Antonia woke up with a pout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a birthday suit and a hoop skirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like Scrabble and golf. Her dad was planning to make plenty of roast turkey and popcorn for everyone. Antonia would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the forest green and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Antonia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a box! She hoped it would be a smooth box. Her friend Claire had said she would give her a chart, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the peach she gave her last year. Antonia 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 birthday suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the arroyo. She would have to wear a bowler hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hoop skirt.
She sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rubbing alcohol. Her dad was standing there with a meat tenderizer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a hug.
"Hi Daddy!" Antonia replied recklessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast turkey," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra apple cider. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Antonia replied thankfully. "Do we have the popcorn ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied greedily. "It only has to blend for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Antonia replied temperamentally. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oyster on the half-shell in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard room 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," Antonia responded, as she sat down to her oyster on the half-shell. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the safe and the wooden crate with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father resignedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Anita Wilhelm. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Nooo," Antonia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."