I wake up in the morning and Alex is still sleeping, so is Aly. I get out of bed and head out, towards the kitchen not finding Mike anywhere. I go into the kitchen and it's empty. I start to make myself something. While I'm making food, Aly walks in.
"Morning Dolce." She mumbles.
"Morning."
"Whatcha' makin'?" She asks.
"I was in the mood for pancakes this morning. Haven't had them in like forever."
"Ah, sounds good. I kind of feel like having some fruit too." She says, walking over and pulling out a bowl.
She grabs some different fruit and starts cutting it up.
"How'd you sleep?" I ask.
"So so." She shrugs.
"As long as you got some sleep..."
"I don't know why, but I had some nightmares." I add.
"I had some myself."
"I hope this is the last time we ever have nightmares about this." I sigh.
"I know me too."
After I finish the pancakes, I grab few plates and start stacking the pancakes on them. Aly leaves most of the fruit in the bigger bowl, scooping some into a smaller one for herself. When I turn around to head to the fridge for the syrup, that's when I notice Mike sitting at the counter. I just ignore him and do what I was going to do. I leave the syrup out and grab my plate with a fork, heading out into the living room to eat. Aly gets her plate and utensils while also grabbing a drink before she walks out to the swing on the back porch, ignoring Mike the whole time. He watches her as she goes outside onto the back porch, and sighs to himself. She sits on the swing and eats while listening to the waves crashing when she hears the door open and close. She doesn't acknowledge it and just continues eating. Mike had walked out and stood there by the door, contemplating talkg to her or not.
"You know you really put yourself in a deep hole." She says without looking at him.
"...I know."
"I'm sorry really isn't gonna cut it."
"Yeah, I know."
"Just making sure you know that."
"The anger just took control over everything."
"I know."
"But you didn't need to take it out on all of us." She adds.
"And yelling at me certainly wasn't necessary." She finishes.
He stands there and just nods in agreement, not saying really anything right now.
"You yelling at me really hurt. Especially when you said that I don't understand how you feel about this. I might not have been in a steel cage when I lost my title but I had 3 opponents and I wasn't even the one that got pinned for the win so the situation might not be the same but I think I have a pretty good understanding of how that felt."
"...I forgot."
"And even if I didn't, I'm your wife. I'm supposed to be able to offer comfort and support even if I don't really understand. And onto other matters, you really didn't need to take it out on Alex last night. It wasn't his fault that the ref's decision got reversed."
"I know." He sighs.
"You have some major work to do. You have to make it up to me, apologize to Alex for both going off on him for you losing and apologize for arguing with Dolce. Then of course you have to apologize to her. And good luck with that because she is really not happy with you at all."
"I could tell last night." He says quietly.
"Yeah well you kind of deserved that."
"I know I did..."
"At least you know that."
Then she looks at him out of the corner of her eyes as she puts aside her plate.
"You can come sit down." She says, picking up her bowl of fruit and beginning to eat that.
He smiles a little, before walking over and sitting down next to her. She turns and lays her legs across his lap, still nonchalantly eating. Then back inside, I finish eating and place my dishes in the sink, before heading back to the bedroom. Alex is laying there, half awake.I smile, before heading into my closet for clothes to wear. I get dressed and by the time I finish, Alex is up and changed.
"I see you're awake now." I laugh.
"Yep."
"Even though I'm still a bit tired...couldn't really sleep last night."
"Yeah. Me either."
"You looked like you slept fine."
"Looked is the key word."
"I had nightmares all night, I'm lucky to have gotten at least an hour of sleep." I say.
"I know, I felt you tossing and turning."
"You could've woken me up..."
"I was able to calm you most of the time."
"Well of course you were able to."
Alex pulls me into his arms.
"I wish I could have stopped all of them."
"It's okay, don't worry about it."
"Love you."
"Love you too."
"So is there something you wanted to do today?"
"Well seeing as I don't want to be around Mike, anything out of the house is good for me."
"How about we go for a drive and see what there is to do?"
"Sounds good."
Alex lets me go and gets up. The two of us get what we need and head out after leaving a
note for me. After Aly finishes her bowl of fruit, she sets the bowl aside by the plate. She puts her hands in her lap, playing with her fingers. It remained silent, except for the crashing of the waves on the beach and the cry of seagulls. She sighs in frustration.
"I hate this...it's awkward."
"I know...I just...I just don't know what to say."
"I can't tell you what to say either. That's something you need to work out for yourself."
"There's one thing though that I am a tad worried about though."
"What?"
"The wedding..."
"I'm still marrying you even though things are rocky right now." She says, after sighing.
He breathes a sigh of relief, and relaxes a bit now.
