Things move quickly with the house. Mike's on the road a lot, but he keeps in contact with their realtor through emails, phone calls, and sometimes, when he's desperate, text messages. She's very patient and accommodating, acting as the go between for him and the sellers, who accept his terms with a surprisingly low amount of drama. He almost thinks his being out of town for most of the legalese has helped things along, and AJ has Taya to help her with things around the house whenever she's not honoring indy bookings, which is an even bigger load off of Mike's mind.
Mike's mind is elsewhere when Heath eases into his line of sight and sinks onto the couch next to him, Mike examining him out of the corner of his eye, taking in the new hair style, the new tattoos. Heath's been subdued, clearly struggling without Rhyno, and nervous about his and Maryse's second child coming at any time now. "Things good, Heath?" he finally asks and Heath looks up, blinking hard.
"Oh. Yeah," he says quietly. "Never better." Struggles to smile and fails, his eyes falling onto his twitching hands. "Actually, no. They're pretty bad right now."
Mike sighs. "Tell Uncle Mike all about it," he says, gripping Heath and dragging him closer, at least getting a soft huff of laughter from the other man as he leans into him and waits.
"S'just... I... I miss Rhyno," he mumbles. "And Titus still doesn't have much of the time'a day for me... Slater Gator was fun, I just dunno if that's what I wanna do now, y'know? You ever get tired of runnin' in circles?"
Mike sighs. "Yeah, I do. I think everyone does sometimes." They sit quietly for awhile and Mike slowly eases away, remembering something AJ had given him before he'd left. "Hey, wanna trade?" he asks suddenly, holding out a slip of paper, and Heath laughs, eyes lighting up as he digs his own out and passes it over, Mike staring at the latest ultrasound from Maryse's recent appointment. "Wow," he murmurs. "Big kid, huh? How much longer does the doctor think?"
"She's already experiencing Braxton Hicks," Heath says, tracing a gentle thumb over the details in AJ's, eyes soft as he examines the baby. "So prolly not too long. She's real uncomfortable in this Texas heat so I'm hopin' for her sake it won't drag on for too long."
Mike nods, tracing his finger over the ultrasound before handing it back to Heath, fitting his gingerly back into his wallet. "Our doctor told us this labor would probably be faster than last time since it's our second."
"Hey, Maryse's said the same thing," Heath nods. "I've been afraid it'll come before I can get her to the car ever since."
Mike laughs. "I doubt it'll be that bad, but yeah. It'll definitely be something interesting."
"Sometimes I wish she still lived in California," Heath says suddenly. "At least then she'd have friends nearby when she goes into labor." Yeah, they get along fine with their neighbors, and Maryse's mom is around a lot, but still, Heath can't help but be anxious about it all.
Mike squeezes his shoulder again. "Just gotta take it easy, man. She's got great hospitals nearby, and plenty of support, so she'll be fine. Trust me."
Heath nods, then stops, staring ahead blankly for awhile. "Right, yeah," he breathes out. "Just... sucks, I mean, you know- you were at Raw when AJ went into labor..."
"Yeah, it was the most terrifying phone call I'd received my entire adult life," Mike admits. "But it worked out great for us, and it'll do the same for you guys. Just take it easy, Heath." His match is up next and Heath nods at Mike, a faint smile on his face. "My match is soon, you'll be alright for a little bit, right?"
"Yep." Heath lifts his hand in a half-hearted wave as Mike gets up and heads for gorilla.
He'd lost his chance at King of the Ring, he'd truthfully not had great luck this year at all. Now, he thinks. Now is the time to change this. Cesaro comes out and Mike settles in, working out plans to defeat him. I have a bad ass house, a beautiful wife, great friends, and a beautiful child with another on the way. I'm far from a loser.
When he defeats Cesaro, it feels like vindication. It feels like confirmation of his earlier thoughts. He smirks and looks up, confident. I will be champion again.