Alicia doesn't win the Royal Rumble. But, Ricardo hatstens to add to his wayward thoughts, she had done much more this year than the prior and, should she get another opportunity, will make the most of her moments. As she always does. He smiles a little at the thought and returns to looking over booking details for Sabotage and other paperwork the managers over at Hybrid have been pushing his way lately. He sighs and gets to work, setting it aside a good hour later when he hears his phone go off.

After fumbling for it a few seconds under the mess cluttering his table, he's not terribly surprised to find Alicia waiting for him. He beams when her grinning face greets him and he listens as she talks about the fall out from the Rumble, and the announcement that she and Nikki Cross are getting thrown together for a qualifying match for the womens tag belts next week. "I think they're putting us in a team together so I can keep her calm and focused," Alicia says with all of the sincerity she's ever had.

It takes him a minute to find his words, stumbling out a quick acknowledgment to this. They talk for a few moments longer before she regretfully tells him she has to go get some sleep before her flight in the morning. Blows kisses at him and drops the call, allowing Ricardo to exhale gently before he scoops up the nearest puppy, burying his face in her side and laughing helplessly. He loves Alicia, but the thought that she could calm Nikki down is the best thing he's heard in awhile. Though, rethinking it, he realizes just exactly how terrifying someone like Nikki working with someone like Alicia could truly be. "Yikes," he mumbles, kissing the confused puppy between the eyes "Wanna go play, little one?" he asks, trying to distract himself from the what ifs as he puts the puppy down and stands up to find some scattered dog toys around the living room.

Life isn't easy- he still doesn't sleep well most nights, his temper, his insecurities, his depression all work together against him, but on nights like tonight, fresh off of a conversation with his wife, and surrounded by three of the cutest puppies in the world, he realizes he really, really is thankful to still be here, that he hadn't let the darkness win yet.

Shaking these thoughts from his head, he waves one of the chew toys at the puppy and grins as she bounds over to him, grabbing it between her sharp, adorable teeth, and giving it a good tug, the dog struggling to pull it out of his hands so she can play properly. Sometimes he lets go and allows her to do whatever she wants for a few minutes, but usually he just holds on and watches as she grows more confident, planting her legs and pulling even harder. "I love you," he says softly. "And you know, my friend Heath has this new dog." Heath had gotten him about the same time Ricardo had gotten his own little fluffballs. "He's huge, though," he says slowly. "I don't think you three should meet yet, until you're a little bigger and can give as well as you get anyway. But yeah, yay, you all have another doggy friend for the future."

Both puppies bark and wiggle at this, Ricardo laughing when he realizes the second one had appeared out of nowhere, clearly wanting to play too. He finds a second puppy toy and starts teasing both of them with it. Somewhere in the middle of this play, his mind wanders and he starts mulling over all of the places he'd like to teach at, different countries he's always wanted to visit, live at for awhile like India all of those years ago. "Oh well," he sighs, knowing he's done all he can, it's just-a waiting game now to see if there's any interest in him, his skills. Turning his attention back to the dogs, he chuckles and tosses a ball, watches both of them scramble over each other as they struggle to get at the toy first. Not that leaving then, or Alicia, would be easy...