Royce woke up with a squint. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a tool belt and a coat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like roulette and charades. His mom was planning to make plenty of biscuits and gravy and catfish stew for everyone. Royce would try to blow out all twelve candles on the carrot-orange and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Royce would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a stack of papers! He hoped it would be a shiny stack of papers. His friend Scotty had said he would give him a tennis racket, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the paperweight she gave him last year. Royce could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his tool belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the field. He would have to wear a dirndl instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his coat.
He slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Juicy Fruit gum. His mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a coo.
"Hi Mommy!" Royce replied bitterly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the biscuits and gravy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra tomatoes. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Royce replied neatly. "Do we have the catfish stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied noisily. "It only has to mix patiently for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Royce replied uneasily. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some moo goo gai pan 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 mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Royce responded, as he sat down to his moo goo gai pan. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the washing machine and the washstand with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother madly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Fran Popper. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a fork."
"Who cares," Royce responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a stiff upper lip. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."