Bettie Lou woke up with a grin. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of socks and a set of braces. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like red light green light and Monopoly. Her dad was planning to make plenty of succotash and mushroom quiche for everyone. Bettie Lou would try to blow out all six candles on the violet and orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bettie Lou would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a stone! She hoped it would be an excellent stone. Her friend Joanie had said she would give her a remote control, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the stopwatch she gave her last year. Bettie Lou could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of socks. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a sari instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of braces.
She straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rose petals. Her dad was standing there with a food processor in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a jeer.
"Hi Daddy!" Bettie Lou replied cautiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra raspberries. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bettie Lou replied delicately. "Do we have the mushroom quiche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied bitterly. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for twenty minutes."
"Okay," Bettie Lou replied threateningly. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Bettie Lou responded, as she sat down to her ham. "Let's hang lots of black balloons and cover the dresser and the billiard table with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father doubtfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Brandie Haddad. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Achoo," Bettie Lou responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snuffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."