A/N: My chapters have been shorter lately because I've been working on NaNoWriMo, and I also came down with a pretty nasty cold. This is the first chapter since finishing NaNoWriMo, and it's really long, so I hope it makes up for the last month. To all of my readers, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy.
Smackdown being on Thursday makes Thanksgiving tricky this year. Mike frowns when he realizes that Alberto and Paige are both booked, and thus will have to leave before they even get the turkey in the oven. "Dammit," he sighs, tapping his pencil against a piece of paper full of scribbles detailing what will need to be done the next couple of days. He jumps and sends the paper flying when AJ's arms wrap around him, her stomach pressing against his back. "Oh, sweetheart," he swallows, relieved that the paper had landed upside down so she can't see it.
"Did I scare you?" she wonders, giggling a little as she kisses his neck. "What are you working on?" She moves to collect the paper but he stops her, gripping her and sitting her in his lap. "Mike!"
"Nothing," he says, nuzzling into her throat. "How are my girls doing?"
"Great," AJ comments, carding her fingers through his hair. "Resting up so we'll have plenty of energy for the Thanksgiving party." He pouts against her and she leans back to look at him. "What's wrong, husband?"
"I just realized Paige nor Del Rio will be able to stay," he explains. "They're both booked for Smackdown." She frowns too and he sighs. "Without Ricardo, well... hopefully Sofia won't feel too out of place."
"You're sweet," AJ tells him, brushing her nose against his. "But no, we'll make her feel welcome. It'll be fine. You'll see." He smiles up at her and she leans closer, kissing his ear before whispering, "By the way, I locked the door when I came in here... so we have some privacy..."
"Did you now?" he murmurs, hugging her. "Well, whatever will we do?" She chuckles and gasps as he presses sloppy kisses along her collar. "Eh, I'm sure we'll think of something..."
Wednesday night after a quick supper of hamburgers and steak off the grill, everyone converges around the kitchen. Sofia, Star, Alicia, Paige and AJ all wander around, cooking pies and making deviled eggs, and whatever else doesn't need put together the next day. The men avoid the area, only venturing in sometimes to get taste tests or kisses from their significant others.
Sofia notices the growing wistful look on Paige's face after Alex leaves with a spoon of pumpkin pie filling and Alicia's lipstick smeared across his lips and hugs the girl. "I'm sorry Ricardo isn't here for this," she whispers to her.
"Me too," Paige says, swiping halfheartedly at her eyes before turning back to the apple pie she's making, her mom's recipe that she had wanted so badly for Ricardo to try.
Once the last two pies are in the oven, cooking, and the other four are laying around, cooling, the women return to the living room and cuddle up close to their men, smiling when kisses and soft massages are offered. "Let's watch Santa's Little Helper," Paige says eventually, tired of watching this.
Mike looks up in surprise before nodding, realizing just how awful this must be for Paige while she's all alone and missing Ricardo more and more by the day. "Sure, we can do that," he says, gently settling AJ down on the couch before getting up to find the DVD. Once it's in and playing, he returns to his wife, smiling halfheartedly at her as she stares worriedly at Paige. "She'll be ok," he whispers to her, kissing her softly.
"I hope so," she sighs, resting her head on his shoulder before they turn their focus back onto the movie, which is a big hit with the room in general and makes both Mike and Paige feel like a million bucks.
-x
AJ wakes up to shuffling at the front door and pads out in her robe and slippers, blinking sleepily at Mike as he shuts the door and turns to look at her. "Sweetheart," he says, eyes brightening. "Did we wake you up? Sorry, I was just seeing Paige and Del Rio off for the Smackdown taping." He walks up to her and hugs her. "They'll be back tomorrow."
"Mm." She yawns and stretches and hugs him back before turning towards the bathroom. Once her hair looks somewhat tamed, and her teeth are brushed, and every other early morning absolution is handled, she comes out and smiles at Sofia, who is already busy in the kitchen. "Sofia, you really don't have to-"
"No, no, I prefer to keep busy," the housekeeper insists. "But if you want to help, that would be fine. Just don't overdo it, mami." She smiles at AJ. "You're glowing, have I mentioned?"
AJ flushes and rests a hand on her stomach before walking towards Sofia, finding her hands and pressing them against the swell, both of them pausing and waiting until it happens- the baby kicks and the housekeeper gasps softly, stroking where the baby had impacted, smiling wonderingly. "She's a strong little thing, isn't she?"
