So far, Amanda had been lucky: she had managed to work Milo's birthday party into her busy schedule, the anti-Murphy's-Law defenses had kept her from being injured during the go-kart race, and she had been away getting paper plates from the Murphys' car during the inexplicable tidal wave of sweets and subsequent duck attack. She was clean, dry and eager to get home before her luck finally ran out.

"Has anyone seen my bubble machine?" she called as the other guests milled around her, helping to clean up.

"I think somebody launched it into space!" Mort called as he mopped up near the racetrack.

A deadpan looked fell across Amanda's face. "Of course. Maybe I can ask the Murphys to reimburse me..."

"Hey, Amanda!"

She looked up to see Milo running towards her, waving. Just as he was about to reach her he suddenly slipped on a splotch of ice cream on the ground; he let out a cry and pitched forward, and Amanda, acting on instinct, managed to grab him by the shoulders before he knocked her to the ground.

"Whoa! Ha, thanks," he said as he steadied himself.

"No problem," she said, once again amazed at her own luck. Though now her hands were sticky—despite the towel draped around his shoulders, Milo was still a mess of ice cream and frosting.

"Are you leaving already?"

"Yes. Sorry I can't stay and help clean up, but I have...things to do. At home. Busy schedule, you know."

"That's fine. I just wanted to thank you before you left. Melissa told me that you volunteered to organize this party all by yourself!"

Amanda briefly glanced over to where Melissa and Zack were helping collect the Murphys' mattresses. "Yes, well...she persuaded me a bit."

"That was really nice of you. And you did a great job!" Milo gushed. "This was the best birthday that I've ever had! Honest."

Amanda looked back at him, and despite her desire to make a quick getaway, she couldn't help but smile at the sincere joy that radiated from his face. "You're welcome, Milo. I'm happy I could help, and I'm glad that nothing went wrong...under your very strict definition of the term."

"Yeah! Sorry about your bubble machine, though."

"It's fine. I never used it anyway," she shrugged. "Anyway, happy birthday! I'll see you on Monday."

"Yeah! See ya! And don't forget to grab a complimentary T-shirt from my mom on your way out!"

Amanda walked off, and Milo stood watching her go, a dreamy smile spreading across his face.

"Hey, Milo! Can you help us with this for a sec?"

"Coming!"

He walked off, his eyes still following after Amanda.

Naturally, this caused him to slip on another puddle of ice cream.

"Whoooaaa—!"

CRACK!

"AGH! My arm!"

Author's Notes: A short ficlet about Milo's birthday, to celebrate my own. Based on my vague idea about how his crush may have started. Hope you enjoyed!