**Thanks to ShaneOmac-Y2Js-girl, without you this chapter never would have
happened. I realized how fun it is to write this story/pairing again, let
me know what you think! Everyone, please read and review!!**
After Christmas mass, everyone had decided to go back Gill's house for a bonfire.
Matt and Steph climbed into his car and started the journey back home. Steph reached over and held his hand, "So, do you guys do this every year?"
Matt nodded, "When mom was alive, Christmas mass was her favorite, so we chose that to become our tradition and to carry on something of her."
"That's really sweet. I bet she feels very honored and very proud of her family." Steph replied with a smile.
"I like to think so. I like to think that she's up there watching everything I do." Matt said seriously, and then he smiled a devious smile, "Well, maybe not everything."
Steph started laughing, "Matt you are so bad."
They arrived at the house and Steph went to get out of the car and had to sit back down, "Head rush."
Matt ran over to her and helped her up, "Maybe you should take it easy."
"I'm ok, I just got up to fast." Steph reassured him.
They walked into the house together and found that Jeff, Beth and Amy weren't back yet. "Hey dad, where's Jeff?" Matt asked.
"He said he had to stop and get something from his place, he'll be here soon." Gill replied.
"I'll make the hot chocolate." Matt said.
Steph walked into the kitchen, "What would you like me to do?"
"How about you sit on the couch, relax, and I'll take care of this stuff." Matt said giving her a kiss on the forehead.
Steph went over to the couch and sat down. A whirlwind of thoughts were running through her head. She had been through a lot in the last 48 hours, and now here she was, sitting in the living room of Matt Hardy. And, she now had a new boyfriend, who was also Matt Hardy. She thought back to when she told her father that she was dating Paul, and how upset he was that she was getting involved with a wrestler. But as time progressed and Paul matured, her dad and Paul had come to not only respect each other, but like each other too. They both had great minds for the business, and that was what had brought on her father's acceptance of him as a boyfriend for her. "Gee, I wonder what he'll think of this." She pondered to herself. As she was sitting there imagining his response, she thought of something. In Speed (the movie) there was a line that Sandra Bullock said to Keanu Reeves that went something like, "Relationships created out of a traumatic situation don't have a high chance of survival." She thought about that for a moment, "Is that all this is? A relationship created out of convenience? Am I in this for the right reasons?"
While she was pondering all of the questions, she was not noticing that Matt was trying to get her attention, and he was starting to get worried. "Steph. Steph? Are you in there?"
Steph snapped out of it, "Huh? Sorry, I must have been day dreaming, what's up?"
"Are you ready to head outside? Jeff's here." Matt asked her.
"Yeah, I'm ready." Steph said getting up slowly this time.
Matt smiled as he watched her walk outside, he knew that all he wanted was to make her happy. He came from a totally different world than she did, and he wanted to show her that it was ok.
They walked out to the fire pit, and Matt sat down on a hay bale and pulled her onto his lap. She leaned back against him and he put his arm protectively around her waist.
Jeff pulled Beth over by him, "So.how about we go around and say one thing that we're all thankful for this Christmas."
Amy laughed, "Umm.Jeff, this isn't Thanksgiving."
"I know that, but it'll be fun. Beth, you go first." Jeff said squeezing her hand.
"Well.I guess I would have to say that I'm thankful for patience. I may not always have a lot of it, but it really saves my butt at the most challenging of times. And my family, for without them I'm nothing." Beth said with a smile. She turned and looked at Amy, "Go ahead."
"I'm thankful for my health and my friends and family." Amy said. "I don't know what I would do without any of those." She turned and looked at Matt, "Go ahead."
Matt smiled and squeezed Steph's hand, "I would have to say that I'm thankful for new beginnings. And, I'm thankful that my family could be here today, and last but not least, I'm thankful that I was able to introduce the world to Mattitude."
Everyone groaned, and some threw hay at him. He just held up the "V1" sign and patted Steph's thigh, "You're turn."