Sofia nods and hugs AJ, murmuring to her in soft Spanish before they pull away and wipe at their eyes. "Now, I have the turkey in the oven," Sofia says, going right back to business. "And I've peeled the potatoes and yams, and made the rolls. They just need to be cooked..." She tips the bowl of yams into a pan and starts sprinkling brown sugar and cinnamon on top, humming as her famous sweet potato casserole takes form. "I am sad senor and Paige cannot be here, but it is probably just as well they stay busy as well on this holiday."
AJ leans against the counter and watches her for a moment, deciding not to get in her way. "I'm sorry Ricardo can't be here for this. I know it's not going to be the same for anyone without him this year. But he seems happy in India, so that's good, right?"
"Yes," Sofia says, poking around AJ's spice cabinet a bit more. "I've only ever wanted him to be happy." AJ nods before reaching around her and plucking up a bottle of vanilla, handing it to her with a grin when Sofia's eyes light up. "Gracias," she murmurs, adding in the final ingredient for her dish. Squeezing AJ in a quick hug, she places the pan in the fridge to hold until closer to the time for the turkey to be finished so she could bake it as well.
Alicia and Star eventually join them and the men trickle in and out again, alternating between watching football and being lulled in by the smells from the various food items. The game runs over so Mike and Morrison work together to move the table so that the men will be in view of Mike's ridiculous big screen TV while they eat, Alicia and AJ exchanging glances and rolling their eyes while Star swats at John playfully.
Before too much longer, the smells finally bring about a welcomed conclusion as steaming dishes and bowls are scattered around, Alicia going in circles around the table as she sets it with plates, glasses and silverware for all. Once done, the women line up in the living room to block the men's view of the TV. "Food's ready, come and get it while it's hot," AJ says sweetly, grinning when Mike stops struggling to see around her, all of their eyes lighting up as they all but stampade for the kitchen.
"You'd think we've been starving them," Alicia chuckles, hugging AJ as they walk side by side into the kitchen.
"I know, right? Poor ravenous babies," she says teasingly, pinching Mike's side as he waits impatiently for Alex to finish spooning green bean casserole onto his plate. He pouts at her as she goes to get her own plate, her own cravings going crazy as she takes in all of the options and fights not to steamroll over everyone to get to the food.
Alicia is ahead of her but wisely steps out of line. "Go ahead, mama."
"Thank you," AJ sighs, stepping forward and peering up at John as he waits for Mike and Alex to move. Noticing her, John nudges Alex and wraps an arm around AJ, pulling her forward as the men scoot out of her way. She shakes her head but opts not to argue as her entire body is thrumming with hunger. Soon she has her hands on the food, quickly filling up her own plate with cranberry sauce, generous portions of the casseroles, rolls, devilled eggs, mixed vegetables and the biggest piece of turkey she can find. Carrying it back to the table is an adventure all its own as it threatens to topple over at any minute, but she succeeds and Mike smiles at her, pulling her chair out for her once she has the plate down safely on the table.
"What do you want to drink, AJ?" Sofia asks, halfway between the table and the fridge as she fills glasses.
AJ struggles for a few moments, trying not to dive onto her plate of food until everyone's sitting down and ready to eat too, but it's so hard, she barely registers Sofia's question.
Mike looks over at the housekeeper. "Cherry 7-Up'll do, Sofia. Thank you." Leaning close to his wife, he kisses her softly. "Eat up, sweetheart. We're gonna take awhile to serve ourselves, and you look ravenous. So go for it. No judging from any of us." He smiles at her, stroking her stomach, and she releases a sigh before grabbing her fork and doing just as he said.
By the time the others have as much food as they can stuff on their plates and have joined her, the edge of her hunger is eased and AJ pulls away from her plate with a sheepish expression on her face, peering around the table at everyone. "Sorry," she says faintly, wiping at her fingers and lips with a napkin. "It comes out of nowhere sometimes... Pretty sure this little girl has her daddy's appetite."
"You have nothing to apologize for," Alicia exclaims. "It just means you and the baby's healthy, and that's all any of us want for you."
AJ stares around at all of them as they nod and murmur agreement, her eyes filling with tears. She waves a hand when they start to look concerned, Mike's hand warm and soothing on her back. "I'm ok, I swear. Just hormones... and you all are the best friends either of us could ask for."
"It's true," Mike agrees, leaning over and kissing his wife gently. "Now come on, enough of this. Let's eat. Alright?"
AJ nods, relieved for him always being there to protect her, comforting her, keeping her from making things worse with their friends due to her ever changing moods thanks to the pregnancy. "Wait," she exclaims, realizing something they've forgotten to do in her desperation to eat. "We all should say what we're thankful for."
