Katherine woke up with a sniff. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a diaper and a pair of combat boots. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like tennis and volleyball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of crumb cake and pot roast for everyone. Katherine would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the beige and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Katherine would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a statue! She hoped it would be an imitation statue. Her friend Susie had said she would give her a notebook, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the Frisbee she gave her last year. Katherine could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her diaper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the briar patch. She would have to wear a Superman costume instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of combat boots.
She strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel No. 5. Her dad was standing there with a corkscrew in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a pout.
"Hi Daddy!" Katherine replied cruelly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crumb cake," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra rosemary. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Katherine replied perkily. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied thankfully. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Katherine replied tenderly. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some biscuits and gravy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Katherine responded, as she sat down to her biscuits and gravy. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the hope chest and the recliner with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father ruefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Krista Countryman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Shhh," Katherine responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a clenched fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."