A/N: Belated Merry Christmas, everyone!

He's still in bed after Paige takes her leave to head out for Raw on Sunday, so he doesn't notice at first but when he actually tries to sit up, Ricardo realizes immediately, what he had thought yesterday was common soreness following training is something far worse. Muscle aches, stomach discomfort, warmth... He grimaces, shaking his head. No, not right now, he thinks desperately. Christmas is only a few days away, all of their friends planning on coming over, and he has a match this weekend... He's just fought his way to his feet, wavering slightly, when the door opens a few inches, Sofia peeking in. They stare at each other for a moment before she enters, immediately gripping his arm and guiding him back to the bed. "No, I-" He stops, his voice sounding weird, weak to his own ears. "Sofia-"

"You need rest, mi hijo," she chides him tenderly, her hand resting on his forehead. "You feel a little warm, Ricardo," she tells him when he continues to resist relaxing against the sheets. "I'm going to get the thermometer. You will stay here, si?" He wants so badly to deny her but, when their eyes lock, he sees the worry in her gaze and ultimately nods, not wanting to make her feel worse by not abiding by her simple wish. "Good boy."

She disappears from the room and he waits as patiently as he can, always jittery and irritable when ill. She's back within moments, however, cupping his neck with a cool hand as she sits with him, waiting for the thermometer to give its reading. His temperature is elevated and he groans, burying his face in his hands as she strokes his hair and guides him back down to rest against the pillows. "It's not serious yet, Ricardo," she soothes him. "Just a minor fever. How do you feel?" He stares at her so balefully that she can't help but smile a little, patting his face. "I'm guessing another stomach bug?" He nods and she tsks at him. "Alright, I'll be back with some broth and toast for you. I want you to rest, si?"

He nods again and she strokes his hair out of his eyes. "So close to Christmas, Sofia," he mumbles unhappily, pressing his face into her cool touch.

"I know, mi hijo," she breathes sympathetically. "It'll be alright, though. Just breathe. I'll be back in a little bit." Her kiss on his forehead is soothing and distressing all at once, his murmur making her smile. "Don't worry about being contagious. I'll be fine." He had always been prone to little illnesses like this through the year, the housekeeper remembering how many times she'd fussed over him when he'd pushed himself to uphold his responsibilities to Alberto despite having severe respitory issues through the years they'd worked together. Sighing quietly, she closes the door behind her and moves to text Alberto, who is probably about to head home after another AAA event to alert him that Ricardo is ill, tapping the phone against her lips as she ponders the next few days. AJ is coming in tomorrow, everyone else trickling after her starting on Tuesday, and then Christmas Eve and Day...

Shaking her head at the timing of it all, she walks into the kitchen to begin making broth, knowing just how important it is that he gets plenty of fluids and sleep to work this thing out of his system. She hopes he will feel well enough to spend some time with his friends on Christmas, and compete this weekend as he's so desperate to.

Monday is a repeat of Sunday for Ricardo, either sprawled out on the couch or a useless lump in his bed, nursing as many fluids as he can keep down, Sofia checking his temperature whenever he's awake and aware of her actions, not wanting to startle him. He's fast asleep on Tuesday when the mattress sinks down next to him and he groans softly, unsurprised when a familiar arm wraps around his midsection, Paige's lips pressing kisses to his neck. "No," he hisses, trying to get away from her, still disoriented and sleepy. "I won't make you sick, mi fuerza, you have to leave." But she doesn't move, holding onto him tighter, and he moans. "Por favor..."

"Come, Ricardo," she urges him, guiding him to sit up, resting his head against her shoulder. "Hello, love." She kisses his forehead and, whereas Sofia's had been motherly, Paige's is something else entirely, leaving him flushing through his low fever. She nuzzles closer to him and whispers, "Here, let's try this." He then realizes that a steaming mug is pressed against his lips, Paige holding it steady as he sips from it, the warmth suffusing through his chilled system and helping him to at least stop shivering as violently as he had been. "Ginger tea," she explains, smiling down at him. "My family swears by it. It's pulled me from the brink of sickness quite a few times."

Once he turns his face away from it, not wanting to risk drinking more and getting sick again, she shifts and puts the mug down, her hand splayed across his midsection as she listens to his breathing."Gracias," he murmurs, hot breaths puffing against her neck. "But I don't want you to get this too, mi fuerza... please..."

"Sofia's not leaving you to suffer alone, and neither am I," she tells him somberly. "Especially this close to Christmas. So stop trying to run us off. You're stuck with us, love. Deal with it." She taps his lips and he sighs, unable to hide his relief at her words. "I love you."

"I love you too," he murmurs, falling asleep in her arms. She smiles fondly down at him as she clings to him tighter, listening to his breaths with a somber smile. When he wakes up, she's asleep next to him, her lips parted slightly, hair splayed out across his pillow and he takes in how peaceful she looks, his nose crinkling slightly when he hears Mike's voice clearly from down the hall, telling one of his ridiculous stories. He laughs softly and strokes Paige's back, realizing that she must've arrived with a few of the others. Unwilling to miss all of the fun, he sits up and is relieved when his nausea remains at bay, the room not spinning with his movement. He eyes the tea she'd offered him in thanks before leaning back down and gently kissing the side of her face, causing her to stir.

