No, no, no. Wait. That wasn't right. Wait, wait. Hector scratched out the notes he'd just written, leaning over his guitar to reach one of the dozen pieces of paper that were strewn around him in the middle of the floor. He wanted the tone of this one to be more... something. He wasn't sure what, and that was his problem.
He sat in the middle of the workshop while the family worked – Imelda's idea – and she took every opportunity to smile at him over her glasses as she stitched leather to sole. After so many decades of separation, he still wasn't used to that. But the looks she was giving him were certainly poetry-inspiring. He bent over his guitar and jotted down a few more lyrics.
After recovering from his near-Second-Death experience, Imelda had insisted he needed to rest and recover, though Hector had insisted he'd felt fine. There was no way he wanted to spend time cooped up in some hospital room somewhere. Much to absolutely no one's surprise, Imelda had won that little battle of wills. But very much to Hector's surprise, she didn't lead him to a hospital. She led him home, and she never asked him to leave.
That had been five months ago. Julio had started dancing again, and had taught Victoria and Rosita everything he knew. Imelda had started singing again. And Hector had started composing music once more, something he had sworn he would never do again.
A loud knock echoed through the hacienda.
"Ay!" Imelda said, throwing her unfinished shoe on the table. "This again!"
"Want me to get it this time?" Julio asked.
Hector ducked his head in embarrassment. He'd never asked for any of this.
"No, no," Imelda said, as she always did whenever anyone else offered to answer the door. "I'll deal with it." She swept from the room.
Hector stood up and stretched, then put his guitar in the corner. Imelda's voice floated through the door, polite but very strained. The other voice was high-pitched and very excited. He heard his name mentioned several times.
"Another one of your admiring fans," Rosita said, glancing up from the shoe she was lacing. She looked like she could start giggling at any second, though he thought she often looked like that. Happiness suited her.
When Hector started to inch toward the door to peek out, Oscar reminded him, "You're going to make it worse if she sees you."
"I know, I know." But he was curious, so he crouched down and snooped around the corner of the doorway. Imelda had her hands on her hips and blocked their visitor's view.
"I'm very sorry," she was saying. "But he isn't available to talk right now."
As Imelda started to shut the door, the visitor – Hector still hadn't been able to get a good look at her – suddenly shouted, "Wait, I'm sorry! I'm here on business!"
Imelda paused, hand on the door and ready to slam it, for the woman to continue.
"Official business," she said. "From the Department of Family Reunions." She cleared her throat. Hector inched forward and could hear the rustle of papers, though he stayed just out of sight. "Rivera family, you have a new arrival. At 10:07 this morning, Socorro "Coco" Rivera, age 99, arrived in the Land of the Dead. She passed peacefully and was surrounded by her living family. She is waiting for you to come and collect her. From the entire Department, our congratulations and condolences."
The entire family had trickled out of the workshop when they heard the name "Department of Family Reunions." They whispered excitedly to each other when the woman had finished. Felipe patted Hector's shoulder. "Miguel did what he promised," he said.
Imelda stepped back from the open door and locked eyes with Hector. He could tell from her face that they were feeling the same way. Happy, grieved, surprised, relieved, excited. In Hector's case, he started feeling a little nervous, though he couldn't see the same emotion on his wife's face, where happiness was winning out.
She turned back to the Department woman. "We'll leave in a moment. Come inside while we get ready?"
"No thank you, senora. I have many more arrivals to announce. It was nice to meet you." Then she was gone. Imelda shut the door slowly and quietly before running back to Hector and throwing her arms around him. Hector only barely reacted in time to keep them both upright.
"I'll get your shoes," she said, and she kissed him on the cheek and ran off again. He wasn't used to the kissing yet either.
Though everyone else was flitted around him happily, Hector was feeling strangely hollow. Coco was dead. His baby was dead. He'd been preparing himself for that his whole life- well, second life. He knew it really wasn't a cause for mourning. But, it was more than that. Coco barely remembered him. They were strangers now.
The rest of the family bustled noisily around him, and Imelda almost threw his shoes at him in her excitement to go. She spun off in happy circles before doubling back and dragging him toward the door.
Seeing her so happy eased the knot of anxiety slightly. Even if things would be strange between father and daughter, Coco would be happy to see her mother and Imelda would be happy to see her daughter. That was more important anyway.
Victoria was the first one out the door. "Will you all hurry up?" she said. "I'm not getting any younger! Really, Abuelito," she said to Hector, smiling almost as much as Rosita. "I'm surprised I beat you for the first spot in line."
"Well, you already had your shoes on, mija" he said, holding the door open for Imelda. "That was an unfair advantage!"
