New Year's Day 2077 to Maxwell was up bright and early due to the sweet kisses of his puppy that he got on his birthday two and a half weeks prior. For a 16th birthday Arthur had bought him a pet dog mostly due to concern that his son might be depressed. His concern was mostly warranted as over the last few years Maxwell had gone from being a pretty slim child to being put the chunky boy. He was not obese by any standard measure but he was definitely noticeably overweight for avoid his age, especially for his size and height.

Having enough knowledge of people and how many of them respond to stress and bullying, it wasn't hard for Arthur to come to the conclusion his son may have developed compulsive eating to try and drown his sorrows in food. So Arthur hopes that by giving his son a dog to take care of it might make him a little bit more active. To a degree it did work, as Maxwell was up even before Arthur was and he what's playing with his puppy.

Arthur knew that Maxwell loved animals deeply and that Max would definitely change a lot of his routine to take care of the puppy properly. So he bought him a cute little pitbull husky mixed dog. She had an old white fur coat with gray eyes speckled with bright blue color. Not to mention she was the only puppy at the animal shelter that was willing to approach him when he went to pick one out. So Arthur respected her courage and adopted her. He spent the next 5 days secretly hiding the dog with a different family member while taking her to the vet for all necessary shots and tests to make sure she was in pristine health.

The joy on Max's face when Arthur showed up with the new puppy as his present for his birthday made it all worth it. Max ended up calling the puppy, Little Hope. But they just called her Hope for sure.

Max said he liked the name because it was from a story that he read that he really enjoyed, but Arthur on the other hand thought it might have been another sign that his son has been battling with depression. He knows that Maxwell's school life has been different ever since he moved here as he's been much more of a quiet shy student when at school after he got in trouble for the fight on his first day all those years ago. Arthur feels mostly responsible for whatever decline in Maxwell's school life has occurred due to him teaching his son to be more of a pacifist.

Although he knows in the end taking a more pacifist approach to life will be better for his son when it comes to staying out of trouble, he also has the recently started to acknowledge that it may have opened him up to being bullied often. Since after all Arthur has made it clear he didn't want Max getting into more fights. He remembers how vicious young children can be and how kids who have been raised to not fight tend to be prime candidates for some of the harshest bullying.

It was a thought that was on his mind as Arthur got up to get ready for the day only to find Maxwell already up and dressed preparing to take his puppy outside to use the bathroom. Ever since a Little Hope came into their life her super energetic and joyful demeanor has almost given both of them a little hope.

The stress of work has bogged Arthur down for a while. Even more so with his recent promotion to Chief of Police for the city of Natchitoches. However Little Hope always is awake when he comes home and she seems to be waiting for him to arrive. She always greets him with calm affection and almost seems to act more like a trained medical service dog for people suffering with anxiety, depression, and mental illness.

Meanwhile he has observed that when it comes to Maxwell she always seems to be more of a ray of joy and playfulness that constantly showers him in expressions of love and affection with her puppy kisses and cuddles. She almost seems to know what each of them needs on an instinctual level. For a puppy to be able to act the way that little help does Arthur believe she might have a lot more intelligence than the average dog might.

Even as he goes to brew himself his morning cup of tea for him and his son to enjoy he watches little hope happily dance around Max as he sits and puts on his shoes. She wasn't even nervous when he put on her collar and leash to make sure she didn't run out into the street.

However before Max could get up and open the door to head out both of them heard the familiar sound of car doors closing from the direction of their next door neighbors. This made Max really excited as he immediately checked out the window to see that the Gonzalez family was back from their Christmas vacation. Jacqueline and the rest of her family had gone back to New Mexico to spend Christmas with Jacqueline's grandparents what you meant for the last 2 weeks after Max's birthday his closest friend had been basically only reachable through phone calls.

Very excited Maxwell opened the door and walked out and immediately greeted the Gonzalez family and wave to them. Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez smiled seeing Maxwell as he was often over to their house so much they basically saw him as family especially since his extremely close friendship with Jacqueline seem to keep their daughter out of trouble and always in good spirits.

Jacqueline herself left her bags by the car for a moment as she walked over and gave her best friend a hug. He happily hugged her back before she was interrupted by the feeling of puppy paws on her calf. She looked down and saw Little Hope who she had only seen for a few days before leaving for her break.

Jacqueline picked up Little Hope and began to pet her and give her little kisses on her snout. She love dogs and her family had three little Chihuahuas that were all very well trained and behaved in an extremely docile friendly manner.

Through the open door Arthur had saw Jacqueline and her family and he approached, "Welcome back Jackie. Glad to see you and your family had a safe trip home. Did you and your sister get a lot of presents for Christmas?"

"Not really, but we did get to go to a lot of places while visiting my abuela and abuelo. I got to see a lot of the hometown that my dad grew up in and it was nice to see family members that I hadn't seen since I was very little," she answered.

"Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Your folks look happy and your sister seems like she's just enjoying a break from college," Max stated.

Jacqueline nodded while placing Little Hope back down, "Yep yep. How about both of you? Did you stay in town for Christmas or did you go back to New Orleans to see your grandparents?"