She whimpers and reaches out for him, eyes opening hurriedly when her fingers graze empty sheets. "Ricardo?"

He's standing by the window, staring out at the blue sky overhead. "Right here, mi fuerza," he tells her softly. As she pads over to him, wrapping her arms around him and looking out too, he rubs her arm gently. "I'm feeling a little better. I think your tea helped. Muchas gracias, what would I do without you?"

She shrugs and kisses his shoulder, turning him around. Cupping his face, she examines him. "You're still a little pale," she comments. "But do you think you feel up to coming out to the living room and spending time with our friends? Most of the group is here by now, I believe."

"Si," he agrees. "I'd like that, mi fuerza." She stays close to him to stabilize him but he doesn't complain, relieved for her proximity and warmth as, despite the hot Florida weather beats down upon the house, he feels those damning feverish shivers threatening to overwhelm him once more. He forces himself not to show this weakness, however, not wanting to be forced back to bed by Sofia or Alberto, determined to spend time with the group. He sees them less and less since leaving WWE, which was to be expected, but he's not about to waste this opportunity just because of his body's weakness.

Once they make it to the doorway of the living room, Ricardo is truly amazed by the amount of people in the room. Alberto, Mike, AJ, Mizdow, Tamina, Alex, Alicia, and he's pretty sure he can hear Sofia, Morrison and Sexy Star in the kitchen. He and Paige have just exchanged small smiles when Ricardo hears his name, looking up to find Alberto walking hurriedly over to him. "Mi hermano," he exclaims. "How are you feeling? Come, come."

Mike, AJ and Tamina all shift, making room for him on the couch as Alberto guides him over to sit down, his sharp eyes taking in how pale Ricardo is, his fever still enough to be noticeable. "I"m alright, but I don't want to make anyone sick-" he's started to say when he notices movement out of the corner of his eye, turning to see Mizdow shifting away from him.

"I didn't move," Mike tells him coldly, causing him to freeze. He turns his attention to Ricardo and shakes his head, smiling. "Don't worry about it, man. Considering how often we've been traveling the past few weeks, I'm sure we've all been in contact with something nasty. We'll just wash our hands a lot the next few days, right? It's been too long since we've gotten to see you, we're not gonna let some stomach flu ruin this chance."

"Exactly," Paige tells him softly, squeezing his hands as he smiles around at them, a little overwhelmed.

"Gracias," he sighs, sinking back into the couch cushions, still a little sore and tired. It's a comfort just to sit back and listen to his friends talk, share new travel stories that he hasn't been privy to since leaving WWE. Alberto shares his tales from Mexico and what he has planned with ROH and other ventures, Ricardo blinking slowly as he listens with a faint smile. He's startled back to awareness when there's a knock at the front door, Alberto's entire face lighting up as he gets up quickly and rushes to the door. "Who are we expecting?" he wonders, his confusion growing as everyone else seems as out of the loop as he is.

The voices coming from the front hall are faint, unrecognizable, even when Sofia rushes out to greet the new guests and take their luggage. Ricardo is frowning, trying to determine who it is, when Memo Montenegro's familiar form fills the living room doorway, his new bride by his side. This makes sense, the younger man's eyes widening happily as he recognizes Alberto's younger brother. "Memo! I didn't know you were going to come," he says, making it stubbornly to his feet to greet his former, however brief, tag partner from NXT. "Hola." He doesn't move any closer to either of them, smiling sheepishly at Gloria as she clings to her husband's arm. "Fair warning, I'm a little under the weather and I don't wish to make either of you sick, so-." His warning is cut off by Memo bridging the gap between them and hugging him anyway.

"Who isn't under the weather this winter, Ricardo?" he quips, eyes shining as he pulls away and claps him on the arm. "It's good to see you, mi amigo."

"Good to see you too, Memo," he laughs, shaking his head at everyone ignoring how terrible he must look, if it at all rivals how he feels. Paige drags him back over to sit on the couch and he obliges her, watching as Sofia brings in more chairs for Memo and Gloria to claim. "Welcome to our particular kind of madness, Gloria," he tells the woman softly.

"Gracias," she tells him, glancing around the room. "There are a lot of people, hm?" She follows her husband to a cluster of chairs, looking relieved to sit down after traveling so long to get here.

"Si, but most of them are friendly enough," Del Rio tells her with a faint smile, beginning to introduce her to the people scattered around until all of them look up when Morrison appears, looking a little frazzled. "Overran your welcome with the ladies, hm?"

"Yeah," he mutters, running his fingers through his hair before settling in between Ricardo and Mike, which makes the couch a bit of a tight fit, but AJ gets up and settles in Mike's lap to make up for it, content to curl up in his arms as he braces her with steady hands on her legs and back.

