Hi MLs!  It's me again.  If you remember, I'm the one who wrote the
music fic, "No Matter How Long it Takes"  This is another HR (My
apologies to DBNs).  This time, I'm giving permission to put my name
(JQ Fan) on any archives.  After much thought, I've decided the same
for "No Matter...", so anyone with that fic can put my name on it. 
Please put this with the fanfic awards and Suze, please take this too.
 Oh, and feel free to distribute to other mailing lists too! :)
~~
Categories:  J/J HR
Disclaimer: I don't own Jonny or Jessie or anyone else in this fic. 
That's about all I have to say.
The Poem:  The poem contained in this fic has been dedicated to my
best friend.  She knows who she is.  With a few altercations for the
fic, it is just as was written.
Archivers:  If you feel it's good enough, then go ahead.  

Happy Birthday, Jess

It was the week of Jessie's 18th birthday and Jonny Quest had
absolutely no idea what he could give her.  
"Maybe I could give her a stereo.....no, I couldn't afford a good one.
 I'll give her....hm.....a flower?  Nah, too.....shallow.  Clothes! 
Yeah right, like I know fashion....."
Hadji watched silently as Jonny paced back and forth in his room. 
Finally, he could keep silent no longer.
"Jonny, perhaps you should just give her something from the heart."
Hadji's only response was a blank look from his 17 year old brother. 
With a sigh, Hadji got up to leave.
"Only you can know what you can give her."
This statement only confused Jonny further and after Hadji left the
room, he returned to pacing relentlessly.

"Jessica Bannon, just look at you!  You're all grown up, and so
beautiful!," bubbled Estella Valesquez, Jessie's mother.
"Oh please, Mom.  I'm not quite out of school yet.  And if I'm so
beautiful, why hasn't Jonny asked me out yet?"
Estella only grinned and continued praising her teenaged daughter.

Finally, the day of Jessie's birthday arrived.  That morning while the
sun was not quite up yet, her father, Race Bannon, watched her
sleeping form from her doorway.
"They do grow up a little too fast, don't they, old friend?"
Startled out of his reverie, Race spun around to face his addressee.
"I see we haven't had our coffee this morning, huh?" Laughed Benton
Quest.
Smiling, Race replied,
"No, Doc, we haven't.  You just caught me off guard thinking of my
little girl."
"Being 'off guard' is not necessarily wise for a bodyguard."  Said
Benton cheerfully.
"I think one of us had a few too many coffees this morning."  Mumbled
Race.
As the two men joked and reminisced, they never noticed a stealthy
figure sneak out of his room, down the stairs, and out the door.
Jonny revved the engine on his car and sped towards Rockport.  He knew
exactly what he was going to give Jessie.  Now all he needed was a
place that was open on a Sunday morning with just the right thing.

That night, Jessie had a huge party with all her friends present. 
Jessie seemed almost like a little girl tearing open each of her
packages.  A blouse and skirt from Jan, a few Cds from Tim, shoes from
Tonya...the list went on and on.  As all her guests left, it was far
past 10 o'clock.  Now it was time for her to open her presents from
her family.  First came Hadji.  With a smile, he handed her a small
package with the message "Call me plenty."  She opened it to reveal a
book entitled, "Growing up within yourself."  She smiled softly as she
looked up to see him smiling as well.  He then handed her another
package this time with the message "This one is serious."  She opened
it and found she was now the owner of a cellular phone.  
"It is pre-paid and all your bills for the next three years will be
charged to me.  Now you can call me in Bangalore any time you want," 
said Hadji.
"Ooooo, thanks Hadj.  I'll call you often."  She gave him a warm hug
and went on to her next present.  Dr. Quest handed her a set of keys
and pointed her in the direction of the garage.  She opened the door
thinking a car would be found inside.  Instead she found a jet ski. 
She ran over to inspect it and to her amusement, she found a picture
of a car taped to the seat.  The inscribed message read "From Rachel
and I."  She smiled and hurried over to hug her surrogate father and
sent a quick prayer of thanks to Rachel.  Her mother came next and
gave her a small box.  Inside she found a set of earrings and a
gold-framed picture of the entire family.  After giving her mother a
hug and whispering something in her ear, Race came over to her.  He
gave her a long hug first and quietly said,  "I love you, Ponchita."
"I love you too, Daddy."
He then gave her a small package.  Inside this one, was a diamond ring.
"I wanted to be the first man to give you a diamond ring," spoke up
Race with a grin.
Everyone chuckled cheerfully.  Then she opened another gift.  This
time she lifted it up.  It was a small fluffy blanket.
"My baby blanket!" She exclaimed.
"You'll always be my little girl."  This time she looked up and saw
that her father had tears in his eyes.
"Of course I will, Daddy, of course I will."  She gave him a long hug.
When she was finished, Jonny came up to her, and just shrugged his
shoulders.  
"I'm sorry, Jess, I couldn't give you anything to match these."

