Arturo woke up with a sniffle. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a space suit and a coonskin hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the servant's quarters was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like battleship and Scrabble. His mom was planning to make plenty of country glazed ham and ham for everyone. Arturo would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the peach and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Arturo would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a crayon! He hoped it would be an autographed crayon. His friend JD had said he would give him a sack, and his main squeeze always gave him cool stuff like the flute she gave him last year. Arturo could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his space suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the housing development. He would have to wear a diaper instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his coonskin hat.
He waltzed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Listerine. His mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Mommy!" Arturo replied breathlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the country glazed ham," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh garlic. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Arturo replied patiently. "Do we have the ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," his mother replied primly. "It only has to sauté for fifty-one minutes."
"Okay," Arturo replied happily. "I'm gonna go to the servant's quarters."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni and cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the servant's quarters 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," Arturo responded, as he sat down to his macaroni and cheese. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the rocking chair and the pedestal with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother automatically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Oksana Hughes. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Alright," Arturo responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a yawn. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."