"Grandma and Grandpa came to see us. Grandpa told me he was working on a new gaming system for his company to sell since he heard that I was really into video games lately. He asked me what was a game I wanted to play and he would make sure his people made it to go with his new gaming PC or console or whatever it is going to be," Max answered.

Arthur informed her, "By the way, I was planning on barbecuing later since I have the next week off. I don't mind taking out extra if you and your family want to come over and enjoy some good food and spend some time with us. We don't have anything else planned for today."

Jacqueline was very excited as she really enjoyed Arthur's cooking, "Really? That would be great. I know me and my sister won't turn it down. I'll tell my parents and see what they think."

"Alright now. I'll let you two kids chat while I go fix me something to drink," Arthur responded before walking back into the kitchen.

Maxwell close the front door to the house behind him and he and Jacqueline spoke while Little Hope found a spot in the grass on the lawn to use the bathroom.

Jacqueline plays the hand on Max's shoulder and asked him sincerely, "Hey, how have you been holding up? I know before Christmas/New Year's break, Cody and his asshole friends on the football team were talking shit about you and your mom. I know that your mom isn't around and that they were just saying shit, but I saw that it got to you."

Maxwell looked down and away not really wanting to talk about it, "It's whatever. Cody's a piece of shit so I don't give a fuck what he has to say anyway. Unlike him my mom wasn't on video getting gangbanged at work while his dad was watching a corner."

Jackie gave a chuckle remembering that had happened a month or so ago, "True. It was hilarious watching his expression as some of the kids in school got a hold of the video," she suddenly got a little serious and placed her head on Maxwell's shoulder, "Still.... I know sometimes you like to bury your emotions. But don't forget that I'm here if you ever want to get that stuff off your chest."

He let out a sigh, "I know Jack. But right now I'm fine. Besides the less I think about it the better I'll feel."

She just gave him a knot and went to go put her luggage back inside the house. At the same time he saw a Little Hope come up to him and start nuzzling against his leg. He picked up the puppy and she began looking his face and fingers.

"Well Little Hope, this year's going to be the start of something better. Especially with you around," he said as she happily barked.

A few hours later, the smell of juicy barbecued ribs and burgers permeated the air. The sound of a mix of traditional Louisiana zydeco music along with South American salsa music echoed throughout the neighborhood. In the backyard of the Sinclair household, Arthur was on the barbecue pit fixing something delicious for everyone to eat as he talked to Mr. Gonzalez about the upcoming football playoffs.

Jacqueline and her older sister Laloquita played with Little Hope as Maxwell sat in the chair in front of Mrs. Gonzalez who decided to put his long white hair into a beautiful French braid. She finished by putting a ribbon in his hair to tie it together since she didn't have any rubber bands at the moment. She then gave him a compliment, "Look at you. You look so handsome with your hair like this."

"Thank you Mrs. Gonzalez," he reply very appreciative.

Suddenly Mr. Gonzalez called out to Jacqueline, "Hey Jackie! Go grab the Christmas present you got for Max."

Maxwell was surprised to hear that his friend had got him a present, but it put a smile on his face at the same time.

Jacqueline got up and swiftly went to go grab the present that she had bought for Maxwell. Max looked at his father who clearly was also surprised and didn't know. Realizing this wasn't some thing his dad had a part in made him feel that his friend went out of her way to do something nice for him.

He remembered that he had some money saved up and thought that he should get a gift for her too. Especially seeing how she went out of her way to get him something.

To his surprise, and to Arthur's dismay, the gift that she came back with was a guitar. Maxwell new the moment he laid eyes on it his father might want him to give it back or throw it away considering how his father really does not like music of any kind.

Noticeable beads of sweat began to run down his cheeks and forehead. Everyone could immediately see the shift in his expression from one of surprised joy to nervous terror. Something that Jacqueline immediately picked up on as she approached him holding the guitar at first smiling and now concerned.

"What's wrong? You don't like it," she said with an audible bit of confusion and nervousness in her voice.

He graciously took the guitar from her giving a nervous smile replying, "No I love it. I was just expecting something more small. This must have cost a lot?"

She leaned in and gave him a serious look as she clarified making it obvious she saw through his bullshit, "It barely put a dent in my Christmas funds. I thought you kept saying how much you wanted to learn how to play a guitar."

"Yep. That's right. Thank you so much," he said giving his now well known nervous head scratching and worried smile.

Arthur clearly did not like the guitar and part of him wanted to tell his son to give it back. As he was about to say something he caught a glimpse of himself scowling with great fury in the nearby water of the pool next to the barbecue pit. Even he agreed seeing his own face in that moment that he looked more like his old self. He hated seeing himself look like that so he swallowed his disdain and centered his mind.

Arthur took a moment to go back inside and check on the rest of the food that was cooking in the kitchen. That way his son could enjoy the gift his friend got him without Arthur making it seem like he was about to blow a gasket. It did not stop Mr. Gonzalez from noticing Arthur seemed to be frustrated at the site of the guitar.

Considering how close he got to Arthur in the last couple years he followed him inside holding a can of beer and he asked out of the earshot from the rest, "What's wrong Arthur? You don't like music or something?"