Doc woke up with a laugh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pacifier and a wizard's hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like red rover and tennis. His dad was planning to make plenty of scrambled eggs and strawberry shortcake for everyone. Doc would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the ivory and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Doc would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a knitting needle! He hoped it would be a dirty knitting needle. His friend Norma Jean had said she would give him a paperweight, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the bicycle she gave him last year. Doc could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pacifier. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the housing development. He would have to wear a set of football pads instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his wizard's hat.
He rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like kerosene. His dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a gurgle.
"Hi Daddy!" Doc replied victoriously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the scrambled eggs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra wasabi powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Doc replied deftly. "Do we have the strawberry shortcake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied peevishly. "It only has to microwave for sixty-five minutes."
"Okay," Doc replied fearfully. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some apple pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool room 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," Doc responded, as he sat down to his apple pie. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the floor and the windowsill with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father silently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bailey Bundy. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Help," Doc responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."