Maryse sits on the airport chair, fiddling with the hem of her shirt while she faces Mike. "I just wanted to apologize again," she says, accent thick as she looks over at him. "You have given me so much, helped me very much by giving me a job back in the WWE, risking your relationship with AJ, and this is how I repay you. And even then you're giving enough to claim this child publicly so our careers aren't ruined. You're an incredible person, Mike."
He smirks. "I know I am." Sobering, he reaches for her hand and lightly squeezes her fingers. "But seriously, you have no reason to thank me. You've been one of my closest friends in this business for years, and I'm not sure AJ and I would be where we're at right now without you. You helped me grow up, and see how to be in a relationship properly. So I guess I'm just paying back the favor."
She smiles at him. "Such a sweet man. AJ and Sara are so lucky. But," she says softly, looking over as Heath joins them. "So am I." She rests her hand on his face and lightly kisses him, smile growing against his lips as he hugs her warmly. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too," Heath breathes out, sprawling his hand out over her stomach. His excitement is shining in his eyes and Mike watches them, pondering AJ's comments about wanting another baby at some point. "Hey, man, you ok?" Heath asks, tilting his head to look at him.
"Oh, yeah, I'm great," Mike says. "Just missing my wife and daughter, I guess. Gonna be a long tour without seeing them." Heath nods, empathizing, and Mike sighs, getting to his feet. "I'll let you two have some time alone before we have to board." Slapping Heath on the shoulder, he trudges away to call AJ once more.
"Hey, sweetheart," he says, so thankful for facetime features as AJ's face appears on his screen. His teeth flash when Sara is shown for a few moments, AJ making the baby wave at the screen. "Ah, both of my girls are here! I miss you both."
"We miss you too," AJ tells him, adjusting the phone so he can see both of them, Sara squirming in her mom's lap, trying to get up, toddle away. His throat tightens as he stares at the two of them. "Bring us back souvenirs, huh?" She hoists Sara up higher, her feet resting on AJ's thighs. "Maybe a giraffe plushie for this one, and some rare candies for momma or something."
"I can do that," he chuckles warmly. "Hey, Maryse may come visit you. I think she's gonna be lonely with Heath overseas."
"That's fine," AJ says. "Tell her she's welcome any time. At least I had John and Star or Taya when you were on the road, she's all alone, right? We can have mama parties for the next few months, and she can get some practice in with this little squirrel." She kisses Sara on top of her head before smiling at Mike. "It'll be great."
"You're the best, sweetheart," he tells AJ.
She chuckles. "We both are, husband. Now go, get on your way to Australia and New Zealand so you can come home all the sooner to me."
"Will do," he promises, blowing kisses at her and Sara before hanging up to go catch his flight, Heath coming up behind him, eyes red and wet. "It'll pass by quickly, man. Just take a breath," Mike instructs him, patting his chest and waiting until Heath's collected himself. "I'm glad you're taking all of this as well as you are. Unexpected pregnancies are... kind of rough."
"Oh, don't get me wrong," Heath tells him. "I'm scared to death. Maryse and I are still so... new... 'n' everything, so many things can go wrong, but I've seen you with Sara and I think I really, really want that for myself, y'know? Not to mention..." He shifts back and forth and shakes his head, rueful. "I love her a lot. So I know some people'll think this is stupid, that we don't belong together, and it's too early, but it... still feels natural for us to take this step."
"As long as the baby and she's happy and healthy, and you support her as much as you can, considering, that's the important thing," Mike tells him, gripping his shoulders and guiding him towards the boarding area. "Don't worry about anything else."
Heath laughs breathlessly. "You know I'm gonna be coming to you a lot for advice and stuff."
"I'd be offended if you didn't," Mike tells him. "Now come on, let's go to New Zealand and Australia."
-x
Jetlag is a bitch. Heath and Mike are both out of it, wishing they could just skip Raw and go straight to LA to meet up with Maryse, AJ and Sara, but they have responsibilities so Heath slaps hands with Rhyno when they arrive at the arena and Mike heads to gorilla to find the stuff scheduled for the night. His name is not listed so he decides to make things happen for himself. Once he gets an opportunity, he goes to the ring, Axel and Bo by his side, and talks once more about the lack of respect his title belt is getting, not being challenged again... and he calls out Angle, laying into him about his own poor fathering, and how much better of a father Mike will be than Angle. Mike thinks for a moment about his daughter learning to walk and talk without him and has to choke the words out, almost relieved when Jason Jordan interrupts to defend his father.
Mike grits his teeth when Angle holds his son back and makes a match- Jason vs Elias vs Matt and Jeff Hardy for #1 contendership for the Intercontinental Belt at No Mercy. Sounds like an awful match, not to mention Mike's already beaten two of the men mentioned, so he forces Angle's hand in adding Bo and Axel to the match. Not that it changes much, Mike refuses to even consider losing the belt this Sunday no matter who wins the match. Brushes it off when both Axel and Bo vows not to take it easy on him should they win- he's not concerned about them, or, well, about anybody in that match. The only thing that could screw everything up would be Angle's attempts at making his failures up to Jason.
So it's not very comforting to see Jason win that night, staring out at him with a deep intensity that makes Mike want to tear him apart even more. Come Sunday, he thinks. This kid is gonna regret ever looking twice at me.
But for now, he has other, much more pressing issues on hand, so he marches backstage purposely, grabs his things, snags Heath and makes his way out to the parking garage to begin the drive to LA, to the women waiting for them, to get some sleep and regain his strength before defending his title belt again, to hold onto the belt and prolong his time as champion again. Fourth longest, he thinks, looking at the counter on his phone before putting it down and stuffing the key in the ignition. Soon, I will be #1 in everything.