"Marraiges aren't perfect, nor are they meant to be. I'm not about to throw aside something
we've been waiting months for just because we're having some trouble. We'll get through it like we have before." She says.
"It's for better or worse."
"Right."
She keeps fiddling with her fingers and her eyes drift over to his hands which are rubbing her legs.
"If you want me to stop, I'll stop."
"No, it's fine." She shakes her head.
"I'll accept the small things like that but kisses and anything more than that, you have to
earn."
"Understandable." He nods.
"Now to figure out what to do today."
"I think I have an idea." Mike says.
"What's that?"
"Its going to be a surprise. Just dress comfortable."
"...okay..."
He stops rubbing her legs and she moves them before getting up. She grabs her dishes
and goes inside. He gets up and follows her in, bit goes into the bedroom to get clothes to
change into. She puts her dishes away and seess the note Alex and I left. She sets that
aside and walks to the bedroom to get changed herself. After she changes, making sure
she's dressed comfortable for wherever Mike is taking her
"Is this going to work?" She asks him once she's dressed.
He turns and looks at her outfit.
"Yeah, that'll work."
"Okay." She says, digging out her shoes and putting them on.
After that, she grabs everything she could possibly need, before heading out of the bedroom and meeting Mike out in the living room. They then lock up the house and go out to the second car I have. He gets into the driver's side, while she gets into the passenger seat, and then it's off the surprise that Mike has for her. They drive for a little while and then she spots the sign for Busch Gardens.
"Wait a minute...are we going there?" She asks, pointing at the sign.
"Maybe..."
"Yayyyyy." She leans over and kisses his cheek happily.
He smiles, and when they get there he pulls into the nearest parking spot. They both get out and she's already excited. She takes what she needs out of her purse and puts that in a pouch that clips onto her belt loop. Then she puts her purse in the trunk for safety. After that, she bounces over to Mike.
"Let's go, let's go!" She beams excitedly.
"Someone's excited." He laughs.
"Yes! You know I love roller coasters."
"How could I possibly forget, I know you do."
She smiles as he locks the car and they go to pay their way inside.
"Come on, come on!"
"Okay, okay!" He laughs.
She finds the first ride and they get in line. She's standing in front of Mike when she feels hands on her shoulders. She looks over her shoulder at him curiously.
"You need to calm down." He laughs.
"I'll try." She says as he starts to rub up and down her arms.
"As long as you try." He smiles.
She tries to stay calm, letting him rub her arms.
"You're going to be affectionate as possible aren't you." She remarks.
"Yes I am."
"You make it hard to stay mad at you."
"Well we don't want you to stay mad at me do we?"
"No but we won't learn from it if I keep giving in either."
"Right." He says, stopping.
"I didn't say you had to stop...I was just making a point."
"I'm just trying to show you that I'm sorry for what I did."
"I know..."
"...I'm just saying." She adds.
"Right." He says as he resumes rubbing her arms and shoulders.
The line moves up more, and they had to wait until the ride was over, since they were
already at the gate to get onto it. Soon it's their turn and they get on. The line wasn't too long right now, so they sat on the ride and waited as other got on as well. The ride fills up and they send them off. The people sitting near them realized who they were and were surprised to see them. The ride was a blast and then once they got off, they ended up signing some autographs for people and taking some pictures.
"Onto the next!" I say excitedly as they leave the ride area.
Mike laughs and lets her lead him to the next one. The same thing happened at the ride,
with the waiting and riding, and signing autographs and whatnot. Alex and I drove around for a while before deciding on going to the zoo. We get there, park, and then pay to get in. Once we get inside, we go and get a map to see where everything is. The first place we decide on going to is the Asian Garden and Animals area, and I immediately chose the White Bengal Tiger exhibit.
"I love these, they're so pretty." I say, admiring them with Alex.
"Yeah." He agrees.
"Growing up I've always wanted one, not gonna lie." I laugh.
"I could see that." Alex chuckles.
We move away from the tigers and go to the Sri Lankan Sloth Bear.
"It's so fluffy."
"Yeah it is." Alex snickers.
We move onto other exhibits, before stopping somewhere in the zoo for lunch, finding a table to sit at.
"Having a good day?"
"Yes I am."
"Good."
"I hope things went well between Mike and Aly. He kind of followed her out onto the back porch this morning."
"Well she didn't call or text us so I'm sure she's fine."
"I hope so, you never know."
"True. Maybe we can check on her in a bit."
"Yeah, I think I will."
"Alright but for now, let's enjoy lunch."
"Right." I nod.
The two of us talk and people watch while we eat.
"I think people have recognized us." I say, looking around at them.
"I noticed." He chuckles.
"It's only a matter of time before we have to sign autographs for them." I laugh.
"Right."
Then sure enough, people came up to us, and first was a little kid.
