrested and gave the names of the people involved in the previous break-in."

Everyone gasped in horror. "Is mi nieta okay?" Héctor asked, concerned.

Nodding, Rosita continued to read the letter. "A bit shaken, but she's going to be fine. The man who tried to break in also knows the name of Torres' daughter. Miguel and Elena were wondering if we could find out whether or not she is here in the Land of the Dead."

Knowing that going back to the Department of Family Connections would be a dead end, Imelda simply studied the name—Triana Sofia Rodriguez. It felt like deja vu to her: Imelda swore that name was familiar.

"Melda?" Héctor asked. "Qué pasò?"

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Imelda said, "Ese nombre, Héctor. It seems so familiar to me. I feel like we've met her. We need to find out more about her. And if she has any living descendants."

After much discussion, Héctor, Victoria and Imelda headed back to the Arts District while the rest of the family went to the Boomer District (people who had lived or appreciated the lifestyle of the 1950s and 1960s), bringing along a picture of a sketch of what Torres' daughter might look like in the living world as well as the ancestor world.

"I feel like we've seen her before, Héctor," Imelda said as she headed into Ceci's studio space. "We know her somehow."

Patting his wife's hand, Héctor simply said, "If she or her mamá had anything to do with music, mi amor, Ceci would know. She knows almost every single celebrity in the Land of the Dead."

As Victoria ran ahead to say hello to Gustavo (she had officially given him the title "novio" the previous week), the older couple watched wearily. Héctor still didn't trust Gustavo, but for Victoria's sake, was willing to let bygones be bygones. While it had taken some time for Imelda to fully trust Gustavo, she also knew that Victoria was more than capable of making her own choices.

"True, Héctor, but hopefully she can trust us."

Ceci had been used to shocks before since the truth about de la Cruz's true personality came to light, but this was new. She remembered every single client that she made dresses for and even wrote down all the names of every client (even Héctor's) in several notebooks.

"I don't think you'll find anything there, Imelda," Ceci warned as she helped the shoemaker search the notebooks. "Frida and I looked through the books last week and had no success. Ella no quiere que la encuentren.*"

As Frida's assistant came in with hot cups of tea for everyone, Héctor continued to thumb through the pages. Page after page showed actress after actress, artist after artist and singer after singer with no success. He was about to give up when a sudden burst of enlightenment had him jump to his feet, nearly spilling hot tea on Imelda and Frida.

"Ay!"

"HÉCTOR! PAY ATTENTION!"

As Riya came over with napkins, Héctor took a good long look at her. She was tall and slender, a bit younger than Victoria, wearing a red dress and Rivera boots. And if Héctor could place her, it was possible that—no, it couldn't be.

"Is everything alright, señor?" Riya asked in a voice that sounded like a wind-chime drifting on the breeze. "Hice algo mal?*"

Quickly reassuring the woman, Ceci could also see what Héctor was looking at. Taking the young woman gently by the arm, the seamstress sat Riya down on the sofa.

"Riya," Frida said gently. "I think we found you."

"I d-don't understand, Señora Frida," Riya said, confusion on her face. "Found what?"

After giving Riya a moment to catch her breath, Frida dove in and started asking Riya rapid fire questions about her background, only pausing when Héctor told her to calm down a bit. Slowly Riya began to tell her story.

"I never met mí mamá," Riya said as she addressed the family. "My mamá died giving birth to me and I was adopted at birth, so I had no idea who mí padre biológico* was until I was 18."

"Why didn't you come forward when you were alive?" Victoria asked. "Or come forward when de la Cruz was exposed last year?"

"No pude*," Riya said sadly. "de la Cruz's estate threatened to ruin me if I did. And I never saw him as my papá, so I didn't see the point. I still don't. Jorge Rodriguez's family, they took me in and raised me as their own with no questions asked. I married the love of my life and had children. He's still alive as are both my daughters and my son."

Asking how someone died in the Land of the Dead was considered rude, so Victoria decided to hold off on posing that particular question.

"Have you tried to get in touch with your mamá?" Rosita asked gently.

"No, señorita," Riya replied. "I figured that after everything she'd been through, that it wouldn't be good if she saw me. I was worried that if she did, she might blame me for her death. Así que mantuve mi distancia.*"

Tears filled their eyes as Rosita and Coco gasped, as the two women took in Riya's statement. Victoria looked stunned and Imelda both looked stunned. But Riya had one more request.

"Por favor, please don't release my name to the public," she pleaded. "I want to stay anónima. I don't want de la Cruz to threaten me or mi familia."

With that, Riya made her exit, retreating back into the darkness of the studio, leaving everyone in shock.

