“Ginger!” she screamed, dashing over to Ralph and reaching out to pet Ginger gently on her head. “I can’t believe you came. Daddy, thank you so much!”
“I didn’t do anything,” my dad said.
“Neither did I,” my mom added.
“Me neither,” Papa Pete said.
“It was your big brother, little lady,” Ralph said. “He came all the way to my apartment to invite me here today.”
“But you said you couldn’t make it,” I said to Ralph.
“I left the other party early so I could pay Emily a visit,” Ralph answered.
“Why?” I asked him. I didn’t understand.
Ralph took off his big brown hat and turned to Emily. “I was mighty impressed with your brother, Hank,” he said to her. “He wanted this to be the best birthday you ever had. When I was your age . . . hey, even now . . . I wish I’d had a brother like that. Hank really cares about you. And I just couldn’t say no to him.”
Emily turned around slowly and looked me right in the eyes.
“You did this for me?” she whispered.
I just shrugged.
“He did,” Frankie said. “We were there.”
What happened next was truly amazing in a creepy kind of way. Emily threw both her arms around me and squeezed me so hard, my eyes popped out a little bit.
“I love you, Hank,” she said.
I felt like she was waiting for me to say “I love you” back. Luckily I didn’t have to because just at that moment, Ginger decided to slither off Ralph’s arm and rest her head on Emily’s head.
“And Ginger loves you,” Ralph said. “I think she’s saying she wants to do a show. How about it, kids?”
Everyone cheered and we all went into the living room. If Ginger was tired from the other party, she sure didn’t show it. She let each kid pet her and didn’t even hiss once. At the end of the show, Emily got to hold Ginger and smile into her snakey eyes. I stood next to Papa Pete as he took pictures of Emily’s beaming face. Then he turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder.
“She is one happy girl,” Papa Pete said. “You did a good thing, Hankie.”
“The good thing is that Ralph showed up,” I said. “My magic trick was a total flop.”
“Don’t you believe that,” Papa Pete said. “You have the real magic—and that is your great big caring heart. No magic trick can ever beat that.”
I have to say, it did feel really good to have helped Emily get the birthday party of her dreams. I felt proud and happy.
That is, until Ginger decided to give me a kiss! Trust me, folks. That was a real party ender.
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