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Delaney looked in the mirror and admired her reflection. The purple hooded cape Jenna’s mom had made her was amazing! It was tied with a huge pink bow and beaded with clear sequins so that it shimmered as she waved her arms in the air. She’d even sprinkled flour in her hair to look like a real fairy godmother—white hair and all!

“Can I sneak a peek pre-performance?” her mom said, poking her head into the bedroom.

“Whaddaya think?” Delaney asked. “Does it scream ‘Fairy Godmother’?”

Mrs. Noonan motioned for her to do a twirl. “I think it’s gorgeous. But aren’t you missing something?” She pointed to Delaney’s legs, which were bare—except for a pair of frayed denim shorts and high-top purple sneakers. “I’ve never seen a Fairy Godmother in shorts and Nikes.”

“I haven’t seen the skirt yet,” Delaney said. “I’m kind of scared to.”

Her mom planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’m sure it’ll be great—and you’ll be a fabulous Fairy Godmother. Milly will love it.”

Her tummy gave a kick. “Ooh! Did you feel that? The baby likes your look!”

Delaney rolled her eyes. “The baby can’t see through your belly,” she said. “But thanks Baby Noonan for the thumbs-up.”

Her mom sat down on Delaney’s bed. It was getting harder and harder for her to stand for too long. The baby was growing like crazy! “So, are you feeling a little better about the whole baby situation?” she asked Delaney. “I want you to be happy, honey.”

“I am,” Delaney said. “I guess at first I was just scared and kind of in shock. I really didn’t know what kind of a big sister I’d be.”

Her mom placed Delaney’s hand on her belly. “And you know now?” she asked.

“I think I can handle it,” Delaney replied. “Thanks to Silly Milly and all the PLC girls showing me how.”

Her mom nodded. “I always knew you could. And I know you’re going to be such a great help to me when the baby comes.”

Delaney smiled. “Do you kind of wish you didn’t have to wait two more months to meet Baby Noonan?”

Her mom picked up the purple glittery wand that was resting on Delaney’s bed. “It would be so much easier if a fairy godmother could just wave this and I could skip the entire labor and delivery!”

Delaney could tell that her mom was nervous. “It’ll be okay,” she said, hugging her. “You did a pretty good job with me.”

Mrs. Noonan playfully tapped Delaney on the head with the wand. “I certainly did. Now you’d better get to Milly’s party before I turn you into a pumpkin!”

•••

When Mr. Harris pulled up in his truck, Kylie was already in the back and Sadie was seated up front next to her dad. “We’re meeting Jenna and Lexi at the party,” she explained. “There kind of wasn’t enough room for everyone and the skirt.”

She motioned to the back of the truck where there appeared to be a huge mountain covered in purple cupcakes. “Whaddaya think of your costume, Laney?” Sadie asked.

Mr. Harris had molded chicken wire into a dome and stuffed it with newspaper and spray foam, then painted it over with lavender paint. The cupcakes were tacked to the hardened foam with toothpicks. Delaney stared. The skirt looked like the piñata she had made for her Spanish class project out of papier-mâché—only about ten times the size. And there was no candy going in it—she was the filling!

“It’s huge!” she gasped. “Seriously! You guys got carried away!”

“You did say you wanted to give Milly a birthday she’d never forget,” Kylie reminded her. “So we went a little over the top.”

“Dad did a really great job,” Sadie boasted. “You just climb on in there, stand on the platform, give a little kick, and roll around. I tried it out and it works perfectly.”

For you, maybe! Delaney thought to herself. Sadie had half-a-dozen skateboarding trophies on her shelf at home!

“Too late to change your mind,” Kylie said, poking her. “I think we’re here.”

The truck pulled up in front of Ms. Roveen’s house. A path of balloons lead up to the door, and little Milly—in a pale blue Cinderella gown—was jumping up and down on the front steps.

