With Thanksgiving behind them, Miz finds himself looking towards Christmas. Sara's first holiday. He bites his lip and rocks back and forth, looking at various toys in the window of a shop in the latest town they're in. His fingers flex as he tries to think, wanting to buy everything but not knowing what a ten month old would actually like. AJ's wary of taking her to Santa, not wanting to traumatize her and have some horrible picture of their baby sobbing like her heart's breaking while in the arms of a stranger. It's then that it clicks with him. He finds the perfect gift and buys it, smiling at the clerk as she babbles on and pops bubble gum, twirling her hair while waiting for his credit card to go through. He's famous, she might be checking him out, it happens, but he doesn't care as the transaction is finally completed and he grabs the gift, racing back to the hotel with it.
Maryse says something in French when she answers the door and finds Mike on the other side. "What do you think?" he demands.
"I think you're ridiculous," she says with a laugh. "But I think Sara and AJ will love it." She squeezes the gift before nodding. "Nice and soft. You always were a great gift giver."
He chuckles awkwardly, paling when he realizes that he should probably get Maryse something for Christmas as well, considering how much help she'd been to him over the last year. "Right," he says, spotting Heath laying on the bed behind her, asleep while the TV drones on. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah," she says, walking back over to Heath and stroking his hair. "I think he's just exhausted." She raises her eyebrows at Mike. "The possibility of his having to wrestle the Wyatts... neither of us really like it."
"He has Rhyno with him, he'll be alright," Mike says, a shadow of a memory- Liar, LIAR- scratching against his subconscious and he shivers. She stares at him and he forces a smile. "You'll see. He's made of tougher stuff than most of us realized."
"But he's a gentle soul underneath all of it, the Wyatts... they may hurt him for what he has," she muses, obviously worried.
"You'll keep him grounded, AJ did the same for me," he promises her.
She stares up at him. "You mean... they did something to you?"
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine," he tells her. "And Heath will be too."
She still looks worried when he leaves and he curses himself for slipping and revealing that much, certain that she will search and find the clip of what the Wyatts did to him. If not for AJ and Tamina finding him when they did, well... He shakes it off, however, not wanting to remember any of it.
Flying home after that week's Smackdown, a little sore, a little annoyed, but all in all feeling good, he's eager to drive home, see his girls. The house is quiet when he arrives, though, and he's not that surprised to find AJ asleep on the couch, Sara babbling quietly in her crib. He lifts her up and carries her into the bedroom, careful as he sets her gift up, tilting his head to make sure it looks just fine. She squirms and whimpers a little when he picks her up once more but as he walks her over to the present, her eyes get very wide and she falls quiet, looking up at him in confusion. He chuckles and kisses her forehead before settling her on top of it, waiting patiently. She sniffs and huffs a little but ultimately stays calm, gripping the soft fluff of the gigantic Santa plushie, which is almost three times her size and durable enough to hold her weight while leaning against the armrest of the rocking chair that's been a regular fixture in their room since AJ's pregnancy.
Delighted, Mike hoists her up once more and returns to the nursery, finding a red dress with small green dots that AJ had bought her just for the holiday, fitting her into it and making sure she's comfortable and snugg before he settles her back in her crib and goes to wake AJ up. Soft, gentle kisses leading her back to reality leaves her groaning against his lips as he strokes her hair and whispers to her. Once his words digest, she's up and heading for the camera, leaving him to return to Sara, once more settling her onto the ridiculously large Santa. She stares at her parents before pressing her face into Santa's softness, Mike chuckling and kissing her before adjusting her so she's looking at the camera. AJ is careful to turn the flash off before taking a couple of pictures, the sunlight pouring in through the open window just enough to light the photo perfectly.
"Well, I think we have a perfect Christmas card to send out to everyone," Mike says once the baby is back in her regular clothes and fed, already drifting back to sleep in her crib.
"Yes," AJ says. "You're such a smart man." She cups Mike's face and kisses him warmly.