𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 [ 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬 ] ✘

Day of the Dead

Note: This one is dedicated to all my fellow Hispanic people out there - Feliz Día de los Inocentes y Día de los Muertos, guys! ^_^ Happy Day of the Dead! Enjoy the holidays, y'all!

Mariachi music blasted from the speakers as I danced around the room, decorating cupcakes with skull faces as the tamales steamed in the oven. I grinned to myself as the little faces began to form - black and white frosting smeared all over my fingers and the counter in the process. It was worth it, though - Day of the Dead had always been one of my favorite holidays growing up in Mexico. In a lot of ways, I wished I was still there, I thought to myself with a frown. I missed the music, the language, the people... But like everywhere else in the world, the virus had taken over and most of them were walkers now.

Still though...it was home. But I had Carl and that made up for my homesickness. I swayed my hips to the music, my eyes fluttering closed as I lost myself in the rhythm of it. The song reached its crescendo then and I smiled to myself. Suddenly, a pair of hands gripped me by the hips and I gasped, dark brown eyes flying open and spinning around. I came face to face with a piercing blue eye and I stuck my tongue out.

"How rude, Grimes! You startled me!" I scolded him, a playful smile on my face.

He grinned back, winking before leaning in to place his lips on my neck. I hummed involuntarily at his touch as his hands moved up to rest on my waist, pulling me closer to him. He left a trail of kisses down my neck all the way to my collarbone before I finally pushed him away, chuckling.

"No, I don't have time for that and you know it!" I laughed, poking him in the chest with every word.

He grabbed my hand before I could poke him again and pressed those rose-petal soft lips to my knuckles, sending a shiver down my spine.

"Carl, stop," I whined but he just sent me a smirk before rolling his blue eye and releasing me.

Just then, the timer on the oven dinged and I slipped on a pair of oven mitts before sliding out my pan of tamales. They sizzled from the heat as I turned the timer off, slipping my mitts off as I did. Behind me, I could hear Carl hop up on the counter and I just had time to slap his hand away as he reached for a cupcake.

"Ah, ah! No, you don't - those are for tonight." I arched an eyebrow, hands on my hips.

"Just one?" he begged but I shook my head.

"Nope. Sorry, babe." I replied, shrugging.

A pout formed on those full lips, tugging at my heart strings but I brushed it off just as I heard Monster Mash began to play behind me on the speakers. It took a few more hours but finally, I had it all cooked and baked. Michonne, Carol, and my older cousin, Rosita, arrived a little later with picnic baskets in tow to help me get all the food packed up and ready. By the time, the baskets were full and we were making our way to the cemetery, I noticed a crowd had gathered behind us. Smiling to myself briefly, I led the procession to the area by the gate that Rick had designated as the burial place for those we'd lost along the way. Everyone was quiet as the others helped me unpack the food, flowers, candles, and blankets to lie on the ground.

After that was done, I retrieved the last picture I had of my grandmother from my pocket. It was crinkled and one of the edges was torn off by now but I could still see her smiling face clearly. It brought tears to my eyes but I blinked them back as I set it on her grave, heaving in a deep breath. I felt a hand rest on my lower back and I glanced up into Carl's sympathetic face. Slowly, he helped me sit down on the blanket I'd placed beside her grave and gathered me to his chest just as Carol started up the music and people began to dance.

"Are you okay?" he asked me softly and slowly, I nodded in response.

"I miss her, I do.... I think a part of me always will but...I know she's in a better place. It's hard to describe. I mean...I still nearly cry at times when I think of it - when the memories come back to me, you know?" I said, lifting up my head to meet his gaze, "But...it doesn't hurt like it did before. I don't feel like the earth will swallow me up and come to think of it, I don't even want it to anymore. And I know that she wouldn't want me to be sad forever..."

"She'll always be in your heart," Carl told me softly, his voice quiet in my ear as he brushed a strand of hair away from my face, "No one can take that away from you,"

"And you? How are you?" I asked, changing the subject.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at me, "What do you mean?"

Biting my lip, I pulled another picture from my back pocket and held it out to him. Carl sucked in a sharp breath when his eye scanned over the old photograph.

"I got it from your room earlier. I hope you don't mind, I just...I wanted you to have something here to remember her by...even though she's not with you anymore," I explained.

His fingers traced Lori's smile and I could see tears brimming in his blue eye but he bit it back before reaching over to prop it against a grave. Settling back down beside me, he pulled me closer and pressed a long kiss in my hair.

"Thank you," he whispered and I smiled, snuggling into his chest as the mariachi music began to play behind us, the sound of people talking and laughing clear in the background.

"Feliz Día de los Muertos, Carl." I whispered back to him, my heart swelling with love for him as well as all of those on the other side.