Chapter Text

Show Me Chapter 31

Victoria sat at her workstation, stirring her tea pensively as she watched passers-by exchange greetings with each other. It had been several days since Triana Sofia Rodriguez's identity was discovered, and to say everyone was reeling from the shock was an understatement. Imelda and Héctor had spent a lot of time on the phone when they got back, fielding questions from reporters and customers about what had been going on.

Wanting to respect Riya's privacy, the couple agreed not to tell anyone about what was going on. There had been another detail that the Riveras were keeping private—mostly to avoid scaring off members of Rodriguez's family and upsetting Riya (whose mother was mentioned prominently in the letter).

A letter had been discovered in de la Cruz's mansion a few weeks earlier and Héctor immediately sent it off to Miguel. It was very different from the de la Cruz letter, which had detailed "seizing my moment" and "whatever it takes". Since the whole "I-can-communicate-with-the-dead-so-please-don't-think-I'm-loco" routine probably wouldn't fly with investigators, Miguel had agreed to say that the letters were sent to the family anonymously.

I'm not sure if it's safe for me to write this letter, but please tell Arita that I love her in case anything happens to me.

Basically, I think Ernesto murdered Teto Rivera—I found a guitar case with a sticker on it that belonged to him and I saw Ernesto searching the ground frantically for something when we were in México City last week. Call me loco, but I think he's done something to Teto and I have the proof—I found a train ticket back to Santa Cecilia from México City that Teto was supposed to use way back in December 1921, shortly before Los Posados.

I haven't seen or heard from Arita in almost eight months….I'm worried that I'll never see her again.

RIIINGGG! RINNNG!

Jumping up out of her chair, Victoria headed for the door, putting her teacup on the table in the vestibule. Seeing that it was Gustavo, she immediately brightened and went to greet him hello.

"Hola Vici," Gustavo said as he greeted his girlfriend with a quick kiss. "I just wanted to drop in and see how you were doing. I've heard it's gotten a bit loco around here."

"Here and everywhere else," Victoria said. "We've been trying to keep everyone updated on what's going on. Gloria's been in touch with Torres' granddaughter and I feel like I'm going loco myself with everything going on here."

Steering Victoria towards the couch, Gustavo said, "Why don't you start at the beginning, mí amor?"

Almost half an hour later (with multiple interruptions from Rosita and the twins who were curious about Victoria's new relationship), Victoria managed to finish telling Gustavo what had been happening.

"What if we could talk to your bisabuela, Vici?" Gustavo said. "I think she may know more than what's going on?"

Sighing softly, Victoria said, "Maybe we should bring this up with mís abuelos, mí musico."

"Absolutamente no!" Imelda said when the couple brought up that idea later to the rest of the family. "I already told you both that I don't want that woman setting foot anywhere near our house!"

"And how do we know that this isn't some sort of trick?" Héctor said, glaring at Gustavo sharply.

"How do—" (Oscar)

"We know—" (Felipe)

"That you're not—" (Oscar)

"Just leading us on a wild goose chase?" The twins finished together sternly. Both of them were well aware of their papá's trickery and were not all that keen to trust their mamá. Especially after the way that their sister had been treated by their parents.

Crossing his non-existent heart, Gustavo said, "No te estoy engañando*. Victoria told me about what has been going on and I want to try and help."

"Besides, Mamá Imelda," Rosita said. "We're stuck. Your mamá might be able to help us. Coco did say that she wanted to get to know her better and that she may know something that she couldn't say earlier."

Knowing that Rosita was referring to Imelda's relationship with her estranged padre, Coco said, "Mamá, tenemos que darle una oportunidad*. She's been wanting to have a relationship with you and I want to get to know her better. Dejar que lo pasado sea pasado."

"And Mamá Imelda," Julio said timidly. "I think if we listen to her, maybe she has some information that we can send to Miguel."

Josefina had been delighted at receiving an invitation for lunch from her daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter, coming over the next day. Upon stepping into the workshop, she looked around, a sense of wonder taking over.

"Es asombroso, Imeldita*." she said to her daughter. "I love it. You've done well."

"Deja la charla, Madre*," Imelda said icily, "I just wanted to ask what you knew about Jorge Rodriguez, other than the fact that Papá would have preferred it if I had married Rodriguez instead of Héctor."

Not wanting to comment on that fact, Josefina took a deep breath. Earning her daughter's forgiveness would be a huge step forward, but for now that meant admitting some things of the truth about Rodriguez.

"He would have never heard of leaving México, Imeldita," Josefina said. "If anything, he would have wanted to stay here. I remember once, when you were little, how you two would play explorers together. He loved exploring new places, but he always wanted to make sure to come back home. A mamá always notices those things."

