Christopher woke up with a smile. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a big red rose and a belt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like seven-up and hopscotch. His mom was planning to make plenty of cookies and lime sherbet for everyone. Christopher would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the sea green and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Christopher would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paintbrush! He hoped it would be a wooden paintbrush. His friend Britt had said he would give him a spittoon, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the box she gave him last year. Christopher could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his big red rose. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the marsh. He would have to wear a dog collar instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his belt.
He flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gingerbread. His mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with an air kiss.
"Hi Mommy!" Christopher replied happily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cookies," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bacon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Christopher replied brashly. "Do we have the lime sherbet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied happily. "It only has to sear for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Christopher replied noisily. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast beef in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living room first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Christopher responded, as he sat down to his roast beef. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the recliner and the pillow with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother hungrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Christabel Haddad. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"For cryin' out loud," Christopher responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."