A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers and a happy Thursday/Friday to the rest of you!
After mailing out the care box for Ricardo, Mike flies out for Smackdown. He's hosting MizTV again, with the quarter finalists of the WWE Championship tournament. Kevin Owens interrupts first and Miz grits his teeth, trying to hold his temper in check as he'd rather not get destroyed by the prizefighter... but then Alberto and Colter come out and Mike stares at them, still not sure what to think of their partnership.
Colter announces that they want nothing to do with MizTV because Miz is a hater and he rolls his eyes, staring at them. He wants to say something about how his being a hater is impossible when his soon to be born daughter is partially Latina, but Alberto ignores Colter and enters the ring, staring at Owens and telling him that he can join MexiAmerica to wash the pools. Mike cringes, remembering all of the times someone said something like that about Alberto or Ricardo, but then Dean comes out. His ire growing at his show getting ruined repeatedly like this, he's about to throw a fit when Roman interrupts as well.
Dean, oddly enough, tries to calm him down, directing him on how to breathe. Miz is distracted by the arguments forming in the ring as he watches him, reminded that soon they'll have to take a lamaze class... Shaking his head, he tries to return his attention to being a proper host to his show, just for Truth to come out and confuse everyone. Mike reminds him that he's not involved in any of this and he finally takes the hint and leaves, all of them confused. Shaking this off too, Mike turns to lecturing all of them about how his show works... until Dean knocks him out with one punch, Mike only just getting up to his feet in time for Cesaro to come out for an unexpected match.
This lasts barely a minute before Mike finds himself twisted up and tapping, his limbs aching warningly. He rolls out of the ring and glares up at Cesaro before leaving the ringside area, grimacing at Alicia when she meets up with him at the curtain. "Are you alright?" she wonders, frowning at him.
"Never better," he sighs. "Hey, we're still seeing you and Alex for Thanksgiving, right?"
"Of course!" she exclaims. "I've been looking forward to it. I haven't had enough time to spend with AJ lately. I feel like a bad auntie."
He smiles at her. "Alright. Well, we'll talk over details later on."
She nods happily before skipping off to meet up with Brie for her match against Charlotte, after which Paige does a short backstage segment where she announces she's not worried about this Sunday.
Alberto and Owens team against Roman and Dean, and the match ends in a countout. Mike half watches while texting with AJ, convincing her that he's alright after MizTV and the match against Cesaro. Are you looking forward to Thanksgiving, sweetheart? Alicia and I were just talking about it earlier, he texts after a few moments, trying to distract her.
I'm looking forward to all of the food, is her response.
He grins lovingly at his phone before Alberto walks in. "Ready to go?" he asks, Paige walking in behind him.
"Yes," both agree.
Survivor Series is only a couple of days away but Mike heads home anyway, not wanting to leave AJ alone for too long, especially after the lengthy UK tour. She greets him at the front door with a hug, kissing him hard. "I've missed you," she says, pressing her face against his chest.
"I've missed you too," he sighs, guiding her back into the house and sitting down on the couch, tucking her in on his lap. "How are my girls doing?"
"Better now," she says, nuzzling against him as his hands lightly relax over her stomach. "Too bad you can't stay for too long..."
"I know," he grimaces. "But I'm going to do what I can to get Thursday off so we'll spend Thanksgiving together." She sits up and kisses him on the mouth, staring up at him. "Don't worry about it." Nuzzling against her, he traces his hands up and down her arm. "This is going to be our last holidays on our own... can you imagine next year? With our little girl, and everyone spoiling her..."
AJ smiles against him and nods. "Yeah, I can. She'll probably need a second bedroom for all of the toys her uncles and aunts will buy her."
Mike chuckles and kisses her. "Speaking of bedrooms... I feel the need to visit mine..." He stands up and lifts her up into his arms, walking down the hall as she wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him eagerly.
When he leaves for Survivor Series, AJ barely wants to let him go, tears pouring down her face at the airport. There were threats made against the arena and, although they're proven to be false, she's still panicky. Thankfully, Star had been on hand and agreed to stay with AJ over the weekend, keeping her calm and fed and well-rested. Mike's only comfort after he dries her tears, kisses her goodbye and gets on the plane. He's minorly scared, but WWE's promised to have more security in place, so he isn't too worried all in all.
The main problem that night comes when Mike's survivor series team loses, Alberto loses to Roman, and Paige loses to Charlotte. They congregate at the hotel, none of them looking that thrilled, and all quietly head for the bar, getting a drink before they go up to their room for some sleep. Mike yawns into his beer before looking over at the others. "Lovely night, wasn't it?"
Alberto scoffs as Paige lays her head on the wooden top of the bar. "Colter was being so obnoxious after I lost. Ricardo always understood to give me space, perhaps bring me a drink when I was angry, and otherwise leave me alone... it is not that complicated, is it?"
Mike slowly shakes his head. "He was always really good at reading people."
Silence fills the bar for a moment until Paige peeks up, swirling her diet Coke and vodka around. "I miss him," she admits softly, drinking hers down swiftly and asking for a second. Mike watches her for a moment before hugging her, Alberto awkwardly patting her shoulder.
After a night of somewhat restless sleep, Mike thinking about all that needs to be done before Thanksgiving, he drives out to the arena the next day. He has no matches, there's no MizTV scheduled, so he stays backstage. He watches Neville wrestle Mark Henry with some intrigue, his lips pursed.
Alberto and Colter announce that MexiAmerica borders are closed, Mike raising his eyebrows when they seem so serious about it all, like it's a real place. He drifts when Swagger comes out and starts arguing with them about what Zeb used to be against what he is now, unable to focus on it. It still feels wrong, these three in a ring together while Ricardo is over in India... He grimaces.
After Paige loses another opportunity at getting her title back, the rematch against Charlotte ending in a double count out, she comes into the locker room, her eyes red with tears. "Why can't I ever win it back?" she asks him, tugging at her blue and black hair. "I just... I just want..." Swallowing hard, she finally breaks down crying. "I just want... I just..."
He walks forward and hugs her, stroking her back and hair, trying to comfort her. She shakes and sobs into him for a few moments, still mumbling nonsensibly about things. "Come back to LA with me," he mumbles to her. "You can help me and AJ get ready for Thanksgiving. This way, she won't be as overwhelmed and you'll have some distractions. How's that sound?"
She pulls back and smiles up at him through her tears, wiping them away with her sleeve. "Sounds great," she sniffs. "Let's do it."
He smiles at her. "Yeah, let's."