Author: pandora1017
Rating: PG-13
Content: Slash, language, sexual references
Notes: Ok, I know that the Matt Facts [tm] said that Matt thinks Thanksgiving is a boring holiday, but my Matt muse was inspired before we watched SmackDown! by early morning thoughts of yummy turkey, mashed potatoes, and Edge. Er, well... you'll see what I mean. Happy Thanksgiving!
Characters:
Amy Dumas = Lita
Matt Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Adam Copeland = Edge
.
"Come here, Ames," Matt called from the kitchen. "You've got t'try this."
I sighed and set the stack of plates I was carrying on Matt's dad's dining room table. "Matt, I've had mashed potatoes before."
"Not like this," he called, and I grinned. I could here him smiling as he said it. Matt was an excellent cook, and lived for compliments on his food.
"Go ahead an' try 'em, sweetie," Matt's dad said to me, picking up the plates and starting to set the table.
"No, no, Mr. Hardy! We're making dinner," I smiled at him. "Go put your feet up in front of the TV and watch the Lions' game."
"Nah, I'm not a big football fan," he explained, as we gently fought over the plates.
"It doesn't matter," I laughed, not expecting that answer. "Watching the Lions' game is a Thanksgiving tradition."
"Not around here," Mr. Hardy explained, trying to ease the plates away from me.
"Jus' go sit down, Dad. We got it covered," Matt called from the kitchen. "An' Amy - come here an' try this!"
Mr. Hardy and I exchanged smiles and he let go of the plates with a sigh, setting a hand on my arm. "Now, you be sure an' call me Gil, all right, sweetie?"
I nodded, still smiling. "All right, Gil. Take it easy until it's time to eat, ok?"
He smiled at me, then went to the front room. I set the plates on the dining room table and turned back to the kitchen. Matt was standing by the stove, cleaning off a potato masher with a spatula. He looked up at me when I entered, then smiled and pulled a spoon out of a drawer to give me a spoonful of mashed potatoes. I smiled at Matt. "Potatoes are potatoes, Matt. What's the big deal?"
He just grinned. "Try 'em an' find out."
They were surprisingly good. "Wow, Matt, what did you put in these?"
"Horseradish," he explained, simply.
"Horseradish?" I repeated, sneaking another spoonful of potatoes as Matt turned to the sink to wash the masher.
"Horseradish," he repeated. "An' butter, american cheese, pepper, sour cream, milk -"
"The kitchen sink," I chimed in, grinning as he turned back to me.
"An' th'kitchen sink," he repeated in a sarcastic tone, still grinning at me.
"Everything smells great, Matt. You put a lot of work into this," I noted, taking another whiff of the turkey Matt had just half carved.
"We put a lotta work int' this," he corrected, then turned to finish carving the turkey. "Besides, Ah want everythin' t' be perfect f'Adam's first Thanksgivin' with me - make it one he'll never forget."
"I'm sure he won't," I chuckled, arranging rolls in a basket, then carried the basket out to the table - remembering that I still had to finish setting it. As I was setting the last plate in place, Matt came out of the kitchen beaming as he carried the sliced turkey on a large plate and set it in the center of the table. I smiled warmly at Matt. He didn't usually care this much about Thanksgiving, but his dad had convinced him to bring his boyfriend of almost a year now, Adam, and he really wanted to impress him. Matt had pulled out all the stops, and it looked like this would be an excellent Thanksgiving dinner.
"Ah'm gonna round up Jeff an' Adam, let 'em know it's almost time t' eat."
"Ok," I nodded. "I should have everything out by the time you get Jeff's lazy ass out here."
Matt grinned and went down the hall to get the other boys. At the same time, Gil wandered back into the dining room and looked over the table. "Almos' time?"
"Pull up a chair," I nodded. "Matt's going to get Jeff and Adam right now."
As Gil set his hand on the back of the chair at the head of the table, Matt's voice rang clear from the hall.
"What the...?!"
He sounded furious. His father and I exchanged glances, then I jogged down the hall to see what was going on. When I found Matt, he was standing outside Jeff's old room, looking like someone just ran over his dog. I realized why in a split second when Adam came out of Jeff's room, pulling up his pants as he looked pitifully at Matt. "Wait, Matt -"
"Wait, hell!" Matt snapped, his hands clenching into fists at his side.
"I can explain!" Adam pleaded.
"What makes y'think I want t'hear any story that ends with, 'An' that's how my dick ended up in y'brother's mouth?'" Matt snapped, then lifted his fists and took a step towards Jeff's door. I flinched, not wanting to get involved, but when Adam tried to stop him, Matt just turned and hit him with a left cross to the jaw, knocking him down.
"Wait, Matt," I started, grabbing his wrist firmly. He automatically lifted his hand, but lowered it slowly when he saw it was me.
"Let me go, Amy."
"Don't do this, Matt."
"You didn't see what I jus' saw," Matt explained, giving me a look that said he was hellbent on crippling Jeff today.
