Xenia woke up with a jeer. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a stethoscope and a set of camo fatigues. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like hearts and pool. Her dad was planning to make plenty of sushi and prime rib for everyone. Xenia would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the salmon and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Xenia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a water bottle! She hoped it would be a fluffy water bottle. Her friend Nadine had said she would give her a stamp, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the church key she gave her last year. Xenia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her stethoscope. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seacoast. She would have to wear a necklace instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of camo fatigues.
She skipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gingerbread. Her dad was standing there with a whisk in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a bow.
"Hi Daddy!" Xenia replied accidentally. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sushi," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn oil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Xenia replied firmly. "Do we have the prime rib ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied thankfully. "It only has to toast for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Xenia replied cleverly. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sweet potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Xenia responded, as she sat down to her sweet potatoes. "Let's hang lots of jade balloons and cover the buffet and the bookshelf with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father ignobly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Joni Parsons. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Ppppbbbft," Xenia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a blush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."