Steph bit her bottom lip, with all that she had been through, it was something that she had been thinking about. "I'm really thankful for Matt being in the alley at the right time before anything worse happened. I'm thankful for your hospitality and acceptance of me at this personal time, I'm thankful for having a family that cares." She looked at Gill, "You're turn."
Gill cleared his throat, "I'm thankful that we were all able to come together as one on this Christmas, I'm thankful for being here to see another Christmas, and I'm thankful for having the greatest sons a dad could ever have." He turned to Jeff, "Go ahead."
Jeff stood up, "I'm thankful for having a truly wonderful family, I'm thankful for having an angel of a girlfriend, and I'm thankful for every day that I wake up." And he flashed the gunz (Hardy's hand sign) and sat back down.
Everyone laughed and Gill passed around the ingredients to make Smores. Everyone started talking and laughing. Stephanie sat beside Matt and leaned against him. She felt safe in his arms, and she felt like he liked her for who she was as a person, not as a "McMahon."
Jeff, Beth and Amy decided to call it a night since Jeff and Beth had to go to her family's house in the morning. Matt went to get up but noticed that Steph had fallen asleep on him. He waved them over and gave them all hugs. "She says Merry Christmas." Matt said with a laugh.
Matt stood up carefully and picked Steph up. She opened her eyes a little, but she had a headache so she laid her head on his shoulder and fell back to sleep. He brought her into his room and laid her gently on the bed. He took her shoes off and covered her up. He went into the hall closet and pulled out a pillow and a blanket and made a bed for himself on the floor. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea about him. He set his watch for when he had to wake her up to check on her. He didn't forget about what the doctor told him because of her concussion. And he laid his head down and fell asleep. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~
Matt's watch alarm went off and he woke up. He shook Steph lightly, "Hey Steph, wake up."
Steph stirred a little, but wasn't fully awake. Matt shook her again, "Steph, wake up."
She rolled over and opened her eyes, "Why are you on the floor?"
"Because you fell asleep on me outside, so I wanted you to be comfortable." Matt replied.
"Yeah, but this is your bed." Steph replied.
"But I didn't want to seem intrusive, so I took off your shoes, covered you up and I made a bed right here next to you on the floor." Matt responded with a smile. "And it's time for me to make sure that you're ok and that you're not unconscious."
"Wow, he really is a southern gentleman." Steph thought to herself. "Wow Matt, that is really nice of you. I really appreciate it. And yes I'm ok and not in a coma. You know, you can come up here and sleep in your own bed if you would like" Steph added.
"Are you sure? I don't have a problem sleeping down here if it makes you uncomfortable." Matt replied.
Steph moved over, "Come on."
Matt grabbed his pillow and crawled in bed with her. He put his arm around her and held her close.
Steph curled her body along with his, "Matt, this is really nice. Thank you."
Matt smiled and kissed her on the back of her head, "Anytime Steph, anytime."
The two snuggled and fell back to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning Steph woke to her phone ringing. She got up and grabbed it and seen it was her parents. "Hello?" She said quietly so she didn't wake Matt up.
"Hi honey, it's mom." Linda replied. "Merry Christmas."
Steph smiled, "Merry Christmas to you too. How's Honolulu?"
"It's wonderful. So, what did you do last night?" Linda asked.
"Well, there's a lot that you've missed out on." Steph replied.
"Really? Like what?" Linda asked.
"I think it's easier to tell you in person. When do you guys come back?" Steph asked.
"Well, we're actually going to be home tomorrow instead of next week because your father got called into an important meeting." Linda replied. "Can you make it out to the house by then? We can have an us girls lunch and we'll tell your father later. Do you want me to invite Marissa?"
"I'm sure I can." Steph replied. "I have a lot to tell you. Girls' lunch sounds great, and if you want to you can. I'm really glad that we live close by each other."
"Me too Steph, I'll see you tomorrow. Merry Christmas!" Linda replied.
