When Christmas dates approached, La Muerte always decorated the Land of the Remembered according to the occasion. The streets were turned into thin, blue layers of ice so the spirits could skate and snowflakes fell from the sky. There were some places in which the streets, apart from ice, were covered under thick layers of snow so children could play. All the Remembered wore colorful winter clothing during this time of the year, and families reunited in their homes to share hot cocoa, anecdotes from throughout the year and have dinner together. Some even went as far as to decorate their homes with adorned pine trees and other decorations. The buildings had been changed into icy colors of blue and lavender to have a more wintery air.

La Muerte's castle was majestically decorated for Christmas, there were garlands, mistletoes and many Christmas decorations hanging from the pillars and walls, and there was a giant Christmas tree in the throne room, the best Christmas tree someone could have ever imagined. It was adorned with white candles, garlands, red and golden tinsels, candy canes and glass baubles of every color one could have imagined. The castle's interior was boiling with movement as the party continued, some spirits were dancing, others were taking food form the Christmas feast and, some were wondering why there were so many mistletoes around the place…

"Zipacna, knock it off!" Xibalba growled at his older brother as the caiman-headed god continued to place mistletoes wherever he could.

"Come on, hermanito, you know the drill!" Zipacna snickered, hanging yet another mistletoe. "You stand under a mistletoe with a girl, she must have a kiss with you!"

The dark god sighed. "Let me guess, you'll try to get Xochiquétzal to stand beneath one with you."

"Got it!"

Marigold and Alastor approached their father and uncle, the both of them were carrying lots of candy canes, sweets and snowman-shaped cookies.

"Hey, hey, hey, you two." Xibalba reproached them mildly. "Don't get too excited on the sweets, you haven't eaten anything yet. Besides, your mother will soon bring her own recipe of cookies." He was already watering his mouth at the thought of those delicious, tasty, warm, crunchy, sweet cookies. "She only makes them once a year!"

"She's taking too long!" Alastor whined, pulling his pastries closer.

"Come on, mijo, you can't rush perfection."

"Hey, papá, how do humans celebrate Christmas?" Marigold inquired. "Like this?"

"Sort of, except they don't have giant trees and they can't decorate with just a snap of their fingers." Xibalba chuckled.

"Not to mention they have to cook all the food themselves." Zipacna added, hovering down from the ledge, glancing at his younger brother. "You know what this reminds me of? That time when you, La Muerte and the Candlemaker got involved in the affair with… what was his name again?"

"Posada."

"What are you talking about?" Marigold inquired.

"Who's Posada?" Alastor followed.

"It's a long story, niños." Xibalba replied.

Marigold looked up at her father with the cutest puppy look she could muster. "Well, mamá will probably take a while in bringing those cookies, so we might as well hear it."

"Pleaaase!" Alastor was tugging on his father's cloak pleadingly.

Oh, heck. Sometimes he hated being so weak around his children. Oh, well, maybe it wouldn't hurt to share that story with them. It wasn't inappropriate for kids, anyway. "Okay, niños." Xibalba sighed, sitting down on the couch. "Only because it's Christmas."

"Yaay!" Marigold and Alastor chirped, sitting down on the floor in front of their father, still holding their treats. Zipacna joined them on the ground, snapping his fingers and popping a large popcorn pot out of thin air. Xibalba rolled his eyes, before speaking.

"Okay, first of all, what do you think of Christmas?"

"What does that have to do with the story?" Alastor inquired.

"Answer the question and I'll tell you."

"It's amazing! All the gifts and decorations and carols!" Marigold giggled.

It took Alastor a bit longer to answer. "I like it. We can spend time with friends and family, not to mention we get to give and receive a lot of gifts."

"And I get to get a kiss." Zipacna snickered as he took a handful of popcorn and took it into his mouth.

Xibalba couldn't help but smile a bit. "In other words, you all love Christmas and think it's amazing."

"Yay!"

"Absolutely."

"Who wouldn't?"

Xibalba's smile disappeared and he let out a sigh. "Well, what if I told you that there are people who do not like Christmas?"

"Who wouldn't like Christmas? It's awesome!" Alastor said.

"Well, in San Ángel there was a certain man who not only did not like Christmas, he did not even give his family the importance it deserves."

"Why?"

"Well, that was the way he was, at least until we paid him a little visit." Xibalba chuckled in reminiscence. "But that's for later, right now I'll tell you a little more about General Ramiro Posada…"