The walk to the department building was normally a short one, but it took even less time than usual. Julio practically danced there. Oscar and Felipe were so excited to see their niece that they kept running on ahead, then remembered about the rest of the family and had to double back. Five times.
Hector was the most subdued of the group, something Imelda picked up on. He was trying to focus on the squeaking sound his shoes would make if he stepped just the right way. He wasn't used to shoes yet either. Imelda had made them with love, just for him.
"You're cute when you're worried." Imelda looped her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked.
Hector almost tripped. He was NOT used that yet either. "What? Who's worried? I'm not worried about anything."
"She'll understand. She'll be happy to see you, I know she will be."
"Oh, uh, si."
"She will," Imelda said.
Hector nodded. Imelda was probably right. Miguel would have explained everything. And if Imelda had forgiven him, Coco definitely would have. And Imelda had assured him that Coco had grown up missing him, grown up wanting him to come home.
But how had she known that? Hector wasn't sure how to point out that Imelda and Coco had never actually spoken to each other about him. What if Coco had become silently bitter like her mother? After all, she'd never put up his photo. The nagging doubts were small but persistent, like a sharp rock in his shoe, impossible to ignore.
The building was large and bustling, though not as crowded as it was every other time he'd seen it. Large signs directed them to the Reunion Room, which turned out to be more of a large hall with tall ceilings and many doors coming off of it. Hector had only been here twice before. Once, over ninety years ago when he'd first arrived. (No one came to get him.) And the second, over forty years ago. (Imelda was not happy to see that he was the only one to come for her and had let him know all about it.)
As large as the room was, it felt cramped. Family reunions were taking place all over. Some were small, just two or three skeletons hugging each other fiercely. Some were as loud as they were large. The new arrivals ranged in ages, as well. Confused-looking 40-somethings. Hobbled grandfathers. Hector had to look away from the two-year-old being welcomed by his great-grandparents. Poor kid.
The Rivera family bumbled along through the crowd, peeking around elbows and bouncing up on their toes, until Julio yelled, "I see her!" and started running.
Hector followed the others, until he he could see her too, and then he stopped, watching her. She was twirling on her toes, just because she could, braids spinning out around her. She looked so happy, so peaceful.
"Coco!" Julio yelled, and she stopped so suddenly that her braids slapped against her face.
"Julio!" she shrieked in delight, and she skipped toward him.
While the rest of the family surged forward, Hector hung back, losing himself between two other jubilant reunions. Coco greeted her loved ones joyously. She kissed her husband. Buried her face in her mother's shoulder, hugged her uncles and sister-in-law, and stroked her daughter's hair.
Hector had been welcomed back into the family, but he'd never felt more like an outsider than he did now. He hadn't seen her in over ninety years. She would probably want to spend more time with the family she remembered. He wanted to rush over there with the rest of them, but he knew it would take time to re-establish his relationship with her, if that's what she even wanted.
In between the second round of hugs, Coco started looking around the room. She glanced at skeletons and gawked at alebrijes. She kept interrupting her own sentences by standing on her tiptoes and craning her neck for a better look around. The others all smiled at her. They all remembered what it had been like to arrive here, to a place that was almost more alive than the Living World.
Coco turned away from Hector's direction and, using Julio as a support, stood on her toes as high as she could go and scanned the room. It looked like she was searching for someone. The rest of the family glanced at each other with knowing smiles.
Imelda tapped her daughter on the shoulder. Coco dropped back to the floor, looking disappointed. Very gently, Imelda pulled her away from Julio, and the rest of the family stepped back slightly to give the two of them room. His wife and daughter were whispering quietly, and Hector couldn't hear a word of it over the noise of the room. Coco seemed a little hesitant, like she'd been caught doing something wrong and knew she was about to be scolded. Imelda looked down at her, face impassive as she listened, until a small smile played at the corners of her mouth and she lifted one hand, pointing it directly at Hector.
Hector was rooted to the spot as Coco looked up in his direction. She'd... she'd been asking about him? She'd been looking for him?
The next few moments happened in slow motion. Coco's eyes found him and widened as she recognized him, and then crinkled with delight. She pulled away from her mother and started running, smile broad, arms flung open, running toward him like she used to after he'd come home from a long tour.
"Papa! Papa!"
Hector moved just in time to open his arms to catch her, and her momentum spun them around in a circle.
"You're here! I missed you so much, Papa! I love you!"
Hector wrapped his arms around her even more tightly, cradling his daughter as fiercely as he could. "I love you too, mija." And he was never going to leave her again.
Imelda was the first one to come over. She wrapped her arms around her husband and child. The rest of the family followed. The group hug, Hector and Coco at the center, lasted for a long, long time.
Author's note: This was written for the Coco Loco's Fluff-Off. Fluff is my favorite. :D The prompt I chose was "You're cute when you're worried."