Author Notes - There's still a few more people in Molly's family to meet, but not many. So you should be able to handle it!

This chapter delves into quite possibly my favourite part about this holiday: the little altars that you make for the friends and relatives that you've lost. I'd go into detail about why I like it so much, but that's what this chapter is for.

CHAPTER THREE - THE ALTAR

Miguel chuckled. 'Hola to you too, my nietia! And, of course, your amigitos!'

The other Guppies gave this old man their own little 'hola', since most people were aware that it was the Spanish word for 'hello'. Zooli's little greeting was interrupted when she started laughing to herself.

'I'm sorry,' She said. 'But I couldn't help noticing… your name is Miguel, his name is Mason, and his sisters are Melody, Michelle, Misty, and Melanie. Those boys over there are Marco, Marley, and Marvin. Molly's parents are Madison and Marty, and her sister is named Mia… is it just me, or is there a theme here?'

Deema gasped. 'Oh my cods, you're right!'

'Oh, it isn't entirely a coincidence.' Miguel said, chuckling again. 'See, my wife was named Melita, while Molly's grandparents from her mother's side are Maria and Mateo. That part was a coincidence, but we decided that we would continue on the theme with our kids. And they did the same thing with their kids.'

'And they don't mind that I won't be doing the same thing.' Molly said. 'We'll be running out of 'M' names soon, and I think the family could use a little change.'

Miguel knelt down so he could look at the little Guppies better - his eyesight wasn't quite what it used to be - when he noticed that most of them were holding something. Upon further inspection, he quickly realised they were photo frames.

'I see you've brought some photos of your own.' He said. 'Well, you don't have to carry them around all day. I'll show you where we put them.'

'It's a very special place.' Molly added. 'And perhaps the most important part of Dia de los Muertos.'

Molly and her (paternal) grandfather brought the Guppies to a little gazebo in the corner of the garden. It was surrounded by lovely Marigolds and had been decorated with banners much like the rest of the backyard. Underneath its roof was a long series of sturdy wooden tables covered in a deep blue cloth. Candles, not yet lit, dotted these tables.

Most notably, there were two photos already on display. One was an old black-and-white photo of an woman, while another was a colourful photo depicting a young man. The lady's photo was surrounded by figurines and VHS tapes (remember those?) of classic Disney movies, while the man's photo had paintbrushes and pencils.

Even without the candles being lit, it was beautiful enough to get all the young Guppies to gape and stare in awe.

'Woah… what is this?' Gil asked.

'It's a tradition on Dia de los Muertos,' Miguel replied. 'To create these altars of sorts to honour those who are no longer with us.'

'You mean… like a tombstone?' Oona asked.

Miguel chuckled. 'Well, on the surface, maybe. But tombstones are never happy. They feel like the end of joy itself. These altars are meant to be happy, not sad.'

They weren't the only ones there. An elderly couple with pink hair - likely Molly's grandparents from her mother's side - swam over the rails to get to the photo of the man. The old lady held a small plate of tamales, and she lay them down next to the frame. When she noticed the Guppies watching her, she jumped.

'Oh, hola.' She said, speaking with a somewhat thick Mexican accent. 'Name is Maria. This is Mateo.'

Mateo waved. 'Hola. Encantado de conocerte!'

Most of the Guppies looked at him in confusion, and even Molly and Deema seemed to be struggling to translate this one.

'He said that it's nice to meet you.' Miguel said. 'Mateo can understand a little English, but not a lot. For the most part, he only speaks Spanish. Maria knows some English, but only the basics.'

'Oh.' Deema said. 'In that case…' She approached the old couple and cleared her throat. 'Nombre Deema. Me habla… ita Español. Amigos no habla Español.'

She had no idea what she was doing, but she must've done something right because the both of them smiled.

'Si.' Maria said. 'We get it. It is not easy… learning another language.'

With a sigh, Deema turned to Miguel. 'Right, so I tried telling them that I can barely speak Spanish and my friends really can't. Did I say that, or did I just butcher it?'

Miguel shrugged. 'It was a bit of a grammatical nightmare, mostly because you said 'ita' when you should've said 'poca', but you got your message across!'

'Phew! That's a relief.'

Goby swam up to the tamales resting on the table. They smelled delicious, but he didn't grab one or anything like that. If they were placed here of all places, they must've been important, though he couldn't figure out why.

'What's the food for?' He asked.

'For mi mijo.' Maria answered, pointing to the photo. 'Tamales his favourite.'

Before anyone could ask what that translated to…

'YOUR SON?!' Deema cried.

Oona gasped. 'Your… son? Does that mean that your son is…?'

'Si.' Mateo said. 'Ese es mi hijo, y ya no esta con nosotros.'

The Guppies, more shocked than you could imagine, turned to Molly, as though they were silently asking for confirmation.