"If that's the case," Héctor said, "where is he in the Land of the Dead? De la Cruz wouldn't care about whether or not he's still remembered."

"I wish I knew, Héctor," Josefina said. "But I want to do anything I can to help. And I can't apologize enough, Imeldita for what I did to you. If I could turn back the clock, I would."

Knowing that giving her daughter a hug might be a bit overkill, Josefina settled for patting her knee reassuringly before she left. Baby steps were key in this and Imelda knew that things were slowly getting better. It would just take time.

After Josefina left, Imelda sank back into her chair as Héctor put his arm around her. "Why do things have to be so complicadas? Where is this man?"

"Maybe we just need to accept the fact that he just doesn't want to be found, Mamá," Coco said.

Héctor nodded, agreeing with his daughter. "We'll drive ourselves loco if we keep wondering 'what if', mí amor. The only thing that we can hope for is that he's found peace and that he's happy, even if he's met La Muerte Final."

Imelda sighed, knowing that both her husband and her daughter were right. There was seemed to be nothing more they could do about the situation. But there was one thing they could do, Victoria thought.

"We'll waste time if we keep searching in the same places," Victoria said. "We can try putting up coded letters at various places in the town and see if that brings us closer to finding her. This way, she can communicate with us on her own terms when and if she's ready to go public."

Chapter Text

As Luisa put Socorro downs for a nap, a loud slam echoed through the hacienda. The atmosphere around the house had been very tense since Gloria went away to meet with the woman who was the supposed granddaughter of Araceli Torres. Gloria had been gone for nearly two days, having stopped over to visit a friend in San Antonino before heading out to visit Torres' granddaughter.

Everyone had been on edge about the meeting, leaving Gloria stuck in the middle and well aware that at the moment things were not ok. But luckily there was some good news too.

Rodriguez's family had succeeded in their lawsuit against the de la Cruz estate. Additionally, the people responsible for the break-in were arrested, ordered by the judge to pay restitution to both the Riveras and Rodriguez families. The restitution money would go into college funds for the children of the two families. The vandals were also ordered to pay Franco's medical bills and the cost to repair some of the equipment damaged.

There was even good news regarding locating Rodriguez's remains—the DNA results had come back, and it was a 99.9% match for Jorge Rodriguez. As his family lived in the United States and money was tight for them, they wanted to have a simple memorial in Texas and scatter Rodriguez's ashes in the Gulf. An offrenda would be created at a later date once things had settled down.

But even with all the good news, circumstances in the Rivera family were not so good. Rosa had been getting into fights at school and Abel reported that he had been followed from his dorm room at college. Miguel had been very quiet, not saying much, but his parents were observing that he had been so focused on helping his relatives in the Land of the Dead that he was inadvertently isolating himself from the family.

"He needs to spend time with living, breathing people!" Luisa said to her husband. "I'm worried that he's forgetting to enjoy his childhood!"

"To be fair, Luisa, he hasn't had what some would call a normal childhood," Enrique pointed out. "But I do agree with you. He needs to have some normal childhood experiences before he turns 18."

"Do you think the granddaughter will want to sue?" Luisa asked at dinner one night. "de la Cruz's estate? I heard she doesn't want to get too involved."

"Miguel did say that Mamá Imelda was feeling the same way," Enrique said. "Apparently, Torres' daughter wants to stay anonymous, but she is willing to meet her mother."

Enrique shook his head—two years ago, he would never be talking about the Land of the Dead and his ancestors as casually as this. It would have been deemed almost disrespectful, but Miguel had changed that.

"Let's wait and see what Gloria says at dinner," Luisa said. "We can ask her and find out what happened."

Elena had wanted to wait until after dinner was over, but she knew that this was important. Gloria was all fired up and desperate to tell what had happened at the meeting between her and Torres' granddaughter. With the exception of Rosa and Miguel (who were both in their rooms, grounded from a fight at school), everyone was listening in with rapt attention.

"We met over at one of the local coffee shops," Gloria said as she retold the story, her family hanging on to every word. "She's very sweet and incredibly kind, wants to do what's best for everyone involved but she does not want to go public with her story. She wants to protect her nieces and nephews at all costs."

"What about her mother's background?" Elena asked. "Qué dijo ella*?"

"Mamá, déjala terminar*," Berto said. "We need to listen to Gloria to get the whole story."

Grasping his daughter's hands, Franco said, "Esta bíen, Glorita. We're ready when you are."

Gloria took a deep breath, plunging into the story as her mind drifted back.

The coffee shop was a tiny place, tucked away in a little side street, where no one was likely to run into them. After three weeks of instant messaging via the shop's Facebook account, Gloria managed to arrange a meeting with Sofia Cortez, the granddaughter of Araceli Torres.