“Don’t let her see me!” Delaney said, ducking down in the backseat. “I want this to be a surprise.”

“No prob, Your Godmotherness,” Sadie teased. “We’ll make sure all the kids are inside before we roll you out.”

Sadie and Kylie greeted Ms. Roveen and ushered the birthday girl back into the house.

“Okay, Delaney,” Mr. Harris said, rolling the cupcake-covered skirt down a ramp off the back of the truck. “Up ya go!”

He linked his hands together making a step to boost her up. “You’ll feel the platform under your feet when you get down inside. There’s a hole in the bottom so you can kick-start yourself in any direction you want to go. Like a skateboard—with about three hundred cupcakes on top of it!”

Delaney wiggled into the waist of the skirt. It was both stiff and sticky at the same time.

“Wait! Wait!” Lexi cried. They had just arrived in Jenna’s stepdad’s car and pulled up behind the truck. “You’re mushing my piping!” She and Jenna jumped out and held her under the arms for support. “Easy…easy…”

Delaney felt the wooden platform below her. “Okay, I think I’m in.” She tried to inch forward or even roll side to side, but the skirt wouldn’t budge.

“It’s too heavy with me in it,” she sighed. “Now what?”

Mr. Harris got down on the ground and examined the wheels on the platform. “It’ll be fine on a smooth surface. Let’s just get you off the lawn and into the house.”

It took all three of them to lift her gently up the two front steps. “I’ll get the front, you get the back,” Mr. Harris instructed the girls. “I’ll lift from below and you give a push.”

It took about a dozen tries—and they lost a few cupcakes—but Delaney was finally at the front door. Lexi did a quick touchup, refastening the cupcakes and piping them with a bag of purple frosting she had tossed in her purse (“just in case!”).

“You look like the little plastic figure topper on a huge wedding cake,” Kylie said, giggling. Delaney wished she had a mirror to see what she looked like. She felt pretty ridiculous, but hoped she didn’t look that way. Mr. Harris flipped a switch on a tiny remote and the skirt lit up with white twinkly lights.

Ms. Roveen opened the door and gasped. “Wow! That is really something!” she whispered. “The kids are going to go nuts!”

“You ready?” Kylie asked Delaney. “It’s showtime!”

Delaney stared at the entrance way. “I’m not sure I’m going to fit!”

Mr. Harris whipped out the tape measure in his tool belt to measure the opening and the width of the godmother skirt. “It’ll be close. I think we should take off some cupcakes to make room.”

Lexi groaned. “I’ll have to pipe them all over again!” But Kylie was already handing her, Ms. Roveen, Jenna, and Sadie handfuls. “Sorry, Delaney—your dress needs to go on a diet…”

With a gentle push, she made it through the door frame with not an inch to spare.

“Okay, hand me the cupcakes and I’ll put them back on…again!” Lexi said. She toothpicked and piped ’til the skirt was whole again.

“You’re good to go, Laney,” Kylie said. Thankfully, the hallway and living room were wide open.

Delaney closed her eyes and tried to get into character. “Okay, hit it!” she announced.

Sadie pushed a button on her MP3 player. Music filled the air, and all the children rushed into the center of the living room to see what was going on. Delaney flung her arms up in the air and pushed off with her toes, willing the skirt to roll forward. Like magic, it did!

“Salagadoola, mechicka boola,” she began to belt.

“Oooh!” Milly squealed with delight. “Bibbi Boo!”

Delaney continued rolling down the hallway and into the foyer, waving her arms as she sang. This is pretty easy! she praised herself. Who knew I could rock and roll…literally?

Then, all of a sudden, just before she reached the living room and the cheering kids, she felt the skirt hit a bump. It tilted back—taking her with it.

She looked down and saw the problem: she had completely forgotten about the two steps that led into the sunken living room. As she bumped over the first, then the second, she and the mountain of cupcakes began to topple backward.

“Help! Where are the brakes?” she screamed. “I can’t stop!”

