Matt stood in the doorway with a look on his face that was a mixture of disgust and disbelief. Jeff sat on the floor surrounded by construction paper, glue, scissors and glitter. There were envelopes lined up next to him, with various names written on them in Jeff's unmistakable handwriting. He was busy snipping, gluing and glittering the various heart-shaped pieces in front of him. Matt walked into the room, stepping over Jeff's art supplies, and sat on the couch. Jeff barely acknowledged Matt's presence until he spoke.
"That ain't right, Jeff," Matt said. He looked up from the neon pink heart he was cutting out and gave Matt a quizzical look. "Whatcha mean, Matty?" he asked. Jeff was drawing an intricate series of lines on the heart with the glue, then sprinkling it with glitter. Matt rolled his eyes at him. Must I explain everything to him? Matt thought. Jeff's emerald eyes just glowed as he went about his task.
"Your Valentines," Matt replied. "You can't send a Valentine that says "to my one and only" to more than one person!"
Jeff just smiled at him, the tip of his tongue sticking out between his lips. "Why not?" Jeff asked. Matt sighed heavily. Please tell me he can NOT be that dense! "One and only means just that," Matt answered. "One. Only. Understand?"
Jeff mumbled something and went back to his work. Matt looked down at the envelopes on the floor. There were two rows - Amy, Trish, Torrie & Stephanie in one row; Adam, Jay, Chris & Rob in the other. God, he was beyond all hope. Rising from the chair, Matt kicked the glue over as he left the room. He could hear Jeff whining as he left the house.
Shane and Shannon sat in a corner booth arguing over the importance of french fries to a hamburger meal. Matt walked in the door and saw the pair talking loudly. Shannon was waving his arms around, trying to prove his point to Shane when Matt reached the table. He sat down next to Shane, afraid that Shannon's wild gestures would hit him in the head.
"What's up, Mattador?" Shane asked, sliding over to allow Matt more room on the seat. "You look kinda rankled." Matt plucked a fry off Shannon's plate and muttered something about Jeff. Shannon stopped his ranting and looked at Matt. "What about Jeff?" he asked.
"He's at home, being creative," Matt said. "Making Valentines for everyone." He snorted in disgust.
"What's wrong with that?" Shane asked. "He not making one for big brother?" Matt punched Shane's shoulder and grabbed his shake, taking a long drink from it.
"No, that's not the problem, smart ass," Matt said. "He's making 8 cards that say "to my one and only" and I tried to explain to him that meant only one, but he didn't get it." The waitress approached their table to take Matt's order. Shannon was shaking his head at Matt's confusion, laughing at his friend.
"C'mon, Matt," he said, "you know how Jeff is - you're his one and only for that moment, until the next one comes along. Lay off him." Shane nodded in agreement. Matt wasn't so sure, but he decided to enjoy his time off with his buddies and not worry about his brother.
A few days later, Matt was reminded of Jeff's Valentine fiasco. It was Tuesday night in Little Rock and they were taping Smackdown. Jeff reached into his bag and pulled out a red bag and told Matt he would be back soon. Matt thought nothing of it until he heard Jeff talking to Trish outside the door.
"Aw, thank you, Jeff!" he heard Trish saying. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" She leaned over and kissed Jeff on the cheek. "My first Valentine of the year!" Jeff blushed slightly, then told Trish that he had some other people to find. Matt went into the hallway and almost ran into Trish.
"How's it going, Matt?" she asked. He noticed the card in her hand.
"Good, Trish," he answered. "Whatcha got there?" She held up the card. "This?" she asked. Matt nodded. "It's a Valentine that Jeff made for me. Want to see it?" Matt nodded again. Trish handed him the card and he turned it over. The front was covered in delicate roses decorated with pink & red glitter and green heart-shaped leaves. Inside the card, in Jeff's easily recognizable script, was the message: 'hope you're Stratusfied with all your Valentine wishes!'
Trish noticed the look of confusion on Matt's face and asked what was wrong. "Nothing," he muttered. "Nothing at all." He turned and walked down the hall in the same direction Jeff had gone a few moments before, wondering who was receiving the "one and only" cards.
A few minutes later, Matt found Torrie holding her Valentine. He stopped, asked to see it and admired the lovely design Jeff had made on the front, a series of squared hearts made from purple & blue glitter, with "Happy Valentine's Day" written inside with Jeff's favorite purple pen. Still no sign of the "one & only" cards Matt was searching for. If not Trish or Torrie, then who was Jeff giving those to? Matt racked his brain, trying to remember what other names had been on the envelopes.