"I'm not too sure about doing this, but I want to help the Rodriguez family in any way I can as long as I can keep my children and family protected from harm," Sofia said in American-accent Spanish. "I'm still processing all of this."

Taking a sip of her latte, Gloria said softly, "How did your mamá know that she was adopted? When did she find out?"

"She knew for a long time," Sofia said. "Her adoptive grandparents told her when she was a teenager because people at school were beginning to comment on how much she looked like someone else. And she told me that she never considered de la Cruz to be her real father."

Secretly agreeing with her, Gloria nodded. She had promised a year ago not to reveal anything about Miguel's adventure to anyone or anything that came from the Land of the Dead. She didn't even tell Martinez, knowing that he would probably not believe Miguel.

"I'll write out a letter, Señorita, that you can release to the press as a statement," Sofia answered as she finished her latte. "But I do not want to speak to them directly. My family's privacy is very important to me and I don't want anyone to find out where we live. I saw what that did to my mamá's family. Promise me, you won't tell anyone where we live or who we are."

Gloria agreed almost immediately, having gone through exactly what Sofia described back when Lopez attacked her nephew. Knowing that there wasn't much else she could do, Gloria agreed to take a letter from Sofia and read it out loud for the family.

"So what happened to that letter Gloria?" Carmen asked as she sat down.

"I have a copy of it scanned on the computer and on my phone as well," Gloria said. "Jul thinks it might be best to release the statement on our YouTube channel and Facebook page but disable the comments and put fake initials instead of her full name. That way, we can protect Sofia's privacy as much as possible and we can do this on her terms by asking the press to leave her alone."

"It won't make everyone happy, but it's for the best." Enrique said. "We owe that to her."

Elena looked as if she wanted to protest, but a firm glare from Enrique ended that. This would be the end of the line of the Torres/Rodriguez investigation. If anyone wanted to pursue it further, they would have to get direct permission from Sofia herself. And with de la Cruz Productions paying millions in damages to the three families, a light was finally beginning to be seen at the end of the tunnel.

"It's time to get back to a normal life," Elena said. "We need to be able to move on from the past and help the Rodriguez familia with that as well. Puede que no sea fácil*, but we have to try."

Everyone knew fully well that it was time to try to get life back to normal. And that definition of normal would start with helping Miguel and Rosa with their school lives. Ever since the break-in, school had been absolute hell for the two teenagers. From relentless teasing to getting goaded into physical fights, things hadn't been easy. Rosa had wound up getting herself suspended for three days (and grounded for two) after getting into a fight with a classmate over the music ban. Miguel had jumped in to defend her and as a result, he got suspended as well.

"I know that nothing is more important than familia, Mamá," Berto said to Elena as they prepared for dinner one day. "But that doesn't excuse violence. If something like this happens again at school, Miguel and Rosa will need to work on controlling their tempers."

Elena had tried to argue that her nietos were simply protecting the family name, but even she had to agree that it had to be nipped in the bud.

"What if we met with the teacher and talked it over with him?" Elena said. "We can't keep pretending that these things didn't happen. Remember what happened last year when Lopez attacked Miguel?"

"It can't just be with the teacher, Mamá," Enrique said. "People in the town have been coming up to me since the break-in and even now, there are still questions. They deserve an honest answer."

"The incident with Lopez was different, Elena," Franco said. "But I agree, we need to meet with the teachers and ask them for ideas on what we can do. And get Rosa to stop reading those books."

At that Elena's eyebrow lifted. "Qué libros, Franco?"

Oops.

Chapter Text

Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing well despite the crazy year we all had and staying healthy!

Thank you so much for all the positive feedback-it's awesome! But now, I need your ideas!

I need your help with coming up with pop-culture references for this story! It can be anything from historical events to favorite movies/TV shows, even what music you're all listening to-I would love to include them in Show Me!

Please send me your ideas-either by PMing or commenting on this chapter-and I'll do my best to include them in the upcoming/final chapters of this fic :) I'll be sure to give a shout-out to you as well if you'd like- or if not, that's ok too.

Thanks a lot for all your support! It means the world to me. :)

~mq

Chapter Text

Date: April 9, 2019

If Elena Rivera had thought that standing up on an orange crate and speaking to the entirety of Mariachi Plaza was nerve racking, this had to be a new level. Her family in attendance, their matriarch paced back and forth in front of the altar in the church where many Rivera children had been baptized as they waited for people to come in.

It had taken some additional convincing on by the local priest, but Elena had persuaded to convince some of the business owners and schoolteachers to attend the meeting after school. At first many townspeople had said no, but after further pleading from her grandchildren, they agreed. After all, they had many questions and if anyone could put sense into what was going on it was "that" family.

