Gino woke up with a titter. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a surgical mask and a set of vampire fangs. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited thirteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like roulette and tag. His dad was planning to make plenty of crumb cake and lasagna for everyone. Gino would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the mauve and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gino would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hubcap! He hoped it would be a smooth hubcap. His friend Martha had said she would give him a coupon, and his sister-in-law always gave him cool stuff like the pigeon she gave him last year. Gino could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his surgical mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the cornfield. He would have to wear a pair of cargo pants instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his set of vampire fangs.
He reeled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pine trees. His dad was standing there with a wooden spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a sniff.
"Hi Daddy!" Gino replied tenderly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crumb cake," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra Cheerios. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gino replied doubtfully. "Do we have the lasagna ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied brashly. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for twenty-one minutes."
"Okay," Gino replied cleverly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pumpkin pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Gino responded, as he sat down to his pumpkin pie. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the fainting couch and the mattress with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father steadily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Callie MacGibbon. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"For heaven's sake," Gino responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."