"Once upon a time," Mike says, watching as Sara Louisa fights the pull of sleep, too excited with all of the Christmas lights and talk of Santa to give in to her heavy eyelids, "there was a very handsome man who competed along a very silly guy who wore ridiculous coats every night." He pokes her nose and watches her giggle and squirm around. "Can you guess the silly guy's name?"
She blinks up at him, thinking hard for a moment. "No, Daddy?"
"His name is John, of course," he beams down at her, watching her try to figure this out. "But the silly man left to spread his goofiness elsewhere and the handsome man was by his lonesome, so Handsome tried to find new friends, but no one liked him and those who did were just using him to get attention."
She frowns. "Not nice, Daddy."
"You're right, it wasn't," he says with a sigh. "But you know what?" Sara stares up at him, eyes bright with curiosity, and he chuckles, picking her up and kissing her nose. "Handsome was always strong, and a fighter, so he'll never give up that easily."
"I like him," the little girl says and Mike snuggles her closer.
"Good, I'm glad. I like him too," he tells her quietly, rocking her back and forth quietly until she starts to blink slower, her body falling limp in his arms as sleep overtakes her finally.
AJ's lips twitch as she finally walks in and gently takes her from him, tucking her into her bed before returning and crawling into bed next to her husband. "Man, I wasn't sure if she'd ever fall asleep," she says. Looking over at him, she scratches lazily at his jaw. "Are you ok? I heard enough of that story to deduce..."
He sighs. "I'm frustrated. I don't understand why Asuka and Shane can't just... accept what I'm trying to tell them. I think they both hate me. I'm just doing my best here and I'm surrounded by people who refuse to accept that I know what I'm talking about!"
AJ sits up and cups his face, staring into his eyes. "Listen to me, husband. I'm used to you, I understand what you mean when you say certain things, and I know the pushier you get, the more you have our best interests at heart. But Mike, Asuka may not speak English perfectly, but that doesn't mean she's stupid. She's impressive in that ring, and the crowd loves her, so maybe you should've treated her better during the tournament, hmm? As for Shane, he does have a good point when he says he's busy being Smackdown commissioner, and besides, who really wants their boss to be in a tag team against them?"
"I would!" Mike exclaims, flailing his hands around until AJ catches them and gives his hand a squeeze. "But I guess I understand what you mean... it's just so frustrating, things could've been so perfect if they had just listened to me. And now... now, things are pretty awful. I don't know what to do next, I just..."
AJ stares into his eyes. "What do you think you should do next?"
He stares at her, desperate for an answer, for some sort of hint. Finally he weakly attempts, "Leave them alone for awhile, let them come to me?"
"Exactly," she says, pleased. "See, it's not that hard."
"Sure, saying it is easy, but what am I supposed to do if I see them in the hallway at Smackdown? Be rude?"
AJ chuckles, leaning in to kiss him. "Just say hello and, if they don't continue the conversation, just make yourself scarse. They'll appreciate it, I'm sure."
Mike sighs. "My favorite things, seeing someone I want to speak to and not even being able to say hello."
"I know it's not your way," AJ tells him soothing. "But just think, once you do this a couple of times, they'll start to miss you and wonder what exactly is going on with you... Then you'll be seeing both of them more than you ever thought possible."
Mike sighs. "Alright, sweetheart. Alright..." He hates it, but AJ is very intelligent, so as he drifts off, AJ warm against his side. He vows to try to do as she'd requested the very best he can. "What a fantastic way to start my year," hr grouses.