"If Mamá Imelda were here, she would want us to set things right," Enrique said to his mamá as they patiently waited for people to show up. "We owe it to everyone to explain what we're doing. We knew from the beginning that not everyone was going to agree with us."

"I agree, mijo," Elena said. "But more importantly, we owe it to Miguel. If he hadn't brought music back into our lives, who knows what might have happened?"

Thinking back to Día de los Muertos 2017, Elena winced. Miguel had gone through a lot and now, with him almost 15, he was growing up before her eyes. As Abel prepared a VHS video recorder in the back of the church out of sight to avoid attracting attention (Mamá Imelda and the other Rivera ancestors could only use "dead" technology), Miguel quietly looked up at the altar, as if silently praying for the meeting to go well.

After the relatives in the Land of the Dead reported that they had not heard from Rodriguez but were not going to try to actively seek him out anymore, the living family decided to leave Sofia's name out of the statement, which was put on the shop's Facebook page.

In compliance with Sofia's wishes, all court records were sealed, never again to be seen by the public or the press. If de la Cruz's estate tried to leak them or access them in any way, they would face legal ramifications, which could also include jail time.

After much consideration and thought, we have decided to protect the privacy of the individual involved. She does not want to go public, nor does she want her name released. She has asked to provide this statement.

"My mother and grandmother have undergone much suffering thanks to de la Cruz's actions. At this moment, I do not wish to pursue this case further than what is advised, and I want to thank all involved for helping me and my family."

"Miguelito?" Elena called out to him. "Remember what we said?"

"No talking about the Land of the Dead, no mentioning Lopez and try to keep Sofia out of the questions as much as possible?" Miguel said nervously.

"Bueno," Elena replied as she kissed his cheeks with fervor. "And don't look so nervous, mijo. Todo va a estar bien.*"

Nodding his head, Miguel went to go and sit on his perch next to his cousins. Rosa didn't look very happy, as she technically was still grounded, but she steeled herself as the memory of what had happened to Franco scared her deeply.

While Abel finished setting up, townspeople began to flood in, curious about two things: why the Riveras were there and why was Elena Rivera was standing in front of the altar.

"Qué pasó?" One woman asked. "Why are we here?"

As the priest tried to get everyone's attention, Elena Rivera slapped her chanclas together with a loud THWACK! Everyone jumped except for Enrique who muttered, "Mamá." Taking a deep breath, Elena began to talk, calmly and more like Coco then Imelda. But when she tried to form words, her courage almost vanished. This was nothing like standing up on an orange crate in Mariachi Plaza. Thankfully, Miguel recognized that and spoke instead.

"I know that you all have a right to know what's been happening," Miguel said softly, being handed a microphone. "And we want to tell you, really! Just give mí abuelita a chance to explain! Por favor!"

"I know that I hurt a lot of people with the ban," Elena said as she grabbed the microphone. "And in our family, earning forgiveness is un gran paso*. After all, this is the town that my Mamá Imelda lived in for nearly all her life! And if she were here now, she would want all of you to understand."

As the townsfolk murmured nervously amongst each other, one brave teenage girl spoke up.

"What about the identity of the lady, doña?" She asked softly. "Who is she?"

Shaking her head, Elena said, "She does not want to come forward in order to protect her family."

"And we don't want to push her into doing something that she doesn't want to do!" Rosa said. "Kind of like when Bel—"

At a sharp glare from her abuelita, Rosa stopped. The "forbidden" books had been taken out of the house with Elena saying, "If you want to learn about los pájaros y las abejas* mija, talk to me first! Or better yet, read that superhero comic that Miguel is reading!

"Anyway, we want to respect her wishes," Enrique said. "So, if anyone has any questions, please come forward."

Several hands raised.

It took the Riveras about an hour to fully answer all the questions. Many of them were apologizing to Elena for being so hard on her since the lifting of the music ban but others had questions that were not related to the case.

"Does she like cheese or Harry Potter?" the town eccentric asked. Groaning slightly, Elena shook her head.

"What about the Rodriguez family?" asked Valentina, the mother of one of Miguel's classmates. "What's going to happen to them?"

"They settled with de la Cruz's estate," Enrique said. "The investigator located Jorge Rodriguez's body and the family wants to have a private, small funeral."

Enrique was careful not to mention that, due to all the difficulties at the U.S./Mexico border, having a funeral service abroad was simply out of the question. Stories about families being separated at the border had reached Santa Cecilia, upsetting many of the townspeople. Gloria in particular was very upset due to having friends in New Mexico and Arizona who were trying to reach their families.

Martinez had been aware of the difficulties and had offered to try to help, but the Rodriguez family politely refused.

