Cynthia watched Betty Lou color in one of Cady's coloring books while she waited with her for her mother to arrive. Gladys Montgomery pulled her car into the Parsons' driveway and Cynthia saw her from the living room window.
"Betty Lou, your mother is here," Cynthia said and walked to the door and opened it. Betty Lou jumped up and ran to the door.
"Thanks, Cynthia," Gladys said.
"You're welcome, Gladys," Cynthia said.
"Betty Lou, run out to the car and get inside," Gladys said, and Betty Lou ran to the car. Once Betty Lou was at an adequate distance, Gladys said, "I don't know what her problem is. She just can't handle social engagements. I keep pushing her to try, but it doesn't work. I hope she wasn't too disruptive."
"Not too bad. Don't worry about it," Cynthia said. "Maybe start her out with smaller gatherings and work your way up."
"I'll try that. Thanks," Gladys replied. "I better go."
"Okay. Good luck," Cynthia said. After Gladys pulled away, Cynthia returned to the party in the backyard.
"Honey, you missed a great game of musical chairs!" Roger exclaimed.
"Who won?" Cynthia asked.
"Well… no one. It was a draw. Mattlock and Cady," Roger replied.
"Darn," Cynthia replied. "Judging by the stains on Mattlock's blue jeans, I'd say it must have been quite the tussle."
"I think Mattlock was more surprised than anyone. Cady just brushed it off and went on," Roger replied.
"I wish I had seen it," Cynthia replied.
"Okay kids, who's ready for the Tootsie Roll hunt?!" Roger exclaimed.
"Me!" the kids screamed in unison.
"Alright. There are Tootsie Rolls all over this yard, front and back. Here are some bags to collect your Tootsie Rolls in," he said, and handed them one by one to the six remaining children at the party.
"Now go!" Roger announced, and Mattlock was the first to charge off to look for the candy. The rest of the children soon followed. Cady hung back and observed the yard thoughtfully as if she was trying to deduce where the candy was hidden. The other children took their time and meandered through the yard while Mattlock seemed to be in a race, cutting a few of them off before they got to their candy, including Cady.
She walked up to Roger, "Daddy, why is Matt acting that way?"
Roger looked at Mattlock and watched him race around, and saw him dive under a bush. "Oh. He's just got a lot of energy, sweetie," Roger replied. "Lots of boys do."
She pouted a little and said, "Well, he's spoiling the fun."
"Everybody's different. Just keep an eye on what you're doing and ignore him, okay?" Roger replied.
"Okay, Daddy," she said, disappointed, and walked back with the others to look for more Tootsie Rolls.
Bill walked over to Roger and sat next to him. "She's very cute," he said.
"Cady? She's wonderful. I can't imagine my life without her," Roger replied, observing Cady search for candy. "Having a daughter really fills my heart in a way that nothing ever has."
"She seems to be a joy," Bill replied.
"She is," Roger replied with a smile. "Your son's a bundle of energy, isn't he?"
"Oh, yes. That, he most definitely is," Bill replied with a sigh and a smile. "I have a hard time keeping up with him."
"I bet," Roger said, watching Mattlock run a circle around the shed.
Cynthia walked up to the two men and put her hand on Roger's shoulder. "Looks like someone has already had too much sugar. Maybe Kool-Aid was a bad idea."
"And we're going to have cake and ice cream later," Roger said.
"No. He's always like this," Bill said with another sigh.
"Well, you certainly have your hands full," Cynthia replied and patted Bill on the back and walked back to the grandparents. On her way, Charlie and Steven criss-crossed in front of her in search of more candy. "Whoa! Watch out, boys," she said. She passed Cady and Julia.
"Look how many I found, Momma," Cady said.
Cynthia peered into the sack. "Wow. You've got a lot there, Cady," she said.
"Look in mine, Dr. P," Julia said showing Cynthia the inside of her sack.
Cynthia looked inside and said, "Well, you two are just cleaning up on this game." Both of the girls smiled and skipped off together.
"The kids are having a lot of fun with this game," Peter said as Cynthia approached. "I was worried it would go the way of the Clothespin Drop," he said with a smirk.
"Well, it's candy, after all," Cynthia quipped. She sat down with the grandparents at one of the picnic tables. They had all been discussing their hobbies and interests while watching the children play their game.
"We were just talking about that poor James Dean, honey," Deborah said.
"Roger told me this morning that he died. Such a talented young man," Cynthia replied.
"Yes. Very tragic. Just 24 years old," Jacob said, frowning and shaking his head.
"We saw his film East of Eden when it came out," Cynthia said.
"We did too," Peter said.
"I thought his performance was outstanding. I don't think I've ever seen acting like that. Roger thought so too, and he's much more of a film buff than I am," Cynthia said.
"I agree," Peter said.
"We were planning on seeing his latest film that was going to come out this month. What was its name?" Cynthia asked.
"Rebel Without a Cause," Peter said. "Joanne and I were going to go too."
"Roger had been reading something….I don't know what….Something about a third film he'd been making?" Cynthia wondered.