'Yep.' She said. 'That's my late Tio, Marcelo. We lost him a few years ago, when he was out shopping one day and he just suddenly… collapsed. He really liked to paint, so we put some painting stuff around his photo in case he wants to use it. And he loved tamales, and you never know when the dead may get hungry. But he won't be able to find his way until we light the candles, and that part comes a little later.'

Gil shuddered, and gulped. 'W-Wait… d-does that mean there'll be… g-ghosts around?'

'Don't worry, Gilly! They're very friendly ghosts. They won't hurt you.'

He sighed in relief. 'Oh, thank goodness for that.'

Zooli had a bad realisation, and looked at the crowd until she found the triplets. The boys, at that moment, were playing ball with Melody. She was about as old as them and could keep up just fine, catching and throwing the ball so fast that little Marvin couldn't get hold of it once.

'Was Marcelo the triplets' dad?' She asked. 'Cos, he does look a lot like them.'

'Si.' Maria replied. 'When boys only ocho.'

'Eight?' Deema repeated. 'That's so… sad! No wonder they're so rough.'

'Ay, they were always like that.' Miguel said. 'Though, I can't say they haven't gotten worse since.'

Oona whispered a question to Deema, who replied in a whisper too. The pigtailed Guppy pressed her photos close to her chest, and swam closer to the old couple.

'Lo siento…' She said. 'Por mijo.'

To her surprise, Maria and Mateo responded with laughter. It was quiet laughter that certainly had a layer of sadness to it, but it was laughter nonetheless.

'No necesitas disculparte.' Mateo said.

'Do not be sorry.' Maria said, giving Oona a soft pat on the shoulder. 'It is good. We celebrate Marcelo. Not mourn him.'

'We're here to celebrate their lives.' Molly said. 'Not mourn their deaths.'

It didn't take long until another person arrived on the scene - Madison, Molly's mother, and one of the only people at this celebration who the other Guppies could recognise. They realised that if Molly had explained her family tree correctly, then that would make Madison the little sister of Marcelo. So, they all backed away so she could meet up with her hermano mayor.

Mia was in her arms. 'Ee-wee!' The little baby said, giggling. 'Ooby! Eeba! Oo-wah! Oh-nee! OO-WEE!'

Zooli chuckled. 'I'll always love the way she says our names.'

'Tee-o Marcy! Tee-o Marcy!'

Madison held her youngest daughter in such a way to allow her to get a better look at the photo. Mia giggled and pointed at the it.

'Tee-o Marcy 'ere yed?' She asked.

'Not yet.' Madison said. 'He won't find his way here until we light the candles.'

Molly was smiling, though it was a rather bittersweet moment for her. While she didn't remember Marcelo so well, since she was so little when he passed, Mia didn't get the chance to meet him at all.

Nonny was the only one looking at the photo of the old lady. Miguel had his hand down on the table, right next to the frame, and he gazed at the lady with a dreamy look in his eyes. Seeing as he was by himself, while Maria and Mateo hadn't left each other's side this whole time…

'Is she your wife?' Nonny asked.

'Si.' Miguel replied. 'You really are as smart as Molly says you are. That's Melita, mi esposa. She had been quite the fighter her whole life, but… her old body couldn't quite overcome everything thrown its way.'

'Was she a big fan of Disney?'

'A massive fan. Ever since she was a bebé she loved them. Sleeping Beauty was her favourite, because she loved Merryweather. She was a lot like Merryweather too. In fact, she watched it so much when she was younger that the tape ended up breaking. … Do you know what a VHS tape is?'

'I may be young, but I know about older technology.'

Miguel chuckled, leaving Nonny to wonder what about his correct statement was so funny. The old man drifted down closer to the ground, so he could get a better look at the frame in the kid's arms.

'I think you've been holding that a little too long, Nonny.' He said. 'Let's give it a little altar, shall we?'

He waited until Nonny held out the photo for him to take it, and he placed it down not too far away from Melita's photo. The frame contained a lovely picture of a very old man, holding Baby Nonny in his arms while he smiled at the camera.

'He was my great grandfather, Thomas.' Nonny said. 'He passed away only a few months ago.'

'Was he a good man?' Miguel asked.

'I never knew him very well, but my dad says he was great. And my dad doesn't say that about just anyone. We went over to his house sometimes, since he lived just a couple towns away. He was always proud of me.'

'I see your friend isn't the only one with any photos.' Madison said. 'Go ahead and put them down. Just put them wherever, really. It doesn't matter!'

Goby was the first to place down his photo. It depicted an old woman embracing Goby's grandmother, practically suffocating her in the process. It may have been a rather melancholic moment, but the scenario in the photo made him laugh. He was getting into the spirit of things, as it were.

