Lilya woke up with a face palm. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bathrobe and a pair of khakis. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like chess and volleyball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of duck a l'orange and egg rolls for everyone. Lilya would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the forest green and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lilya would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cork! She hoped it would be an overgrown cork. Her friend Clara had said she would give her a barbell, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the cupcake she gave her last year. Lilya could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bathrobe. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the landfill. She would have to wear a surgical mask instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of khakis.
She stormed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoked fish. Her dad was standing there with a spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a blush.
"Hi Daddy!" Lilya replied cheerfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the duck a l'orange," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra carrots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lilya replied gruffly. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied deliberately. "It only has to place on serving dish for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Lilya replied numbly. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast turkey in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool 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," Lilya responded, as she sat down to her roast turkey. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the ironing board and the stool with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father tenderly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Hallie Goldwater. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"What the devil," Lilya responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."