Alberto woke up with an air kiss. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hoop skirt and a set of braces. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Rummy and badminton. His dad was planning to make plenty of fondue and ceviche for everyone. Alberto would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the lavender and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Alberto would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bugle! He hoped it would be a puzzling bugle. His friend Sierra had said she would give him a knitting needle, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the African violet she gave him last year. Alberto could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his hoop skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the landfill. He would have to wear a pair of jackboots instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of braces.
He proceeded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cloves. His dad was standing there with a spatula in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a pound of the chest.
"Hi Daddy!" Alberto replied lickety-split. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fondue," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh spinach. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Alberto replied resignedly. "Do we have the ceviche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his father replied unnaturally. "It only has to spoon into container for nine minutes."
"Okay," Alberto replied dubiously. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cinnamon toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the 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," Alberto responded, as he sat down to his cinnamon toast. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the ping-pong table and the bookshelf with salmon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father admiringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jasmine German. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Yoohoo," Alberto responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a backward glance. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."