Stephen woke up with a frown. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a hat and a sweatshirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Mother May I and poker. His mom was planning to make plenty of ham and roast Cornish game hen for everyone. Stephen would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the olive green and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Stephen would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coat check ticket! He hoped it would be a lavender coat check ticket. His friend Karl had said he would give him a top, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the ping-pong paddle she gave him last year. Stephen could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the range. He would have to wear a pair of glasses instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his sweatshirt.
He bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like popcorn. His mom was standing there with a potato masher in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a grin.
"Hi Mommy!" Stephen replied roughly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra water. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Stephen replied tensely. "Do we have the roast Cornish game hen ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," his mother replied noisily. "It only has to grill for two minutes."
"Okay," Stephen replied frantically. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crumb cake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Stephen responded, as he sat down to his crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the bench and the windowsill with black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother frenetically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Fifi Merton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Holy cow," Stephen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a face palm. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."