“I miss my friends,” she repeated. “And my school.”
“I know kiddo. But I bet you’ll like your new school and make lots of new friends. Look at this as embarking on an exciting new adventure!”
“OK,” she said, but her skeptical tone revealed her true feelings.
“I’m going to have to make new friends too. You and I are going to get through this together.”
Maddie pursed her lips, then turned her head to look outside. For a moment, I was worried she was giving me the cold shoulder. When we passed a dog park, however, an excited squeal escaped her.
“Is that a dog park?” she asked, turning to me with wide eyes as she pointed out the window.
I grinned. “Sure is. And the best part is that it’s only a couple of blocks from our place. We can walk there.”
“Can we go?” she asked. “Today?”
“That might be doable,” I said with a smile. I spotted a pizza joint a little further down the block. “I’ve got an idea—how about we get to the house, carry our stuff in and do a little unpacking. Then, when that’s all done, we can go for a walk around the neighborhood. I’m thinking we can check out the parks, grab some pizza, maybe even do some ice cream after.”
“Yes! Can we get Hawaiian?” she asked, tons of enthusiasm in her voice.
I shuddered at the thought of pineapple on pizza. But Mads absolutely loved it.
“We sure can. But we need to completely unload the car first.”
Maddie nodded before turning her attention back to the dog park, practically shoving her face against the glass as she watched the dogs run here and there, their owners chasing after them.
“Can we get a dog?”
I laughed. Getting a dog had been the number one thing on Maddie’s mind for the last few months. We’d been so busy with the move that the thought of adding a dog into the mix had struck me as totally insane. Now that we were about done with the process, however…
“Let’s take a little time to get settled first,” I said. “A dog is a huge responsibility. It’s one thing to play with them at the dog park; it’s a whole other thing to actually have it in the house, to train it and take it for walks, feed and bathe it...”
“I promise to take care of her!”
“Her?” I asked with a smile.
Mads nodded. “Yes. I want a girl dog.”
“Oh yeah? And what kind of dog do you want?”
She placed her fingertip on her chin in that insanely adorable way she always did when she had something on her mind she was trying to think through.
“A fluffy one with lots of fur. And her name is Penelope.”
I laughed, pulling the turn on to Washington Street where our new home was.
“Is that right? And where are we going to get the money for this fluffy dog named Penelope?”
Her finger went back onto her chin, Mads making a corkscrew motion with it as she thought.
“From the bank!”
“It’s not exactly that easy kiddo.”
I drove down Washington, admiring the amazing houses that lined the road. I couldn’t believe that things had worked out so well, that we were able to move to a neighborhood I’d once thought was permanently out of reach.
“Here we are!” I said. “We’re home!”
Mads let out a squeal of happiness—mimicking the squeal I was known to make when I got excited—as she turned her attention to the house. She might’ve been upset about moving away from her friends, but Maddie had always loved an adventure.
