Cody woke up with a grimace. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a mortarboard and a hearing aid. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like marbles and trivia. His dad was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and beans for everyone. Cody would try to blow out all twelve candles on the magenta and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cody would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cowbell! He hoped it would be a smooth cowbell. His friend Lilya had said she would give him a stick of gum, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the baton she gave him last year. Cody could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his mortarboard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cave. He would have to wear a black armband instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his hearing aid.
He hopped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Juicy Fruit gum. His dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a snigger.
"Hi Daddy!" Cody replied later. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cayenne pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cody replied flightily. "Do we have the beans ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied narrowly. "It only has to smoke for fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Cody replied repeatedly. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory 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," Cody responded, as he sat down to his lobster. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the bunk bed and the ping-pong table with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father roughly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Eloise Allen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Just a minute," Cody responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hiccup. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."