When the Riveras got back to the hacienda, it was quiet. Franco and Carmen had stayed behind to keep an eye on Socorro and the twins, who were sitting in front of the TV watching an American movie (with Spanish subtitles) about a mouse.

"A few reporters called, Lena," Franco said to his wife. "But I told them what you told everyone else: that we were no longer involved with either case and that there would be no comment from either family."

"Bueno, bueno," Elena said distractedly as she sorted through the mail. It had become a ritual of sorts for the family to dissect the mail before Elena got to it, making sure she didn't see the hate mail and so wouldn't fly off the handle. "At least that happened."

"What happened, Abuelita?" Miguel asked quietly. "Is everything okay?"

Nodding, Elena said, "We got another letter from the Rodriguez family as well. There's also a note from Aria for you."

As Miguel grabbed the letter, he frantically scanned the note, as if he were checking for lies.

To the Rivera family,

We can't tell you how grateful we are for everything you've done. Papá Jorge's funeral was last week, and we plan to scatter his ashes in Santa Cecilia once everything at the border settles down. It was where his home was, and we feel that's what he probably wanted.

The money from the settlement will go to our grandchildren's college fund as well as help pay any medical expenses.

We are aware that Sofia Rodriguez does not want to pursue the case further, but please let her know that if she desires, we would be more than happy to help her with anything she might need.

Thank you for everything,

Alberto Rodriguez.

P.S. My granddaughter, Aria would like to add this note.

Hi Miguel!

Thank you again for the wrestler trading card! It was very cool, and I'll add to my collection! I'll send you another one soon.

Aria

Chapter Text

Imelda sat at her workbench, working determinedly on a pair of boots that she had been focusing on for about 4 months, the same amount of time since the investigation began and time had flown by quickly.

The arrival of the message from the Rodriguez family brought hope to the Riveras and at long last, life in the Land of the Living could finally begin to settle down and get back to normal. And luckily for the ancestors, everything there seemed to be slowly falling into place as well.

While Rodriguez did not want to be found, Imelda knew that if the living family had some sort of closure, that was all that mattered. In terms of Araceli Torres, her daughter and granddaughter were handling things now.

With Frida's help, Riya decided to leave a note at the Department of Family Reunions, just in case Araceli wanted to try and find her. While Riya was doubtful that it would work, she knew that it was the only way to contact her mamá and avoid the press. She had stayed hidden from the press throughout the entire search, and she wanted it to stay that way.

In terms of Imelda's mamá, Josefina, Imelda had slowly begun to trust her again and had tried to visit her on multiple occasions, often accompanied by Coco and Victoria. While Coco had warmed up to her abuela, it had taken a bit longer for Victoria to trust her completely. But with some encouragement from Victoria's novio, Gustavo, she began to trust Josefina too. Imelda reasoned that Victoria simply did not want to watch her get hurt by Josefina. After all, it had been nearly a year since the arrests of both Imelda's papá and de la Cruz.

"Imelda? Mí amor?" Héctor said as he came into the workshop. "Miguel wrote again. It looks like Rodriguez's funeral was last week."

Nodding distractedly, Imelda said, "Bueno, bueno."

Putting his arms around her, Héctor said, "What's going on, mí vida? Qué tienes en mente?*"

Shaking her head, Imelda replied, "Nothing's wrong, Héctor. I'm just thinking about what has happened in these last four months. I never thought that I would be on speaking terms with mí mamá again or that mí nieta would be involved with el musico who made jokes about your death!"

Kissing the side of her head, Héctor replied, "Very true, mí amor. And I'm still in shock over Vicita being involved with Gustavo but I guess I'm coming around to it."

Dinner that night was a quiet affair; Oscar and Felipe were out ("probably trying to score dates" said Héctor) and Victoria was over at a friend's house, so it was just Julio, Héctor, Rosita, Coco, and Imelda. It was due to be a quiet evening and, with Dante staying with Miguel, there wasn't any cause for concern.

That is until both little Socorro's and Miguel's shimmering bodies suddenly appeared on the dining room table.

"AAAAH!" Imelda screamed, nearly falling out of her chair in shock. Coco, Julio, Rosita and Héctor stared openmouthed as Miguel and Socorro slowly began to materialize. Yanking her boot off, she aimed it at Miguel as Socorro began to whimper.

"Don't! Mamá Imelda, it's really us!" Miguel said as he made his way off the dining room table.

Slowly putting her boot back on, Imelda immediately wrapped her grandchildren in a tight hug. After she let him go, Héctor, Coco and Julio had their turns to embrace the two kids with Coco hugging him the longest. It had been nearly six months since Miguel had attempted contact with his ancestors while sleeping as Imelda did not want him to risk his life to get in touch with them. Socorro clapped her hands, giggling now as she tugged on Coco's braids.

