The day of Aja’s surprise birthday party, we worked all day. It was hard for Mom, because people were around all day. That meant she had to wear her stomach pillow the whole day. She was hot and tired.

Plus, she checked the Egg Cam every few minutes. We didn’t want people to see us walking into and out of the greenhouse all day.

“I know it will be today,” Mom said. “When you hatched, I told your grandparents all day that it was The Day. They didn’t believe me, but I just knew. And I know that today is The Day for Greenie Boy.”

Dad just patted her stomach pillow and said, “Jane, we have work to do.”

And she went off to help him rake the back yard, decorate tables, and make sugar cookies.

At 6 p.m., kids started to arrive. They sat in our living room, waiting for Aja to arrive.

Thirty minutes later, a van pulled up outside our house. Everyone stood in the dark room and waited. I checked the Egg Cam again, but someone hissed at me, “Get that light out.”

I turned off the phone and stuck it in my pocket. Nothing was happening anyway. Mom was wrong. This wasn’t The Day.

Outside, we heard Mrs. Dalal call, “Aja, help me with this box.”

A few moments later, the doorbell rang. Mom answered it and Aja stepped into the house.

I flipped on the light and we yelled, “Surprise!”

Startled, Aja dropped the box. “What?”

We yelled, “Happy birthday!”

Aja looked at his mom and dad. “Did you do this?”

Mrs. Dalal nodded and waited, hoping that he would be pleased.

“Wow!” Aja hugged his mom, and then his Dad. “Thanks. I thought you had both forgotten about my birthday.”

I almost cried at how touching the scene was. Until I rememberd that Aja already knew about the party. He was a good actor! Secretly, I gave him a thumbs up, and he grinned back.

And then, the fun began. Kids walked out the front door and around to the side yard. I opened the fence and let them in one at a time.

Our backyard was transformed into a crime scene. To come in, kids had to duck under yellow and black tape that said, “Crime Scene: Do Not Enter.”

Everyone who walked in was a suspect. First, they had to stop at the fingerprint table.

Doc East asked, “Do you want a real fingerprint or an alien fingerprint?’

Once they chose, he rolled their fingers—with or without the fake fingerprints—on an ink pad and then on a piece of paper. Everything was put in their Police File to take home.

Then, party-goers dressed like detectives. At the next table, they got a deerstalker hat and a magnifying glass. On each name tag, Mrs. Crux drew a line, and then drew the person’s face. Underneath, she wrote, “Freddy was here.” Or, “Bree was here.”

Next, the party-goers became victims. Mom worked the Dead Man Photos. When a person is murdered, sometimes the police draw chalk lines around them. The body is taken away, but the police can still see where the body had lain. So, on our wooden deck, we drew chalk lines. One by one, kids laid down in the chalk lines and Mom snapped their picture. The photos would be in the kid’s Police File to take home.

Bree’s mom, Mrs. Hendricks, was dressed in robes like a judge. She glared at each kid. Then she used a wooden hammer called a gavel, and banged it on the table. She yelled, “Off to jail!”

That was OK. Jail just meant the refreshments table.

Aja stopped at the French fry table and stared. “I am in heaven,” he said.

Dad was in charge of the ketchup bottle. “No food fights tonight, please,” he said.

It was great detective party, except two things. Mrs. Lynx, the alien detective, walked around, eating sweet potato fries, and watching everything.

Dad squirted ketchup on her plate and asked, “Are you having a good time?”

Mrs. Lynx said, “Of course. I am a detective who finds aliens.”

And that was very bad because the second problem was Greenie Boy. His egg was rocking. Not much. I found Mom and showed her the Egg Cam

Mom said, “Not now! He has to wait a couple hours.”

“Babies don’t know how to wait,” I said.

“Keep an eye on it. When the crack is halfway across the egg, let me know,” she said. “I’ll think of something.”

Suddenly, I realized that Mrs. Lynx was right behind me. She was looking over my shoulder at the Egg Cam.

Quickly, I turned it off, but the Earthling Alien Detective had already seen my brother starting to hatch.