Lucia woke up with a hug. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a space suit and a bustier. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and hearts. Her dad was planning to make plenty of biscuits and gravy and burritos for everyone. Lucia would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the chocolate brown and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lucia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a microscope! She hoped it would be a fresh microscope. Her friend Roberta had said she would give her a rattlesnake, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the billiard ball she gave her last year. Lucia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her space suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a flour sack instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bustier.
She marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like roasted peppers. Her dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with an evil eye.
"Hi Daddy!" Lucia replied caustically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the biscuits and gravy," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra vegetable broth. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lucia replied openly. "Do we have the burritos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied oddly. "It only has to microwave for forty-one minutes."
"Okay," Lucia replied joyously. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pizza in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Lucia responded, as she sat down to her pizza. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the hope chest and the pedestal with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father fearfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Carina Curie. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Bilge," Lucia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with an evil eye. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."