"How are you, Miguelito?" Coco asked softly. "Is everything alright?"

Nodding, Miguel said, "Sí, I'm alright, Mamá Coco. I just wanted to see you all and see if you're okay."

Grinning, Héctor replied, "We're all doing okay, chamaco. And we're so, so proud of you and of everything you're doing."

"Has Rodriguez shown up here yet?" Miguel asked as Imelda gently shook her head no.

"We haven't sent him, mijo," Imelda said. "But I think it's best that we let him contact us when he wants to. That way he doesn't feel pressured."

"Okay," Miguel replied. "But I just hope he's okay no matter what. Después de todo*, what he went through was awful!"

As Rosita hugged Miguel, the children's bodies began to shimmer again; a tell-tale sign that they were waking up in the Land of the Living. Quickly, Miguel added a quick "Te amo!" before he and Socorro vanished back to the Land of the Living, leaving the startled relatives behind to contemplate what just happened.

That night, no one slept all that well. Everyone spent the night pacing back and forth in their own rooms. Rosita had tried to put on a historical film about the Spanish Conquest, but no one was able to pay any attention to it as their minds were on other things.

When the twins and Victoria returned, they were both astonished at what had just happened. By the time morning rolled around, everyone's mind was on how Miguel and Socorro had just appeared.

"We all knew this could happen, mi amor," Héctor said. "The agent at the Department of Connections said that it was possible that both Miguel and Socorro could see us. They said that the reason why Socorro could see us could be as simple as her being in the same room as Miguel when he was talking to us."

"But if that's the case, shouldn't the rest of the family see us too?" asked Imelda. When she didn't get an answer, she immediately went over to the phone, quickly dialing the Department of Connections to set up a meeting at their office.

The agent at the DOC was very helpful, taking all of Imelda's urgent questions in stride and answering them as patiently as he could.

"When a child grows up, they no longer see us, doña," the agent said. "But if something scary happens to that child in our Land when they are teenagers or if they are born into hearing what others tell them, they can see us. It's very likely that Miguel will see us for the rest of his natural life. The same goes for his sister."

"But is it safe for him to keep visiting us like that?" Héctor asked. The agent nodded.

"No visits over 12 hours though. He must be back in the Land of the Living before sunrise or if the visit happens during the day, sunset," The agent replied. "The same also goes for his sister."

When Héctor and Imelda came back to the hacienda, they immediately told the rest of the family what they had been told by the agent. Everyone was very relieved to hear it. They were debating on whether they should contact Miguel when Riya came into the workshop.

"I hope you're not all busy," she said timidly. "I wanted to let you know that I heard from mi mamá."

Almost immediately, everyone ran over to the woman, wanting to know what had happened. Imelda put her hand up, silencing everyone.

"Go on, señorita," Imelda said. "Esta bien."

Shaking slightly, Riya held out a folded piece of what appeared to be sheet music. "Two days ago, I got a reply back. I wasn't sure it was mi mama, but I had someone check her handwriting and it's real."

Holding out the letter, Imelda took it from her, and silently began to read it.

Dear Triana,

There is so much I want to say. But first, I was so happy to get your letter and to know that you're doing well. I would love to see you and learn more about your life. I want to be here for you whenever you're ready, so if you're only comfortable with exchanging notes for now, I'm okay with that.

I don't want you to ever think that I did not want you or that I blame you for my death. There should not be blame in this situation nor do I want you to be resentful of what happened to me. But there is one thing that I am proud of. I am proud to call you my daughter and I love you with all my heart.

AT

When Imelda finished reading the letter, Riya was nearly on the verge of tears along with everyone else. Without a word, Imelda handed the letter back to her and Riya said, "Gracias, doña. For everything."

And with those words, the woman left.

Chapter Text

Show Me Chapter 35

It had been several weeks since Rodriguez's lawsuit against the de la Cruz estate was resolved and everyone was getting ready for the biggest challenge ever faced: dinner with Martinez as Gloria's boyfriend, not as an investigator.

Elena had been thrilled about the dinner, having spent weeks and weeks preparing the dinner menu with all of Martinez's favorite dishes. Gloria and Martinez had tried to tell Elena that it wasn't necessary, but the older woman was determined to make a good impression.

Rodriguez's family had settled with the de la Cruz estate for a huge sum. On top of paying damages for the attack on the shoe shop, the estate also had to pay all court costs as well as any funeral fees. Since Rodriguez also had children from a previous marriage (before he met Torres), the settlement was split between his children's families

"This is big, mija," Elena said. "This is the first novio that we've met, post-ban. And I want to make sure that it goes well."