Mike winces, placing a forkful of turkey down. "Of course, when you're the only one who's ate," he teases her softly. "But fine, we should. It is tradition and all. Who wants to start?"
The group looks around for a moment before Alex speaks up. "I will." He takes Alicia's hand in his and kisses her wrist softly. "I'm thankful that this beautiful woman wanted to marry me, and stayed by my side, no matter how ridiculous I was acting. And I'm thankful for all of you also supporting me through everything I've gone through."
Alicia beams at him. "I'm thankful for all of you, of course, and I'm thankful for my husband, who forgave me for all that I put him through this year. And I'm thankful for my career, and every opportunity it's opened for me."
Star clears her throat, anxious because of her still somewhat faulty English. "I am thankful... that you all have welcomed me into your circle of friends, and I am thankful for Lucha Underground... helping me to have met the sweetest man in the world," she says softly, cupping John's face and kissing him gently.
He beams, flushing under her attention. Once she pulls away, he sighs. "I'm thankful for all of this. All of you, my beautiful, forgiving girlfriend, and yes... Mike, I'm even thankful for you," he laughs when Miz raises his eyebrows at him and makes faces until he's mentioned. "And I'm thankful for Lucha Underground giving me a second chance to do the thing I love most on a national scale... and for bringing Star to me." He lifts her hand and gently kisses it, dark eyes twinkling as he stares up at her.
Sofia quietly clears her throat. "I am thankful for my job... and I am thankful for Ricardo, Alberto and Paige." She stares down at her hands. "I am thankful for all of you, and I am thankful that Ricardo is having a great time in India, and that WWE has accepted senor back, since that is what he wanted most." She twists her hands together and smiles softly. "I cannot word properly just how much I truly have to be thankful for."
"I think you did fine," Mike tells her, squeezing her shoulder. "As for me, I have the same kind of problem. There's no way to properly state how I feel about how blessed I am this year. I have an amazing career, a ridiculously perfect wife, and a beautiful daughter on the way. I have incredible friends, and this great house. The list could continue on for hours, so instead I'm just going to say I'm thankful for all of you, and everything in my life." Resting a hand on AJ's stomach, stroking where their daughter is thriving, he smiles up at her. "It's your turn, sweetheart."
She's choked up with emotions again, but nods. "Right. Yeah." She clears her throat and wipes at her eyes. "I'm thankful for my career, all of the successes I found in my time in the WWE, and how it gave me this amazing life. My incredible husband, and my precious little girl..." She rests her hand on top of Mike's, feeling Sara kick between their fingers. "All of you, too, and how you unfailingly support my husband and I. Thank you all for everything." She smiles. "Now, let's eat, alright?"
"Yes!" they all chorus in relief, digging in.
AJ, having already ate enough to satisfy herself for a moment, takes a second to look around the table at everyone. Yes, baby girl, we have a pretty perfect life, she thinks, rubbing her stomach gently.
The night passes quietly, the group of them watching movies and random Christmas specials, until AJ falls asleep on the couch. Mike chuckles softly and lifts her up, nodding at their friends. "I'll be back in a few minutes," he whispers, carrying her out of the room and to their bedroom. Helping her out of her clothes, he eases on one of his supersized merch shirts over her head and wraps her up in their sheets and comforter. Leaning over to kiss her on the forehead, he lingers for a moment and whispers, "I love you so much, sweetheart."
Returning to the living room, he's not that surprised to find everyone slumped over in their food comas. Clapping his hands together briskly, he gets them all to stir and smirks. "Time to get to work, guys. We get it ready tonight, we don't have to handle it in the morning. Now come on."
None of them seem thrilled with it, but they get up, grumbling, and follow his commands anyway.
-x
AJ wakes up late the next morning, yawning lazily, and plucks at the merch shirt twisted around her knees. She smiles and buries her face in the pillow, listening to the soft murmur of people down the hall. "Ugh," she sighs. "Time to get up, little girl." Kicking the sheets away, she finds some maternity pants and slips into them, not bothering to take the shirt off since it's comfortable and warm.
After a few moments in the bathroom, she follows the voices out and frowns, finding the kitchen empty. Turning towards the living room, she opens the door and immediately freezes, gaping at what's before her. "No, no way-" There are balloons of various colors scattered around the room, with streamers and a beautifully decorated table against the far wall. She steps forward and peeks around before their friends hop out from the closet.
"Surprise!" they yell out, her hands covering her face as she half-laughs, half-cries.
Mike joins her and hugs her, brushing her hair over and kissing her shoulder. "Are you ok?" She nods and he rocks her back and forth gently, waiting until she uncovers her eyes. "So we have a table full of breakfast food for you, and cupcakes, since no party is a party without cake... and then the second table has all of the gifts our friends sent us over there." She takes it all in as Mike walks her over to the breakfast table, giving her another plate.
