My note…Okay, here's the second part of the chapter.

FATHER KNOWS BEST

CHAPTER 7: THE PERFECT GIFT pt.2

The ride home was filled with forced small-talk and intermittent silence. Jimmy was stoic, Ashley was preoccupied and Robert was upset. But, all thoughts of their shopping excursion were soon pushed to the back of their minds once they returned to the house and jumped right into the preparations for the party.

The car was quickly unloaded. "This was a big help guys, thanks", Kate stated as the three brought in their purchases. "Although I don't remember having quite so much stuff on my list", she added, eyeing her ex-husband suspiciously.

Robert blushed and smiled. "There were just a few things I added", he tried to reply innocently. Kate smirked and held up the bag that contained the party hats, plastic leis and blow-outs and chuckled. "I missed sweet sixteen and seventeen", he reasoned, with a slight shrug. "Not to mention nine through twelve".

Kate understood and accepted his answer without anymore teasing...it wasn't hard to see that Robert adored their daughter and that Ashley had her father tightly wrapped around her little finger as she kissed him lightly on the cheek and sung, "Thanks Daddy".

"Now, what are we missing?", Kate mumbled to herself.

"How could we be missing anything? They bought at least one of everything", Toby joked, earning him a playful nudge from Ashley and a smirk from Jimmy, who was tucked in between the table and the wall sorting through the rest of the bags, as to not be in the direct path of the constant traffic passing by.

Kate shook her head as she chewed on her nail. "No, there's something miss...".

"Honey, where do you want these?", Jeff interrupted as he and Robert walked through the door armed with the cases of beer and wine.

"The coolers are out in the yard", Kate answered with a quick flick of her head in the direction of the back door, then turned her attention back to the list she was studying.

Ashley glanced up from the brownies she was mixing, she looked from her mother to her father and groaned when the realization hit her, "Oh God, I forgot the ice".

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"Ashley, could you do me a favor?", Kate asked from her place inside the refigerator. Ashley nodded as she passed the indredients her mother handed her to Jimmy, who placed them on the counter. "Clean the bathroom upstairs and vacuum the bedrooms, I didn't have time earlier and now I really need to start the food...it getting late".

"Sure", she replied quickly and turned to leave.

"Oh, and ask your dad to start setting up the dinning room", Kate called out.

"Dad went with Jeff and Toby to pick up the ice", Ashley answered sheepishly.

Kate chuckled. "Three grown men to get a few bags of ice?", she asked sarcastically. Jimmy cleared his throat, trying to mask his own amusement.

Ashley shrugged innocently, she turned to Jimmy and asked, "Can you get the dinning room ready?".

He grabbed Ashley's hand and pretended to ponder. "Spread out a tablecloth and fill some bowls with chips...I think I can handle that", Jimmy quipped playfully and kissed the top of her hand.

"I would hope so", she giggled jokingly and kissed Jimmy on the cheek before running up the stairs.

Jimmy started with the table, pleasantly surprised at how easy it was for him. He laughed when her heard the stereo go on upstairs, almost loud enough to drown out the hum of the vacuum. Next he moved onto the snacks, placing the large, pink plastic bowls strategically around the room.

Jimmy looked around, pleased with what he had accomplished but not completely satisfied with the half done room. He pushed back over to the table and began unpacking the decorations. Maybe he wouldn't be able to get all of them up, but he could at least start...ah yes, with the banners.

Jimmy was so focused on his artistic abilities with streamers, garlands and balloons, he almost didn't hear Kate calling from the kitchen over his humming to Ashley's singing.

"Hey Jimmy, can you call Ashley down?...I need her help", she stated desperately from her place at the island.

Jimmy smirked from the doorway when he noticed Kate was elbow deep in a messy meat mixture. "Sure", he chuckled and wheeling back through the dinning room. "Ash", he called or more accurately, yelled from the base of the landing...but to no avail. Sighing, he headed back to the kitchen.

"She can't hear me from down here", Jimmy told Kate apologetically. "Can I do anything to help", he offered readily.

