Mike stares up at the ceiling, blinking sluggishly. "Hm," he mumbles as AJ nudges at him. "What?"
"Are you still planning on taking the kids to the park?" she asks, leaning her head on his shoulder and smirking as he groans and stirs.
"I did say I would, didn't I?" he mumbles, struggling to stay awake.
"Yes, yes you did," she giggles, leaning up to kiss him. "C'mon, Maryse and I will help."
Not just his own kids, of course, but Madison and Monroe too, the four kids growing even closer after joining school one after the other. He sighs and grimaces, sitting up and hanging his feet over the bed, still not willing quite yet to cede defeat to the sun peeking through the window. "You sure you don't want to come?"
"Nope," AJ calls out cheerfully. "I promised Maryse and Taya we were going to have a girl's day, watching Heels and whatever else strikes our fancy, and today's our best option."
"Yeah, of course it is," he sighs. Despite his reluctance to get out of bed, he knows it'll be a good time, Heath and Morrison making up for his lack of energy after the last couple weeks of disrespect and frustration WWE has thrown his way.
AJ leans back in and kisses him quickly, smiling at him. "I'll miss you though," she chirps.
He exhales, grips her around the waist and pulls her back in. "I'll miss you more," he says, wrapping an arm around her hips and holding her in place as she giggles and swats at him before giving in for another kiss.
"You'll have a better time than you expect," she promises him, kissing him slowly. "If anyone can make you feel better, it's our babies."
"I know," he sighs. "It's impossible to remain sad around them. I just need a minute."
She nods. Smooths a hand over his cheek. "Ok. But that's all you get, mister." She kisses him again before gently extracting herself from his embrace and skipping off to the bathroom to get ready for her day.
He takes that minute, mulls over everything, before clapping his hands on his thighs and getting to his feet, wandering over to the windows and pulling the drapes apart, squinting out into the bright, morning sun. "Yeah, ok, day. Let's do this thing."
Finally leaving the bedroom, he knocks on Sara and George's bedroom doors, bellowing playfully. "Who's ready for the park?!"
At the first sound of their squeals and excited responses, Mike feels most of the dull cloud leaving him as a smile creeps over his face. Squaring his shoulders, he scoops both kids up as they tumble out of their rooms, excited and speaking quickly, barely understandable. Yeah, this is all I need, he thinks, hugging them both close as he carries them through the house for breakfast.