"Yes. I'd read that he will be playing a character based on Gil McIntyre. I wonder if Bill knows anything about that, being in the oil business," Peter said.
"You should ask him," Cynthia said and there was a pause in the conversation.
"That's really something about Juan Perón – ousted by the new military regime," Jacob said, changing the discussion to something more global in scope.
"He apparently had been living quite high on the hog," Peter replied.
"True, but he had been a friend to Israel and Argentinian Jews," Jacob said.
"Still, you're planting the seeds of revolution if the leader has such an opulent lifestyle while the people have very little," Peter replied.
"History has shown that a time or two…. You're right," Jacob said.
"I wonder how President Eisenhower is doing," Joanne interjected. "What was that he had on his vacation, Cynthia?"
"It was a coronary thrombosis," Cynthia replied.
"Throm – what?" Peter asked.
"A thrombosis is another word for clot. He basically had a heart attack," Cynthia replied.
"Well, why didn't you say that?" Peter laughed. "We don't speak medicalese."
"Sorry. Just a habit, I suppose," Cynthia replied.
Cady and Julia approached Cynthia. "When is it gonna be time to open presents, Momma?" Cady asked.
"Yeah, Dr. P.? When?" Julie echoed.
"I thought you all were having too much fun to want to open presents," Cynthia said, glancing over at the grandparents."
"No, Momma. How about now?" Cady asked.
"Okay. It looks like everyone's found all the candy that they're going to find," Cynthia said and stood up and put her hands on Cady's shoulders. "Alright, everyone….Time for Cady to open presents," she announced.
The boys, Julia, and Dorothy came running to the picnic table with the presents. Cady sat on the end of the picnic table bench with her legs dangling, and Deborah volunteered to hand her the presents. Joanne was charged with writing down who gave what gift. All of the children sat in a semi-circle on the ground in front of Cady and watched with excited expressions of anticipation. Deborah and Joanne sat at the table with Cady, while the rest of the adults stood nearby.
Deborah handed Cady the first gift and said, "This card says it's from Julia."
Cady ripped through the paper and revealed a box, which she opened, and found several coloring books, a brand new box of 30 Crayola Crayons, some markers, and colored pencils. "Thanks, Julia!" Cady exclaimed and Julia ran up and hugged her.
"Happy birthday, C.J.!" Julia replied.
"We'll have to color sometime today," Cady said with a big smile.
Deborah handed her a smaller box. "This card says it's from Steven." Cady removed the paper and opened the box and found a Duncan Yo-Yo and a container of Silly Putty.
"Thanks, Steven. How fun!" Cady said.
"Cool!" Mattlock interjected. Cady looked at him with a look of bafflement on her face.
"You're welcome, C.J.," Steven said.
Deborah handed her another box that was about the size of a book. "Looks like this one is from Charlie," she said. Once again, Cady opened the gift with fervor and found an Etch-A-Sketch.
"Oh, neat! I've been wanting one of these!" Cady exclaimed.
Charlie came up to her and said in his usual helpful manner, "Here, let me show you how it works." He demonstrated by turning the knobs, one at a time, making some simple geometric designs and shook it a few times to erase it. "See?"
"Thanks, Charlie," Cady said.
"You're welcome. Happy birthday, C.J.," he replied and sat back down.
"Here's one from your Poppa and me," Deborah said, and handed her a large, wrapped, cylindrical package. Cady shook it and it rattled.
"I wonder what this is," Cady mused aloud.
"Well, open it, eynikl," Jacob said. Cady ripped the paper off and revealed a large set of Lincoln Logs. "You can build all kinds of buildings, eynikl."
"Thanks Poppa," Cady said with a big smile.
"You're welcome," Jacob said, and put his arms around her shoulders and kissed her on the top of the head.
"Those are fun! I have those!" Mattlock exclaimed, and Bill shushed him. Cady just looked at the strange boy with more bafflement.
"Well, I think we should save the two big gifts for last. We still have a few before we get to those," Deborah said. "Here's one from your mother and father."
Cady took the shoebox-sized box and unwrapped it and revealed a stuffed, plush, Lady dog from Lady and the Tramp. She pulled it out of the box and hugged it. "Oh, thank you, Momma and Daddy. I love it!" she said.
"Happy birthday, baby," Cynthia said.
"Yeah. Happy Birthday Cady Jo," Roger repeated with his arm around Cynthia. He turned to his father and said, "That was really a good film for the whole family."
"Really? I thought it was a film for children," Joanne replied.
Deborah ignored Joanne and grabbed a similarly-sized box as the last one and said, "This is from your mother and father too. If I had to guess, I'd bet it's related."
Cady beamed and ripped into the package. "It's Tramp!" she exclaimed.
"We had to get you the pair," Cynthia said and kissed her on the forehead.
"Thanks Momma and Daddy!" Cady exclaimed. She then motioned to Julia and Dorothy to come over, and handed Julia the Lady plush animal, and handed Dorothy Tramp so they could hold them while she opened the rest of the presents.
