Story highlights Mom was worried no one would show up at 3-year-old's party

The officers took photos with him and let him check out their police cruisers

(CNN) When Brayden Hubbard turned 3 his mom knew one thing for certain: there'd be cars. The boy with round cheeks and spiky hair loves them so much, it was a no-brainer that his party would have this theme.

Plates, cups, napkins and banners all printed with characters from the Disney movie "Cars" adorned the family's tidy suburban home in Yukon, Oklahoma. They looked ready, but mom Terra worried they'd be missing a crucial element -- guests.

"Not many people were saying if they were going to come or not," she told CNN affiliate KFOR

As Hubbard weighed canceling the party, someone knocked on her front door. Outside were members of Yukon's police department. At first she thought her luck had gone from bad to worse. "They come up to my door, and you always think that's bad," Hubbard said.

But the officers came as invited guests. Unbeknownst to Terra, someone put a call into the department telling them "there was this little boy with autism who was going to have a birthday party and asked if we could show up," Capt. Matt Hofer recalled.

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