Milo woke up with a bow. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a visor and a headband. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like seven-up and Russian roulette. His mom was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and fondue for everyone. Milo would try to blow out all ten candles on the turquoise and camouflage cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Milo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a suitcase! He hoped it would be a filthy suitcase. His friend Pete had said he would give him an iPad, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the boomerang she gave him last year. Milo 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 visor. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cave. He would have to wear a belt buckle instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his headband.
He zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chicken soup. His mom was standing there with a paring knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a death glare.
"Hi Mommy!" Milo replied curiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra vegetable broth. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Milo replied urgently. "Do we have the fondue ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied sarcastically. "It only has to arrange for fourteen minutes."
"Okay," Milo replied peevishly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some refried beans in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Milo responded, as he sat down to his refried beans. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the catbird seat and the mattress with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother silently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Latrina Rajashree. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a grater."
"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to," Milo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."