The house was ready, Spike and Ian were all over excited and the guests were starting to arrive. Kendall gave Cara and Griffin a grateful grin for their help in setting up their Halloween/Day of the Dead party. They had all found themselves variations of a skeleton costume to keep with the traditional Mexican theme except for Ian who was wearing his dinosaur costume.

Bianca and Reggie were the first to arrive with their families. They had all done amazing jobs with their monster costumes. Ayesha was adorably wrapped in bandages, wearing a big flowery hat and clutching a purse and a dolly.

"A mummy." said Kendall with a laugh. "That's a good one!"

"I have my moments!" said Reggie through his vampire teeth. He had come in the traditional Dracula outfit. Camilla was wearing a purple dress, purple fairy wings, a unicorn horn and an eye patch.

"If you can't guess what I am, ask Ayesha and Gabby to sing you the song." she said with a laugh.

The other Pine Valley families began arriving and the shrine that Griffin had built with Spike's help was filling with photographs. Spike and Ian had put Zack's picture pride of place in the middle of the table on top of a Redwings shirt, with a bottle of beer, in a Redwings beer cooler sleeve, beside it. Kendall had added a picture of Mona, her grandmother and Myrtle either side of him him. Bianca had brought a photograph of Travis, her father, to stand beside Mona and a picture of Leo; her good friend long departed. The kids had also brought pictures of their own. AJ put up a picture of Babe, his mom and Miranda and Gabby solemnly added a picture of a middle aged couple that turned out to be Marissa's adopted parents. But there were more guests to come with more pictures.

Ryan arrived with Emma and they put in place a picture of them together with Greenlee in the park. Jake arrived with Trevor; Amanda was coming by later with Madison and Holly. They were the only family without a picture to add. Tad, Dixie, Krystal, Jesse and Opal arrived with Kathy and Jenny. Opal added a picture of her daughter Jenny, and Palmer, who she put beside Myrtle near the centre of the table. Tad added a picture of his grandma Kate with two cup cake beside it from Jenny and Kathy. Krystal put her own picture of Babe beside her grandson's. Jesse put on the shrine a picture of Angie and with a pink baby blanket for his still-born daughter Ellie.

"So what do we do now?" Kendall asked.

"We talk and we remember." said Cara, who had added her own picture of her grandparents. She encouraged everyone to sit in a circle around the shrine. "For example my favourite memory of my abuelos was their garden. The flowers and the smells were out of this world. I just remember wheeling my little pram along the narrow path, brushing past the sweetest smells and the brightest colours…"

"And the trouble you got into of you lost your ball in the flower beds." added Griffin with a laugh.

"My grandpa wouldn't let us anywhere near his flowers. We had to sit in the parlor quietly and read a book on visits." said Camilla, "But my grandpops, my father's father, he was great. He used to grow all kinds of vegetables in his garden. He once grew a pumpkin so big we actually have a picture of my brother and me sitting on top of it! And Gran-nan's cakes… mmm."

"Mmm… Grandmothers and their cooking…" said Tad in agreement, and there were nods in the group as he spoke. "Grandma Kate was famous for her food …especially her stew! She always seemed to be in the kitchen cooking up something, and she always had the wisest advice… not that always listened to her."

"No one listens to the good advice." said Jake, giving his brother a grin.

"Our Grandmother was a force to be reckoned with I think." said Bianca.

"But she left us an amazing legacy." said Kendall, "The Kane women… I do sometimes wonder what she'd make of us all now. I imagine her and Myrtle watching over us sometimes…"

"Ah, Myrtle. There was not a more accepting woman in Pine Valley. " said Ryan. "That woman had an open door to anyone…

"And the most outrageous stories from her Carnie days..." added Opal with a laugh.

"I miss my mommy sometimes." said AJ, speaking up for the kids. "I know she died saving my life… but I'm happy I have two mommies and two sisters now. I think she'd be happy about that."

"I think you're right." said Krystal.

Bianca gave the little boy who sat beside her, his wolf's head on his lap, a warm hug.

"Babe loved you so much she would do almost anything for you." said Bianca. "There is no doubt about that. And, you know, we always joked about you and Miranda growing up together. I think she'd be glad to see you now are."

Kendall tried to push down her anger, remembering just what Babe did for the sake of keeping AJ, but if Bianca could let it go, she should too.

"You mommy was just the craziest little girl…" said Krystal a sad smile. "Yes, Jenny even crazier than you." she added addressing her own daughter, "She just loved everything and wanted to be a friend to everyone… I think you get that from her, AJ."

"I miss my daddy!" said Spike. "My Zack daddy… He was great because he would take me to hockey games and he knew so much… about boats and fishing and dinosaurs."

"And I miss Greenlee." said Emma. "I wasn't always very nice to her and I feel bad about that. But she was nice to me and she loved me in the end."

"Of course she did." said Ryan giving his own daughter a cuddle.

The conversation continued, weaving between memories; long forgotten stories; jokes and songs. It was a strangely poignant moment despite the fact that everyone was dressed up as ridiculous monsters. Everyone was remembered and it really did feel like they were all with them, watching over them.

Kendall reached out and found Griffin's hand and gave it a squeeze.

This was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon and she mouthed the word 'thank you' to him for suggesting it.

Later there would be silly games, scary tales and junk food but right now was just perfect.

…