Bernadette woke up with a shrug. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bicycle helmet and a rain coat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Cootie and roulette. Her mom was planning to make plenty of fried chicken and ceviche for everyone. Bernadette would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the olive green and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bernadette would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spoon! She hoped it would be a smooth spoon. Her friend Aaron had said he would give her a handkerchief, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the brochure she gave her last year. Bernadette could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bicycle helmet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the field. She would have to wear a coat of mail instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her rain coat.
She trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like strawberries. Her mom was standing there with an oven mitt in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wince.
"Hi Mommy!" Bernadette replied fondly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried chicken," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bananas. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bernadette replied confidently. "Do we have the ceviche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied sheepishly. "It only has to freeze for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Bernadette replied positively. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg rolls in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family room 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," Bernadette responded, as she sat down to her egg rolls. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the pool table and the pool table with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother vigorously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Evelyn Boudreaux. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Bless you," Bernadette responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sneer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."