AJ sighs as soon as the baby is settled for the night, leaning against Mike and yawning. "Don't expect to get a lot of sleep tonight," she warns him grimly. "Sara's moved on from crawling and being sweet and adorable to full on teething so she cries a lot at random times through the night."

"Don't worry about it," Mike tells her quietly, kissing her on the forehead. "Something tells me one crying baby won't be as hard to handle as being in the same hotel as 30 wrestlers. How about this, you sleep as long as you want tonight, and I'll take care of Sara."

AJ makes a soft sound deep in her throat. "I couldn't do that to you, you've been on the road for days with little to no sleep, and-"

He quiets her with a kiss, letting his hands wander soothingly over her body. "Don't think about it. I'll be fine. Now, close your eyes." She listens immediately and exhales softly, focusing on the soft drifting sensations of his fingers on her skin, easing the tension away and pulling her into a deep, comfortable sleep.

Mike watches her for a few minutes before closing his eyes as well, drifting off to sleep almost immediately. It feels like barely five minutes have passed, however, when a sharp cry wakes him up and he sits up straight, turning to look at AJ. She's still fast asleep, her lips parted sweetly, and before the second piercing wail assaults his ears, reality has dawned on him and he's up, heading for the nursery.

Sara is sitting up in her crib, face ruddy and miserable as she sobs pitifully, reaching out for him as soon as she sees him. He lifts her up and hugs her close before letting her gum at his fingers, rubbing at her back gently as he walks into the kitchen and grabs a frozen wash cloth from the freezer, replacing his fingers with it. This quiets her a little and he kisses her cheek, rocking her gently. "Just one of the bad parts of growing up, huh, sweetie?" He sighs. "Sad to say, this is actually kind of low on the list of growing pains you'll experience. But me and your mommy, we'll be with you every step of the way, guiding and supporting you and trying our best to make it easier on you." He pauses, thrown by the silence and looks down to find the baby fast asleep in his arms, still gumming lazily at the slowly melting wash cloth.

Not too eager to lay her down just yet, Mike continues to walk around the house with her leaning against his shoulder, drooling contentedly as she sleeps.

-x

Maryse's eyebrows raise as she stares at Mike incredulously. "You look awful," she exclaims, brushing a finger over his blood ringed eye. "Baby keeping you up?"

He grins and shrugs. "Well, yeah," he says, not bothered by it. "Sara's teething and AJ has to deal with it on her own while I'm on the road, so I was being the dutiful father and husband and made sure both of my girls got enough sleep the last few days.

An odd look crosses Maryse's face before she ducks out of the room, leaving Mike flabberghasted and confused. When she returns, she doesn't say a word, just grabs him by the hand and pulls him along. He doesn't even get an opportunity to say anything before he finds himself sitting in a massage chair, cucumbers over his eyes and Maryse's fingers rubbing his temples. "What are you doing to me?" he slurs, already melting into the chair.

Her rich, deep laughter echoes around him. "I asked and you aren't needed for another hour, so you get to rest and maybe catch a little sleep, hm?" She kisses his cheek and restarts the massage cycle on the chair when it quiets, pulling back and watching as his body relaxes. "It's what good daddies deserve," she murmurs. "I will come get you when they need you."

He doesn't hear, already dead to the world.

By the time Mike does wake up, Smackdown is just about to start and he smirks at getting to host MizTV- until he hears that his guest is going to be Daniel Bryan, wanting to discuss the Survivor Series teams. He has no doubt that he'll be on it- I mean, he is The Miz, after all- and even less that Ziggler won't be on it. His confidence starts to shift into aggravation when, upon asking Daniel point blank about the teams once the crowd shut up long enough for him to think straight, the Smackdown GM starts listing off the Smackdown tag team Survivor Series match. Mike's face quickly goes from blank to mocking- mostly at the mention of Heath and Rhyno's team name- to angry, cutting in to clarify what he means. Finally Daniel announces the Smackdown Survivor Series team, which is thankfully devoid of Ziggler... but also of Mike.

His jaw works hard as Mike weighs the names he'd just heard, his temper working him into a frenzy. Cool blue eyes glaring at Daniel, he says something- his blood is boling he doesn't even remember what he said, just something about Total Bellas- and then there's a scramble as he and Maryse exit the ring, Daniel rushing at them with a fire Mike hasn't seen in him since the last time they were face to face on Talking Smack. When Ziggler comes to the ring, all Mike can do is watch on in disgust as an open challenge is issued and Curt Hawkins accepts it, losing in thirty seconds as he eats a superkick almost immediately after the bell rings.

Things only get worse when Ziggler takes the opportunity to needle Mike about accepting his rematch offer just to announce that, at Survivor Series, Dolph will be putting the belt on the line against anyone from Raw who wants the chance.

"That jackass!" Mike rages once backstage, throwing his sunglasses across the room and not even grimacing when they shatter into little pieces against the floor. "That's my belt! How dare he?!" he seethes, stomping on the remnents of his frames as she tries to calm him. "Oh, he will pay for this. I'll make him wish he'd lost so he could retire with some dignity last month..."

All Maryse can do is listen and try to support him until his rage calms.