"John, meet my sister in law, Gloria," Alberto offers once they're all settled, smiling as she looks up from something Memo is showing her on his phone.

"Nice to meet you," he tells the woman.

"Nice to meet you as well," she returns. "You are... Johnny Mundo from Lucha Underground? Si? My husband watches it sometimes."

He chuckles and nods. "Yeah, I am, but most just call me Morrison. I was known by that name the longest."

"Don't worry," Mike tells her when her brows furrow in confusion. "He's changed his name a dozen times at least. You'll get used to it."

"If you say so," she says with a faint smile, leaning against her husband, who had also changed his name a time or two, to try to be his own man without the stigma of being related to Dos Caras, Mil Mascaras, or Alberto Del Rio. Not that he's ashamed of his heritage, no, but his pride had insisted he at least try on his own merits to make it in the business with verying results.

They sit and catch up for awhile, Star and Sofia finally finishing in the kitchen and settling in the living room, Morrison getting up long enough to pull chairs in for the women, putting Star close to the couch and Sofia near Memo and his wife, who are pleased to talk with her while the wrestlers discuss the business that they're in, how the landscape's changed over the last year. Alberto's just begun to talk about MMA when Miz clears his throat, glancing to the left and Alberto follows his gaze to find that Ricardo is nodding off next to Morrison, Paige on the other side of him gently stroking his hair, making soft, tsking noises.

"Oh," he murmurs, getting up and kneeling in front of Ricardo. "Mi amigo, hey. Wake up for a moment." When Ricardo's eyes are languidly blinking open, he smiles up at him and claps his knees. "What do you say we get you to bed, hm?"

Sofia approaches as well, resting a hand on Ricardo's neck to check his fever. "He's not as warm as he was, senor," she murmurs, relieved to find that he's slowly getting better. "Sleep will help him to kick this further hopefully."

"Si. Up you get, mi amigo," Alberto whispers, hooking his hands under his best friend's arms and helping him to stand. When he sleepily staggers, Miz appears next to Del Rio and catches the slack, helping him get the sleepy man down the hall to his bedroom.

"But- but-" Ricardo struggles to resist, wanting to spend more time with the others. "El Patron," he says pitifully, not comprehending why they're making him leave.

"It's ok, love," Paige says, following them. She finds his arm and pats it lovingly. "It's barely Tuesday night, we still have plenty of time to spend together as a group. No worries. You want to be well rested to help with the tree tomorrow, si? And then on Thursday, gift exchange and whatever else we all end up doing?"

When Ricardo searches for her in the shadowy hall, Mike shifts so she can step closer to Ricardo, his face relaxing a little when he sees her. "Of course," he murmurs. "Are you staying with me?"

"Of course," she echoes him with a smile. "I've got to keep your insomnia at bay, right?" She holds the door as Mike and Alberto levers the weak man inside.

"You don't have to," he sighs, sinking down onto his bed. "I'd understand- go back, have fun with the-"

"No," she refuses, cutting him off gently. "I'm fine here. If I had to hear Alicia talking about being on Total Divas one more time..." She's on the show as well, but she's going at it from a different perspective than her former 'best friend' is, not seeing the need to make it the basis of every conversation. His chuckle warms her as she curls up next to him, hand steady across his chest as Alberto and Mike wish them quiet good nights, ducking back outside to let Ricardo rest.

As he falls asleep, her fingers resuming stroking through his soft, dark hair, she smiles, her eyes gleaming in the faint moonlight shining into the room from his windows. "I love you, Ricardo," she whispers into his ear, settling down next to him and watching him sleep peacefully until she too dozes off, smiles on both of their faces.

-x

The house is already bustling the next morning when Alberto wakes up, Miz, AJ, Tamina and Mizdow sitting at the kitchen table while Alex and Alicia help Sofia pull ornaments out of the attic, the tree having waited patiently for days to be decorated fully with the various bulbs and lights, garland and whatever else that's in Alberto's growing collection of decorations. He'd normally done such things earlier in the month, but with so many people coming in, he'd decided that doing it on Christmas Eve was just as well, allowing everyone to have a hand in decorating the tree they'd be celebrating under the following day. He cringes at the growing level of noise that greets him when he leaves his bedroom and ducks into Ricardo's dark, quiet room, smiling down at his best friend and Paige as they sleep on, undisturbed by what's going on past this little sanctuary.

He's loath to wake them but he knows, just by what Ricardo had said the night before, that he wants to miss as little of this as possible, so he leans closer and rests a hand on Ricardo's shoulder, carefully shaking him. He gasps and jerks awake, confusion deep in his eyes as he stares up at Alberto. "El Patron? Are we late for an event?"

"No, mi hermanito," he soothes him. "It's Christmas Eve, all of our friends are outside, remember?" As Paige shifts awake, Alberto glances at her, relieved when he looks back to see as recognition dawns in Ricardo's eyes. "You want to come out and visit for awhile, eat some breakfast before we start in on the tree?"

