The weekend passes slowly. Quietly. Mike and AJ take turns in caring for the baby, waking up in the middle of the night and feeding her, changing her diapers. Sometimes just getting up to look at her and make sure she's doing fine. She's so small, they hate leaving her alone even for a couple of minutes, but she's beautiful and strong, each night passing by with minimal fuss as she grows used to her home, the basinett, the general sounds of their house, the street outside, everything.
Mike wakes up early on Saturday and pads over to the basinett, watching his little girl breathe in and out contentedly. She looks so peaceful, he hates waking her, but can't help touching her, his fingers grazing along her cheek, down her fingers. She stirs and wves her fists around, looking up at him with eyes much like his. She has her mommy's lips, he thinks, running the tip of his finger over them. And AJ's coloring, but his nose. And, he thinks, perhaps hair, staring at the wispy, light brown strands covering her head. A perfect combination of the two of them.
He's still staring at her, in awe, when AJ wakes up and walks over to him, wrapping an arm around him as she peers down at the baby. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" she whispers, kissing his cheek.
He smiles. "I was just thinking the same thing," he muses, lacing his fingers with AJ's. "She's a perfect mix of the two of us."
AJ nods, nuzzling closer to him. "Except that she's oddly very calm, you know? I can count on one hand how many times she's cried. My parents said I cried nonstop for two months when they first brought me home." She chuckles and stares down in awe at the little girl, shaking her head. "Were you?"
"I'm as much a loudmouth now as I was then," Mike chuckles, kissing the top of AJ's head. "But it's ok, if she wants to be quiet and just take everything in for awhile. It's a big world, she's still adjusting to all of the stimulation after being in here for so long." He rests his hand on AJ's stomach for a moment before pulling away, eyeing his daughter for a soft, affectionate moment.
AJ bites her lip, considering what he'd just said. "You don't think something's wrong, do you?"
Mike freezes. Looks over at her. "What? Why would there be?" He turns to face her, taking in the fear in her eyes. "Of course not! The hospital staff ran every standard test and Sara passed them all with flying colors... she's perfect, they told us so themselves." Leaning over, he hugs AJ close. "She's fine, I swear. Hearing tests, sight tests, there was no sign that anything was wrong. She probably just figures that the both of us talk enough for all three of us." He pulls back and smiles down at her. "You'll see."
They both freeze when they hear a soft sound from the basinett, turning to look down at Sara Louisa as she wakes up and stares at them, yawning sweetly. "Time to start the day, I guess," AJ says softly, leaning over to scoop the baby up. "Good morning, Sara," she whispers, kissing her on the nose. "Let's go get breakfast, hmm?"
Mike sits on the floor for a minute, listening to his wife talk softly to their little girl, before scrambling up to join them, still in awe about how easily they've all adjusted to this new reality. Where two had become three, their schedules now dictated by Sara's needs.
After another comfortable day, playing with the baby and making sure AJ gets plenty of sleep and food, Mike sits on the bedroom floor and makes faces at the little girl as she waves her fists and gurgles, enthralled by the lights reflecting off of the ceiling while the sun sets. "Such a sweet little girl," he says softly, running his fingers down her feet, watching her squirm and make soft, huffing noises that he thinks will be laughter when she's a little more developed. When Sara starts to look sleepy, he brushes his fingers down her chest to her stomach, smoothing her little sleeper against her skin and stands up, watching as she falls asleep almost immediately.
He crosses over to the bed and settles in next to AJ, adjusting her so she's laying more comfortably. Her fingers tighten against his shirt and he smiles, kissing her. "Sara asleep?"
"Yeah." He strokes her back and listens to her breathing before pressing his forehead to hers. "Is it ok with you if I go to Raw this week? If you think you need me, I'll stay but... this close to Mania... you know..."
Her eyes flutter and she hugs him. "Sure, you can go," she tells him softly. "But come home as soon as you can, alright?"
