Blake woke up with a stiff upper lip. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a stethoscope and a pair of false eyelashes. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like golf and old maid. His dad was planning to make plenty of crumb cake and hash for everyone. Blake would try to blow out all twenty candles on the terra cotta and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Blake would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a thumb drive! He hoped it would be a hand-carved thumb drive. His friend Brittany had said she would give him a pair of knitting needles, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the bag of potato chips she gave him last year. Blake could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his stethoscope. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the housing development. He would have to wear a badge instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of false eyelashes.
He waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fine perfume. His dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a wince.
"Hi Daddy!" Blake replied primly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crumb cake," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cilantro. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Blake replied nervously. "Do we have the hash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," his father replied charmingly. "It only has to heat in microwave for three minutes."
"Okay," Blake replied humbly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hamburgers in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Blake responded, as he sat down to his hamburgers. "Let's hang lots of emerald green balloons and cover the end table and the nightstand with brilliant orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father softly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Ellen Shapiro. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Yuck," Blake responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."