He hesitates for only a moment, glancing over at Paige, who nods encouragingly. "Si, of course, El Patron," he hums. "We'll be out in a moment, gracias."

"Any time, mi hermano." Ruffling Ricardo's hair, Alberto sucks in a deep breath before turning and bracing himself to face the large group of people currently residing within his walls. "Ay." He chuckles mirthlessly and heads out, determined to make this a good day, especially for Ricardo, Sofia, Memo, and his brother's new wife. Shortly, Ricardo and Paige leave the bedroom, Ricardo in a silly Christmas sweater with a smiling Santa and holly flowers scattered here and there. Paige is in a plain black shirt, her hat from Tribute to the Troops declaring Bah Humbug to everyone who looks at it, but both look perfectly happy as they walk into the kitchen, hand in hand, to join in with breakfast, Sofia bustling around to serve the late-wakers as quickly as possible.

"Gracias," Ricardo says as she settles a bowl of plain cereal and toast before him and plates of pancakes in front of Paige and Alberto. She lingers and rests a hand on his forehead, relieved to find that his fever is lower. "I'm feeling a little better," he tells her, smiling faintly.

"I'm glad, mi hijo," she hums, quickly walking off to prepare more pancakes for the rest of the group. Memo and Gloria make it to the table in a few minutes. Ricardo can see John and Star through the window, exploring the grounds, so everyone's awake which means, as soon as Sofia serves one last round of pancakes, she's able to join them, smiling at Ricardo as he carefully pours a small amount of milk over his cereal, not wanting to risk making himself ill again just in case.

Morrison and Star join them shortly, and the conversations around the table cycle between English and Spanish, Alberto sitting back and taking it all in between bites when he realizes a particular voice is missing from the mess, looking over to find that Ricardo also is merely sitting there, listening with a fond smile on his face. Their eyes lock and Alberto chuckles, his eyes shining at just how happy, at ease, his best friend looks. Last year had been so different, they both were miserable, drowning under everything the WWE was doing to them, personally and professionally, but the latter half of 2014 had been much better... and he has no doubt that 2015 will continue to improve for them both.

Once they all finish eating, the group trickles into the living room, where it's more comfortable, and where the tree is waiting. Alberto finds some music channel on the TV that's playing Christmas music and leaves it on low while they sort through everything that Alicia and Alex had found in the attic, Ricardo and Alex immediately setting to untangle the lights that somehow always seem determined to delay the entire decorating process. While they struggle through that, Alicia and Paige work together on the garland, smoothing it out so it'll be easy to wrap around the tree after the lights. The rest of the group begin searching the boxes of ornaments, setting aside the ones they want to put up personally. After a few minutes, though, AJ looks up, clearly searching for something... or someone. "Where's Mike?" she finally asks, frowning.

Ricardo glances around and, not seeing him, opens his mouth to say something when the man himself appears with a handful of something familiar stacked up in his arms, a familiar pile in Mizdow's. "Oh no," he mumbles, remembering how Mike had made them all make stockings the year before.

Alberto looks up too, following his best friend's gaze, and spots Mike, immediately slapping his hand against his forehead. "Ay dios mio," he sighs. Mike ignores them, wandering around the room and dropping a stocking in front of each person. AJ, Tamina, Ricardo, Alberto, Sofia, Memo, Alex and John's all have names on them from the year prior, but the rest are blank. As Mike handles this, Mizdow drops bottles of fabric paint near each person, Mike standing at the front of the room as he finishes. Mizdow joins him, mouthing after him. "So last year, we each had stockings and this year, you're all new to the group, so I thought we could continue the tradition. As those of us with finished stockings resume working on the tree, decorate your stockings how you wish." He claps his hands and grins as most of the group leans over to figure out their stockings.

Mizdow looks a little sad until Miz turns to look at him, lips turning up in a sneer. Mizdow has just turned back to the tree when he feels something poking him in the shoulder, something soft, and... He glances down, shocked to find that a stocking is hanging over his arm. He swallows hard, lifting it up. Mike is staring at him, his brows lifted, as Damien points at the stocking. "This is mine?" He sounds vulnerable, needy, and he hates it, but dammit, he'd been alone for a long time. Even when he had partnered with Cody Rhodes, there had been this divide between them that had ended with his swimming around in the gulf trying to rescue his Money in the Bank briefcase.

"Yes." Mike then hands him a bottle of fabric paint, a deep blue that reminds Mizdow of his former satin robe. If intentional of Mike or not, he's not sure, but it's still a nice gesture. He smiles and turns to get to work, relieved to be made a part of this tradition. As if his time in the group won't just be temporary...

By the time the stockings are done and hung on Alberto's mantel to finish drying, the tree is ready for ornaments and the group of them fall to it in gusto, cheerful talking broken into with random bits of singing whenever the music changes to a favorite song of one of theirs. Alberto peers around, his smile growing as he takes in his brother and Ricardo's happiness as they press multicolored bulbs on neighboring branches. It takes a couple of hours to finish trimming the tree, but it goes by in a flash of laughter and goodnatured teasing, all of them pausing when they realize they're out of bulbs and ornaments. "Huh," Ricardo hums, looking up as he takes the last piece out of the box. A large star that he stands up with held protectively in his hands, walking up to Alberto. "I think it's your turn, El Patron."

