Del Rio's house is big. Too big, Mike thinks. Yeah, it's fancier than his own house, but he doesn't care. His house is homey, it's the perfect size for him, AJ, and Sara. This house is... it's drafty, it's impersonal, it's tense with only Del Rio, Paige and Sofia there. Mike stretches as he wanders into the kitchen to get a glass of water, Sofia smiling grimly at him as he walks by. He hugs her with one arm before reaching up towards the shelf that the glasses are kept on, his senses immediately twisting when he realizes that Alberto is walking into the room, his step heavy and unmistakable.
They freeze, staring at each other, and Mike huffs, filling the glass up with water before turning to sit at the table. "So," he says, Del Rio glaring down at him. "How are things? Life going swell, Alberto?" He sips from the glass before looking up, nodding at Sofia as she leaves the room to let them have this conversation in private. Getting to his feet once more, he gets in Alberto's space and grips his collar, aggressively smoothing it down. "So." He laughs in Alberto's face as Alberto smacks his hands away, the two of them nose to nose. "Do you remember what I did the last time you screwed up Ricardo's life and drove him out of the only place he felt comfortable in? I know you do," he says, voice low. "You let me do it then because you knew you deserved it. Are you going to let me do it to you again?" He plants his hands on Alberto's shoulders and pushes him back, smirking when Del Rio hits the counter behind him and stares back.
"Perro, you're really going to do this now, with your daughter asleep upstairs?" Alberto wonders, eyes flickering up towards the stairs leading to the other rooms where Mike, AJ and Sara Louisa had settled for the week of WWE events.
"I don't see why not," Mike says levelly. "You see, she should learn to stick up for herself and her friends, so whenever little jackasses like you come around, she knows how to handle the situation. That she doesn't need to be hurt by impulsive, thoughtless people like you or Paige. So that she'll know I'll always have her back, no matter what's going on." He sighs and slopes forward, a fire in his blue eyes that Alberto hasn't seen in years. "I was always seen as just some Real World reject, that would never make it far in this business, but I fought and struggled to survive until I became World Champion." He smirks. "You know how tough I can be when I really need to be."
He's boxed Alberto in, the Mexican aristocrat staring at him impassively, when Paige comes in from... wherever she'd been, gaping at them. She's saying a lot of things, grabbing at Mike and trying to stop him, but he ignores her, having grown quite capable at letting her voice drone over him while they filmed Santa's Little Helpers, his eyes still fixed on Alberto. AJ joins the rucus and gets Paige's attention, pulling her away from her husband and allowing him to carry on with what he's doing.
Alberto looks even more uncomfortable now, spitting at Mike, "If you're going to do something, perro, then do it." Cursing in Spanish, he stands up straight and juts his chin out in a sign of defiance, glowering down at him.
Mike steps back as well, staring at him with twisted lips. Instead of actually touching Alberto, he laughs, aware that this moment will stick with the other man for longer and bruise deeper than any punch could possibly- this'll hit his ego. "This thing you two have going, it's not going to last," he tells Alberto simply. "You're going to regret losing Ricardo's friendship for something as ultimately pointless like this, so I technically don't have to do anything to you. You've already caused yourself plenty of pain."
Both Alberto and Paige look startled as he turns away, grips AJ's hand and draws her upstairs, kissing her once they're out of sight in thanks of her intervening with Paige. "I love you," she tells him, grazing her hand down his face.
He smiles fondly at her. "I love you too, sweetheart."
-x
After they spend Thursday afternoon with Alicia and Ricardo for her birthday before he has to go to the arena for Smackdown. He's just about to leave, still stinging from the results of hosting Miz TV and losing to Dean Ambrose later on in the night. It wasn't supposed to go that way, but still. He'd done the best as he could, he doesn't have much to be ashamed of. Even if having one of his favorite suits damaged is an annoying, frustrating thing. The others are going to Hawaii and Japan, leaving him clear to go home with AJ and Sara for the weekend. His thoughts are derailed when he looks up and finds Heath poring over his phone, a focused look on his face. "Hey, man," he greets him.
"Oh, hey, Miz," he says absently. "What's goin' on?"
"Heading home in the morning. You?"
Heath releases a breath. "Heading to West Virginia to help with the flood recovery. Things're a mess down there, I can't just sit still, y'know?"
Mike nods, impressed with the man's charity and determination to physically help the people going through hell down there. "Anything I can do?" Before long, he finds himself on Heath's gofundme page, donating $200 anonymously. "I'll give more later on when I have a hand on my other credit cards, man. Promise."
Heath nods, biting his lip before lunging forward and hugging Mike. "Thanks, man. Every little bit helps, y'know?"