Just then, Adam and Jay walked by, comparing the cards they had received from Jeff. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Matt asked to look at those as well. The covers reminded him of a tie-dyed T-shirt, and both read "You reek…of Valentine's awesomeness!!" Matt ran down the hallway searching once again for his brother, leaving a very confused pair of Canadians behind.
Matt caught up with Amy, Rob & Chris, and inspected all their cards. Each one was custom-made for the recipient. That left only one person on Jeff's list…and Matt was praying that his brother had not lost his mind and given Stephanie the 'special' cards. He searched in vain for the billion dollar princess and hoped that Jeff would at least have sense enough to wait until Paul was not around to deliver the cards to her. After a frantic 15 minute search, Matt found Stephanie talking to one of the referees. Breathless, he ran up to her and noticed a card in her hand.
"Hey, Steph," Matt said. "Whatcha got there?" She turned and smiled at Matt. "A Valentine from your brother. He's so sweet." Matt was fidgeting, wondering if he really wanted to know the answer to his next question. "He worked really hard on those last week," Matt said. "Mind if I take a look at it?"
"No, of course not," Stephanie said. "It's really beautiful." Matt slowly pulled the card out of the envelope. On the cover was an intricate design of hearts, flowers…and dollar signs. Inside the card read "to the prettiest princess I know…happy Valnetine's day." He handed the card back to Stephanie, a confused look on his face.
"What's wrong, Matt?" she asked him, obviously concerned about Matt's distress. "Oh, nothing," he answered, apparently distracted by his thoughts. "Um, Steph, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Matt," she replied. "What do you need to know?" Matt shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then looked into her eyes. "Did Jeff say where he was going after he gave you the card?"
Stephanie thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up. "Yes!" she said. "He said he had to deliver a very special Valentine. Something about his one and only…" Matt quickly turned and ran down the hallway, thanking Stephanie as he rounded the corner. She watched as Matt disappeared with a bemused smile on her face. Those Hardy boys got stranger by the minute, she thought to herself as she returned to her conversation.
Matt searched everywhere for Jeff, asking each person he came upon if they had seen his younger brother. He had no idea who Jeff's Valentine love was, but knew that it had to be someone very special. Jeff was a truly unique person, warm, caring and full of love and exuberance. And if there was someone out there worthy of being loved by Jeff Hardy, then that person had to be almost as wonderful. True, Matt thought, Jeff can be kinda flaky. And he definitely lives in his own little world. But if he's found someone to share that world with, then I'm all for it.
After looking for Jeff throughout the arena and not finding him anywhere, Matt decided to return to their dressing room. Maybe Jeff had gone back to the hotel already without telling Matt. This was not unusual for Jeff. As he neared the door, Matt heard soft music playing, and the unmistakable sound of Jeff's voice singing along. Although he couldn't hear the words, the soft melody was definitely a love song. He stopped at the door and listened, feeling just a bit guilty at invading his brother's privacy.
"I love you more than anything, and will never stop. You are the moon, the sun, and the stars. Everyone adores you, but I am your biggest fan! You are the greatest!" Jeff's voice drifted out to Matt's ears. His curiosity was killing him - Matt had to know who Jeff was showering those endearments upon! He slowly opened the door so that he wouldn't make a sound. The lights had been turned off, and the room was bathed in candlelight. In the corner of the room, Matt could make out the large mirror that had occupied the bathroom earlier. Taped around the edges of the frame were the Valentine's that he had watched Jeff make. The candlelight picked up the red glittery letters that spelled out "to my one and only", sending sparks of light across the room…and Jeff's face.
Matt watched as Jeff picked up a tube of red lipstick and drew a heart in the center of the mirrored surface, his emerald eyes gleaming in the light, his face showing all the love in his heart. Matt smiled at his brother's sweetness and began closing the door so that Jeff could have his privacy. However, the sound of Jeff's voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
As he swirled the lipstick up just a little more, Jeff smiled at his reflection in the mirror as he raised his hand to inscribe a message, reading aloud as he wrote: "Happy Valentine's Day to my one and only - I love you Jeffrey Nero Hardy." Matt closed the door to the dressing room and waited until he was down the hall before bursting into laughter. At least he got one thing right, Matt thought as the tears of laughter flowed down his face. There is one and only one Jeff Hardy!
~the end~
Read the next Holiday Independance Day