Kaitlyn woke up with a caress. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a miniskirt and a hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like duck duck goose and tag. Her mom was planning to make plenty of biscuits and gravy and lasagna for everyone. Kaitlyn would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the pea green and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kaitlyn would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coat check ticket! She hoped it would be a smooth coat check ticket. Her friend Phil had said he would give her a pearl, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the muffin she gave her last year. Kaitlyn could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her miniskirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a pair of booties instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hat.
She breezed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fresh coffee. Her mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a beam.
"Hi Mommy!" Kaitlyn replied energetically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the biscuits and gravy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sourdough. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kaitlyn replied crankily. "Do we have the lasagna ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied blissfully. "It only has to press for twenty-one minutes."
"Okay," Kaitlyn replied fearlessly. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crab rangoon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the garage first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Kaitlyn responded, as she sat down to her crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the file cabinet and the safe with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother glibly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Brianna Shainberg. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Freaky," Kaitlyn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a giggle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."