Day of the Dead

By: InitialA

With help from editingatwork and OctoberSpirit

Disclaimer: I don't own Night Vale?

They keys rattled in the door. Carlos looked up as Cecil came in, whistling the tune from that day's weather broadcast; he kicked off his shoes, and came over to give Carlos a kiss. "How was your day?"

"Fine. Nothing exploded, which made things less interesting, but my body will be glad for the rest," Carlos said as Cecil sat down. "Oh, I wanted to know, were you planning anything for us to do for Hallowee—"

He was cut off abruptly as Cecil shoved his hand over his mouth; one of his fingers was poking at the corner of his eye, and the base of his hand was cutting off Carlos' oxygen supply through the nose. "Ssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Cecil hissed. "We don't talk about that."

"Cecil, I can't breathe," Carlos mumbled around his hand.

"Oh, right, sorry," Cecil apologized, taking away his hand. "I forgot you need to do that all the time."

"It's all right," Carlos said. He rubbed his nose. "So why don't we talk about… that?" He caught Cecil's hand as he moved to cover his mouth again.

"It's not safe."

"I… see," Carlos said, raising an eyebrow. "Well, my mother wants me to come home for Dia de los Muertos this year. If there weren't any plans, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me."

Cecil blinked. "Home with you? And meet your mother?"

Carlos rubbed his neck. "And my brothers and sister. And probably my nieces and nephews…"

"Wait, you're bringing me to meet your entire family?"

"Well… yes? I mean, if that's okay. We take care of mí abuelos gravesites, and mí papí. It's a big event, and… well, it'd be nice if you could be a part of it," Carlos explained.

Cecil was quiet for a moment, and then leaned his head against Carlos' shoulder. "It's a very personal event, Carlos, are you sure you want me there? I mean, I don't want to be a stranger intruding on your family's event."

Carlos took Cecil's hand again. "You won't be intruding. You're my partner. You're part of the family now; I've told them about you, they can't wait to meet you."

Cecil swallowed hard. "Really?"

Carlos kissed the top of his head. "Really. Just… try to keep the tattoos under control, ok?"

Cecil chuckled. "Okay."

The most eventful part of the trip was filing the extended leave of absence papers with the City Council, and narrowly dodging an escaped librarian roaming the halls outside of the law library and records vault. The drive east, and then south, through the desert and into Mexico was pleasant—bickering over whether to listen to Carlos' early punk rock CD collection or Cecil's new-age indie tapes, pointing out the shapes that time and weather had worn into the rocks, or trading off driving turns to sleep.

Two days after they'd left Night Vale, Carlos drove up the long driveway to his mother's old adobe home, and felt a pang of nostalgia for the brightly colored walls and decorations of the house's exterior. His mother ruled the family from their compound; his sister and her family lived there, he remembered, as did his youngest brother and his family. As he parked, and he and Cecil got out, Carlos ran a hand down the warm brick, patched in some places and needing repair in others. A wind chime cheerfully sounded a welcome. Carlos glanced over at Cecil, who was looking around in interest. "Bienvenido. Mi casa es tu casa," he said, smiling.

"It's wonderful," Cecil said, meaning it.

They got their bags out of the trunk, and walked around the side of the house. Carlos led him through a doorway and into a courtyard. Shrieks like baby birds met their ears immediately, and Carlos found himself assaulted by five small children, crying, "Tío Carlos!" over and over again. Carlos laughed and hunkered down, giving them all hugs. "En Inglés, así que su tío Cecil va a entender!" He told them.

The children hesitated for a moment, as if suddenly realizing there was a strange man present, and became much more composed. "Cecil, these are some of my nieces and nephews. Alma, Regina, Manuel, Jesús, and Graciela," Carlos patted each on the head as he went. "Mijos, this is your uncle Cecil."

Cecil had a strange look on his face. Carlos worried briefly that he was being overloaded with newness, until he remembered that they hadn't exactly discussed the fact that his family had decided to refer to Cecil as "uncle", to make his young nieces and nephews understand better. Cecil crouched down to their eye level. "Hello. It's very nice to meet you."

The tallest girl, Alma, gasped. "Él habla hermosamente…"

"En Inglés, Alma," Carlos reminded her.

"You talk pretty," Alma said, blushing through her accent.

"You have a very nice voice too, Miss Alma," Cecil said, holding out his hand.

Shyly, she took it, and they shook. She looked down at his wrist, and her eyes widened. She looked up at Cecil's face; his eyes glinted with mischief. "Mágico," she whispered.

Carlos looked, and rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to sigh. Cecil was showing off; his tattoos were dancing lazily around his wrist. Manuel rushed forward. "I want to see the magic!" He demanded, and he was echoed by the others as they caught the idea that Uncle Cecil was much more than meets the eye. Cecil looked up at Carlos, and winked. Carlos shook his head ruefully, and left him to charm the children as he went to find his mother.

"Mama," Carlos enveloped her tiny frame in a bear hug. "It's so good to see you again."

"Well, if someone wasn't always so very busy being a very important scientist, he might get to see his family now and again," she scolded, only half-serious. Carlos took it with a grain of salt. He'd missed a lot in the past few years, having stayed away from home since after his father's funeral. "I'm sorry, Mama."

"It's in the past. You're here now, and that's what's important. Now, where's this young man of yours?" Mama asked, looking around.