He grins as Alberto takes the star from him and glances up at the tree, reminding again of the year prior, decorating a tree halfheartedly. "Eh, mi amigo, what do you say we do it together?" Ricardo's face lights up and he nods slowly, following Alberto to the tree. Everyone watches quietly as the two men stand side by side, Ricardo on his tiptoes to help Alberto lifting the simply but beautiful star to the top of the tree, the two of them watching closely to make sure that it's attached securely to the tree before letting go, stepping back to watch, Alberto's arm snug around Ricardo's shoulders, as Sofia plugs it all in, the entire group gasping and murmuring appreciatively as the soft glow of the tree lights up the room.

"Beautiful," Paige whispers, breaking the awe that the entire room is in, Alicia giggling slightly. Before the two women can start arguing, or worse, Alex and Ricardo intercede, drawing them to separate sides of the room. Ricardo and Paige settle back on the couch, watching the others while Alex distracts Alicia with the stockings, his arm curled around her as he whispers into her ear, the diva's eyes locked on him adoringly.

Mike and Mizdow help Alberto collect boxes and put the leftover scraps from decorating back inside of them, stacking them up until everything will need dismantled and put away until the following year, hiding all of this into the closet until that time comes. "Gracias," Alberto tells them once done.

"No problem," Mike responds. "Think he'll be ok by Saturday?" He nods towards Ricardo, who still looks pale and tired, no matter how brave a front he had put forward while helping with the tree and stockings.

"I have no clue," Alberto admits. "I hope so for his sake, but... illnesses linger so long with him." He sighs. "I believe it's because of his health issues as a teen... he's so succeptible to things like this." He runs his fingers through his hair in aggravation. "I will be home, either way, seeing as I have nothing scheduled until Sunday. At least he won't be alone." He can tell by the look on Mike's face that this relieves him as well, and he smiles faintly, remembering how jealous he was once of how close Mike and Ricardo had become. Now, he's just glad that Ricardo has friends, and all of the support that comes with it...

The rest of the day passes quietly, all of them visiting while the tree twinkles merrily, Sofia and Star disappearing, Gloria joining them to resume preparing the Christmas Day meal. They make random appearances with roast beef sandwiches or large bowls full of salads and more broth for Ricardo, whose energy is waning once more, but for the most part, the women are barely seen, though their Spanish conversations are audible from the kitchen. As the hours pass and the conversations drift, lose their energy and fade, more and more people excuse themselves, wishing everyone a good night before disappearing into the various bedrooms. Soon, Alberto is alone, having seen Ricardo safely to his room once more, and he stares up at the tree with a soft smile, sighing softly. "Much better than last year," he murmurs to himself before getting up and looking into the bathroom to find Sofia cleaning up, about to retire so she's well rested for the bulk of the cooking in the morning. "Feliz Navidad, Sofia," he tells her softly.

She looks up, a pleasantly surprised smile on her lips. "Ay, senor, I didn't know you were still awake. Feliz Navidad," she returns, realizing that it's just after midnight. "Buenos noches."

He laughs at the not so subtle urge to go to bed, and nods. "Buenos noches." Waving at her, he turns and heads into his bedroom, one last thing left to do. He listens until she pads to her own room a few minutes later, shutting the door quietly behind her, and scoops up a pile of boxes from his closet, wandering back into the living room. It's dark but he knows his house better than anyone, so he has no problems as he circles his tree, stacking the presents up so that others can fit theirs under it easily, relieved that some of them are smaller, and able to be stuffed into the stockings. Done, he retreats back to his bedroom and sinks between his sheets, immediately falling into a comfortable sleep.

-x

"Holy crap," Mike's mumble is the first thing Ricardo hears as he walks into the living room, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

He still feels rough and feverish, but he's still determined to open gifts with the others, though he's agreeable enough when Paige pushes him towards the couch and helps him to get comfortable, more chairs set up to accomodate him. He'd worn himself out with the tree yesterday, and he's paying for it today. But he'd have to be blind not to notice what had made Mike react like that, a ridiculous amount of gifts under the tree. "What the hell?" And that wasn't all, as the stockings were all filled to bursting with various, smaller gifts. "Damn."

"I guess this is what happens when you have thirteen people at one party," Mike muses, poking at his own stocking.

"Fourteen," Gloria speaks up, reminding them all that their number had grown even more at the last minute.

"Oh, right, sorry, Gloria," Mike says awkwardly, smiling sheepishly at her.

Paige brings in two steaming mugs of ginger tea and settles in at Ricardo's feet, smiling at him when he sits up and reaches out for the tea, one of the few things that had helped him to feel at least a little better. "So are we opening gifts now, or...?" The general chorus that follows confirms it's gifts time and she chuckles, honestly surprised at the volume of the response. "Alrighty then."