He nods and kisses her. "I need to check in with Morrison, I'll be right back." He hadn't told AJ about Star, relieved that she's so busy with Sara that she hadn't thought to ask, but he needs to see if there's been any news. He's not been able to watch Lucha Underground in awhile, so busy with WWE and taking care of his girls. He feels a bit guilty for abandoning John to handle all of this on his own, but he's sure his best friend understands.
"Hey, Mike," John greets him, sounding tired.
Mike hesitates, not liking the tone of his voice. How defeated he sounds. "Hey, man, how are things going? Any luck in finding Star?"
John hesitates. Sighs. "She apparently freed herself from Marty or... whatever, this time. But... she's acting differently. Barely talking, she acts like she doesn't know me. I'm not sure what's going on. I'm not giving up, though. But I... there's..."
"What is it?" Mike wonders, almost breathless at the pain in John's voice.
"Have you ever heard of Taya Valkyrie?" Mike makes some noncommittal noise and John chuckles faintly. "Yeah, me neither, until lately. She's... offered to be my valet, and I think I'm going to take her up on it. I'm not giving up on Star, I just think it'd be nice to have someone have my back in the temple, you know?"
It sounds like ten kinds of a bad idea to Mike, but he's not going to argue with John, especially now. "Whatever you think, man. I'll support you. And if you need any help with Star, just let me know. I'll see what I can do to help out."
"Thanks, man." John releases a deep breath. "So, tell me about being a daddy. How's it going? I need to come by and spoil Sara soon. Uncle John can't be outshone by everyone, y'know."
Mike laughs and begins to tell him all about the baby, before remembering he's left AJ alone. Cutting his gushing short, he explains that they're about to go to bed, John understanding quickly. Once they're off the phone, he returns to the bedroom and cuddles up against AJ, feeling her soft breaths against his chest. "Everyone ok?" she whispers, his nods soothing her. "That's good." She snuggles closer and sighs, giving into some badly needed rest. "I love you, husband."
"I love you too," he whispers to her.
After Mike flies out for Raw Monday, AJ stares down at her little girl, who looks back up at her fully trusting and vulnerable. "Well, baby girl, guess this is going to be our first full day by ourselves... let's make it a good one, yeah?" Thankfully Sara still responds to AJ's voice and she waves her fists around uncoordinatedly, AJ giggling before leaning over to pick her up and start the morning off with some sustenance for the both of them.
Sara still sleeps a lot, needing time to decompress from the large, bright, loud world she'd found herself thrust into two weeks ago, and AJ takes advantage of that time by getting some sleep too, when she can, or wandering around the house, doing laundry- babies require a lot of clothes for being so very small, who knew?- and organizing the diapers and other things Sara requires throughout the day. It's a busy day, especially without Mike there to keep the baby occupied while AJ tries to keep things together. Thankfully, she'd bounced back pretty quickly from the birth, only feeling a little lingering exhaustion that she thinks is more from the baby not quite there yet when it comes to sleeping through the night yet.
By the time Raw comes on, though, she's relieved to sit down with the baby swaddled in her lap, and turn the TV on lowly. Sara is sleeping, her lips parted sweetly, and AJ rocks her lightly as she watches the show. Mike comes on fairly early, thankfully, and she tilts her head, rapt as he and Ziggler exchange words, Dolph insulting her husband and belittling him. She grits her teeth, her still shaky hormones leaving her fuming. Apparently Mike is angry too because the match ends in less than two minutes, Mike beating the obnoxious man quickly. AJ's sharp bark of laughter wakes Sara up, who begins to fuss plaintively until AJ lifts her so she can see the TV. "Look, baby girl," she whispers. "It's Daddy! Daddy just won. Everything's ok." Adjusting her to cradle her back against her chest, AJ smiles and coos at the baby. "I'm sorry I scared you. Dolph Ziggler is just a mean man. But don't worry, your daddy knows how to handle him."
Kissing Sara gently, she holds her closer while shutting the TV off and heading to the bedroom to put her down for the night, the pride she feels in her family growing day by day.