Mke chuckles as he looks over pictures of John and Taya's honeymoon, AJ tucked into his side as they listen to Sara's soft breathing over the monitor. He hums and runs a finger down the screen before glancing down at her. "Hey."
"Hey," she hums against his shoulder. "What's up?"
"Do you ever regret that we never really got a proper honeymoon?" he asks, tracing shapes against her back as she sits up with a cute little frown on her face.
"Remind me what that trip to Vancouver was?" she asks with a small laugh. Seeing that he's completely serious, she softens and cups his face, staring into his blue eyes. "Listen to me, Mike Mizanin. That trip to Vancouver was the best honeymoon I could've asked for. Alright? You have no reason to secondguess any part of our life together because, if you've forgotten it in the last ten minutes, it's pretty damn perfect." She kisses him, easing the phone out of his hands and laying it down on the table next to the bed before straddling him, lacing her fingers behind his head. "We have our health- which you'd better still have after this PPV, by the way-, we have each other, we have this beautiful house, we have the most adorable baby girl in the world, and we have the most ridiculous, loyal friends we could possibly ask for. I have no complaints and don't ever forget that." Punctuating each word with further kisses, she stares at him. "I am the happiest I could've ever imagined at this stage in my life. And that is because of you."
He exhales. "Well, when you put it that way," he murmurs off of a laugh, sprawling his hand over her back and bracing her as she kisses him, nuzzling into his jaw. She's warm and pliant under his touch, her skin so soft that he can't help touching every inch of it that he can reach. She hums and scrapes her teeth over his lip before settling more thoroughly in his lap, blinking up at him when his breath catches. Her giggle gives him life, reminds him of how pleased he is with everything in his life, no matter how things might shake out this Sunday, and he sighs softly, running his fingers through her hair, down her back, to her hips. "I love you, AJ," he murmurs into her mouth.
"I love you, Mike," she responds, eyes fluttering as he trails kisses down her throat, lower still until he's stopped by the hem of her tanktop. She hums and sits up, pulling it off, and he exhales quietly, dragging her back down to kiss her again. The house is quiet, peaceful, everything beyond them disappearing as he holds her close, their bodies fitting together so perfectly that it still shocks them that they'd actually found this level of closeness, intimacy with someone else, after so much struggle. She sighs, sitting up and staring down at him as his hands ghost up her sides.
"What is it?" he asks, not sure about the look on her face.
"I know we've mentioned it before," she says quietly. "But after Money in the Bank... when you're home for more than a couple of hours, I think we should have a serious discussion. About if we agree fully on giving Sara siblings right now, or waiting."
He blinks hard, not expecting this at all. "Oh. I... yeah. Definitely." He stares up at her, looking so nervous, that she has to giggle a little, leaning in to kiss him again.
"I'm not against the idea, just so you know. But she's still really little and I think we need to figure out some things before we fully commit to that next step. I know you were an only child, but I had siblings, and it was hard to really get my voice heard, or feel like I was important in the long run and I never want any of my kids to feel that way." She cups his jaw and kisses him again. "Ok?"
He nods. "Yeah, I definitely understand," he says. "I'd never want to run blind into a situation and do something to harm Sara. She deserves the best we can give her, and if we agree that that's a sibling, awesome. If not, then we'll be leaving off after giving the absolute best of both of us to the world."
AJ's face softens even as her eyes fill with tears. "Dammit, Mike," she mumbles, "I wasn't supposed to cry on just a hypothetical conversation." He laughs weakly and pulls her closer, trying to sooth her with soft strokes down her spine, kissing her before turning and settling her against the pillows, settling down on top of her.
"Lemme make it up to you," he says, kissing and touching her gently, feeling as she swallows hard next to his ear. He chuckles softly, easing down her body. "Ten kids or one, it doesn't matter," he tells her, lips pressed against her stomach. "You always put Sara ahead of everything else, and you're so patient and loving with her, taking on everything while I'm so busy with WWE. You're the most beautiful, diligent mother I've ever seen, and you always will be."
She sighs and bites her knuckle, staring down at him as he kisses around her abs, along her hip bones. Wonders what she did to be this lucky as he continues to worship her body, her head pressing back against the pillows as she runs her fingers through his hair, curling her toes into his ankles.
-x
"Just the man I was hoping to see!" Mike greets Heath, slapping him on the shoulder as he chokes on his sandwich, Rhyno casting a warning glance his way. "Sorry," he chuckles, sitting down next to Heath. With the draft putting them on different brands, he hasn't seen much of his friend in the last few weeks. Just followed his twitter account, a few texts here and there. "How's little Monroe doing?"
Heath waves his hand, mouth still full as he struggles to swallow it all down, and Rhyno quietly reaches over, collecting his cell phone and finding the most recent pictures, Mike scrolling through them and oohing and awwing as required. "She's gettin' so big!" he exclaims once he can talk again, dark eyes wide and fixed. "And Maryse is really sure she's gonna be a ginger baby." He smiles. "Who knew, I always wanted to pass this gene on, didn't think it was possible though." He plays with his hair for a minute. "So how's lil Sara doing?"
"Sara's great," Mike says, still looking at pictures of Monroe. "Don't tell anyone else, but there's a chance you might be an uncle all over again."
"Ya mean..." His eyes widen. "Ya and AJ...?"
"We're going to be discussing potential siblings this week, but it's looking like it's a yes," Mike says with a small smile. "Think she'd like a playmate?"
Heath nods. "Yeah, man. I bet she'd be a great big sister! And you 'n' AJ will be great at it, I'm sure," he adds almost hastifly.
Mike laughs. "Thanks, man." But first, he has to get through Money in the Bank in one piece. Which means he quickly excuses himself and leaves to try to focus, get himself in the right mindset for the match.
It's brutal. He can taste it, feel the briefcase under his fingers, smell the opportunities, but then Braun comes back. And comes back. And comes back again. Nothing any of them do is enough to keep him down, no matter how many chairs they cover him with, no matter what. Owens takes a horrendous bump off of the ladders and Mike cringes, deciding to lay low for awhile. When Braun ultimately wins, it's almost a relief.
He can't have children crumbled into pieces against unforgiving ladder rungs, after all. When Braun brandishes the briefcase, Mike is somewhere between laughing and crying, wondering if he'll ever reach that pinnacle again.