Babyface woke up with an evil eye. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of earrings and a gown. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the nursery was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like red rover and follow the leader. His dad was planning to make plenty of tacos and catfish stew for everyone. Babyface would try to blow out all seven candles on the indigo and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Babyface would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a soccer ball! He hoped it would be a gigantic soccer ball. His friend Julie had said she would give him a shoe, and his mother-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the lemon she gave him last year. Babyface could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of earrings. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the crime scene. He would have to wear a watch instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his gown.
He traipsed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mushrooms. His dad was standing there with an electric paint mixer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a twitch.
"Hi Daddy!" Babyface replied arrogantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tacos," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra almond paste. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Babyface replied violently. "Do we have the catfish stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his father replied warily. "It only has to sear outside for sixty-three minutes."
"Okay," Babyface replied energetically. "I'm gonna go to the nursery."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried okra in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the nursery 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," Babyface responded, as he sat down to his fried okra. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the dishwasher and the stairway with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father solemnly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Polly Gardner. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Brrr," Babyface responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."