Show Me Chapter 16

Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing well as October approaches! It's been one crazy month! KelseyAlicia, I haven't watched Elena of Avalor but that fun fact you mentioned is pretty cool! Anyways, enjoy the chapter and feel free to review!

"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.

Any guesses to what book Victoria was reading? And if you're interested in finding out more about what nieves is, look up Mexican Nieves on Google! It's very tasty and popular in Mexico, but especially in the Oaxacan region where Coco takes place. My favorite flavors? Mango and limón!