"How is it only January but the year already seems to be going by quickly?" Mike mumbles into AJ's hair, blinking at the ceiling. "I can't believe the Royal Rumble is next week. What is time?"

AJ chuckles, pressing a kiss to his jaw. "Yeah, I'm wondering the same too. Our wedding anniversary is a few weeks away."

"And Sara's birthday," Mike muses. "Wild." He shakes his head, stroking his hands lazily up and down her back. "What should we do?"

"Discuss it after things calm down following the Royal Rumble," AJ says, closing her eyes and leaning against his shoulder. "Then we'll both have more time and energy to properly plan out something for both of those things."

"My smart wife," Mike murmurs. "I like the way you think."

She grins. "So do I. It led us here, after all."

"Hey," he protests. "I had a hand in that too, you know."

She scoffs and tucks herself in closer to him. "Of course you did," she says. "And you're lucky I kept trying despite it all."

"You were the one with Ziggler," he scoffs, tickling her.

She gasps and sits up, pushing down on his arms. "No! Mike, no!" she gasps, trying to writhe away from his teasing fingers. Despite her best attempts, he manages to continue tickling her until she has to bite down on her fingers to keep from waking the kids up. "Mike, I swear, you're going to the couch if you ke- keep this up," she gasps, squirming and struggling to escape his fingers. "Please-"

He gives her a break, smirking up at her. "Please what, sweetheart?"

Without answering, she digs her knees into his hips, leans in and kisses him intently into the pillows. "No more tickling," she warns him, moving slowly until he swallows hard, staring at her with dark eyes. "Promise?"

"Promise," he agrees, hands warm against her hips. "Sweetheart-"

"Jerk," she mumbles, kissing him again. When his fingers start to shift, she swats him on the chest. "Don't even start tickling again, Mike," she says, and her voice is steel enough that he immediately stops, blinking innocently up at her. "I swear, our son listens to me better than you do, and he's still a toddler."

Mike smirks up at her. "Maybe I'll learn some lessons from him the older he gets."

"Well, you should," AJ tells him, then chuckles. "Come on, we should get some sleep. The kids'll be up early tomorrow and there's a lot to do."

"Yeah," he sighs. "When do you think the "Getting ready for school" morning traditions get easier?"

"When the kids are in college and it's not our responsibility anymore."

"Great," Mike sighs, dropping his head back against the pillows.

AJ just laughs at him before leaning in to kiss him again.