Milo was intrigued, was very curious as to who the new people were. What were they doing there? Were they nice? Did they like dogs? He sure hoped so. Max was one of the nicest dogs in the neighborhood, if not the nicest. He hoped the new family would come over to say hi sometime. He wanted to show them his fingerpainting he did earlier that week. As he ate his snack, a plateful of cheese and crackers, he watched his mother and father move around the kitchen, talking to each other about what kind of treat they could make for the new neighbors. His mother wanted to give them something to welcome them, but she was worried about allergies.<br/><br/>After a long debate, they finally decided on a homemade casserole for dinner. His mother started working on it, and his father went upstairs to get ready for work. Milo was left to eat his snack. He figured he wouldn't be let outside again. It was too dark. He was going to paint. He wanted to make another cat like they had done in his class.<br/><br/>After he finished his snack, he took it over to the counter and reached up to carefully set it on the counter and push it back so it wouldn't fall. Then he went off to go find his paints and take them up to his room to paint on his paper.<br/><br/>His mother finished the casserole a little after sunset. Her husband was gone by now and she had checked on Milo. He had passed out after painting, curled up on his bed with an open picture book. She woke him briefly to tell him she was going over to the neighbor's house. He jolted awake and jumped up and put the book away. "I want to go with." He said once he had paused in his whirlwind running around.<br/><br/>She laughed. "Alright, come with me."<br/><br/>She led the way out of the house, Milo shutting the door behind her. Then they walked together along the sidewalk to their house. She saw them on the porch and made her way up, Milo clinging to the back of her shirt as he followed her.<br/><br/>"Hi there. We met before. I'm Alice. This is my son, Milo. My husband, Richard, is at work. We just wanted to make you something to welcome you to the neighborhood."<br/><br/>Milo waved at them, beaming. "Hi." His eyes focused on the girl, staring at her for a long moment, before shyly looking back at his mother.