"That doesn't surprise me", Kate mumbled in regards to Jimmy's first statement, then warily eyed the cabinet above his head. Jimmy followed her gaze and bit his lip. "I need the two baking dishes on the last shelf...", she trailed off, not directly asking him to reach them and not entirely certain he could.

Jimmy smiled to himself, remembering the success he had down the baking aisle of the grocery store. Without a second thought, he reached up and slid the door open with his fingertip...the stacked baking dishes were going to be a little more of a challenge, but not impossible.

Jimmy concentrated on using his left forearm against the counter for leverage as he reached over with his right hand to grab the dishes. "Be careful Jimmy, there pretty heavy", Kate called cautiously, but not condescendingly. Jimmy nodded slightly and smiled when he touched the cool glass.

Blindly, he grasped the dishes tightly and pulled them forward and down. "See, no problem", he stated triumphantly, looking over his shoulder at Kate. Jimmy turned back, just in time to see a glass measuring cup tumbling after the bakeware. He instinctively put down the dishes and reached for the cup which bounced off the counter as it slipped from his hand and shattered on the rim of his chair.

"Jimmy, are you alright?", Kate asked anxiously, rushing over to the sink to rinse her hands.

"Fine", Jimmy sighed heavily as he settled back in his chair to view the damage. "I'm sorry Kate, I'll buy you a new one".

"New what?", Ashley questioned as she walked into the room, to find her mom kneeling on the floor, surrounded by a thousand shards of glass. "What happened?".

"A little accident, nothing major", Kate insisted, playing it down. "Jimmy, why don't you move back a little so...".

"No", Ashley interjected. "If he backs up, it'll be right over those chunks of glass", she stated, rushing over to the mess.

"Ashley, shoes", the mother in Kate ordered, noticing her daughters feet were bare. Ashley nodded and slipped on her sandals by door, which had just opened...and brought over the broom and a kitchen chair.

"What happened?", Toby parroted Ashley previous question, as he, Jeff and Robert walked into the house. Ashley, Jimmy and Kate shot him a look stating the obvious.

Kate was done picking up the large pieces, Ashley swept around Jimmy's chair then put the kitchen chair beside him so he could transfer. "Here", she said, picking up Jimmy's chair and offering it to Toby. "Put it over to the side then run upstairs and get the vacuum".

Toby dropped the bags of ice he was holding and quickly did what was ordered as Ashley swept up the rest of the glass surrounding Jimmy. Satisfied that anything large enough to do damage to Jimmy's wheels were swept away, Ashley moved his chair back beside him so he could transfer back. Jimmy did just that, as fluidly as possible, to hopefully deter the many sets of eyes he felt were upon him.

Business as usual resumed in the kitchen, Jeff and Toby taking the ice out back, Kate preparing the hamburgers and Ashley vacuuming the kitchen floor. Ashley playfully bumped the front of the vacuum against Jimmy's toes, elicting a small smile from him. They played this cat and mouse game for a few minutes before Jimmy had the opportunity to grab the vacuum cord and pull Ashley onto his lap.

Ashley giggled, cutting the power to the machine and settling into Jimmy's lap. They kissed softly and whispered into each others ears, blissfully unaware...until a wet sensation crept along the back of Ashley's knee. Confused, she stood up, wiped her hand under her knee and brought it into view.

Ashley gasped when she looked back down to Jimmy, her eyes falling on the deep red patch spreading across his jeans. "Jimmy, you're bleeding".

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Ashley sat next to the gurney in the bay of exam room three, holding Jimmy's hand as they waited for the doctor to come in. "I'm sorry Ash", Jimmy apologized for the about the fifteenth time.

Ashley smiled and squeezed his hand. "Will you please stop saying that", she whined insistantly, checking from the doorway, to her father, who forced a small smile, then back to Jimmy.

"But I'm making you miss your own birthday party", he grumbled.

"Like I could really stay at a party when my boyfriend's at the emergency room getting a huge piece of glass removed from his leg", she explained incredulously. "I don't think so".

Jimmy looked over at Robert who sat uncomfortably in a chair at the far wall. "Thanks for bringing us Mr. Kerwin", he stated sincerely.