Mike is moving towards the stockings when Ricardo snags Paige's sleeve, staring at her in something close to horror. "I forgot to put my gifts for everyone under the tree," he hisses at her when she looks over at him. "I slept through everything-"

"No, no, love," she soothes him, rubbing his knuckles. "I handled it for you, don't worry. Everything's fine. I knew you needed the sleep." He stares at her in awe, sinking back into the cushions in relief, and she smiles at him before turning her attention back to the tree, Mike handing out the various stockings so they can get the smaller gifts out of the way before diving into everything under the tree.

Most of the men's stockings are near empty so it doesn't take too long, though it becomes pretty quickly what the theme of everything is going to be when John pulls out a cannister of gourmet European hot chocolate from Miz, just to find a box of Swiss Miss packets a little lower, from Mizdow. The entire room pauses in digging around in their stockings to look incredulously at the man, who seems nonplussed by their reaction. "Great," John mutters, chuckling slightly as he puts the drink mixes aside.. They're still sitting there as Alex passes out his various gifts from the top of the pile under the tree, Ricardo looking around until he's done and sat back down next to Alicia.

Sure enough, every time there was a gift from Miz in one of the stockings, there was a similar, cheaper version of it not far below, but no one seems to mind, the women quickly growing ecstatic at the jewelry waiting for them, Alicia's arms wrapped tight around Alex as soon as she sees the diamond earrings with his name on them. Paige is overwhelmed in black things, but she's clearly pleased, already wearing the necklace that Ricardo had gotten her, its dark stone reflecting the Christmas tree perfectly. When AJ finds hers in the stocking, she gasps aloud, awed by its beauty. Gold and silver streaks forming a delicate snowglobe charm for her bracelet, which Mike gently takes from her and helps clasp it to the charm bracelet he'd bought her. "I love it," she whispers, staring down at it as it reflects light with each shift of her wrist. "I love you," she tells him, cupping his face. "Thank you."

He smiles down at her, oddly subdued in the morning light, but she's the only one who seems to notice, worry filling her gaze as he kisses her palm. But before she can ask, more gifts are unearthed from the stockings, more exclamations are made, and they quickly forget this odd moment, all focus on their friends. The real fun begins once they move under the tree, the larger gifts calling to all of them. Ricardo even gets up for this one, determined to hand out his own gifts, even if he hadn't been able to place them under the tree himself. Paige helps him over and he smiles at her thankfully, relieved that his strength is holding as well as it is.

Ricardo is looking around, trying to figure out where Alex is hiding, when he feels a tap on his shoulder and turns to find his former roommate standing behind him, a slightly sheepish look on his face. "Here, Ricardo, Merry Christmas," he offers, handing over an envelope.

Ricardo holds it loosely in his hand and laughs a little, glancing up at him too. "Well, Merry Christmas to you too, Alex," he murmurs, passing over an envelope of his own. They stare at each other a moment before opening their individual gifts up, immediately breaking into somewhat emotional laughs. "Rock climbing," he says, shaking his head. "For the both of us?"

"Hell yes," Alex says, staring down at the vouchers in his own hand. "Yoga classes? I missed you, man."

"Me too," Ricardo chuckles. "Great minds think alike?"

"Clearly." He tugs Ricardo closer and hugs him. "You really have to get better soon, man, so we can start using these things up."

"I'm working on it," he promises, pulling away with a smile. He looks up in time to see Alberto peering down at a gift, a thrown look on his face. He approaches him, peeking over his shoulder, just to realize that he's staring down at a framed picture of the two of them from House of Hardcore, happy and laughing into the camera without a care in the world.

Alberto, sensing Ricardo's presence, returns to reality and looks up, catching Paige's eye. "Muchas gracias," he tells her softly, lifting the gift enough for her to realize what he'd just opened and she nods, smiling at him. "I'll treasure this." He clears his throat and turns to look at Ricardo, smiling at him fondly as he hands over a medium sized box. "Here, mi amigo. I imagine you will find this useful in the future."

Ricardo smiles as he peels apart the wrapping paper, peering inside the box. "Oh damn," he breathes out, pulling out a ridiculous amount of chargers. "El Patron, what did you do?"

"These are chargers that are compatible with every kind of electrical outlet in the modern world, mi amigo. I know you intend on beginning to travel all over with your upcoming indy dates, and this way you can keep in contact with all of us no matter where you are." Ricardo releases an awed laugh before lunging forward and hugging Alberto, who strokes his fingers through the younger man's hair fondly. They stand for awhile, watching the others open gift in a flurry, a growing pile of of jewelry, artwork, and various clothes surrounding each person, smiles on their faces, Ricardo seeming a bit anxious. "What is it, mi amigo?" Alberto finally murmurs.

"Your gift is so thoughtful," he explains. "Mine seems... very unimaginative in response." But he finds the box anyway and hands it over to Alberto.

