Jay woke up with a frown. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of shorts and a cap. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like solitaire and pool. His dad was planning to make plenty of chicken gumbo and lime sherbet for everyone. Jay would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the beige and grey cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jay would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pop bottle! He hoped it would be a synthetic pop bottle. His friend Rosie had said she would give him a hockey puck, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the hand puppet she gave him last year. Jay could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of shorts. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the glen. He would have to wear a feather boa instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his cap.
He slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Estée Lauder. His dad was standing there with a napkin in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a smack.
"Hi Daddy!" Jay replied threateningly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken gumbo," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pickled peppers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jay replied lazily. "Do we have the lime sherbet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his father replied solemnly. "It only has to blanch for eighty-two minutes."
"Okay," Jay replied proudly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crumb cake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living room first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Jay responded, as he sat down to his crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the wine rack and the filing cabinet with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father irritably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lauren Melville. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"Shoot," Jay responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a finger gun. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."