Mike is startled but, after a moment, he pats Heath on the shoulder and nods. "I know. Take care of yourself this weekend, yeah?"
"I'll try," Heath sighs before leaving with a half-hearted smile back at Mike.
Watching him go, Mike sighs before leaving to go to Del Rio's house and get some sleep before heading home in the morning.
-x
The weekend spent home is busy as they run errands to restock the fridge, pay bills and do everything else they can to get things back on track after being gone for over a month. Once done, Mike collapses in bed next to AJ and groans, her fingers tangling in his hair gently. "I love filming movies but I forgot how tiresome it can be to return to reality..."
AJ chuckles and kisses him softly, curling up next to him. "At least there's two of us to tackle everything," she muses, closing her eyes.
"I'd be lost without you," he tells her, relieved that things have gotten so much better between them since the last time they'd laid in this bed. Maryse is barely a blip on their radars, their marriage as solid as it's ever been. He's laying on his stomach so he can't see her as she rolls over and straddles him from behind, lightly massaging his back muscles.
"Feeling's mutual," she tells him, pressing kisses up and down his spine, causing him to shudder at the various sensations creeping along his skin. He yawns, shaking his head in a determination to stay awake, before rolling over so they're face to face, her eyes fluttering. "Mike..."
"Mm hmm..." he hums, pulling her in and kissing her. "It's been too long, sweetheart. Vancouver was fantastic, but I think I've forgotten how it feels to have you in my arms in our own bed..." AJ giggles as he presses kisses along her shoulders, sighing when his fingers trail down her sides. "I love you," he mouths against her, causing her to keen faintly.
"I love you too," she breathes out.
-x
Another of his suits get ruined due to the Fourth of July food fight on Monday night, Mike's teeth gritting as he considers having to go clothes shopping- if it would make any sense, considering two of his favorite outfits had gotten ruined in a five days' span now. "Maybe I should just wear my wrestling gear everywhere," he bitches to Maryse as she makes a face, trying to get food out of her hair. "I can't believe these idiots around here, they never know how to properly respect movie stars."
She murmurs on in French, seemingly agreeing with him, as he kicks at his bag, her bag, everything in the vicinity to let some of his anger out. Holds onto just enough of it for his rematch against Ambrose later on, which he loses too, but he'd fought hard, thinking he had it a couple of times, but ultimately failing to the world heavyweight champion.
After a shower and some more complaining, he and Maryse go outside in time to watch some more fireworks. The show's just finished when his phone rings. "Hey, sweetheart. We're about to head to the hotel, what's going on?"
AJ sounds worried when she finally speaks. "Mike, fireworks are going to start here at, like, any time, and I'm worried. What if Sara reacts badly to them? I know we're nowhere near them, but they're still bright and loud and if they scare her..."
Mike grimaces. "Well, is she asleep right now?"
"Yeah."
"Ok, stay on the phone and we'll see. If she freaks out, then I'll help you sooth her as best as I can."
"Alright," AJ breathes out, sitting down next to the crib and watching Sara sleep on sweetly oblivious to what will happen soon. Time passes and finally they begin, the bright flashes visible through her drapes as it bangs repeatedly outside. AJ bites her lip, gripping the phone, but after the first few bursts, Sara doesn't move an inch. "She's... she's still asleep," she says in wonder, turning to look through the drapes at the bit of fireworks she can see without moving anything and risking disturbing her daughter. "Mike, she didn't even flinch!"
"That's good," he sighs, leaning back against the headrest of the passenger seat, Maryse in charge of driving right now. "Are you having a nice 4th, sweetheart?"
"It'd be better if you were here," she confesses softly. "But yeah, it's nice. Morrison dropped by, played around with the grill and made us all burgers. I got to meet Taya." She pauses. "Did you hear about Sexy Star?"
"No, what?" Star and John's relationship had crashed and burned around the time Lucha Underground season 2 had begun, and Mike still hates himself a little for letting John slip through his fingers, since he's just been too busy to properly sit down and catch up with his best friend.
"She's moving into boxing apparently. He's not sure if she's going to continue on with Lucha Underground or not."
Mike's not sure what to say about that, if it's a good thing or not. He finally settles on "Huh" and AJ giggles. "Well, as long as Taya is good to John."
"She is," AJ says. "They both look really happy."
"Then I'm happy for him," Mike sighs. "He deserves it."
"Yes he did."
Mike turns to look at Maryse and half-smiles. "Well, sweetheart, I'd like to talk the night away but you're going to miss all of the fireworks and we still have a couple hours to drive so... I love you. I'll call you in the morning."
"Alright. Talk to you then. I love you too."
Mike hangs up and stares out through the windshield, wishing he was with his family and watching the fireworks too.