"I'm sure I'll love it, mi hermano," he tells him quietly, tearing at the paper until he can see inside. It's a fancy looking clothing box, and when he opens the lid, gasps at what he finds inside. A silk scarf with the Mexican flag embroidered into it, his initials stitched below it. "Ricardo," he breathes, truly awed by it. "This... this is incredible."

"You're sure? You really like it?" he asks, peering over Alberto's shoulder to stare at it. "I..."

"It's perfect, I will wear it proudly," he promises, hugging Ricardo tightly. "Gracias."

They're distracted from their moment when there's a rough sputtering from across the room, Mike waving a box at Mizdow. "A beard trimming kit? Are you kidding, Damien!? I'm not growing a beard and covering the Moneymaker, if anything you should shave if you're really invested in being a proper stunt double!"

AJ acts quickly to interject, ease some of the tension in the air. "Husband," she calls out to Mike, interrupting his rant successfully. With some help from Tamina, she drags in something from Alberto's patio, the Mexican aristocrat looking away innocently when Ricardo peers at him curiously. Mike's jaw drops, killing his rant before he can really get going, and he gapes. "Come look at this."

As he stumbles towards the director's chair, his name glinting across its back in what resembles diamonds, Mizdow grimaces but follows along, pretending to sit on thin air when Mike settles in his chair, the very picture of ease and confidence. Before Mizdow can look more miserable, Tamina returns with a second chair, clearing her throat as she pushes it towards Mizdow. It's his turn to gape on in awe, the words STUNT DOUBLE scrawled along the back in cubic zirconia. He all but dives into it, now able to successfully mimic Mike perfectly, crossing his arms over his chest and surveying the room with all of Mike's smugness behind their sunglasses.

"Ay dios mio, what have they done?" Alberto mutters as Ricardo laughs next to him. Neither man are laughing, however, when they open AJ's gifts to find matching Christmas sweaters, ridiculous looking snowmen wearing varying colors of scarves and gloves decorating the entire article of clothing. They stare at each other with horrified looks on their faces, Paige peering back and forth between the two and struggling not to giggle at their expressions.

The gift opening is starting to wind down, the room seeming like it's about to explode in wrapping paper and ribbon, when Memo leans over to whisper to Gloria, catching Alberto's eye. He nods and glances over at Ricardo, who smiles and gathers together the last of his energy to truly focus on her as she stands up and carefully walks around all of the mess, approaching Alex. "Excuse me, Alex?" she greets him, smiling faintly when he looks up from where he's teasing Alicia by trapping her in the leather varsity jacket she'd given him and kissing her breathless.

"Yes, Gloria?" he blinks, looking up at her. "Do you need something?" He loosens his grip on his girlfriend, feeling her squirming free and aware that he's going to pay for doing that to her, but not with Gloria standing before them.

"No, but I have something for you. This is a gift from us, my familia," she explains, waving a hand towards where Alberto, Memo, Ricardo and Sofia are clustered together, watching. "You offered Ricardo support through a difficult time, and you have deserved this. Feliz Navidad, Alex." Handing over a small box to him, she returns to her husband's side and leans into Memo as they watch Alex open the gift, immediately releasing a choked gasp.

"If you lose that, you're paying to have my security updated," Alberto calls to him, drawing his eye away from the delicate key held in a box of cotton. "...But I trust you. So you're welcome in this house at any time."

Alex is flushed, staring at Alberto in amazement before Alicia nudges him. He finds his voice, choking out a quick, "Thank you, Alberto. I will be very careful with it." He walks over to them and holds his hand out to the Mexican aristocrat, biting his lip.

Alberto doesn't even pause before shaking his hand, shocking him further by pulling him in for a quick hug. "Muchas gracias for taking care of Ricardo. I know I have thanked you before, but it bears repeating."

They're all smiling slightly goofily at each other when the moment is broken by AJ, who had just opened her final gift. "Paige, what the hell?!" she exclaims, waving around a magnet that says in bright pink letters, CRAZY CHICK.

"Yes, well, I thought it was funny! Unlike this," Paige yells back, holding up a package of English muffins. The two divas look like their truce is about to go by the wayside when Sofia interjects, all of them needing to shut up to hear her soft spoken voice.

"Lunch is ready, come along, everyone." Her hand is warm on Ricardo's back as she leads the way, everyone forgetting the argument as they realize just how many delicious smells are spreading through the house. They quickly abandon the gifts and bickering to go look at the impressive spread that is waiting for them. Sofia lingers at the door as Ricardo grimaces, his stomach starting to protest just by the smells alone. She quickly joins him and rests a hand on his face. "I left your door closed, mi hijo. The smells shouldn't be so blatant in there. Why don't you go get some sleep, you're looking exhausted. After dessert, I'll come and get you, and you may visit with your friends once more."

"Gracias, Sofia," he tells her lowly, maneuvering around the gifts and shredding wrapping paper to disappear down the hall into his room.