"Merry Christmas mom." Steph said with a slight smile. She hung up and quietly walked downstairs and found Gill sitting in the kitchen reading the paper.
"Good morning Mr Hardy." Steph said sitting down by him.
He smiled, "Good morning Steph. You can call me Gill."
"Sorry, force of habit. Merry Christmas. Your son is still sleeping." Steph replied.
"Merry Christmas to you too. Yes, he comes here and he sleeps as much as possible." Gill replied. "Are you hungry? I can make you something."
"Oh no, you cooked yesterday, I'm fine. Actually I have to find out from Matt what the agenda is." Steph replied.
"So you and Matt are officially a couple now, am I right?" Gill asked.
Steph blushed, "Yes sir, we are."
"Well, I just want to say that I think that you are a very fine young lady and I wish you and my son all of the happiness in the world." Gill said with a warm smile.
"Thank you, I really appreciate that." Steph said with a smile.
They heard Matt coming down the stairs. "Good morning Matthew." His dad said to him as he came into the kitchen.
"Mornin' dad, mornin' Steph." Matt replied groggily. He walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. "Dad, Steph, need a refill?"
"I'll take a cup." Steph answered.
"I'm good." Gill replied. "So Matt, what is on you kids' agenda?"
"Well, I'm not quite sure yet." Matt answered setting down a cup of coffee in front of Steph and kissing her on the cheek. "I haven't gotten that far yet. Why?"
"I have an idea." Steph piped up. "What if since you were nice enough to bring me to your home I bring you to mine? Mom called this morning and wanted to get together tomorrow because dad got called back on business and I was thinking that while us girls were out, you and Shane could hang out."
Matt's head was instantly filled with lots of what-if questions. "Sure, we can do that." Matt replied. He was concerned about how her family was going to react to him. What would they think of their daughter dating a mid- carder?
"Great!" Steph exclaimed and hugged him.
Matt hugged her back. He wasn't quite sure what he had just signed on for.
**Please read and review! If you would still like to see this story continue, please let me know!**
After Christmas mass, everyone had decided to go back Gill's house for a bonfire.
Matt and Steph climbed into his car and started the journey back home. Steph reached over and held his hand, "So, do you guys do this every year?"
Matt nodded, "When mom was alive, Christmas mass was her favorite, so we chose that to become our tradition and to carry on something of her."
"That's really sweet. I bet she feels very honored and very proud of her family." Steph replied with a smile.
"I like to think so. I like to think that she's up there watching everything I do." Matt said seriously, and then he smiled a devious smile, "Well, maybe not everything."
Steph started laughing, "Matt you are so bad."
They arrived at the house and Steph went to get out of the car and had to sit back down, "Head rush."
Matt ran over to her and helped her up, "Maybe you should take it easy."
"I'm ok, I just got up to fast." Steph reassured him.
They walked into the house together and found that Jeff, Beth and Amy weren't back yet. "Hey dad, where's Jeff?" Matt asked.
"He said he had to stop and get something from his place, he'll be here soon." Gill replied.
"I'll make the hot chocolate." Matt said.
Steph walked into the kitchen, "What would you like me to do?"
"How about you sit on the couch, relax, and I'll take care of this stuff." Matt said giving her a kiss on the forehead.
Steph went over to the couch and sat down. A whirlwind of thoughts were running through her head. She had been through a lot in the last 48 hours, and now here she was, sitting in the living room of Matt Hardy. And, she now had a new boyfriend, who was also Matt Hardy. She thought back to when she told her father that she was dating Paul, and how upset he was that she was getting involved with a wrestler. But as time progressed and Paul matured, her dad and Paul had come to not only respect each other, but like each other too. They both had great minds for the business, and that was what had brought on her father's acceptance of him as a boyfriend for her. "Gee, I wonder what he'll think of this." She pondered to herself. As she was sitting there imagining his response, she thought of something. In Speed (the movie) there was a line that Sandra Bullock said to Keanu Reeves that went something like, "Relationships created out of a traumatic situation don't have a high chance of survival." She thought about that for a moment, "Is that all this is? A relationship created out of convenience? Am I in this for the right reasons?"
