i want all those birthday presents myself

So for the next half hour James makes guesses as to what kinds of birthday presents his family has gotten him, and Aimee announces what she would like when it is her birthday in March, but maybe she would like those things for Christmas too, because Christmas is sooner, and they talk about cake and the piñata and how Penelope Carder did not look like the kind of girl who could swing the stick hard enough to whack a hole in it, and James feels a bit better about Julia and Con being in trouble on his behalf, although he still does not understand his mother's ideas about quality people and why Sean and Liam only seem to count part of the time.

The next day he finds out from her why she did not want to invite them to his party, although her explanation does not make any more sense to him than Con's did.

"I did not want them to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed or out of place," she says. She has beckoned James into her bedroom and shut the door so they may have some privacy. James half expects to see Aimee and Julia standing nonchalantly in the hallway, pretending they were not trying to listen.

( But they were happy to be here )

words: 3053
total words: 47,155
quickie research: lionel trains, erector sets, model planes, the red baron, fruit in season, treasure island (yes i had to look it up because i never read it and needed to make sure it really was about pirates)