"Outside, bewitching the kids. I don't know if they'll let him go home," Carlos admitted, smirking at the thought that Cecil was "his young man".

"Carlos!" His sister-in-law breezed into the kitchen, giving him a hug and a peck on the cheek. "I thought I heard someone in here with Mama."

"Hello, Corazón," Carlos said. "Where's Maria?"

"Right here," his older sister said, coming in and forgoing the hug-and-kiss approach for a punch on the shoulder, and a noogie. Carlos yelped as her knuckles dug into his scalp. "Maria, knock it off!"

"How's my baby brother?" Maria asked, grinning as she released him. "I see the American desert isn't treating you any differently."

Carlos chuckled, straightening his hair. "Well, it is, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you just how differently. Where's everyone else?"

"Michael and Mateo are out in town," Mama said. "Ramon and his family are coming over later, and David won't be here until tomorrow. He's catching the red-eye out of Phoenix."

"He should have called me, Cecil and I had room in the car…" Carlos muttered, rubbing his neck.

"Speaking of Cecil…" Maria elbowed him in the ribs. Carlos winced—older sisters who matched you in height and physical strength were rough—"Where is he, anyway?"

"With the kids."

Corazón raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"He's harmless, Cora," Carlos said, then, remembering the librarians, amended, "I mean, mostly harmless. He's got… martial arts training. And he adores kids; he volunteers with the local schools all the time. Come on, I'll introduce you."

They went into the courtyard, where Cecil was giving piggyback rides around the square, all the while being pestered with questions about anything and everything under the sun. Cecil patiently answered all of them as thoughtfully and thoroughly as he could, as if he were quizzed by five-through-eleven-year-olds while jogging around a fountain every day. Corazón folded her arms across her chest as she watched the man with the pure black braid cart her children around. "Pensé que dijiste que era más viejo que tú."

"Algunas personas tienen mejor genética," Carlos grumbled, sensitive about his graying hair.

Maria smiled, and walked over. "Cecil?" She asked, her voice lilting in English. "It's so nice to finally meet you. I'm Maria, Carlos' sister."

Cecil grinned, and gave her a one-armed hug, holding Jesús up with the other. "Hello, Maria. Your daughters are delightfully intelligent."

Maria's smile widened. "I'm glad to hear it, since they've left their homework go undone today," her tone switched to the universal 'stern mother', and the girls yelped to attention. "Mama, it's a holiday!" Alma cried.

"And Tío Cecil said he had more magic!" Graciela whined.

"And he can still show you after your homework is done. You'll enjoy your holiday more with it finished. Dése prisa!"

Regina scuffed her feet after them as they went inside. Cecil let Jesús slide down his back and run over to his mother. "You must be one of Carlos' sisters-in-law?" He asked.

"Corazón. Mateo is my husband, Carlos' hermanito. Please, call me Cora," she said, picking up Jesús.

Cecil turned, and went to the short, old woman with her gray hair tightly braided, and formally bowed. "And you must be Carlos' mother. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance," he said, smiling.

She smiled up at him. "So, you are the boy keeping my Carlos from coming home more often. He is very handsome," she turned her attention to her son. "I can see why you like him."

Carlos spluttered; Cecil blushed. "Mama! Me cae bien por muchos motivos!"

Mama clucked her tongue. "And he spent a week lecturing us on that ridiculous computer video message system that we were to use English around you, Cecil."

"Your accent is almost unnoticeable, ma'am."

"Of course it is. I went to a fine school, and university; as have all of my children, and as my grandchildren will," Mama said proudly. "Though it was better, when I had more regular practice."

Maria moved in to Cecil's rescue. "Mama, perhaps we'd better show them to their room. They've come a long way, and maybe they'd like to rest?"

"Of course, of course," Mama said, waving her hand dismissively. "Rest, and we should have dinner prepared soon. After, we will discuss what we have planned for the holiday tomorrow."

Maria led them to Carlos' childhood room, which had been mostly converted into a guest room with a larger bed. As she closed the door behind them, Cecil set his bag down and Carlos flopped onto the bed with a sigh. "So, you've gone through the ordeal of Mama…"

"She's tough. I like that," Cecil said, sitting next to him with more grace. "She'd get along well with Josie."

Carlos laughed. Cecil continued, "And your nieces and nephews are smitten with me. Cora didn't seem to approve, though."

Carlos shrugged. "Cora's like that. She takes a while to warm up to some people. And she's protective of the boys. They live here because the neighborhood she and Mateo originally lived in was… rough. Mama said she'd rather put up with more mouths to feed than losing more family."

"I see," Cecil said, yawning midway. "Well, all that talk of naps convinced me. You can go talk to your family, I'll be in here."

Carlos chuckled, and pulled him up to the head of the bed with him. "Not a chance, after spending two days sleeping on shifts in a car, in the desert."

Cecil only smiled, and let Carlos drape himself around him, spooning their bodies together. They drifted off, blissfully unaware of the fact that ninety minutes from that moment seven giggling children would come barging in on the errand of gathering the family for dinner.

((I'm not sure how many chapters this will be. Aiming for two, might be three. Also, the separate portion where Carlos is with his family is meant to be entirely spoken in Spanish; however, as I'm already poorly relying on Google Translate and my limited memory of high school Spanish, I decided to separate it for the illusion, and give myself a break))