Ronnie woke up with an air kiss. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a negligee and a bracelet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Clue and croquet. His mom was planning to make plenty of corn on the cob and wienerschnitzel for everyone. Ronnie would try to blow out all three candles on the white and jade cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ronnie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of shaving cream! He hoped it would be a synthetic can of shaving cream. His friend Biff had said he would give him a cork, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the pair of knitting needles she gave him last year. Ronnie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his negligee. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the island. He would have to wear a bra instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bracelet.
He galumphed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Yves Saint Laurent. His mom was standing there with a turkey baster in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a cringe.
"Hi Mommy!" Ronnie replied menacingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the corn on the cob," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra minced onion. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ronnie replied swiftly. "Do we have the wienerschnitzel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied frantically. "It only has to boil for eighty-two minutes."
"Okay," Ronnie replied sweetly. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chopped liver in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living room 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," Ronnie responded, as he sat down to his chopped liver. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the sofa and the couch with emerald green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother obediently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Fanny Jiménez. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Uh," Ronnie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a chuckle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."