The sound of voices had Norman hooked as he followed his ears through the dark tunnels of the air vent. He could sense that he was getting closer to his destination and he had a feeling that it was his friends talking. The young guinea pig easily heard Mel, the crazy energetic pug yipping about a squirrel who tried to break into his apartment and attack him. It sounded like a very exciting story and Norman was dying to hear it. Finding the right vent entrance, he pushed it open and cried, "Hey guys!"

"Hi Norman!" Mel and Buddy replied in unison, delighted to see their youngest friend. The parakeet Sweetpea did a triple somersault in the air, a beautiful display of his happiness, all the while chirping and singing. The Jack Russell terrier Max smiled and wagged his tail while the gray fat tabby cat Chloe lazily lounged on the couch, seeming to be completely oblivious to what was going on as she ate a bag of pretzels all by herself. It looked like she wasn't gonna be sharing any of the sweet snacks with any of the other pets. But they weren't the only animals in the apartment.

One of the guests happened to be Pops, the elderly basset hound confined to a wheelchair that Norman and the others had met the day before when they went searching for Max. The crazy rabbit Snowball was also in the apartment. The young guinea pig remembered him after he had been captured by the bunny and his comrades yesterday. He may have been crazy but he was kind and crazy too. The third and final guest was a mystery to Norman though. A giant brown dog with shaggy fur, he had accidentally frightened the small rodent when he had entered the apartment through the air vent yesterday morning. The mutt seemed to remember that too as he saw Norman and mumbled quietly with his head bowed, "Hey there little guy, sorry about what happened yesterday. You kinda scared me and I overreacted."

"It's okay! What's your name?" Norman squeaked happily as he jumped down from the air vent. Mel and Buddy caught him before he could hit the floor and hurt himself. Smiling at the two best friends gratefully, the young guinea pig boldly went up to the very large dog. Sitting down while he wagged his tail, the mutt answered, "I'm Duke. And you are..."

"Norman."

"Pleasure to meet you."

"Congratulations, you two officially know each other," Chloe grumbled, shoving another pretzel into her mouth. Sighing heavily as he glared at the tabby cat lounging on the couch, Max sat down by Snowball just as the white rabbit asked, "Can I start the meeting yet or should we wait a little longer for your girlfriend to get over here?"

"Relax, I'm here," Gidget yipped as she jumped down from the windowsill, wagging her fluffy tail. His own tail wagging too, Max went over to his girlfriend. Nuzzling her face, he asked, "What were you doing?" Licking his cheek, Gidget replied, "Sorry, but I had to grab someone first before we started this meeting."

At that moment, a large red tailed hawk hopped up onto the windowsill.