"Hi, you're Alex Riley!" A little girl says in the cute way of little kids.
"Aww." I say to myself.
"Yes I am. What's your name?" Alex asks, chuckling.
"Julie! Can you sign this?" She holds out a piece of paper and a marker.
"Sure thing sweetie." He smiles.
He takes the paper and the marker, setting it down on the table and signing his autograph, before handing the marker and signed paper back to her.
"Thank you!" She beams before scooching over to me.
"Hi!"
"Hi." I say back, smiling.
"You're pretty Carly. Can you sign this too?" She hands me the paper.
"Of course I can." I say, taking the paper and marker, signing it as well.
"Thank you!" She exclaims before running off to her parents.
"She was too cute."
"Yeah." Alex agrees.
Then we go back to eating our lunch, occasionally being interrupted by people wanting autographs. We finally finish lunch.
"You want to check on Windy before we get going again?" Alex asks.
"Yeah, I think that would be good."
I pull my phone out and call her.
"Hello?" She answers.
"Taking a little break between rides."
"Ohh, where are you?"
"Busch Gardens."
"Ooooh, great place."
"I know, its been lots of fun."
"How're things with Mike?"
"Things are okay. We talked this morning and he understands that he really messed up and that its going to take some work before things can go back to normal. I told him he also has to apologize to you and Alex too."
"Well as long as things are okay. And I'll be waiting for that apology."
"Things are good, he's being extra affectionate or as much as I let him be since he has to earn kisses and things like that. And he will apologize, he knows that."
"Well that's good. Anyways, I just wanted to call and see how you were doing before Alex and I left."
"Thanks for the concern. What are you guys up to?"
"Well we're at the zoo right now, don't know what we're gonna be doing next."
"Ah, sounds fun. Have a good time."
"You too."
"Bye."
"Bye." We both hang up.
Hours pass and now we're all back at my house. Mike comes into the living room where Alex and I are, and sits down in the chair.
"Listen, um, I really want to apologize to both of you for how I've been acting for the past few days. None of you deserved to be treated like that and I'm sorry for taking out my anger on you both. I was wrong in doing that."
"Yeah, you were." I nod.
"I was and I'm sorry for it."
"I'll forgive you this time. Next time might not be so easy."
Alex nods in agreement.
"Thanks." Mike sighs in relief.
I just nod, before standing up, holding out my arms. Mike gets up and comes over to hug me.
"Don't ever do it again."
"I know."
Then I pull away from the hug, and sit back down.
"And try your best to avoid yelling at Aly, she was really upset after that." I add.
"Yeah I know. I'll try."
Then Aly walks into the room.
"Everything good now?"
"Yeah, everything's good."
"Good." She says, sitting on the armrest of Mike's chair.
He sits back dowin in the chair, after she sits on the armrest. She slides down and sits right by his hip, laying her legs in his lap. After a while, we all decide to go down to the beach. So we go into our rooms to get ready. We all get changed and grab what we need before heading out the back door and down the path to the beach. I go to sit down after I set my towel down, but I'm stopped. Next thing I know, I'm being carried off to the water.
"Hey!" I exclaim.
Alex just laughs as he reaches the shoreline, and sets me down.
"I wanted you to come swim with me." He says.
"Well you could've just told me you know."
"Where's the fun in that?"
I just shake my head amusedly, before heading out into the water before he could. He comes after me, making me squeal and go faster.
"Oh no you don't!"
"I'm going to get you!" He adds.
"I'll believe it when I see it..." I sing.
He speeds up and grabs me by the waist, making me shriek in surprise.
"Haha I got you."
"I can see that." I laugh.
Alex pulls me into him while turning me to face him. He then leans down and gives me a chaste short kiss.
"Love you."
"Love you too."
I lean into him as he pulls me around in the water. Back up on the beach, Aly's doing the usual tanning as Mike sits next to her.
"You're awful quiet." She says as she lays on her stomach with her head on her arms and
he eyes closed.
"I don't have much to talk about I guess."
"Understandable I suppose."
He rests his chin on his arms, which are resting on his knees, and he looks out at the ocean going back to being quiet again. She opens her eyes and looks at him, frowing at the look on his face. She sits up and gently touches his shoulder.
"You can talk to me you know." She says quietly.
"I know..."
She stands up and pulls on him.
"Come on, let's go for a walk."
He nods and gets up, following her as she starts to walk. She laces their fingers together and hugs his arm lightly with her head resting against his shoulder.
"I do forgive you." She tells him after a few minutes of silence.
"...really?"
"Yes. I realize that sometimes you can't control your emotions perfectly and I can see this is bothering you."
"You're right about that, it has been bothernig me...since last night."
"I know."
"I just feel really bad about everything I did."