"It's so beautiful- and not a sign of pink anywhere," she sniffs.
"Of course, we know what you like," Paige says, coming up to them.
"You're here," AJ swallows, turning and hugging her tightly.
"Of course I am. Del Rio and I flew out on the first flight that we could as soon as Smackdown was done," she smiles.
AJ looks up and over, finding Alberto standing with Sofia, and smiles. "Thank you all. This is incredible."
And considering that it is so soon after Thanksgiving, it really is. The food is delicious, the few games that are played- none too stenuous since they're all still lazy after the large meal they had the night before- are fun and enjoyable, and the gifts overwhelm AJ as her shopping list soon becomes needless, everyone buying her everything she would probably need for the first two years of Sara Louisa's life. Alicia, of course, has bought a large pile of baby clothes, Paige has gotten rattles, teddy bears and fabric blocks, Alberto and Sofia both give a lovely little pastel high chair, John and Star give them a stack of books to read her and a little nightlight covered in stars, and Alex has given them a funky green diaper bag that AJ is sure Alicia helped him pick out, especially since it matches a couple of the outfits.
Mike hesitates before handing her one of the gift, instead pulling his phone out and handing her that instead. She looks confused before he presses a button, waiting for it to ring in. Finally, the skype call is answered and Ricardo grins back at her. "Hola, AJ. Happy Thanksgiving, and happy baby shower. I'm sorry I'm not there."
"It's ok," she says, still amazed by everything. "I understand."
"Well, I left a message with Alberto not to let you open my gift until I was on the phone and could watch you open it myself. I hope you like it," he says softly.
Mike takes the phone and holds it steady as AJ opens the final gift. "Oh," she breathes, eyes gleaming. She pulls out a soft, cream blanket and a little elephant stuffed toy. "Oh, Ricardo."
"When my sister had her children, I bought both of them one of those blankets," Ricardo explains. "They loved them. Hopefully little Sara Louisa will too. And the elephant... I had Alberto buy to add to my present, because I've seen so many of them in India. Sara will have something to hug until I get home to meet her properly."
AJ swallows hard. "Thank you. I'm sure she will adore it."
After handing over the phone to Alberto, Sofia and Paige, Mike has a quick cupcake before turning to AJ. "Hey, sweetheart, I didn't want to tell you during the baby shower, but I have to leave. I received an email this morning saying I've been booked for Superstars so I have to fly out earlier than I expected."
She stares up at him, her lip sticking out in a miserable pout. "What? But... no... I..."
"It's ok," he whispers, kissing her softly. "I'll be home as soon as I can. Promise. Meanwhile, Alicia, Paige and the others will help you put all the gifts in the nursery."
She clings to him, beyond unhappy. "I don't want you to go..."
"I don't either," he sighs, stroking her hair. "But there's one more thing our friends are going to do before they have to leave too."
She stares up at him in confusion before he leans in and softly whispers in her ear. Her eyes widen and she nods, turning to look at them as Mike hugs her from behind. "Alright, I guess that's ok," she sighs, stroking his arm.
He kisses her again before grabbing his bag and heading for the airport, glancing back once more to smile at the group that he's reluctantly leaving. Waving at AJ, he blows a kiss at her before driving off.
Sofia and Paige hug AJ before pulling away. "Ok, so we'll stay here and pick up from the baby shower. The rest of you, go find the Christmas decorations. Before you know it, AJ, this house will look beyond festive," Sofia promises her with a soft, motherly smile.
AJ nods, glancing once more out of the window to find Mike gone. "Thank you," she breathes, forcing a smile for their friends. "This means so much to me..."
Star rubs her arm. "You have enough going on, you don't need to be stressing out over lights and garland. We'll happily do that for you, mami. Just tell us where to put things and we will."
AJ chuckles and sits down, sprawling her hand out over her stomach. "Well, I suppose there are worse ways to spend an afternoon, huh, baby girl? I wish your daddy was here... but I understand."
-x
Mike beats Zack Ryder on Superstars; it's not a very high profile win, considering. No offense to Zack, he's a good guy, and a decent competitor, he'd just had some terribly bad luck in his career over the years, which had left him mostly competing on NXT or here on Superstars and Main Event.
