Millie woke up with a kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an earring and a beret. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Monopoly and Rummy. Her mom was planning to make plenty of crumb cake and oyster on the half-shell for everyone. Millie would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the aqua and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Millie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an ice cream cone! She hoped it would be a gooey ice cream cone. Her friend Calvin had said he would give her a crate, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the ticket she gave her last year. Millie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her earring. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hillside. She would have to wear a jogging suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beret.
She went downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Calvin Klein. Her mom was standing there with a chopstick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a gasp.
"Hi Mommy!" Millie replied oddly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crumb cake," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground beef. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Millie replied gleefully. "Do we have the oyster on the half-shell ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied positively. "It only has to whirl for fifty minutes."
"Okay," Millie replied sleepily. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Millie responded, as she sat down to her beans. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the casket and the catbird seat with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother lightly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Carrie Hart. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Meh," Millie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wince. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."