Horatio woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a set of pink foam curlers and a pair of dungarees. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the study was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like tennis and rummy. His mom was planning to make plenty of lime sherbet and lobster bisque for everyone. Horatio would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the lime-green and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Horatio would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hip flask! He hoped it would be an overgrown hip flask. His friend Desmond had said he would give him a shoe, and his sister always gave him cool stuff like the map she gave him last year. Horatio could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his set of pink foam curlers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the neighborhood. He would have to wear a letter jacket instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of dungarees.
He reeled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wine. His mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a flush.
"Hi Mommy!" Horatio replied coldly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lime sherbet," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra dill pickles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Horatio replied perkily. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied cautiously. "It only has to blanch for ninety minutes."
"Okay," Horatio replied numbly. "I'm gonna go to the study."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lamb curry in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the study 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," Horatio responded, as he sat down to his lamb curry. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the pillow and the stairway with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Tiffany Logan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Gee whillikers," Horatio 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."