Lonnie woke up with a curtsey. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a diaper and a uniform. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the library was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like dominos and tag. His dad was planning to make plenty of pancakes and shrimp for everyone. Lonnie would try to blow out all twelve candles on the carrot-orange and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lonnie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hair dryer! He hoped it would be a tiny hair dryer. His friend Elizabeth had said she would give him a bottle of painkillers, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the bugle she gave him last year. Lonnie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his diaper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the meadow. He would have to wear a cheerleader's uniform instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his uniform.
He jumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like June roses. His dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a belly laugh.
"Hi Daddy!" Lonnie replied trustingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pancakes," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra salmon filets. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lonnie replied grimly. "Do we have the shrimp ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his father replied gratefully. "It only has to deep fry for fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Lonnie replied pitifully. "I'm gonna go to the library."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pancakes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the library 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," Lonnie responded, as he sat down to his pancakes. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the rug and the four-poster bed with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father strictly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bubbles Bergstrom. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Cowabunga," Lonnie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smirk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."