"I'm sure it will, Mamá," Gloria said as she rinsed some lettuce in a bowl. "He is really excited about this. And are you sure that…?"

Grabbing her daughter in a tight hug, Elena said, "Your papá and I love you no matter what."

Having joined his wife and daughter, Franco added, "It's like we said earlier, Glorita. We just want you to be happy. And we both like Martinez, he's a very good man."

Smiling softly, Gloria left the room.

Martinez had arrived slightly late, apologizing for the traffic, impressing both Elena and Franco with how polite he was, and brought flowers for Elena and Gloria as well. While no one knew too much about Martinez personally, they knew that he made Gloria very happy, which was all that mattered.

"What kind of music do you like, Señor Martinez?" Miguel asked as he passed the tamales to his mamá.

"I like any and all kinds of music, Miguel," Martinez said. "But especially salsa and jazz. I'll have to show you all some of my Louis Armstrong and Coldplay CDs if you like. I collected several over the course of ten years"

Miguel and Rosa grinned excitedly—they already liked Martinez right off the bat. Shortly before the dinner, Martinez had asked Gloria about the things that both Miguel and Rosa liked. Even though Gloria did not have any children, she loved her nieces and nephews dearly as if they were her own and was deeply touched that Martinez genuinely wanted to get to know them. He also did not want to push the kids, wanting them to feel comfortable around him first.

But Miguel and Rosa had instantly warmed up to Martinez, going out of their way to make him feel welcome. Rosa told him about the music camp that she was going to in a few weeks. While Miguel wanted to work on his shoemaking skills (much to Elena's delight), Rosa expressed an interest in wanting to check out the camp. Carmen and Berto agreed to it, under the condition that Rosa was not to bring any of those "crazy libres" with her.

Abel had sent his apologies, mid-term exams were taking up a lot of his time and he did not want to accidentally take the attention off Gloria and Martinez with his return.

"Sounds like you'll both have an interesting summer," Martinez said. "I used to go to camp when I was a kid, Rosa and it was a lot of fun."

The dinner went on for several hours with Martinez answering questions from the children about his life and the crazy things he did as a kid. Elena was very touched by how he treated the kids, not talking down to them and treating them as equals.

Eventually, it came time for Martinez to head out, he left, but not before Franco and Elena had pulled him aside for a private chat.

"I know that I don't have to ask this of you, Señor Martinez," Franco began slowly. "But I want to make sure that my daughter is happy and taken care of. Por favor, promise me that you'll do everything to make her happy. I don't want to see her sad."

Elena had not said anything but her eyes spoke volumes: DO NOT HURT OUR DAUGHTER OR ELSE.

Grasping Elena's hands between his own, Martinez nodded seriously. "Por favor no te preocupes*, Doña. I will devote my life to making Gloria happy and I hope she'll agree to marry me one day. With your blessing of course."

Elena smiled happily, saying "Lo tendrás*."

"Mamá? What's going on?" Gloria asked after Martinez had left. "Why is Jule looking so happy?"

Shaking her head slightly, Elena said, "Nothing to worry about, mija. I'll explain it later."

Still looking somewhat suspicious, Gloria left and headed for her bedroom, not noticing Miguel peeping around the corner as he grinned goofily. Even at 14 years old, Miguel knew what Martinez was planning.

The next day Miguel and Rosa brought Elena over to the computer in the workshop's office. Abel had looked at the website for the shop and gave it a makeover. He even adjusted the shop's social media pages to include images of Héctor's guitar and the notes and poems to Coco. Abel had carefully worded the history behind the ban, setting it up so it said that out of respect for Héctor's memory, Imelda had decided not to have any music in her family.

It had been a labor of love for the past four months and all three grandchildren were excited to show their grandmother. While it had been a whirlwind of activity over the past two years, everyone knew that it was time to bring the shoe shop into the 21st century.

Elena looked at the website in amazement as it lit up with pictures of the various family members who showed up on the screen. ¡Bienviendo! Welcome to Rivera Familia de Zapateros!

At Miguel's suggestion, Abel also included a family tree part of the website with biographies of each family member, even Dante. No one was left out.

Mamá Coco and the ancestors were also included, causing Elena's eyes to fill up with tears. Lyrics from the original Rivera version of Recuérdame and Un Poco Loco were on the website. It even included a very "old" recording of Héctor and Coco singing Recuérdame together (courtesy of Imelda who had recorded it in the Land of the Dead, fixing it with software to make Coco's voice sound young once more). Miguel jerked back, alarmed.

"Abuelita? Qué pàso?" Miguel asked. "Did we do something wrong?"

Shaking her head, Elena said, "No mijo. Esto es perfecto. Absolutamente perfecto.*"

Fin.