“Wait! No!” Kylie ran after her, trying to catch her from falling. She and Jenna held out their arms and braced themselves. As the skirt and Delaney rocked backward, they caught it and pushed hard the other way. They were covered in cupcakes, but at least Delaney was still standing.

“Phew! That was close!” Lexi said, uncovering her eyes. But she spoke too soon. Now, Delaney was tipping forward, about to fall right into the crowd of unsuspecting toddlers.

Delaney tried to lean back, but it was no use. The skirt was too tall, too wide, and too heavy. “Outta the way! Outta the way!” she screamed, but the kids continued watching her in awe. She looked like a human seesaw, and they thought it was part of the show!

“Everybody over here!” Ms. Roveen shouted. She and the other moms managed to herd them all back to a corner of the room before Delaney completely tipped over. She landed facedown with a splat on the carpet, in a puddle of cake and purple frosting.

“Oh my gosh, Laney, are you okay?” Kylie kneeled over her.

“I’ve fallen and I can’t get up,” Delaney whispered. “This is so embarrassing!” Her face was smooshed into the carpet, and her arms were pinned to her sides.

The girls and Mr. Harris managed to pull her back upright, but most of the cupcakes were totaled. “Oh, no,” Lexi said. She was practically in tears. “Our beautiful cupcakes!”

Mr. Harris helped Delaney climb out of the skirt. Her white hair was now covered in purple frosting, and the cape looked crazy with her cutoffs and high-tops.

“Nice outfit,” Sadie teased. “What do you call it? Funky Fairy Godmother?”

Delaney couldn’t worry about how ridiculous she looked. She had to find Milly! She hoped she wasn’t crying or scared by the whole Fairy Godmother fiasco.

She spotted the little girl in her mother’s arms—but she wasn’t crying. In fact, she was cracking up!

“Dee-lay-nee go boom! Dee-lay-nee go boom!” she said over and over.

Delaney wiped some frosting off her cheek and dotted it on Milly’s nose. “Did you like my silly Fairy Godmother fall?” she asked the little girl. “Was that wobbly or what?”

Milly clapped enthusiastically. None of the other kids looked too disturbed either—they were rolling around in the frosting on the floor, making snow angels in it.

“I never did like that white carpeting,” Ms. Roveen said, surveying the chaos. “I guess it’ll now be purple polka dot.”

“I am so, so sorry!” Delaney said. “I didn’t mean to ruin Milly’s party—or your rug.”

“It’s fine. The kids are having a great time,” Ms. Roveen replied. “Right, Milly?” Milly was too busy licking the sticky frosting from her fingers to pay any attention.

Lexi appeared with a tray of cupcakes. “I managed to pull some of these off the sides of the skirt and fix the frosting,” she said. “Who wants cupcakes?”

“Me!” screamed all the party guests, rushing her.

“I did warn you that I was bad on wheels,” Delaney told Kylie.

Kylie shrugged. “Yeah, but you certainly gave Milly a birthday she’ll never forget.”

Delaney looked over at the birthday girl. She was already on her second cupcake and smiling from ear to ear.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Delaney said, taking off her Cheerio necklace and looping it around Milly’s neck. “Your princess necklace!”

Milly looked at the gift thoughtfully. Then she flung her arms around Delaney’s waist. “Love you!” she shouted, before racing back to her friends and the frosting Slip ’n Slide on the carpet.

For a moment, Delaney was speechless. No matter how much she had messed things up, Milly still loved her. Her heart felt so full, she thought it might burst.

“And that is what being a big sister is all about,” Ms. Roveen told her. “In your brother’s or sister’s eyes, you’ll always be awesome.”

“You’re pretty awesome in our eyes too,” Kylie said, mopping frosting out of her friend’s hair with a pink paper napkin.

Delaney smiled. “Thanks, but next time, let’s make sure my cupcake skirt has training wheels.”