Robert smiled. He knew Ashley would insist on being there with Jimmy and to help if he needed it, so Robert offered to drive. "Don't mention it Jimmy", he replied genuinely, trying to avoid starring at the oozing bandage that covered the nasty wound.

Unfortunately, Robert shared in his daughters aversion to hospitals, although Ashley seemed to be holding up just fine.

The doctor soon came in to inspect the wound. "Okay Jimmy, first I'm going to give you something to relax, then I'll tend to your laceration", she stated with a good bed-side manner.

Jimmy eyed the syringe suspiciously. "I can guarantee the shot's gonna hurt a lot more than yanking out that hunk of glass", he winced. "Can't you just give it to me in my leg?".

The doctor chuckled and continued to rub Jimmy's arm with an alcohol swab. "It'll only hurt for a second and then you'll feel really good", she joked and quickly hit the plunger, then turned to cut the right leg of Jimmy's jeans and cover him with a paper blanket.

Ashley caught Jimmy's cringe and bit back a smirk...those were his favorite 'dress' pair of jeans. "I'll buy you a new pair", she teasingly whispered as she stood up and leant down to gave Jimmy a soft kiss on the forehead.

The doctor flashed the couple a quick smile and asked, "How ya doin' there Jimmy...the meds kickin' in yet?".

Jimmy shrugged first then nodded. "I think so", he aswered questionably. "But why do I even need them if I can't feel what you're doing?".

"Well..", the doctor started as she removed the piece of glass and held it up with a pair of tongs. "...even though you may not feel it, your body still reacts to the trauma and everything else that goes with it...I don't need your blood pressure spiking if you decide to go and panic on me", she emphasized, dropping the shard into a metal dish. Only then, after seeing the glass and hearing the 'ping', did Jimmy flinch. Robert sat and watched the entire procedure from the corner, amazed that he probably 'felt' more of it than Jimmy did.

"So how did this happen?", the doctor asked, making small talk as she stitched.

"Glass measuring cup...got away from me", Jimmy chuckled.

The doctor eyed Jimmy's chair and noticed where the piece of glass must have wedged itself in the space between the seat and wheel rim. "Ouch", she mumbled under her breath.

"If you say so", Jimmy snickered playfully. Ashley rolled her eyes, the meds must really be kickin' in now.

The doctor finished her bandaging. "Do you have something else to wear home or do you need a pair of scrubs", she asked motioning toward his tattered jeans.

Jimmy shook his head. "I have a change in my bag", he answered, pointedly looking at the backpack under his chair.

The doctor nodded. "You can toss them in there after you've changed", she explained,motioning to the bio-hazard bin behind Ashley. "I'll go get your discharge papers and antibiotic script and you'll be on your way", she waived cheerfully and left the room.

Ashley took Jimmy's change of clothes out of his bag and laid it on his lap, then turned to leave with her dad, to give Jimmy some privacy. "Wait", he called out, digging into the pocket of his jeans. Ashley and Robert turned to face him.

"I really don't want to do this here", Jimmy stated, holding out the little velvet box in his hand. Ashely smiled and walked back over to him. "But I think I'd better before I pass out", he joked drowsily.

Robert's eyes widened as Ashley reached out to take the gift. She slowly opened it, her eyes gleaming with joy. "Oh Jimmy...it's so beautiful", she gasped happily.

"It's not exactly what I wanted to give you, but...", he trailed off when Ashley grabbed him, nearly squeezing the air from his lungs. Robert eyed them nervously until Ashley turned the box around to reveal the graduated diamond pendant and matching earings.

"No Jimmy it's beautiful...", she insisted adamantly and pulled him into another hug. Jimmy's heart sank when he caught Robert letting out a relieved sigh. Ashley smiled at him and cupped his cheek. "...it's the perfect gift".

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Okay, so there's the conclusion...hope it didn't disappoint. The end is nearing, I'm going to try to fit it all into one more chapter, but I may have to split the next one up too.

Thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers...you guys are awesome!!!

Degrassi is not mine.