After they were done cleaning up, Jessie plodded up to her room.  She
was exhausted.  She was also disappointed that Jonny hadn't cared
enough to give her a present.  
"That was a pretty selfish thought....."
Suddenly, Jonny's head poked out from his door. 
"Psst, Hey Lady...."
She smiled as she remembered an old joke between the two of them.
She ducked into Jonny's room to find him gone.  On his bed were two
neatly wrapped presents.  "He did care enough after all!"
She walked over to them slowly.  On each package, her name was
fluently written.  
She opened the smaller of the two first.  She could immediately tell
that it was jewelry.  "Jonny always gets me some sort of jewelry." 
She thought.  "I wonder what it is this year."
Inside the little box, was a silver necklace with a heart pendant.  On
the heart, the words "Best Friends" were inscribed.  Thinking it was a
locket, she tried to pry it open.  Then she realized that it wasn't a
locket.  On the just above and below the large inscribed words, were
smaller ones.  Above them were the initials, JB and below were the
initials JQ.  "Wow," she gasped, "this is pretty cool!"  Next, she
opened the thin sheet-like present.  What in the world is this?  A
picture?  What it was, was a folder.  The Quest insignia was branded
on the front and inside in beautifully printed format was a poem
My best of best friends
I've known you most my life
So loving and innocent
Through pain and through strife

Tenderness, care, faith
The most beautiful face
Yet a mischievous grin
The girl I call, "Ace"

Right now we're together
We're hardly apart
Jessie, you'll always hold
A special place in my heart

You'll always be there 
Till that one scary day
When a lucky guy comes
And steals your heart away

Still our love never dies
You know there's no end
Only Jesus Himself
Has been a true, better friend

Thanks for being a part of my life.  I love you.
Happy Birthday, Jess,
Jonny

She was so moved to tears that she didn't even notice Jonny step back
into the room.  
"Jess?  Are you okay?  Do you like them?"
She looked up at him and she rushed over to hug him
"Oh, Jonny, they're perfect!  Thank you, thank you so much"
They just stood there holding each other.  Finally Jessie worked up
enough courage to say what was on her mind.
"Jonny?"
"Yes, Jess?"
"You know that part about a lucky guy stealing my heart?"
"Mm-hm"
"Well, Mr. Quest, you're one lucky guy."
Shocked, Jonny pulled away and looked into her eyes.
"D-do you mean...?"
"Yes, Jonny, I love you.  As more than just my best friend."
"You have no clue how long I've wanted you to say that!"
As they kissed their first kiss, they could both tell that heaven had
brought them together.

The next morning, when Race went to check on his now 18 year old
daughter, he found her and her best friend huddled on the wall.  His
arm was around her and she was leaning on his shoulder, and his head
was nestled on top of hers.  Smiling, he put a blanket over them and
shut the door.  When he turned around, he wasn't surprised to see
Estella and Benton watching him.
"It finally happened?"
"Yes, it finally happened."

THE END






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