Pops woke up with a smile. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a baseball cap and a bra. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like leapfrog and poker. His dad was planning to make plenty of ravioli and Hamburger Helper for everyone. Pops would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the mauve and golden cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Pops would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a potato! He hoped it would be a fluffy potato. His friend Shelly had said she would give him a bottle of perfume, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the pair of dice she gave him last year. Pops could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his baseball cap. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the buffalo wallow. He would have to wear a tattoo instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bra.
He skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like grapefruit. His dad was standing there with a spatula in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a smack.
"Hi Daddy!" Pops replied slowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ravioli," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sesame seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Pops replied reluctantly. "Do we have the Hamburger Helper ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his father replied warily. "It only has to sauté for seventy-three minutes."
"Okay," Pops replied cheerfully. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Froot Loops in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Pops responded, as he sat down to his Froot Loops. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the ottoman and the bookshelf with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Susanna Ortiz. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Alright," Pops responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."