While she was pondering all of the questions, she was not noticing that Matt was trying to get her attention, and he was starting to get worried. "Steph. Steph? Are you in there?"
Steph snapped out of it, "Huh? Sorry, I must have been day dreaming, what's up?"
"Are you ready to head outside? Jeff's here." Matt asked her.
"Yeah, I'm ready." Steph said getting up slowly this time.
Matt smiled as he watched her walk outside, he knew that all he wanted was to make her happy. He came from a totally different world than she did, and he wanted to show her that it was ok.
They walked out to the fire pit, and Matt sat down on a hay bale and pulled her onto his lap. She leaned back against him and he put his arm protectively around her waist.
Jeff pulled Beth over by him, "So.how about we go around and say one thing that we're all thankful for this Christmas."
Amy laughed, "Umm.Jeff, this isn't Thanksgiving."
"I know that, but it'll be fun. Beth, you go first." Jeff said squeezing her hand.
"Well.I guess I would have to say that I'm thankful for patience. I may not always have a lot of it, but it really saves my butt at the most challenging of times. And my family, for without them I'm nothing." Beth said with a smile. She turned and looked at Amy, "Go ahead."
"I'm thankful for my health and my friends and family." Amy said. "I don't know what I would do without any of those." She turned and looked at Matt, "Go ahead."
Matt smiled and squeezed Steph's hand, "I would have to say that I'm thankful for new beginnings. And, I'm thankful that my family could be here today, and last but not least, I'm thankful that I was able to introduce the world to Mattitude."
Everyone groaned, and some threw hay at him. He just held up the "V1" sign and patted Steph's thigh, "You're turn."
Steph bit her bottom lip, with all that she had been through, it was something that she had been thinking about. "I'm really thankful for Matt being in the alley at the right time before anything worse happened. I'm thankful for your hospitality and acceptance of me at this personal time, I'm thankful for having a family that cares." She looked at Gill, "You're turn."
Gill cleared his throat, "I'm thankful that we were all able to come together as one on this Christmas, I'm thankful for being here to see another Christmas, and I'm thankful for having the greatest sons a dad could ever have." He turned to Jeff, "Go ahead."
Jeff stood up, "I'm thankful for having a truly wonderful family, I'm thankful for having an angel of a girlfriend, and I'm thankful for every day that I wake up." And he flashed the gunz (Hardy's hand sign) and sat back down.
Everyone laughed and Gill passed around the ingredients to make Smores. Everyone started talking and laughing. Stephanie sat beside Matt and leaned against him. She felt safe in his arms, and she felt like he liked her for who she was as a person, not as a "McMahon."
Jeff, Beth and Amy decided to call it a night since Jeff and Beth had to go to her family's house in the morning. Matt went to get up but noticed that Steph had fallen asleep on him. He waved them over and gave them all hugs. "She says Merry Christmas." Matt said with a laugh.
Matt stood up carefully and picked Steph up. She opened her eyes a little, but she had a headache so she laid her head on his shoulder and fell back to sleep. He brought her into his room and laid her gently on the bed. He took her shoes off and covered her up. He went into the hall closet and pulled out a pillow and a blanket and made a bed for himself on the floor. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea about him. He set his watch for when he had to wake her up to check on her. He didn't forget about what the doctor told him because of her concussion. And he laid his head down and fell asleep. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~
Matt's watch alarm went off and he woke up. He shook Steph lightly, "Hey Steph, wake up."
Steph stirred a little, but wasn't fully awake. Matt shook her again, "Steph, wake up."
She rolled over and opened her eyes, "Why are you on the floor?"
"Because you fell asleep on me outside, so I wanted you to be comfortable." Matt replied.
