Mike stares blearily out at the London twilight, trying to decide which is more exhausting- 5 AM call times, or early morning red eyes to get him to the next town for WWE. "Travel," he mumbles to himself, casting a glance over his shoulder at his family fast asleep behind him, smiling twitching at his pale lips. "At least I have these two with me this way." Sara makes a soft, snuffling noise and Mike's teeth flash as he grins and pads over to the crib, resting his hand on her stomach gently. She's gotten so big, he marvels, remembering when she was a newborn and could fit in the palm of his hand.
"I can't believe she's almost two years old," AJ murmurs sleepily, surprising him as she walks up behind him and presses a kiss to his bare shoulder. "Where has the time gone?"
"I ask myself that a lot," he admits, staring down at their child. "She's so beautiful."
"She is. I'm glad she's kept your eyes, I was afraid they'd change color as she got older. Such a pretty shade of blue." He smiles down at her as she leans against his arm and laces her fingers with his over the baby. "Shouldn't you be asleep? You have to go back to filming in, like, what? Two hours?"
"Something like that," he sighs. "Just thinking too much. Guess all of the filming and what's going on with Raw has been bugging me." Bo and Axel are trying to keep things going in his stead but they keep getting beat up. Not much different than when he was there with them, but still sucks to see, especially when he's across the ocean and can't do anything to help them.
AJ clicks at him before easing him over to the bed and pushing him down on his stomach, straddling him. "Just relax," she tells him, digging her fingers into the muscles of his back, his shoulders. "Dear God, man, you're beyond tense back here. What have you been doing to yourself?" She digs in, putting more pressure on his stressed muscles until finally he starts to relax, his entire body melting under her insistent touch. "See, there you go." She presses warm, soft kisses to his neck, his shoulders, along his spine, listening to his breathing as he falls asleep. She checks the clock and grimaces, purposely changing his alarm to give him ten more minutes, before curling in next to him and falling asleep.
He's relieved for those extra minutes of sleep when filming runs over that night, leaving them all trapped until nearly 10 PM, Mike shuffling around and waiting... waiting... waiting for his turn. It's not his fault, nor is it the other WWE stars', but his impatience does grow every time one of the so-stars flubs his or her line. Finally the scene is filmed as best as could be, and they call it for the night. His hope for a calm, relaxing night fades away as soon as he lets himself into the hotel room, finding AJ leaning over the laptop, a frown on her face. "Sweetheart?" he asks, trudging up to her after shrugging out of his jacket and shoes.
She jumps and grabs both for her chest and for the flying laptop. "Mike! You're back!" Before he can ask, she presses the laptop into his hands and he's not that surprised to find Ricardo staring back at him, tears in his eyes. "Hey, man. What's going on?"
"Sorry to bother you, but I- I think I'm losing my mind," Ricardo informs him shakily.
"What's going on?"
Tears drip down his friend's ruddy face even faster and Mike feels awful as he breathes shakily. "I, I'm concussed and I haven't slept in over a week, and- and... I can't talk to Alicia or Alberto about this. I'm so sorry to drag you both into this, but I really had idea where else to turn." He scrubs at his face angrily before continuing, blinking back fresh tears. "I was asleep and I may have dreamed it or it may have been reality, I don't even know, but I think Paige paid me a visit after sabotaging Alicia's luggage so she was stuck at the airport longer."
"What did she want?" Mike whispers, though he thinks he can guess, considering how out of it Ricardo is right now.
"She said she wanted another chance with me," Ricardo breathes out. "Said she made a mistake, going with Alberto." Desperation is bleeding from his gaze. "If it wasn't a dream... but I'm too messed up to know for sure. I need help."
Mike and AJ exchange an uncomfortable glance, AJ's shoulders tense around her ears as she goes to find her phone, also displeased with getting wrapped up in drama involving two of her closest friends in wrestling. "We'll see what we can find out," Mike promises Ricardo, despite his own misgivings about getting involved in more romance drama that could lead to heartache for Alicia.
