"So a party, huh?" AJ asks, bouncing Sara on her knee.
"Yeah, I miss people so I think next week, before Extreme Rules. Wednesday sound alright?" Mike leans in and kisses AJ, running his fingers through the baby's dark brown hair.
"I think I can make that work," she smiles, curling her fingers around his skull and keeping him close to kiss him a few more times.
"Awesome. I love you," he tells her.
She beams. "Love you too, husband." Handing over the baby, she gets to her feet and grabs some paper. "So, John, Taya, Heath, Maryse, Rhyno? Anyone else?"
"I think that's the gist of it," he nods. "If something comes up, and we can somehow talk Ricardo into coming to visit, I'll let you know." He frowns, trying to remember the last time he'd spoke to Ricardo. Outside of seeing Alicia- with Noam, which oh boy, he doesn't even want to guess how that's going over with Ricardo right now- he hasn't heard much about him, except for all of the helping he's been doing at a local wrestling school. Since the move to California had fallen through, Mike had felt weird approaching Ricardo, thinking the man would eventually come to him.
He reaches over and snags his phone, running through various screens until he hits his text messages and shoots one off to Ricardo. Hey, man, long time no hear. How're things? He smiles as Sara slaps at the device, drawn by the lights and flashing images, before dropping it onto the bed and hoisting her up, kissing her stomach loudly and causing her to squeal, her tiny hands digging into his hair. He chuckles and waits until she releases him to plop her back down on his chest, making faces at her. "You are too cute, Sara Louisa," he says, marveling at how her eyes are still just like his. Part of him had been worried that she'd grow out of her blue eyes sooner rather than later, not that her having her mother's eyes would be a bad thing, but every other part of her was so much AJ that it's nice to see part of himself in his daughter.
She pouts and crawls up his chest before nuzzling under his jaw, yawning, and he smiles, rubbing soothing circles against her back until she falls asleep right there. Still feeling the nagging after affects of jetlag and everything else, Mike is quick to follow her and, when AJ peeks in, it's to find the two of them fast asleep, without a care in the world. She sets aside her party plans and joins them, kissing Sara on the cheek, Mike on the lips before curling up against her husband and closing her eyes, relieved for a chance to take a short nap as well.
-c
"I shouldn't be surprised," Mike muses, following Maryse through the Raw hallways. "Of course they wouldn't have any plans for me tonight." He scoffs, holding the locker room door open for her and waiting until she's inside, Heath and Rhyno looking up to greet them before Mike resumes bitching. "I might as well have stayed home. This is stupid." Only when Maryse's elbow stabs into his side does he realize- Heath and Rhyno aren't booked either, just barely made it onto Main Event this week, so he quickly shuts his mouth and looks at the TV. "Sorry," he murmurs.
He runs his fingers over his phone and exhales, wondering again if he could convince Ricardo to come out to California with Alicia for his party. The man had eventually responded to his text, and, in the course of the stop-start text conversation that followed, informed him that he'd retired from wrestling, choosing instead to just be a trainer full time. It's kind of a hard blow, Ricardo's so young and passionate about the business, but Mike gets it, he thinks. He's had so many setbacks and if training makes him happy, well...
His thoughts are derailed then by Dean Ambrose's voice on the TV and when he hears that a match against Drifter Elias Samson has been made, he knows exactly what he's doing this evening, finally. "Come on, Maryse, we have to have a conversation with one Kurt Angle."
It's a no-brainer of course, for Miz to be on commentary, and even Angle sees that, no surprise, so Mike sits and tries to make sense out of what the other three are rambling about until he sees his opportunity. Repays Dean for the DQ the week prior by attacking Samson and then watching the aftermath with a smirk. That Intercontinental belt will be mine again in no time, he thinks, arm snug around Maryse as she laughs with him at Dean while they head up the ramp.