Somewhere between one draft and the next, Zack has calmed down, thankfully. They haven't been on the same brand in long enough and Mike's not champion currently, so it needs to help when they run across each other at the pre-wedding party held the night before. "Hey, bro," Zack says calmly, smirking at him. "How's it going?"
"Fine," he says slowly, eyeing the broski. "You?"
"No complaints." His hair's smoothed back, not in spikes any longer, and Mike thinks it's going to take time to get used to it- but he looks fine, surprisingly enough. They go their own ways after a few awkward moments and Mike mingles, saying hello to the various wrestlers from John's time in the WWE and a few TNA and Lucha Underground people that he walks by.
AJ is sitting by herself, sipping from some punch, when he rejoins her. "Enjoying yourself, husband?" she asks, lips twitching as he takes her hand. She doesn't have a lot to do with the business anymore so he wonders if this is weird for her, seeing everyone from the life that had been taken away from her after injuries and life decisions came into play. If she had decided to stay, they wouldn't have Sara right now.
He exhales and lightly kisses her knuckles. "Yeah. Feels nice to sit down for a few minutes though." She scoots closer and runs her free hand through his hair, kissing his nose and mouth. They smile lovingly at each other before a new arrival attracts attention of most everyone in the room. "Alicia's here," he laughs as AJ's eyes widen in surprise.
"Oh boy," she mumbles, curling her fingers around the back of his head and kissing him hard before rushing up to intercept her friend.
Despite Alicia's loud announcement of their arrival, Ricardo looks perfectly at ease as they take seats next to Mike. "Hola!" he says cheerfully, eyes twinkling as he meets Mike's eyes.
"Did you two pregame before you got here?" he laughs, shaking his head at them.
"Not really," Ricardo shares as he leans in. "We both had a busy week, so we drank a lot of coffee on the flight and then realized we couldn't sleep, and... now here we are." He shrugs, a goffy kind of grin on his face and Mike smacks his forehead, laughing along with his friend. "We'll be ok, no worries!"
"When you two tell me not to worry is when I worry the most," Mike teases lightly, but despite their being a little louder, and a lot more twitchy, the rest of the evening goes well. Once things begin winding down well after midnight, he gets up and hugs John tightly. "See you bright and early tomorrow, groom," he teases.
John smirks. "Can't wait, best man. See you then." AJ sneaks up and hugs him goodbye, twisting to hug Taya as well, Mike echoing the action with a faint smile as Taya nods at them both.
"Sleep well! See you in the morning."
"Definitely!" AJ tells her with a smile. She'd already given Taya what advise she could about being a bride so now there's nothing to do but wait for morning, when suits and dresses and flowers and tears and hopes and traditions would crash into all of them with the force of a tidal wave. "Good night!"
"Good night!" echoes from general parts of the room as the married couple make their leave, eager to kiss their daughter goodnight and collapse into bed. "I think we're getting old, husband, back before Sara we would've both been eager to hang around," she laughs, leaning into him as he guides her to the car, unlocking it.
After a jittery night of sleep, they're back at it early, Mike meeting up with John at the apartment. "It's not fair," he complains. "You look put together even after partying until who knows what hour. Meanwhile I feel like I've been hit by a truck after a solid 8 hours."
John chuckles. Claps him on the back. "I've tried to get you into parkour."
Mike rolls his eyes. "Oh please. I would fall face first into a stack of boxes and kill myself." He glances at the clock. "So, what do you want to do first?"
John grins, which only adds to Mike's discomfort.
"I can't believe this," he mumbles awhile later, sitting crosslegged across from John, hands loose against his knees.
"Concentrate on your breathing," he chides loosely, never falling out of his heightened state while meditating. Mike grimaces but follows his soft command, closing his eyes and listening to his heartbeating, each breath in, each exhale out. The soft lapping of water nearby, birds chirping overhead. He finds himself relaxing, worries smoothing away from him, when...
John shakes him awake and he gasps blurrily, wiping at his eyes. "Every time," John laughs.
Mike shakes his head, flushing slightly. "Sorry."
"No worries. But I think it's time we move on this wedding stuff."
By the end of it all, John is impeccable and calm. Taya is beautiful. Mike stands by his best friend's side and looks out at the crowd, eyes locking with AJ as she blows a quick kiss at him. He winks at her and remembers their own vows as John and Taya recite after the female officiant, who Mike thinks looks a little familiar, a shiver creeping down his spine when her cool, dark eyes lock on his, a dark despair clenching around his heart for only a moment before easing away. He wonders why they chose her, but shrugs it off, clapping with the rest when the wedding is over and John kisses Taya enthusiastically to wrap the ceremony up.
There are more drinks and more speeches and a lot of dancing at the reception, Mike smiling softly as he hugs AJ close, dancing her around in slow circles to the soft music playing overhead. "I love you," he tells her.
"I love you too," she says, resting her head on his shoulder before he spins her again. When the song picks up, Ricardo and Alicia spin close and they end up swapping, Mike and Alicia doing some mess of a hyperactive rumba that leaves everyone laughing as they bow to each other at the end of the song before switching partners again- AJ is with John now, Alicia starts dancing with Zack, Ricardo is spinning around the female officiant that still leaves Mike uncomfortable and floundering, which leaves Mike with Taya.
She smirks, loosely curling her arms around his neck as another slow song kicks in, and he spins her around the room slowly. "Thanks for everything, Mike. I know part of the reason John was so relaxed about everything was because you were here, helping him with everything."
Mike shrugs. Then smiles too. "He's my brother, I would do anything for his happiness. As would you, I'm sure."
There's no hesitation or second thoughts. Just Taya nodding slipping. "in a heartbeat," she says, and he believes her.
"I'm glad he found you," he says. "I wasn't sure if he'd ever find someone who deserves him, he's been through so much the last few years." He squeezes her gently. "He did and I'm so happy for both of you."
She beams up at him. "Thank you, Mike. You're sweet." Songs change again so he leans in and kisses her cheek before she twirls away to reunite with her husband, Mike laughing when he finds himself with an armful of Alicia.
"Oh. Warn a guy next time," he teases, leading into a swing dance that seems to make her happy as they throws her head back and laughs. A quick glance over shows AJ and Ricardo are dancing together and he smiles, happy to see them getting along as he and Alicia start moving slowly as the song switches to a slightly quieter choice.
It's such a fun night that even when Mike gets thrown into a match against New Day again that Tuesday, and Rusev and Samoa Joe prove what sunny-day tag partners they are, he's not as bothered as he could be.
His little family is going great, John and Taya are preparing for the most kickass honeymoon since his and AJ's, and Mike's about to win Money in the Bank for the second time.
Everything's perfect.