Madeline looked up from the laundry that she was folding in the living room when she heard the knock on their door. Salinger jumped up from where he was sprawled out near her feet, drawing in a coloring book. "I'll get it!" he shouted.
"Oh no you won't," Madeline said firmly as she put down a pair of Cary's pants. "Remember the rule?"
Salinger rolled his eyes. "I have to ask who it is."
"And?" she prompted as they both walked to the door and she looked out the peephole.
He sighed loudly. "If I don't know the voice, I have to look out the little hole."
"And?"
"And I can't do that until I can reach, so I can't open the door," he said a little forlornly as he gazed the few feet above his head to the peephole that he didn't have any hope of reaching for years.
"That's right. Good job. So ask who it is." Mad had already seen Benson and Mallory standing on the other side of the door, but she knew how excited Salinger was about to get.
Dutifully, he asked, "Who is it?!" When he heard the response of "Uncle Benson", Salinger started jumping up and down. "Let him in, let him in!" he shouted at his mom.
Laughing, she unlocked and opened the door. "Hey guys, what brings you by?" she smiled as her son threw himself at Benson's legs.