Babyface woke up with a face palm. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of Groucho glasses and a pair of Bermuda shorts. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the linen closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like blackjack and duck duck goose. His dad was planning to make plenty of smoked salmon and lobster for everyone. Babyface would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the ivory and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Babyface would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rubber stamp! He hoped it would be a queer rubber stamp. His friend Melkadas had said she would give him a fish bowl, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the lollipop she gave him last year. Babyface could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of Groucho glasses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the grassland. He would have to wear a pair of khakis instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of Bermuda shorts.
He slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a sardine cannery. His dad was standing there with a melon baller in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a blush.
"Hi Daddy!" Babyface replied carefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the smoked salmon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra potato chips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Babyface replied temperamentally. "Do we have the lobster ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his father replied dubiously. "It only has to whirl for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Babyface replied zestily. "I'm gonna go to the linen closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some moo goo gai pan in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the linen closet 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," Babyface responded, as he sat down to his moo goo gai pan. "Let's hang lots of periwinkle balloons and cover the wooden crate and the bookcase with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father quickly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Julia Zimmer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"You bet," Babyface responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a stiff upper lip. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."