Bree and I kept talking about Aja’s surprise party. It was hard to plan a party for someone when you can’t ask them what they will like. You have to observe them and try to figure them out.

One day at lunch, Aja did his French fry trick.

“Watch,” he said. “This time I’ll break a record.”

Freddy laughed, “My record is 30 fries at a time. You can’t break that.”

We counted out loud while Aja stuffed all his French fries into his mouth. –14, 15. And then, he stuffed all of Bree’s French fries into his mouth. –27, 28, 29.

He waved at my fries, and his eyebrows went up in a question.

I nodded.

—30, 31.

Freddy frowned and said, “You have to eat them now. No fair if you spit them out. It doesn’t count until you’ve eaten them all.”

Aja just nodded and started chewing. He chewed. And chewed. And chewed.

Meanwhile, Freddy told a chewing joke: “What’s the difference between a train and a teacher?”

When no one could answer, Freddy said, “A teacher says ‘spit out your gum’ while a train says, ‘CHEW CHEW!’”

I laughed, but I didn’t really get it. Earthling jokes are hard to understand.

By the end of lunch, Aja had chewed up and swallowed all 31 French fries.

Aja was the French Fry King!

On the way to the next class, Bree said, “For Aja’s party, we need a French Fry table. There will be plain fries, spicy fries, cheesy fries, curly fries, and sweet potato fries.”

I agreed. But that still left cake. Maybe Mom could ask Mrs. Dalal about Aja’s favorite cake flavor.

After school, Mom took Bree and me to the costume shop. I was ready for a surprise when I opened the door because Mr. Jasper always has on a funny mask. But this time, Mr. Jasper wasn’t there. Instead, behind the counter, I saw a man with a big black mustache, a long black beard, black bushy eyebrows, and thick black glasses.

“Hello, Mr. Jasper,” Mom said.

I looked all around for the shop owner, but I only saw the bearded man.

The bearded man said, “Good afternoon, Mrs. Smith. What can I help you with today?”

It was Mr. Jasper! Instead of a mask, he wore fake hair on his face! He reached up and smoothed down the mustache. He had fooled me again.

Mr. Jasper said, “Mrs. Smith, are you expecting?”

Mom blinked at Mr. Jasper. “Expecting? Expecting what?”

He looked at her stomach. “Expecting a baby?”

Mom patted the pillow under her shirt. When Moss-Green Boy hatched, people needed to think he had just been born. Which meant that Mom had to look pregnant like an Earthling mother.

“Yes,” Mom said. “Soon we’ll have a baby.”

“When’s it due?”

Bree said, “In a couple weeks.”

“Really? You don’t look big enough,” Mr. Jasper said.

Mom looked scared.

That pillow stomach looked HUGE to me. How big was it supposed to be?

But Bree knew what to say. “She’s just skinny and doesn’t show much.”

“Right. Well, good luck with the new baby, Mrs. Smith. What can I help you with today?”

Mom explained that we were doing a detective party.

“You’ll want Deerstalker hats, of course,” Mr. Jasper said. “Also, I have a special piñata that might interest you.”

Bree laughed and clapped her hands. “I love piñatas.”

Mr. Jasper led us to a room with colorful piñatas hanging from the ceiling. Bree explained to me that they held candy. To use it, you blindfold a kid and give him or her a heavy stick. The kid tries to smash the piñata with the stick. When someone finally breaks open the piñata, it spills out candy.

“Yummy,” Bree said.

I rolled my eyes.

Mr. Jasper pointed to a black piñata that was covered with red question marks. “When this one breaks open, there’s no candy. Only detective clues to follow to find the candy.”

“Oh! That sounds like fun,” Bree said.

“Where will you do the party?” Mr. Jasper asked.

Bree and I looked at each other. We had forgotten to ask Where. We knew Who, What, When, and How. But not Where.

Mom answered, “We’ll do it in our back yard.”

“Good choice,” Mr. Jasper said.

“Any other suggestions for games?” Mom asked.

Mr. Jasper pulled at his fake beard. It came off in his hand! “No,” he said. “Deerstalker hats and piñatas are good. Maybe you should read detective stories for party ideas.”

At home, Bree followed me to the greenhouse to talk to Jade Boy. We told him all about the detective party. I asked him, “What other games can we play?”

Avocado Boy didn’t answer. I wondered if he would look like Mom or Dad. Or maybe he would look like one of my grandparents. I stopped thinking about that, though, because it made my eyes fill up with tears again.

“Bree, you can talk to Forest Green Boy, if you want.”

She tilted her head and looked at me. Her forehead wrinkled like she was worried. I thought she might ask me about the tears. Instead, she said, ““No. I want to sing to him.”

That Bree, she sings as sweetly as Bix crooners, the royal birds. When she sings, it makes the sun come out and shine inside me. And the tears go away.

This time, she sang a funny, happy song called, “The Hokey Pokey.” She made me stand up and do motions with her, too.

You put your right leg in,

You put your right leg out;

You put your right leg in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the hokey pokey,

And you turn yourself around.

 

 

That's what it's all about!

Then she sang it again, but instead of right leg, she said, “left leg.” When she repeated it again, she changed to a new body part. These are the body parts she sang about: right leg, left leg, right arm, left arm, and head. And then came the last lines.

You put your whole self in,

You put your whole self out,

You put your whole self in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the hokey pokey,

And you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!

 

We collapsed on the floor of the greenhouse and laughed together.

“I’m glad you’re smiling now,” she said. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “I’m thirsty. Let’s get some milk.”

“Yummy,” I said.

That made Bree laugh even more. Sometimes, when Earthling girls laugh and sing it makes Bixster tears go away. And that’s a sunshine thing.