Babyface woke up with a kiss. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a blouse and a pair of gloves. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the cage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Snakes and Ladders and Simon Says. His mom was planning to make plenty of tortillas and fried okra for everyone. Babyface would try to blow out all three candles on the turquoise and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Babyface would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a helmet! He hoped it would be a petite helmet. His friend Brad had said he would give him a protest sign, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the mirror she gave him last year. Babyface could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his blouse. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the battlefield. He would have to wear a towel instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of gloves.
He inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like vinegar. His mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a snarl.
"Hi Mommy!" Babyface replied sternly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tortillas," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra apple cider. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Babyface replied viciously. "Do we have the fried okra ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied trustingly. "It only has to freeze for twenty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Babyface replied vacantly. "I'm gonna go to the cage."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the cage 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," Babyface responded, as he sat down to his chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the crib and the table with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother fearfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Fawn Spanbauer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Oh please," Babyface responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a beam. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."