Alexei woke up with a snicker. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a dunce cap and a baseball cap. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Candy Land and red light green light. His dad was planning to make plenty of crab rangoon and omelet for everyone. Alexei would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the carrot-orange and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Alexei would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a potato! He hoped it would be an amazing potato. His friend Alice had said she would give him a brochure, and his grandpa always gave him cool stuff like the padlock she gave him last year. Alexei could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his dunce cap. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the battlefield. He would have to wear a bicycle helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his baseball cap.
He careened downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rose petals. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a chortle.
"Hi Daddy!" Alexei replied perkily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crab rangoon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra macaroni. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Alexei replied positively. "Do we have the omelet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his father replied ingeniously. "It only has to blanch for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Alexei replied awkwardly. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young man, 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 conservatory 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," Alexei responded, as he sat down to his crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the china cabinet and the washing machine with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father repeatedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Elsa Beversdorf. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"That's crazy talk," Alexei responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."