'That's my great aunt, Betta.' He said, still laughing. 'She was such a jokester that she wanted her gravestone to read 'I was dead on arrival'. Somehow, my family did it.'

Deema giggled. 'Wow. Sounds like your great aunt had a really dark sense of humour.'

'Like you wouldn't believe.'

Deema took the opportunity to place her photo of Wattle next to Goby's. It was a little strange to see an old lady right next to a turkey.

'Is that a… turkey?' Madison asked.

'Yep.' Deema replied. 'She was my pet when I was little, before I got Beyonda. My turtle.'

'Oh! Crud. Sorry for having an attitude about that.'

'Nah, it's okay. I mean, it's a turkey. Not really most people's idea of a pet.'

That left Oona. Everyone turned to her silently as she looked down at both of her photos; the only one here to have bought two with her. She placed them down next to Nonny's great grandfather, keeping them so close together that their frames touched.

The photos were of two people, a man with a star-shaped bowtie and a woman with Oona's sweet brown eyes. Oona couldn't help staring at them deeply, as though they would leap from the frames if she stared hard enough.

'Who are they?' Maria asked.

'My… my parents.' Oona said, her voice low.

There was a long silence upon the Guppies and Molly's family. No one really knew what to say, or if there was even anything to say. The other Guppies were no strangers to this information, but Molly's family had no idea how to react. The only response Oona got was Nonny placing his hand on her shoulder.

How else could one react?

'I was only a baby when they died.' Oona continued. 'But sometimes I wish… I could get to know them better. Sometimes my big brother Kian will tell me things about them, and they sound like they were amazing people.'

'And I'm sure they were.' Miguel said. 'If they were anything like you.'

'It isn't all bad.' Oona said with a smile. 'My daddy's sister and her wife take care of me and Kian. They're my aunts, but they're really my mommas.'

'And when we light the candles,' Molly said. 'They'll party with us. You might not be able to see them, but they'll be there. And they will be happy to see you.'

'That goes for everyone else here too.' Madison said. 'Melita, Marcelo… even Wattle! They're all gonna be here with us, so I want you on your best behaviour.' She glanced over at the triplets. 'That goes double for you, tres sobrinos!'

The three boys groaned, and proceeded to launch blame at each other because it was 'clearly his fault and not mine'. They shut up when Sally gave them a stern look.

Deema chuckled. 'Don't you mean, that goes triple?'

Her laughter came to a stop when Madison gave her a stern look of her own, and her only defence was a sheepish grin.

'EVERYONE!' Molly's father Marty yelled, from the snack table. 'The sugar skulls are ready!'

The triplets and Melody stopped their ball game immediately and rushed to the table, stopped only by Sally, Merida and Oscar holding them back. Melody attempted (and failed to) climb over her father, who merely lifted her up by the underarms and put her back on the ground. Marco almost reached the skull-shaped cookies, only for his little brothers to tackle him to the ground. Michelle rolled her eyes before making her way over there too, and Misty laughed the whole way.

Mason, meanwhile, had a small plate already there for him and Melanie. It was preferable to the insane crowd.

'Wait…' Gil said, eyes widened. 'What are sugar s-skulls?'

'And why are your cousins going so crazy for them?' Goby asked.

'Oh, they're cookies.' Molly replied. 'We call them sugar skulls cos they're made of-'

'Wait, cookies?' Deema repeated, staring into space. 'Cookies? COOOOKIEEESSS! COOOOOOOK-KIIEEEEEES!'

Everyone else in Molly's family was horrified and concerned at the sight of Deema practically foaming at the mouth, before she pushed past everyone to get to the cookies. She was so determined to reach them that she successfully pushed all three of the triplets aside in her dash.

'Ay yi yi…' Mateo muttered. 'Ella es... muy extraña.'

'Uh…' Maria said. 'Your amigo… she always like that?'

'Like you would not believe.' Goby replied, much to Mia's delight.

Author Notes - I'm not certain, but I think this may be the first time I finally confirmed in a story of mine that Oona's birth parents are no longer with her. Though, I'm pretty sure I've hinted at it before. Marcelo's death was originally stated to be 'an accident' and nothing more. I changed it to what it is now based on my own experiences. It was someone from a theatre group I recently joined, and though I didn't know them very well... it still kinda hurt. For obvious reasons, I won't be going into further detail about this.

As a slight update to that family tree (if you're still paying attention to that)... Miguel and the late Melita are the parents of Molly's father, while Mateo and Maria are the parents of her mother. Originally, I had planned for Maria to be the dead relative, but then I realised that would make both lost relatives from Madison's side of the family. On a random note... Molly's immediate family and Madison's side of it have the last name 'Andersfin', while Marty's side has the last name 'Gillian'. Both are terrible fish-related puns based on real life last names.

Next chapter is just a 'getting to know the family better' kind of chapter before we get to the celebration itself.