"I think I have an idea," I pleaded, trying to pull him away from Jeff's door. Damn his having a hundred pounds on me, he didn't budge.
"Matthew." Matt and I looked up at the calm voice of his father who was calling from the end of the hall. "Leave your brother alone an' sit down f'dinner."
Matt blushed at being chided by his father. "Dad, I can't eat with these two now..."
"You can an' will," he said firmly, pointing to the dining room. "Now sit. An' Jeff, you'd better be dressed an' at that table in one minute."
After his mandate, Gil turned and went back to the dining room. Matt lowered his eyes and shook his head disgustedly, then turned and followed his dad. I tried to set a consoling hand on his shoulder, but he didn't acknowledge me. Jeff then emerged from his room, pulling a shirt over his head. I glanced at him and almost thought I saw a distasteful smirk playing on his lips. I frowned, setting my hands on my hips. He didn't even regret fooling around with his brother's boyfriend. As much as I loved Jeff, it took a lot of strength to bite back an angry comment. Finally, my eyes fell on Adam. Now, Adam, he did look sorry. He was sitting on the floor half naked, leaning against the wall with his eyes fixed on the ground. He was massaging his jaw and opening and closing it experimentally. I crouched down next to Adam. When he saw me, he gave me the same pitiful look he had been giving Matt. "Amy, -"
I smacked the side of his face that Matt hadn't and gave Adam a dirty look. "That's for hurting my best friend."
Adam dropped his head, and took a deep shaky breath. I pursed my lips, unsure of what to do next, so I gently set my hand where I had just slapped and tilted his head up to look at me.
"I should go," he muttered.
"Where are you going to go? Your flight's not until Saturday."
"I... I don't know, Amy," he sighed, then looked up at me with a shrug. "A hotel?"
"Go put on your clothes and have dinner with us. Gil's making the boys play nice, so it should be ok, and we have a ton of food."
"I'm not really that hungry," he started, pitifully, and got to his feet. Despite the fact that he's almost a foot taller than me, I think I still had his attention with the death glare I was giving him. "Ok, ok, I'll stay for dinner."
"Good. Now get dressed," I directed, and went back to the dining room. Gil was at the head of the table, and Matt and Jeff were sitting directly across from each other. Matt was glaring at Jeff unwaveringly, but Jeff was to busy making origami with his napkin to pay attention. He did, however, have that self righteous smirk still playing on his lips, so I was under the impression that he was aware of Matt's sentiments on the situation. I took the chair next to Gil and Matt, and Gil turned to me.
"Did'ja tell that boy t'come out here?"
I nodded and he smiled gently, then sat back again as we waited for Adam. There was more tense silence as we waited, then finally Adam came out, meticulously scanning the ground, and sat at the other end of the table, across from Gil. The silence continued, and Gil looked to me expectantly. I faltered for a moment, then cleared my throat. "Um, ok. Why don't we all say something we're thankful for? Matt?"
Matt gave me a look that clearly indicated that he thought this was childish and unnecessary, but grudgingly obliged. He cast quick glances between Jeff and Adam. "Well, I was originally thankful that Adam could join us f' Thanksgivin', but n- OW!"
Matt cut off abruptly and gave me a dirty look for kicking his shin. Adam's head dropped again. Before I could respond, Jeff chimed in his answer with a smirk at Matt. "Well, I'm thankful that Adam could join us f' Thanksgivin'."
Adam sunk lower in his chair as Matt threw his napkin on his plate and stood up. "This is fuckin' ridiculous! I can't be thankful for a goddamned thin' when I'm sitting across from him!"
I jumped up as Matt started to leave the table and grabbed his arm again. "Matt!"
"Matt," his father echoed. "Sit down."
"Dad! Do y'know what those two were doin' in Jeff's old room?"
"Yeah," his dad spoke levelly, getting to his feet as well. "Y'bellowed it through th'entire house. Now, sit down. Y'can fight it out later, let's jus' have this dinner that y'prepared f'us first."
Matt looked at Adam, who was still slipping lower and lower in his chair, then to Jeff, who was carefully dissecting a dinner roll and eating it with a smirk, never taking his eyes off Matt. Taking a deep breath, Matt swallowed his pride and sat back down, so I followed. Finally, Gil sat down as well. I looked to Gil and saw an unusual mischevious spark in his eye. He looked over all the boys at the table, obviously trying to repress a smile, but the boys were too self involved to notice. As I was about to ask him about it, he cleared his throat. "Well, as long as we're at it, I'm thankful that my boys finally learned t'share."
The stunned silence that followed was broken as Matt got to his feet and started yelling again, Jeff actually started laughing out loud, and Adam looked ready to take that one last slide and hide under the table completely. I heard Gil chuckling next to me, then let my head fall heavily into my hands. I don't know why I expected this Thanksgiving to be any less of a trip than the rest of the holidays at the Hardy household.