Kellen woke up with a power fist. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a wristwatch and a bathrobe. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the nursery was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like volleyball and hide and seek. His mom was planning to make plenty of lime sherbet and ceviche for everyone. Kellen would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the teal and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kellen would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bird feeder! He hoped it would be a burned bird feeder. His friend James had said he would give him a mirror, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the business card she gave him last year. Kellen could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his wristwatch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountain. He would have to wear a rain coat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bathrobe.
He blundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Old Spice. His mom was standing there with a spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a chuckle.
"Hi Mommy!" Kellen replied sweetly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lime sherbet," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra oat bran. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kellen replied dubiously. "Do we have the ceviche ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," his mother replied valiantly. "It only has to braise for sixty-one minutes."
"Okay," Kellen replied delicately. "I'm gonna go to the nursery."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken pot pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the nursery 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," Kellen responded, as he sat down to his chicken pot pie. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the stool and the bathtub with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother irritably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mary Grundy. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Golly," Kellen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snarl. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."