She watches him go with a sad smile before returning to the others to explain where he'd gone, feeling terrible for him. What an unfortunate time to be sick, she muses, vowing to make him a special meal as soon as he can keep anything stronger than broth down.

-x

Even though he sleeps through most of the afternoon and goes to bed early that night, hoping to wake up feeling healthy, Friday is just as terrible as Thursday had been, if not worse because the hours are ticking away too quickly and he'll have to start considering seriously skipping the wrestling event the following night, which leaves him sick at heart because it's the last event of the year for his dojo, and he'd have given anything... but he can't risk injurying himself, or worse, his opponent, because he's ill and weak from not being able to eat well for a week. He stays in bed, dwelling on this morosely, until Mike peeks in, smiling at him. "Hola," he greets him tiredly.

"Hey, man. Still not feeling great, huh?" he asks, resting a hand on Ricardo's forehead and grimacing when he finds the ever present low-grade fever still obvious.

"No. I don't think I'll get to compete tomorrow," he breathes out, disgust blatant in his voice as he closes his eyes against the disappointment. Nothing seems to be going right, first he's not wanted by either AAA or ROH to work with ADR, and now...now he misses out on opportunities in his own career because he falls ill at the worst possible time. "I hope none of you get this."

"Don't worry about us," Mike tells him simply. "We'll be fine. Just focus on getting better. Alright?" When Ricardo nods glumly, he sits down by him on the bed. "We have to leave soon, I'm flying out to Smackdown, AJ and Morrison are heading home to California, and I'm sure Memo and Gloria's flight is soon too. I just wanted to make sure you're gonna be alright before I go. It was good to see you, even if it wasn't in the best of circumstances. When you're feeling better, we'll all need to do something. Make a real party of it." He pauses. "Someone's birthday is only a couple of months away, maybe then."

This does make Ricardo smile a little. "I'd like that, Mike." Miz clasps his hand and grins down at him before moving to stand. "Hey, have fun on the holiday tour." His smile turns a little wistful as he remembers some of the good times he'd had in the WWE, even when things were slowly growing unbearable. Being a temporary member of the 3MB had been fun, even if he hadn't been entirely welcome in the group, none of them thrilled with his replacing Heath Slater.

"I will, man, thanks. We'll talk soon. Feel better." He claps him on the arm lightly before leaving with a quick wave.

Ricardo closes his eyes, sinking back into the sheets, when the door cracks open again and someone else approaches the bed, his smile growing when he recognizes the footsteps. "Paige," he murmurs. "You have to go soon too, right?"

"Unfortunately, love," she tells him, leaning down to kiss his forehead. "I've been booked at the holiday tour so I have to fly out for New York shortly. I'll miss you, and I'll hope you feel well enough tomorrow to compete... but Ricardo?" Her voice grows steelly as she grips his face, staring into his eyes until he opens his enough to look back at her. "If you don't, do not force it. I will make Alberto call in sick for you if I have to. I won't have you making yourself worse just because you're so determined to uphold your responsibilties. It's not worth your health, love. They'll understand, and if they don't, they don't deserve you."

He releases a shuddery breath and buries his face in her neck, breathing her in as she hugs him back. "I know," he mumbles miserably. "I was just looking forward to it so much..."

"I know, love. I know." She rubs soothing circles in his back. "I've left plenty of ginger tea with Sofia, she should be in shortly with some for you." She fusses over him for a moment, smoothing the sheets over his prone form before poking him in the nose with a gentle finger, his eyes crossing as a result making her giggle helplessly before she turns serious once more. "You rest, and let others take care of you for once, alright? Sofia is determined to, now that the holidays are over and there's no one here that you feel obligated to entertain and visit with. Let her or I won't be very happy..." He begins to look nervous and she leans in, kissing him slowly, gently. "I love you, Ricardo. And I just want you well."

"I know," he sighs. "I love you too. And I'll do my best to be a good patient."

She smiles down at him and kisses the top of his head, fluffing his pillows a bit before turning for the door. Leaning against the frame, she peers back in at him and blows him a kiss, winking. "See you soon, my love. Call me whenever you're awake, I'll miss you."

"Alright, I will," he murmurs, already sleepy because of just how warm the blankets are, the smell of her perfume still all over them, the pillows, his clothes. It helps him to pretend that she's still with him, and not going anywhere as he falls asleep, a small smile on his face.

When Sofia enters a few minutes later, he's fast asleep, his hands clinging to the sheets where Paige's scent lingers the strongest. She smiles, her eyes soft with compassion for the ill man. "My poor hijo," she sighs, escaping back to the kitchen before she can disturb his much-needed rest. Her only relief is that Alberto is staying at the house tomorrow, not needed in Mexico until the 28th, which means he can assist her with keeping Ricardo's displeasure at bay, keep him occupied should he be unable to compete the follow night, which is seeming more and more likely with each passing hour that his illness lingers. She sighs sadly as she begins preparing Alberto's breakfast, hoping with everything in her that he will have fewer disappointments of this magnitude in the coming year.