"I cannot believe," AJ says with a teasing pout, "that you've been keeping your filming project secret! From me! Love of your life, dutiful wife! What is this world coming to?"
Mike laughs. Cups her face and kisses her slowly. "I promise you, as soon as I can, I will tell you before the entire world. WWE's just being very hush hush about this. I'm sorry."
She rolls her eyes, kisses him back. "Fine. Fine. I suppose I'll forgive you this time." She blows raspberries at him before heading over to pick Sara up out of her playpen. "At least you'll still talk to me, right, Sara?" The baby coos, babbles, and grips her momma's collar before slinging her stuffed bunny away, Mike leaning down to pick it up and dance it before his daughter's wide blue eyes, her hands gripping at it until he lightly gives it back to her just for the thing to end up back on the floor a moment later.
He laughs and they go back and forth for a few minutes, playing a ridiculous kind of catch before Mike takes Sara from AJ and settles down on the couch to feed her, the baby liking pieces of banana and bites of toast with her milk and cereal now. "Pretty soon she's going to be eating everything under the sun, huh?" he asks, kissing Sara's hair.
"I think she's close to that now," AJ chuckles. "She has her daddy's appetite." She leans in and kisses the top of his head before wandering off to start lunch. "Are we watching TNA for Johnny this week?"
"If we must," Mike calls back to her, bouncing Sara on his leg as she waves a strip of the toast around, still learning how to feed herself. She babbles and beams up at him before chewing on the bread, eyes gleaming in the sun coming from the window.
"Daddy," she mumbles.
He lights up, still not used to hearing it from her. "Yeah, baby, I gotcha." He scoops her up and kisses her cheeks cheerfully as she chews on her toast. She puckers her own lips at him and he laughs, kissing her nose. "You're so cute, Sara Louisa." He gives her another bite of banana and she mushes it between her fingers before sucking on the gooey fruit, Mike wrapping an arm around her and standing up to go get some wet paper towels from the kitchen to clean up once she's done.
AJ chuckles as soon as she gets a look at him. "Makes you want ten more, huh?"
He smiles a little. "Well, maybe one day." He examines her for a second. "A brother or sister would be alright, once she's old enough, huh?"
AJ pauses, shaking some water off of her hands before stepping closer, taking in the look on Mike's face. "Yeah," she says softly. "Another one would be good some day." She runs a hand through Sara'a hair, smiling down at the baby. "We do make gorgeous kids."
"We do," he nods, leaning in to kiss her slowly, Sara's fists coming to pat at his chest and making him laugh a little before he pulls away and holds her up to AJ, who kisses her and gives her another strip of toast.
-x
Finally deciding to let his feelings about being disrespected out, Mike starts Raw off. He informs all who are listening of how he feels about the Intercontinental title being disrespected so dreadfully. Maryse, Bo, Axel, they're all supporting him, but he barely pays them any mind, lost in his rant about how bad things have been on Raw the last few weeks.
Before he can fully bleed himself dry, rant out all of his feelings about the situation, however, of course Jason Jordan's daddy interrupts and Miz expects Jason to just be handed an opportunity... but no, Angle twists things around. Makes a 15 man Battle Royal for the title and Mike watches from the outside as Bo and Axel fight alongside the other 13 men, struggling to stay in. Mike helps, at one point, keeping both men from being eliminated, but it doesn't matter- the final three are Elias, Jason and Jeff Hardy, but Jason eliminates Elias just to get eliminated himself, Jeff Hardy standing tall.
"Unbelievable," Mike mumbles, not thrilled with the prospect of fighting Jeff, but shrugging it off. Another challenger, another high-profile victory to come for him. It's fine. No big deal. It would just bring back memories of partnering with Morrison against the Hardyz back when ECW was still a thing, before both teams went their own ways, and Mike was the last man standing of the four of them in the WWE for a few years. "I've got this," he mumbles. "Just like riding a bike. No big deal."
If he has to keep telling himself that for the next few days while he works out, trying to prepare for anything Jeff may throw at him on Monday, well, that's for him to know and no one else.