"Here's one from your Uncle Robert, Aunt Janice, and cousin Dorothy, Cady," Deborah said.
Cady took the box and unwrapped it and found a "Royal Tea Set" for girls' tea parties. The set was pink and edged in copper and served four.
"Thank you, Uncle Robert and Aunt Janice!" she exclaimed, and Dorothy ran up to hug her. "Thank you too, Dorothy." Cady hugged Dorothy back.
"Okay, Cady. Here's another present from Poppa and me," Deborah said.
Cady unwrapped and opened the box and found a couple of hand puppets - a cat and a dog. She put one on each hand and made the cat meow and then the dog bark. The children laughed. Mattlock fell backwards and laughed harder than all of the children. Cady kept alternating meowing and barking until the whole assembly was laughing. "Thanks Mawmaw and Poppa. I love them," Cady said.
"You're welcome, honey," Deborah said. "Okay – we've got a couple of smaller boxes from your mother and father and then you can open the big boxes." Deborah handed her the first box and Cady unwrapped the board game, Chutes and Ladders. Deborah handed her the other box, and Cady unwrapped another board game – Go to the Head of the Class.
"We figured you needed some more games," Cynthia said. "And we can play them together as a family."
"Thanks Momma and Daddy," she said, studying the front and back of both boxes. Julia came up to help inspect them.
"I have some board games, but I don't have these," Julia declared.
"We can play them together," Cady said with a smile.
"Okay, let's open the other boxes so we can get to some cake and ice cream," Deborah said. The children screamed at once, in response to the promise of birthday dessert. Both of the last two boxes sat on the ground instead of the picnic table. "Come over and open this one from your Gramma and Grampa Parsons," Deborah said.
Cady looked at it wide-eyed in reaction to its scale and began unwrapping the gift. She ripped a large strip of paper from the front of the box and saw that it was a miniature vanity set with a mirror mounting a table with drawers.
"Let me help you get it out of the box, Cady," Roger said, helping her finish removing the paper. Robert came over to help, and both men were able to get the vanity out of the packaging.
"Open the drawers," Joanne said.
Cady opened the drawers and found some toy make-up. "Make-up!" she exclaimed, and Dorothy and Julia squealed with glee and ran up to check out the gift. The boys stayed seated on the ground and rolled their eyes at each other. The adults chattered amongst themselves while the girls explored the vanity and struck poses in front of the mirror.
"What do you say to your Gramma and Grampa, Cady?" Roger said.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down.
"You're welcome, sweetie. Happy birthday, Cady," Joanne said.
"Enjoy yourself," Peter said.
"One more present, Cady. It's from Mr. Houston and Mattlock," Deborah said. Julia and Dorothy sat back down on the ground with the boys while Cady opened the last large gift. She ripped away the paper from the front of the box to reveal a plastic window through which she could see a giant, plush Teddy Bear.
"Wow!" she said as she opened the box. Roger came over again to help her pull out the giant animal.
"That's huge," Peter said.
Bill smiled and said, "Every little girl should have a big Teddy Bear."
"You can get me one, Mr. Houston," Julia said with a big smile and staring at the big bear.
Bill laughed.
"I love it!" Cady said, hugging the bear hard.
"Don't forget to thank Mr. Houston and Mattlock," Roger said.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed.
"You're welcome, Cady," said Bill.
"Yeah. You're welcome, C.J.," Mattlock repeated, as Cady continued to hug the bear.
Deborah suddenly began directing people to various tasks. "Alright everyone….I want the children to pick up all the wrapping paper and put it in the big trash can by the tree." Joanne handed Deborah the list of names with corresponding gifts, and Deborah handed it to Cynthia. "All the men….I'd like you to take the presents to Cady's room." She continued, "Cynthia, Joanne, Janice, and I will get the cake and ice cream ready."
The men and the children performed their assigned tasks in a timely fashion and when they were done, they all sat down at the picnic tables to wait for the birthday treats. Mattlock came over to where the adult men sat and leaned against Bill.
"Did you see that first episode of that new show, Gunsmoke?" Bill asked, with his arm around Mattlock. "Mattlock and I really liked it, didn't we, son?"
"It was great!" Mattlock exclaimed.
"I saw it," Robert said. "I liked that The Duke introduced it. That was a nice touch and quite the endorsement."
"What's a 'dorsement?" Mattlock asked Bill.
"Well, son, it's like a recommendation. The Duke is the most famous actor in cowboy movies today and he recommended this new television show so that people who like him will give the show a chance and watch it," Bill said.
It was clear that Bill lost Mattlock's attention about half-way through the explanation, but Mattlock said, "Oh. Okay," anyway and walked back to the other children. Bill shook his head.
"I watched the show too. I didn't know what to expect really, but it was rather odd that the person who is meant to be the protagonist got shot in the first episode. Also, Cynthia could also tell you that no one heals from a bullet wound in that amount of time, and she said that very thing when we watched it together that night," Roger said.
"It's called 'suspension of disbelief,' son," Peter said and patted him on the shoulder.