After a weekend of events, Mike finds himself at Raw, listening to the preshow where it's announced that Rusev will be on MizTV. He sighs and wanders around, preparing himself for this. The last time he'd had Rusev on, it hadn't gone that well for him. But he's a professional so he keeps his reluctance to himself, heading out when it's time. The segment goes about as well as can be expected, Lana surprising him by coming out for her reunion with Rusev. Mike succeeds at not entirely pissing off Rusev with his questions- the crowd does that well enough on its own- and, when Ryback comes out, slips away before the fight can begin in earnest.
He watches from the private locker room that Alberto is sharing with them as he goes from tearing apart Goldust's arm to forming some new alliance with Sheamus, Barrett and Rusev for a multi-man tag match at the end of Raw. It makes no sense but Mike isn't that interested in questioning him, figuring that Alberto can handle his own business. They're all floundering without Ricardo, so what's one more little bit of weirdness?
He leaves the locker room, trying to find a quiet place to talk with AJ on the phone, when he hears Ziggler's loud mouth down the hall as he's asked some questions in a post-Raw interview. He wouldn't listen to the nonsensible ramblings except that he hears his own name. Another dig at his not being a wrestler anymore and he rolls his eyes. He wrestles at houseshows, he competes when he needs to on televised events. Just more proof Ziggler is jealous because he's never been WWE Champion, he thinks.
On his way out of the door, he runs into Stephanie McMahon. Her words about his being a utility player still haunts him sometimes, but she is the boss technically so he swallows his pride and stares at her. "Excuse me, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"What can I do for you, Miz?" she asks, clearly busy and eager to leave.
"I want a match against Ziggler," he says. "Whenever you can schedule it, Main Event, Smackdown. I don't care."
Stephanie stares at him for a moment. "We have a free slot on Main Event tomorrow night. Does that work?"
"Yes, thank you," he says with some relief. The sooner done, the better. Not to mention if he wrestles on Tuesday, he'll probably get Thursday off, and get to go home to spend another few days with AJ.
After a decent night's sleep, where he falls asleep listening to AJ's voice as she tells him about her day, he travels out to Main Event. His match against Ziggler goes about as expected- Tyler Breeze and Summer Rae come out, and distract Ziggler, giving Mike the opportunity he needs to cover and pin the man. Dolph looks disgusted and shocked all at the same time but Mike laughs as he stumbles back up the ramp, aware that it doesn't matter how the win came about, Ziggler will continue to be haunted by the loss just because of his petty little insults from the last few weeks about how Miz's career has gone.
After leaving the arena, he returns to the hotel and walks down the hallway, telling AJ all about his victory when he hears footsteps behind him. Ignoring them, he fumbles around in his pocket to get his keycard out, when he feels something fall out and flutter to the ground. "Hang on, sweetheart," he says into the phone, turning to pick it up. He stops short when he realizes it's the most recent ultrasound of their baby, Ziggler staring down at it, perplexed. "Oh."
He tilts his head, trying to make sense of the picture. Finally he looks up and meets Mike's eyes. "AJ's pregnant?"
"Yes," Mike says simply, kneeling down to pick up the ultrasound. He glances at Dolph as he brushes the picture off and puts it back in his pocket. "What's it to you?"
"It's not," he mumbles. "I just... I don't... how do you have things so put together? You were... pretty much a loser two years ago, and now..."
Mike shrugs. "I grew up. Maybe you should try it, and stop chasing after any woman that breathes."
Ziggler narrows his eyes at him. "I don't do that."
"It sure seems like it," Mike grunts. "Maybe if you stopped it and actually opened your eyes, you'd notice there's someone who could love you despite yourself. That's how it happened with AJ and me." He casts a shrewd glance over Dolph before turning away. "Good luck to you either way." Pushing his hotel room door open, he remembers that he's still got his phone held to his ear and swallows. "Sweetheart?"
She giggles softly. "Oh, you remembered I'm here."
"Sorry about that." He sighs and scrubs at his face. "Ziggler's an idiot."
"Well, we already knew that," she tells him. "But I liked the advice you gave him. Doubt he's smart enough to listen, but you tried." She pauses. "You know, the best thing I ever did was fall in love with you. And it wasn't despite yourself... it was because of yourself. Underneath the bluster and the ego, you really are the sweetest man I've ever met. You're the greatest husband, and you're going to be an amazing father."
He smiles and sinks down onto his bed. "Thank you, sweetheart. You're pretty awesome yourself, and I can't wait to see you mother our little girl. I know it's going to be an amazing, beautiful experience for us both." He lays down, eager to fall asleep to her soft, loving voice once more. "I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you more, husband," she responds affectionately.
Mike closes his eyes and smiles. Maybe, someday, you'll get to experience something like this too, Ziggler... but you have a lot of growing to do...