Leo pointed at her crown. “Then you’re the queen.”

“Don’t worry,” Mikaela said, pulling out her mother’s tablet. She typed with fierce determination: .

At 11:47 PM, with the last of the printer’s cyan ink, she had six crowns. She cut them out carefully, taping the bands to fit adult heads, child heads, and one particularly tiny one for Mr. Whiskers the cat.

The internet, in its infinite wisdom, delivered. Dozens of them. Blue flames, red velvet textures, the familiar gold-and-cream crest. She chose the most official-looking one—a PDF that claimed to be “reconstructed from a 1999 Kids’ Meal template.”

Little Mikaela had a problem. It was Wednesday night, and her little brother Leo’s birthday was tomorrow morning. The theme? “Burger King Royal Court.” Leo had been very specific: everyone needed a crown.

Mikaela smiled. She saved the PDF to a folder labeled Royal Emergencies . You never know when you’ll need to print a little bit of magic.

Later that day, the real Burger King crowns arrived via a neighbor’s trip to town. Plastic, shiny, official. Leo tried one on, then took it off.

“These are noisy,” he said, returning to his paper crown. “I like the quiet ones.”

“You’re the king,” Mikaela whispered, kissing Leo’s forehead.

The problem was, the nearest Burger King was forty-five minutes away, and the car had a flat tire.

Morning came. Leo’s eyes went wide as saucers. Mikaela placed a crown on his head, then one on her own, then on Mom, then on Dad (who was still in his bathrobe). Even Mr. Whiskers wore his, for approximately four seconds.