London is beautiful. Part of Mike wishes they could stay for longer than a few weeks, already enjoying having something of a homebase to go back to at night. Knowing that his wife and daughter will be there, waiting on him with a big bag of food and an bigger smile. But alas he's good at what he does so filming Marine 6 is moving at a breakneck pace, since no one really wants to spend their Christmas and New Years holidays filming.
Even so, it means early morning baguettes with his wife in their crisp hotel bed, listening to their daughter babble sleepily from her crib. "Can you believe she's almost two?" Mike asks, kissing the top of AJ's head. "Ridiculous." Their daughter's eyes are still the deepest shade of blue, and her hair is thick, dark brown, like AJ's. Her skin tone eases more towards AJ's than his. All in all, Mike knows when he's older, he's going to be in trouble, probably need to retire from wrestling and acting just to sit at the front door and fend off boys with a stick.
"No, not really," she muses. "Sometimes it feels like she's still that little newborn that I just gave birth to, and sometimes I feel like she should be older because it's like she's been a vital part of me for much longer than one year, ten months, you know?"
"Yeah," Mike whispers into AJ's hair, kissing her again. He chuckles as Sara bursts out, "Hello!" from her crib. "I think someone knows we're talking about her." He gets up and scoops her into his arms, lazily floating her around the room, making her squeal and giggle as he makes airplane noises. Eventually he eases her into her mother's waiting arms and they cuddle and giggle together as Mike wanders around and prepares Sara's breakfast, cereal and sliced banana with apple juice on the side. She wiggles and bounces in her mom's hands when she sees the tray coming, eagerly reaching for her little plastic spoon. "Someone's hungry today, huh?"
AJ laughs and kisses her daughter's forehead as she makes a bit of a mess with the banana slices, her eyes wide as she grips at her sippy cup. "We might have a future foodie on our hands." Casts a warm, teasing gaze at her husband. "I wonder who she'd take after with that."
"Moi?" Mike asks with a smirk, leaning in to wipe off his daughter's sticky hands once she finishes the banana and starts awkwardly spooning up cereal, eating it while staring at her parents with curious, wide blue eyes that feel like they could swallow Mike whole most days.
AJ's smile softens as she watches him with her. "You're such a good dad, Mike."
He pauses for a moment, looking over at her. "I don't always feel like it," he confesses. "Do you think she notices when I'm not there for her? I'm on the road so much..."
AJ bites her lip, aware that this has always been kind of a problem for Mike, his time always so delicately balanced when he's on the road so he can facetime them as much as possible, his two days a week at the house usually spent playing with or cuddling Sara when she's not sleeping. "Maybe, on some level, but she knows you love her." Smiles as Sara reaches out for Mike, mumbling "Dadadadadada" repeatedly even once he's hoisted her up and hugged her close, wiping some milk off of her lips.
"I never want her to doubt that," he mumbles. "Or grow up and look back and wonder why Daddy never played with her much, or why Daddy was never at her school events, or..."
AJ rests a hand on his arm. "Look at me, Mike Mizanin." He does so, blue eyes so similar to their daughter's, warring with this pain. "She's little, but she's smart. When you come home, every time, she sees you and her whole face lights up. She knows and loves you very much, whether you spend an hour or a week with her. She will never, ever doubt that. I promise you." She reaches out and chuffs their daughter's cheek, smiling when Sara looks up at her. "Isn't that right, baby Sara? You're a daddy's girl already."
Sara beams. "Dadadadada," she chants, burying her face in Mike's chest as he cradles her.
"Alright, alright. I'll believe you. This time," he chuckles, leaning in to kiss AJ. "Thank you."
"Any time, husband." She grazes her nails down his jaw and sighs, easing in to his warmth, her face flushing softly as she feels that old familiar pull. "God, I wish Heath was here to babysit."
Mike laughs, bumping his forehead against hers. As much as he'd like to spend every free moment with their daughter, he understands. AJ's been pulling the bulk of the weight for the last two years, and now they're in London and she wants some alone time. It's the least he can do. "I'll see what I can do," he tells her.
A few hours later, during a break in filming, Mike leans out of his chair and looks over at Becky. "Hey, Becky! Do you like kids?"
She stutters, thrown off guard by this randomness. "Uh... yes?"
"Great! You can babysit Sara for AJ and I later. Shawn, if she needs help for whatever reason, you've got this, right?!" He gives the perplexed man a thumbs up before turning back to the woman trying to apply the right amount of fake blood and dirt to make his next scene look its best.
AJ shakes her head that night, handing over a sleepy Sara to Becky. "Are you sure? I know Mike can be really pushy sometimes-"
"Nah, it's fine," Becky says, shifting Sara on her hip as she kisses the baby's forehead. "We're gonna have a grand old time, aren't we, little bean?" She smiles at AJ. "Don't worry, looks like the kiddo's gonna sleep most of the time anyway. And I have experience with little ones, got lots of cousins and such. You two enjoy your date night." She winks obnoxiously. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
AJ exhales once the door shuts behind her and looks around. The place is baby-messy. So she wanders around, scoops everything of Sara's up and tosses it into a little bag hanging by the desk. Stands anxiously for a minute and then realizes she's nervous. For her own husband's arrival. "Oh for God's sake, AJ," she mumbles, sitting on the bed. Smoothing her sweaty hands over the denim of her jeans. "Ok, this is bad." Stands up and wiggles out of her shirt and jeans, trying to sprawl out enticingly over the bed. She's just secondguessed her choice in underwear for the day- simple, pale blue with purple accents here and there, when the door beeps and Mike walks in, his arms full of paper sacks.
He freezes upon spotting her, almost dropping the bags. "Oh," he mumbles, quickly moving to put them down before something bad happens. Voice is highpitched, Mike pausing mid-sentence to clear it. "So Sara's with Becky, huh?"
"Yep," AJ says, ignoring how her heart's beating in her chest at the way his eyes are scoping her out.
"Perfect," Mike breathes out, dropping his jacket and immediately unbuttoning his shirt before joining her, kissing her hungrily. "You're perfect."
"So are you," she whispers, arching up into his touch. "God, we're one of those obnoxious perfect couples, aren't we?" He laughs and traces kisses down her warm flesh, her fingers tangling in his hair. "No wonder everyone hates us."
Later, they're cuddled close, sipping from the sparkling cider he'd bought and eating these ridiculous cheese danishes while staring out at the sights of London through the huge hotel window, lights from the buildings visible filling the night sky as evening progresses. "I kinda hated that this wasn't being filmed in Vancouver," Mike mumbles sleepily, tracing shapes in AJ's skin that leaves her with tingling little sweeps of arousal before moving on to new places, doing the same there. "But this is pretty awesome too."
"Yes it is," she agrees, exhaling softly when his fingers ease his name into her thighs. "I love you, Mike."
His eyes are hooded but sparkling when he looks over at her. "I love you too, AJ." They smile at each other before he kisses her gently, resting his face on her shoulder and slowly falling asleep.