Rex woke up with a flush. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a class ring and a letter jacket. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Candy Land and roulette. His dad was planning to make plenty of pie a la mode and cornbread for everyone. Rex would try to blow out all twelve candles on the rose and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rex would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pacifier! He hoped it would be an electronic pacifier. His friend Gabriela had said she would give him a tire iron, and his wife always gave him cool stuff like the teddy bear she gave him last year. Rex could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his class ring. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the prairie. He would have to wear a bicycle helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his letter jacket.
He hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. His dad was standing there with a spatula in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a twitch.
"Hi Daddy!" Rex replied nonchalantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pie a la mode," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra orange peel. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rex replied dreamily. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied suavely. "It only has to spread into container for twenty-one minutes."
"Okay," Rex replied again. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some strawberry shortcake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the den 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," Rex responded, as he sat down to his strawberry shortcake. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the TV and the armoire with grey crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father immediately. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Reba McGee. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Bah," Rex responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a raised eyebrow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."