Peggy woke up with a guffaw. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a wedding dress and a set of football pads. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the nursery was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like chess and blackjack. Her mom was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and roast turkey for everyone. Peggy would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the periwinkle and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Peggy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Band-aid! She hoped it would be a fancy Band-aid. Her friend Buster had said he would give her an ironing board, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the dress she gave her last year. Peggy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her wedding dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear an overcoat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of football pads.
She tumbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a chocolate factory. Her mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a guffaw.
"Hi Mommy!" Peggy replied grudgingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra tomato sauce. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Peggy replied recklessly. "Do we have the roast turkey ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied recklessly. "It only has to press for forty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Peggy replied speedily. "I'm gonna go to the nursery."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some jambalaya in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the nursery first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Peggy responded, as she sat down to her jambalaya. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the nightstand and the coat rack with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother proudly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Greta Kennedy. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Say what," Peggy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."