AJ purses her lips at herself in the mirror, shaking her head. "I already feel different than when I was carrying Sara," she mumbles. "I wasn't this big, this early!" Mike chuckles and walks up behind her, wrapping his arms around her, fingers splaying over the faint bulge of her stomach. "Mike-" she warns him, just to be cut off by a soft, warm kiss that distracts her, momentarily, from her woes. "My old maternity clothes won't fit for long at this rate," she whines when he pulls away, glaring up at him as he laughs softly. "It's not funny."
"No," he agrees delicately, enjoying the subtle changes in her body as she leans back against him and pouts. "But you're beautiful, and I'll go buy you all of the clothes you want if that's what you want from me." He tilts her face up gently and smiles down at her. "Maybe some European maternity clothes, hm?"
She groans, then rests her hand on his. "I'm going to miss you," she mumbles. Two weeks is a long time, especially now, and he eases in and kisses her again, longer, gentler, full of affections and tenderness. The soft little sounds she makes feeds into how he's feeling and before too long, he scoops her up and settles her onto the bed, kneeling down close to her, fingers trailing over her bare flesh. "Mike..." Her eyes flutter and she smiles, just a little.
"If you need anything," he tells her softly. "John and Taya will be here ASAP..." She nods, eyes locked on him, and then lets out a shaky little gasp as he settles in and kisses her, the heat between them growing as he soothes her lips with soft licks, until she opens up to him and both of them groan, low and deep, as soon as he properly tastes her. "I love you," he whispers to her and she swallows hard.
"I- I love you too," she whispers with a shuddering exhale, tugging him closer for another kiss.
Mike wakes up, a small smirk on his face as he replays his last full day in California before leaving for the European tour, so vividly relived in his dreams. He shifts and stretches and looks over- to find Tamina watching him with an unimpressed look on her face. "Do you ever not talk?" she snaps and he flushes as she gets up and flounces off to shower. But she's not really mad, he knows this, and as soon as she gets some caffeine in her and fresh clothes on, she warms up to him and doesn't even bother mentioning what he was dreaming about. There are always a ton of things to do in Europe- media, sightseeing whenever you can, meet'n'greets with fans, other things. Mike's an old pro by now, but he still gets exhausted of it sometimes, especially after the fifth interview asking similar things.
Barely minutes after he's texted her upon wrapping up another interview, Tamina settles in across from him at a coffee shop down from their hotel and pokes at the cinnamon roll she'd taken, quirking an eyebrow at him when he barely acknowledges her presence. "Everything alright?"
He nods. Shakes his head. Shrugs. "Just thinking."
"About?" she prods.
He stares at her. Then smiles just a little. She knows the truth, had probably seen through the Maryse announcement as soon as it was made. "AJ's pregnant," he whispers to her and her entire face softens. "No one can know though. You remember."
She does. She nods, casting a quick glance around the room before scooting closer to him. "I'm so happy for you both," she tells him. "Kids are great, especially when there's more than one so they can be each others' best friend, or at least closest confidant, if everything goes well." She smiles and Mike wonders how much she misses her daughters during things like this. "If there's ever anything you need from me..."
"Actually, I think I do," he says.
As he explains the situation to her, she smiles, lips twitching up just a little. "Yeah," she mumbles. "You're one of the good ones, Mike."
There was a time when you didn't seem to think so," he smirks.
She pokes at him. "Well, there were a lot of rough spots in the beginning," she reminds him and he sobers up. "But you made AJ happier than I ever thought possible, and that's the most important thing." She stands up and waits for him to scramble to join her, well aware that it's best to remain quiet and just follow her as she leads him away from the arena to the best shops, ransacking them of all of the maternity wear for AJ, some cute, some practical, some a little daring. There are so many bags by the time they're done, he feels like he's about to tip over, and he's not sure how he's going to get everything home, but he thanks her gratefully and drags everything up to their hotel room, before turning his focus back to business.
Shane. Shane, who will be looking for revenge over last week, when Heath and Mike had worked together to take away his best advantage against both of them- the recording of Mike confessing all, now snug back in the States with Heath and Maryse. The aliance with Roman, eh it is what it is, Mike's never been a huge fan of any of the Shield, but they have shared grievances so Mike sucks it up and deals during both Raw and Smackdown, taking advantage where he can to stick it to Shane, to Elias, to anyone who dares to get in his way as he prepares for Sunday.
Money in the Bank, where he will leave it all on the line to finish this once and for all. To get revenge for his father, to defend his wife and children, to ensure that Heath and Maryse's life won't be affected any more than it has already.
This Sunday, Shane will pay.