Run: 2026-07-25-01KYD734X9S8BTB6XK55YHXJC1

Molly spread the blueprint across the hood of the van, weighing down the corners with a rubber duck, a juice box, and Bill's sandwich. "Where did you get blueprints of a six-year-old's birthday party?" Bill asked. "Timmy's mom posted the whole layout on social media. Bounce house here, gift table there, clown by the patio doors." "Is the clown a threat?" "The clown is always a threat, Bill. That's rule one." Bill took a bite of his sandwich and studied the diagram. "Okay, walk me through it. We go in as what?" "Magicians. I already bought the costumes. You're The Great Billdini." "I don't know any magic." "Neither do I. That's the beauty of it. Children are terrible critics. You pull a quarter from behind a kid's ear, they lose their minds." "I don't know how to do that either." Molly sighed and demonstrated, palming a coin badly. "See? Magic." "I literally watched you put that in your hand." "You're thirty-four, Bill. Our audience naps at two and believes in the Tooth Fairy. Lower your standards." Bill pointed at the gift table on the blueprint. "Fifty presents, minimum. How do we carry fifty presents?" "Pillowcases. We stuff them during the musical chairs. Everyone's watching the game, nobody's watching the loot." "That's actually clever." "I have moments." "What's my moment?" Molly tapped the paper. "Cake distraction. When they wheel out the cake, you trip the magician's table over. Chaos. Screaming. Fondant everywhere. I sweep the gift table into the pillowcases while you flail." "Why am I always the one flailing?" "Because you flail beautifully, sweetheart. It's a gift." "What's our getaway?" "Bounce house." Bill blinked. "The bounce house is the getaway?" "We deflate it at 3:15 sharp. Mass panic. In the confusion we walk out the side gate with the pillowcases. Nobody chases two magicians through a deflating castle. It's undignified." "Everything about this is undignified." "And yet it's going to work." Bill stared at the blueprint for a long moment. "Molly." "Yes, Bill." "These are children's presents." "Your point?" "We're stealing from children." "We're stealing from children who each got three presents from a kid named Timmy whose parents own a boat named after a different boat. Timmy will survive. Timmy will thrive. Timmy will learn a valuable lesson about the impermanence of material things." "You're very committed to this." "Molly Vandenberg doesn't do anything halfway." "Your last name is Peaches." "Legally, yes. Professionally, Vandenberg." Bill folded up the blueprint and tucked it into his jacket. "Fine. But I'm picking the getaway music." "No." "Yakety Sax." "Absolutely not." "It builds morale." "Bill, if I hear one note of Yakety Sax while I'm holding a pillowcase full of Legos, I will leave you in the bounce house." "Deal," said Bill, already humming. Molly checked her watch. "Party starts in an hour. Get your cape." "I love my cape." "I know you do. That's what worries me."