Devlin woke up with a frown. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a space suit and a babushka. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like follow the leader and follow the leader. His mom was planning to make plenty of roast turkey and fried okra for everyone. Devlin would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the ivory and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Devlin would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pearl! He hoped it would be a crooked pearl. His friend Hugh had said he would give him a crate, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the crutch she gave him last year. Devlin could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his space suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountainside. He would have to wear a gas mask instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his babushka.
He skipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pencil shavings. His mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hi Mommy!" Devlin replied recklessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast turkey," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra raspberries. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Devlin replied coolly. "Do we have the fried okra ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied sarcastically. "It only has to blanch for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Devlin replied grimly. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Cheerios 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 mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Devlin responded, as he sat down to his Cheerios. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the cupboard and the pillow with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother caustically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Bubbles Barducci. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"I'm stoked," Devlin responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hiccup. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."