Arthur grinned, tucking the rainbow eggs into their new, secure homes. "No," he whispered. "Just building a memory."

As the cashier scanned the stack of empty boxes, she raised an eyebrow. "Starting a farm, dear?"

He moved past the standard "Jumbo Grade A" cartons. He needed something sturdy enough for a cross-town trek but plain enough not to give away the surprise. He finally found them in the corner of a hardware store: blank, recycled pulp cartons with no branding.