AJ looks far from thrilled when Mike answers her video call. His grin, on the other hand, is wide and fake. "Hey, sweetheart," he greets her, pretending to not notice the look on her face.

"Mike," she says quietly. "I don't like this. I... I want you to come home."

He closes his eyes and presses his knuckles to his forehead. "And I would, AJ, I absolutely would, but-"

"You already had one false alarm during all of this!" she snaps, surprising him with the venom behind her words. "I..." She exhales. "We have two small children," she continues on, voice subdued. "There's enough bad things happening all over, I can't lose you too."

"You won't," he promises her. "Listen, we're being tested more diligently now, alright? If something was really wrong, I swear to you, I wouldn't keep doing this. We'd figure something out. But things are ok, it's more secure now."

She shakes her head, looking away. "Mike, I... I know you say we have bills to pay, the house needs kept up, on and on and on, but none of that means anything to me if you get sick, alright?" She strokes the screen with her finger and swallows hard, clearly trying not to cry. "Please come home soon."

"I will," he promises her. "I will. Have you heard from Ricardo and Alicia, or Taya?"

"Yeah, they call pretty often," she says, trying to be discrete as she brushes at her eyes and failing. "Is that because of you?" He smiles at her and she rolls her eyes, pointedly looking away from the phone. "I can't believe Alicia is pregnant. It's ridiculous. And amazing. But man, the timing is really... not great."

"Auntie AJ," he teases her softly and she smiles weakly, fresh tears filling her eyes. "Do you ever think about having a third?"

She stares up at the screen, a shocked look on her face. "Right now? Hell no." She pauses and wipes a hand over her trembling lips. "In the future? If things ever ease up, return to some sort of normalcy? ...Maybe." She shakes her head. "I really never thought I'd be the pregnancy type, you know? There were things in my past I never wanted to pass on to another generation, burden poor kids with issues like I had. But then Sara came along, and George, and..." She exhales slowly and stares at him, almost glowing with happiness. "You proved me wrong. It's worth it, they're beautiful kids and I love them and only want to help them through anything life throws their way."

He exhales slowly and whispers, "Yeah, I feel the same way."

"So when I think about having a third, I think... yeah, it could be nice," she sighs, sprawling out on their bed and looking at him longingly as she stretches her hand over her stomach and envisions it. "Someday."

He closes his eyes and smiles. "Someday."

Smackdown is another stumbling step further away from where they'd prefer to be as John and Mike find themselves partnering up with Cesaro and Shinsuke just to ultimately lose to Lucha House Party and New Day. John grits his teeth and slaps his hand against the mat, head lowered between his shoulders as he takes in deep breaths and exhales them slowly, trying to calm down. "Dammit," he mumbles.

Mike crouches near him, hand warm and steady against his back. "This sucks," he says, glowering up into the ring at the victors. "Really friggin sucks." When John scrambles to move, he grips his flailing arm and pulls him upright, the two of them staggering together up the ramp. Things had been going so well until after Wrestlemania, he's honestly not sure how it had all fallen apart so rapidly. If not for everything going on right now, he thinks. I feel like we'd be in a much better place...

But it is what it is and trying to lay blame on anything else does neither of them any good right now. Mike exhales shakily and helps John the rest of the way backstage and away from the taunting eyes of the developmental crowd leering at them through the plexiglass. "We'll figure this out," he promises him, rubbing slow circles between his shoulders. "We will. Somehow."

It's a weak promise, and he's not sure if it makes John feel any better, but he is sincere when he says it. He hopes it's enough to count for something in the long run.