Mike is exhausted. He's not fully gotten back into a proper sleep schedule since filming Marine 6, and now somehow his schedule is even worse. Not only is he champion, but he's also going to be competing in the Elimination Chamber. And he's got a lengthy filming schedule ahead of him for three shows in the next month.
So his day off is spent with AJ stealing his phone and locking it away, pushing him into bed where he lays on his stomach and tries to stay awake long enough to talk to her as she sprawls out on top of him. "Contract negotiations have been going pretty well," he confesses, already drifting as she rubs his back encouragingly. "We should be signing this coming week." She presses kisses between his shoulderblades and he hums. "Four more years..." He yawns. "I'm gonna be almost 40 then. I'm so old."
She laughs against his spine and nods. "Yes, you are, Mike. Excessively old." He rolls his eyes at the sarcasm but sighs, melting into the sheets as she kisses up to his neck, planting soft, warm open-mouthed presses of her lips there as well. "I love you either way."
He rolls over, grips her hands and squeezes them gently. "Are you going to see Alicia later on?"
"Yeah, when you've flown back out for the week's events," she says thoughtfully. "It's awfully convenient, her being only a drive away while she's recovering. I'm kind of glad Ricardo's decided to come here for awhile." She hesitates. "Do you think it'll be as temporary as he expects?"
"Maybe," Mike says. "He's pretty adamant he's going to head back east after he spends some time here. But he's done with Florida, supposedly, so I'm not sure what his plans are exactly."
"He's the pure definition of a rolling stone, I guess," AJ says, resting her head on Mike's shoulder and cuddling close. She sits up and trails a hand down his face, searching his eyes, abruptly somber. "I know there are weeks before you really have to think about this, but I know you're not sleeping great right now, and you have a lot of irons in the fire, but there are a lot of injuries happening across the board in WWE, so I need to promise me right here, right now... You're gonna be careful in the Elimination Chamber. Nothing too risky, just... do what you need to win, and let everyone else do the stupid wreckless stuff, alright?"
He smiles at her. Strokes her face. "I was already planning on that, sweetheart." He kisses her nose. "I like it when you get all protective of me," he admits, shivering a bit as she trails her knuckles up and down his sides. "But I'm smart. I'll be safe. I promise you."
"You'd better be," she exhales, pressing her face into his neck and curling her fingers with his. "Four more years, huh?"
"Mm hmm. They actually want more, but these four years feel good to me, in case something changes between now and then," Mike breathes, thinking about it. He's not sure if he'll be ready to leave at the end of the four years, but just in case, this leaves him an ok out. He kisses her forehead and lifts her hand, kissing it as well. "Good night, sweetheart," he whispers.
"Good night," she murmurs, already half asleep.
He smiles and lays there, watching her. realizing Sara will be close to six years old when he finally might make the decision to leave WWE behind, imagining a playful little girl who barely knows her own father because of his long hours spent on the road, wrestling and doing all sorts of media events, movies, and whatever else WWE throws his way. He sighs and closes his eyes, shaking his head and wishing there was a better way for all of this to shake out where he didn't feel like he was missing out somewhere. "If only I could be multiple places at once," he grumbles, finally closing his eyes and following AJ into some badly needed sleep.