"Yeah, but this is your bed." Steph replied.
"But I didn't want to seem intrusive, so I took off your shoes, covered you up and I made a bed right here next to you on the floor." Matt responded with a smile. "And it's time for me to make sure that you're ok and that you're not unconscious."
"Wow, he really is a southern gentleman." Steph thought to herself. "Wow Matt, that is really nice of you. I really appreciate it. And yes I'm ok and not in a coma. You know, you can come up here and sleep in your own bed if you would like" Steph added.
"Are you sure? I don't have a problem sleeping down here if it makes you uncomfortable." Matt replied.
Steph moved over, "Come on."
Matt grabbed his pillow and crawled in bed with her. He put his arm around her and held her close.
Steph curled her body along with his, "Matt, this is really nice. Thank you."
Matt smiled and kissed her on the back of her head, "Anytime Steph, anytime."
The two snuggled and fell back to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning Steph woke to her phone ringing. She got up and grabbed it and seen it was her parents. "Hello?" She said quietly so she didn't wake Matt up.
"Hi honey, it's mom." Linda replied. "Merry Christmas."
Steph smiled, "Merry Christmas to you too. How's Honolulu?"
"It's wonderful. So, what did you do last night?" Linda asked.
"Well, there's a lot that you've missed out on." Steph replied.
"Really? Like what?" Linda asked.
"I think it's easier to tell you in person. When do you guys come back?" Steph asked.
"Well, we're actually going to be home tomorrow instead of next week because your father got called into an important meeting." Linda replied. "Can you make it out to the house by then? We can have an us girls lunch and we'll tell your father later. Do you want me to invite Marissa?"
"I'm sure I can." Steph replied. "I have a lot to tell you. Girls' lunch sounds great, and if you want to you can. I'm really glad that we live close by each other."
"Me too Steph, I'll see you tomorrow. Merry Christmas!" Linda replied.
"Merry Christmas mom." Steph said with a slight smile. She hung up and quietly walked downstairs and found Gill sitting in the kitchen reading the paper.
"Good morning Mr Hardy." Steph said sitting down by him.
He smiled, "Good morning Steph. You can call me Gill."
"Sorry, force of habit. Merry Christmas. Your son is still sleeping." Steph replied.
"Merry Christmas to you too. Yes, he comes here and he sleeps as much as possible." Gill replied. "Are you hungry? I can make you something."
"Oh no, you cooked yesterday, I'm fine. Actually I have to find out from Matt what the agenda is." Steph replied.
"So you and Matt are officially a couple now, am I right?" Gill asked.
Steph blushed, "Yes sir, we are."
"Well, I just want to say that I think that you are a very fine young lady and I wish you and my son all of the happiness in the world." Gill said with a warm smile.
"Thank you, I really appreciate that." Steph said with a smile.
They heard Matt coming down the stairs. "Good morning Matthew." His dad said to him as he came into the kitchen.
"Mornin' dad, mornin' Steph." Matt replied groggily. He walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. "Dad, Steph, need a refill?"
"I'll take a cup." Steph answered.
"I'm good." Gill replied. "So Matt, what is on you kids' agenda?"
"Well, I'm not quite sure yet." Matt answered setting down a cup of coffee in front of Steph and kissing her on the cheek. "I haven't gotten that far yet. Why?"
"I have an idea." Steph piped up. "What if since you were nice enough to bring me to your home I bring you to mine? Mom called this morning and wanted to get together tomorrow because dad got called back on business and I was thinking that while us girls were out, you and Shane could hang out."
Matt's head was instantly filled with lots of what-if questions. "Sure, we can do that." Matt replied. He was concerned about how her family was going to react to him. What would they think of their daughter dating a mid- carder?
"Great!" Steph exclaimed and hugged him.
Matt hugged her back. He wasn't quite sure what he had just signed on for.
**Please read and review! If you would still like to see this story continue, please let me know!**