Lynn woke up with a grimace. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a babushka and a blanket. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the master bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like checkers and jacks. His dad was planning to make plenty of borscht and omelet for everyone. Lynn would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the brown and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lynn would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pizza! He hoped it would be a slimy pizza. His friend Millie had said she would give him a telephone book, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the orchid she gave him last year. Lynn could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his babushka. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the pasture. He would have to wear a pair of culottes instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his blanket.
He waddled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pickles. His dad was standing there with a basting brush in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a curtsey.
"Hi Daddy!" Lynn replied flightily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the borscht," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cilantro. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lynn replied sourly. "Do we have the omelet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied patiently. "It only has to blend for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Lynn replied lazily. "I'm gonna go to the master bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster bisque in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bedroom 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," Lynn responded, as he sat down to his lobster bisque. "Let's hang lots of maroon balloons and cover the armoire and the canopy bed with mauve crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father clumsily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Teresa Goodman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Stoked," Lynn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."