A Year With You

Chapter 5: November -- Dia De Los Muertos

"99 bottles of juice on the wall, 99 bottles of juice!" Alvin sang at the top of his lungs from the backseat of the car. "Take one down, pass it around..."

"99 bottles of juice on the wall." The three brothers sang together.

Simon leaned against his window, going between watching the scenery and texting on his phone.

[RoguesHQ]: Heya, Kooks! Watcha' up to? Having a good vacation?

[FourEyedGenius]: Technically, the vacation hasn't started yet, but yeah -- it's pretty good. Al threatened to sing 99 bottles unless Bruce got us smoothies.

[ RoguesHQ]: How many times has he sang it?

[FourEyedGenius]: We're on the fifth. Theo and I joined in somewhere during the fourth, but only for the chorus. He's sang about milk, smoothies (of course), car oil (???), tea, and now juice.

[RoguesHQ]: Wonder how long till he runs out of things to say!

*Opps, meant ?

[FourEyedGenius]: r u kidding? Bruce'll give in long B4 my bro's imagination.

Sry, Theo freaking out bout something, gotta go by

"Theo, what's the matter?" Simon leaned over Alvin to look at his other brother, causing him to stop singing.

"There's zombies!" Theo pointed out his window, where a large group group of people in a graveyard. "And they're... throwing a birthday party?"

"Theodore, those aren't..." Bruce sighed, flicking eyes out the window and back to the road. "It's Dia De Los Muertos today."

"Dia- what?" Alvin asked.

"The Day Of The Dead." Simon said quietly. "It's a Mexican holiday, though they aren't the only ones who celebrate it. It's a day to remember those who have died. They aren't throwing a birthday party, they're building altars to mark their lost loved ones."

"Oh." Theo went back to looking out his window.

Alvin waited until they were a ways past the graveyard before resuming his song.

[RoguesHQ]: What was Lil Q upset about?

[FourEyedGenius]: I'll explain later. How's your day going?

[RoguesHQ]: You wouldn't believe what J did at Uncle Ed's house! I'd be embarrassed if it wasn't HILARIOUS

[FourEyedGenius]: Tell me about it.

"Did you boys have a fun day?" Bruce asked, walking along the a foot path towards their hotel.

"A great day!" The boys answered together, sipping hot coco from paper cups as they watched the sunset.

"I'm glad. Remember to go straight to bed after dinner, no staying up all night on your phones." Bruce warned as he unlocked the hotel door. "We need to get up early if you want to go to the play tomorrow."

"We're gonna see a play! We're gonna see a play!" Theo started chanting, soon joined by his brothers.

"Did you hear anything else I said?" Bruce asked in fond exasperation.

"I heard dinner!" Alvin cheered, running towards the kitchen.

"I heard 'phone', and now I remember that HQ wanted me to call her." Simon headed towards the couch.

"I heard that we're going to a play." Theo answered helpfully.

"Good thing we brought our own bed sheets." Alvin grumbled, tearing the pillows from his bunk. "Who chooses mustard yellow?!"

"I think it's a nice color." Theo said from the top bunk, ignoring the fact that he himself had switched the sheets for his green ones.

"You think everything's a nice color." Alvin retorted, getting tangled up as he tried to make his bed. He fought valiantly, but eventually ended up on the floor, halfway under the bed. "...help."

Getting up from his own bed across the room with a groan, Simon went to help the other. He expertly untangled the sheets, swiftly making the bed. "Our shared color-based obsession doesn't make other colors bad, Al."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Alvin rolled his eyes.

It was some time later, when the lights were out and they were all nearly asleep, when Theo spoke up.

"Simon?" He asked, waiting for his brother's grunt of acknowledgement. "If we can't remember our first seven years, does that mean who we used to be is dead?"

"What? No, of course not." Simon sat up, squinting his eyes to try to make out the others in the dark, but it was impossible without his glasses. "Those memories are still there, Theodore, we just can't access all of them yet. Why do you ask?"

"Well..." Theo thought for a second. "I just wanted to know if we have someone to remember, for the Day Of The Dead."

"We aren't Mexican, Theo." Alvin grumbled, though Simon could pick out a faint undercurrent of worry in his voice.

"Simon said that others can celebrate it." Theo defended. It was quiet for a while longer, to the point that Simon thought that Theo had fallen back asleep, before he spoke again. "Do you think our parents are still alive."

Simon could hear Alvin's breath catch in his throat, so elected to be the one to answer. "There's no way to know, Theo."

"What do you think they were like?" Theodore asked.

"They... Most likely had brown hair." Simon said slowly, searching for traits they all three shared. "And maybe had slight mental issues, though our stuff might just be the result of brain damage from whatever gave us amnesia."

"I bet they were tall." Alvin pitched in quietly. "Since Si's such a giant. With great senses of humor, cause no way I got that from Brucey."

"You could've gotten it from Alfred." Theo said thoughtfully. He hummed. "I wonder if they were a girl and a boy?"

"Considering the time period, our biological parents most likely were." Simon answered. "Whether they were together, whether we were born through a surrogacy or donated material -- we really can't know."

"Do you think they were nice?" Theo asked.

"Of course they were, T." Alvin scoffed, and it was easy to know he was rolling his eyes, despite the dark. "Where else would you get it from?"

Simon almost pointed out that that wasn't how genetics worked, but decided against it when Theo made a happy noise.

"I wonder where they are." Theo whispered. "Do you think we'll find them some day, if they're still alive?"

"Maybe, Theodore." Simon sighed, laying back against his pillow. "Until then, well... We have Bruce."

"We'll have him even after that." Alvin mumbled, already half-asleep again.

Little did the three know that even as he brought them comfort, they brought comfort to Bruce as well. They weren't the only ones to try to remember lost parents that night, after all.