Veronica woke up with a chuckle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tinfoil hat and a pair of panties. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the study was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like poker and cribbage. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lobster and prime rib for everyone. Veronica would try to blow out all twelve candles on the brown and white cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Veronica would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a camera! She hoped it would be a multicolored camera. Her friend Janet had said she would give her a kite, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the coconut she gave her last year. Veronica could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tinfoil hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a beanie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of panties.
She trekked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a bouquet. Her dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wink.
"Hi Daddy!" Veronica replied truculently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra rosemary. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Veronica replied steadily. "Do we have the prime rib ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied threateningly. "It only has to shake for nineteen minutes."
"Okay," Veronica replied despondently. "I'm gonna go to the study."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some apple pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the study first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Veronica responded, as she sat down to her apple pie. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the crib and the cupboard with red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father peevishly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Pearl Bundy. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a strainer."
"Woops," Veronica responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."