23 The Big Day

23 The Big Day The early-morning light came streaming in through the barred window of the room where the girls had been sleeping. Peanut opened her eyes and was greeted with a close-up view of Little-Bit's smiling face about three centimetres away from her own. "At last!" giggled Little-Bit. "I thought you'd never wake up, sleepyhead!" Five minutes later, the sisters were dressed and standing in the corridor knocking on their brother's door. Leo answered, bleary eyed. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIG BROTHER!" shouted Peanut and Little-Bit, before shoving eighteen giant hand-drawn balloons into his room.

23 重要的大日子 清晨的阳光透过女孩们卧室的铁栏窗，洒进了房间里。 花生睁开眼睛，一眼就看见小不点微笑的脸，凑在离自己只有三厘米远的地方。 “终于等到你醒啦！”小不点咯咯笑着说。 “我还以为你醒不来呢，小懒虫！” 五分钟后，姐妹俩穿好衣服，站在走廊上敲哥哥的房门。 里奥睡眼惺忪地开了门。 “生日快乐，哥哥！”花生和小不点大声喊道，接着把十八只手绘的大气球推进了他的房间。

"Thanks, girls. You, er, shouldn't have," he said, stumbling backwards as he attempted to catch the balloons. "I also painted this for you," said Peanut, handing him a beautiful watercolour cake. "Aw, Top-knot, this is amazing. It looks delicious!" said a delighted Leo. "Well, looks can be deceiving. You haven't tasted it yet," she replied sheepishly. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEO!" sang two more voices in unison, as the children's parents followed the girls into the room. "Awww, I can't believe my little boy is eighteen!" said Mum. "Feels like it was only yesterday that I was changing your nappies." "Yeah, and it must be at least a week since you stopped doing that!" Peanut said, laughing. Leo grabbed his sister in a playful headlock and ruffled her hair. Ooh, Dad. Nice haircut!" said Little-Bit. "Yes," said Mum. "I gave him a little trim this morning. Couldn't help myself. Made him shave too. Nice to be able to see his face again. And what a lovely face it is." She then gave him a huge kiss, full on the lips, much to the children's embarrassment. "Ewww, gross!" squealed Little-Bit.

“谢谢你们呀，姑娘们。 你、呃，其实不用这么费心的”，他一边说一边往后踉跄，想去接住这些气球。 “我还给你画了这个礼物”，花生说着，递给他一块漂亮的水彩蛋糕。 “哇，小揪揪，这太厉害了。 看起来好好吃呀！”开心的里奥说道。 “哼，可不能光看外表哦。 你还没尝过呢”，她腼腆地回答。 “里奥，生日快乐！”又有两个声音齐声唱道，孩子们的爸爸妈妈跟着姐妹俩走进了房间。 “天啊，真不敢相信我的小儿子都十八岁了！”妈妈说。 “感觉昨天我还在给你换尿布呢。” “对呀，你上次换尿布，距离现在也才一个星期而已呀！” 花生大笑着说道。 里奥调皮地搂住妹妹的脖子，揉乱了她的头发。 哇，爸爸。 发型好棒呀！”小不点说。 “是呀”，妈妈说。 “我今早给他剪了两下。 忍不住手痒嘛。 还逼着他刮了胡子。 终于又能看清他的脸了。 这张脸多俊呀。” 说完她狠狠亲了爸爸一口，正好亲在嘴唇上，把孩子们尴尬坏了。 “哎呀，好肉麻呀！”小不点尖叫道。

"Ugh, get a room, guys," said Peanut, blushing. Leo turned his head the other way. "So, I guess you two have made up?" he asked through gritted teeth. Dad laughed and wiped away Mum's lipstick. "Sorry, kids. It's just that, y'know, we haven't seen each other for a long time. Anyway, many happy returns, Leo. I'm so proud of you, young man." Mum began cutting the painted birthday cake into slices and placing them on the pastel-drawn plates that Peanut had brought in. "Where's Rockwell then? Still asleep?" she asked. "No. He, er, had to head home actually," said Peanut. "I think he needed to see his mum." "Yes, of course." Mum nodded. "I'm sure she's been wondering where he's been. Shame he's going to miss the party, though." Peanut and Little-Bit shared the briefest of glances just as Mr Markmaker and Doodle appeared at the door. "Morning, everybody," Mr M bellowed, cheerily, as the dog ran in and jumped onto Leo's bed. And huge felicitations to you, Leonardo. Ooh, is that cake?" He grabbed a slice and took a big bite. "Mmmm, interesting flavour. You wouldn't necessarily think that liver and onions could work in this context, and yet

“哎呀，你们要亲热回房间啦”，花生红着脸说。 里奥把头转到了另一边。 “所以，你们俩和好了？”他咬着牙问道。 爸爸笑了笑，擦去妈妈留在脸上的口红印。 “抱歉呀，孩子们。 只是你懂的，我们已经好久没见面了。 对了，生日快乐里奥。 我真为你骄傲，好孩子。” 妈妈把这块画出来的生日蛋糕切成小块，摆到花生带来的、画着彩纹的盘子上。 “洛克威尔在哪儿呢？ 还在睡觉吗？”她问道。 “没有。 他、呃，其实已经回家了”，花生说。 “我想他得回去看他妈妈。” “对，当然啦。” 妈妈点了点头。 “我肯定他妈妈一直在担心他的去向。 可惜他要错过这场派对了。” 花生和小不点飞快对视了一眼，正好马克梅克先生和嘟嘟出现在门口。 “大家早上好呀”，马克先生快活地大声招呼，小狗冲进来跳到了里奥的床上。 祝你生辰快乐呀，莱昂纳多。 哇，这是蛋糕吗？” 他抓起一块咬了一大口。 “唔，味道挺有意思的。 本来没人会想到洋葱猪肝能做蛋糕，不过话说回来

here we are. "He put the remainder of the cake down and wiped the corners of his mouth. "So, are we all ready to head down to the lake? The citizens are already starting to gather and it's all getting rather jolly. Millicent is holding the lift for us." "Oh, I think we can do better than the lift," said Peanut, pointing to her bandolier of art supplies. After all, a special ceremony like this deserves a special entrance."

它居然还真做成了。 他把剩下的蛋糕放下，擦了擦嘴角。 好了，大家都准备好出发去湖边了吗？ 大伙儿已经开始集合了，气氛可热闹了。 米利森特已经帮我们留着电梯了。” “哦，我们可比坐电梯有意思多啦”，花生说着，指了指自己挂满画具的肩带。 毕竟，这么特别的仪式，当然该配特别的出场方式啦。”