"I know but the best thing you can do is learn from this and make sure it doesn't happen again. We all forgave you, you just have to forgive yourself."
"Right."
She leans up and kisses his cheek. He smiles and then lets go of her hand, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She loops his arms around his waist.
"Love you."
"Love you too."
"Now let's go enjoy the water."
"Race you there?"
"You're on!"
They both let go of each other, and bolt towards the water.
"No fair!" She laughs as he hits the water first.
"Gotta be faster than that." He laughs.
She sticks out her tongue, giggling a bit. She then starts to pick up speed, and since his back was turned to her as he was going out farther into the water, he didn't see her coming when she ran up behind him and tackled him. He yells in surprise and she laughs.
"Got to be more alert than that."
"I see that."
"I win." She laughs, splashing him and then dashing away.
"But I beat you to the water." He retorts as he chases her.
"Yeah and? You want a prize for that or something?" She teases.
"...maybe..."
"Gotta catch me first!" She says as she gets farther away.
"Heyyy, not fair!" He laughs, going after her.
"Too bad!"
"You're so in trouble now..." He says, gaining speed.
"Eep!"
She goes zooming past me and Alex.
"Hi, bye!"
I raise an eyebrow as I see her swim past, then I see Mike swim past after she did and I know what's going on now.
"He seems to be in a better mood." Alex comments.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"That's a good thing because if one of us four is unhappy, it usually tends to suck the fun and happiness out of a lot."
"I know."
She flys past again.
"Noooooooo!"
"Yup, definitely in a better mood." I say as he flys past again as well.
Alex laughs when she lets out a loud squeal as Mike finally catches her.
"Things are back to normal, finally."
"Yeah."
"Nooooo, let me goooo." Aly laughs.
"Nope." Mike laughs.
"Why nottttttt..."
"Because I don't want to."
"Aww."
"I love you. Is it a crime to want to hold you?"
She turns around in his arms and slides hers around him.
"Nope. I love you too."
"Do I still get that prize for beating you earlier?"
She surprises him with a kiss on the lips instead of on the cheek like she has been all day. She pulls away and buries her face in his neck. He smiles and then leans down and kisses the top of her head. She kisses his neck gently in return. We all stay in the water for a few more hours, before deciding to sit back up on the beach as the rest of the day drags on. After a while it starts to get dark so we head back to my house and have a little bonfire in the backyard. We sit around, as Alex gets the fire going. After it's burning pretty good, he comes over and sits next to me. I lean into him as he puts his arms around me. Aly lets Mike lay against her this time.
"Before you ask, yes Mike you are allowed back in the house tonight." I say.
"Thank you." He says.
"Plus, I think she'd kill me if I had you sleep outside another night." I laugh.
"I don't know about kill, I might be upset." She says, a smile playing on her lips.
"Well you know what I mean."
"Yes, I'm just giving you a hard time." She giggles.
We sit around the fire for a while, and I start to feel my eyes getting heavy as I stare at the fire. My head unconsciously leans over onto Alex's shoulder.
"Getting tired?" Alex asks.
"...no..." I lie.
"I think you are."
"I agree with him." Aly says, looking at me.
"I think we should head in." Alex says to me.
"I think not..."
"Alright but if you start to fall asleep like I think you're going to, then I'm taking you inside." He
replies.
"...fine."
Sure enough, a couple minutes later my eyes start to fall shut. Alex chuckles and scoops me up into his arms as he stands.
"That's my cue. Night guys."
"Night." Mike and Aly reply.
I whine in protest as he picks me up, carrying me inside and into the bedroom.
"You were falling asleep." He laughs.
"No I wasn't. I was resting my eyes. Two completely different things." I mumble.
"You've had a long day. You didn't sleep well last night and we've been walking alot and then swimming so I know you're tired."
"True..."
"Exactly." He says, setting me on my feet in my bedroom.
"Now get changed, so you can sleep." He adds.
"Alright alright." I mumble, grabbing my pajamas and going to get changed. After I change, I walk out and immediately climb into bed next to him. I cuddle up to him.
"Night." I yawn.
"Night love."
In the meantime Aly and Mike are still sitting by the fire, just until it starts to go out. Mike and her make sure the fire is completely out and they clean it up before going inside. They lock up the house before heading to their bedroom. They both get changed, and climb into bed. She snuggles into Mike's arms contently.
"I slept horrible last night without you."
"Same with me..."
"Kept having nightmares..."
He frowns, and tightens his arms around her.
"I'm here now."
"I know." She kisses his chest.
"No more nightmares."
"I hope not."
"If you do have one and wake up, I'm gonna be here so no worrying."
She nods and raises up to kiss the corner of his mouth.
"I love you."
"Love you too."
She settles back down.
"Night."
"Night."