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Shawn wobbled through the door with 2 heart shaped cards about 3/4's his own size. One was red and the other was purple. He looked around and then slowly walked over to Greed and held out the red card. "Happy Birthday Greed!" His cheeks grew red as he looked at her. Golly, has she gotten pretty.

Another party I thought. Mine didn't go too well...
Flashes of Noni driving away played through my mind.
Shaking my head to try and clear my brain, I walked into the room. My hands were in my back pockets, and I leaned back as I surveyed the get-up they had.
It seemed more high-class than my party had been.
I also saw a few more vudolls than before.
Then I saw her, Noni.

My blood froze, and my skin prickled with goosebumps.
Mama told me I can't talk to her... I reminded myself.
So I just stood there, eyeing the cake and wondering if I should go and grab a plate.

..........Finally, the cake came to a triumphant rest, unspilt, on the purple table. Noni sighed with relief, turning to Greed with a smile. "Well, there! ... Oh, migosh, Greed, your hair is... An afro," she said secretively, as if keeping her voice low would somehow prevent others in the room from noticing Greed's drastic meeting with static electricity. She began to furtively smooth out the haywire strands, pulling her dainty hands back sharply each time a stray spark worked it's way across her skin. As the hair slowly flattened, Noni's attention drifted to the door to survey the guests filtering in.

.........."Oh, look, Shawn's here... A Todoller already? What cute cards he's brought... Oh, geez, Negl's distracted him... And, is that? Oh, hee!" Noni's thoughts came to an abrupt halt as Sam came in the door. Red eyes lit up with the warm light of recognition. A face that was unchanged from the last time she'd seen it! With a vibrant smile, she freed Greed's hair from her nit picking. "All-better-now-kay?" she reassured the young girl quickly, before beginning to walk across the room. "Hey Sammi!"

"Hey Sammy!" I heard her call out.
I wanted to ignore her, I really did! I wasn't one of those types to go around disregarding my mama! However, Noni was just one of those kind of people that you have to talk to. Her joy and giddiness would just infect you, and make your whole day seem a lot better.
I waved at her, "Hey Noni!"

I nodded and walked over to the large cake. Cutting myself a pretty large, I searched for the napkins and maybe a plastic fork. Finding them, I placed them on my plate and went to go sit down by Greed.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but I swore I saw crumbs flying in all directions, like little projectiles filled with frosting-goodness.
I laughed a little bit deep in my throat, and started to work on my own slice of cake. I'd cut each part of the slice with the edge of my fork, and then bring the piece to my mouth. However, I kept catching side-glances of Greed.
That... Looks.... SO fun... I thought.
Looking around, I reminded myself. Mama wouldn't want me to forget all the manners she taught me... She wants me to be a polite southern gentleman.
So I restrained myself from gorging like Greed.
Cutting. One. Piece. At. A. Time.

The frosting stuck to the roof of my mouth like peanut butter.
"The cake quite goo'" I lisped to Greed.
I tried smacking my tongue against the roof of my mouth, but it wouldn't get rid of that thick, creamy feeling. I needed something to drink. Looking around, I saw cranberry juice, but it was on the other side of Greed.
When I was about to ask her to pass me some, I guess some of the frosting decided it didn't like being on the roof of my mouth any longer and hopped on down into my throat. I coughed, and spluttered, trying to force the sticky frosting out of my throat. I could hardly breath!
Then I saw Greed offering me a cup. Not looking twice, I grabbed it and chugged it in one gulp, clearing my mouth and throat of the thick frosting. Content, I sighed a big full-belly sigh. Then a belch.
"Oh, s'cuze me!" I exclaimed.
Then I giggled and looked over at Greed.
"Bet you can't beat that one!"

I grinned.
"Yeah, but you can sure gozzle the cake down faster than I can!" I replied to her, trying not to be a sore-winner like mama told me not to be.
Where is mama...? As soon as I thought it, I could see her walking in through the door.
Her long brunette hair was up in a ponytail like it always was, and her jeans looked as if she had just got done helping the orchard farmers, they were crusted with mud. I saw her look around, she glanced at me and smiled, then noticed Greed and hurried over.
She pulled out a present that she was hiding behind her back. It was wrapped with brown paper, and a frumpy green bow. I gazed in awe.
"I didn't know you got her something." I whispered to her so Greed couldn't hear. "What'd you get her?"
She smiled at me, and whispered back. "I got her a stuffed animal that looks like a large bunny, with big old floppy ears."