"King of the ring," AJ says with a small giggle, leaning in and kissing him. "It'd be an impressive title for you."
He rests his hands on her hips, smiling down at her. "Yeah, I guess it would be," he says, distracted from the announcement he's going to be in the tournament starting the following week, resting his forehead against hers. "I wanna talk to you about something..."
Before he can finish working up the nerve to discuss with her what's been on his mind, she gasps and chuckles, gritting her teeth a little. "Man, this kid kicks a lot harder than Sara did," she mumbles, gripping Mike's hand and pressing it to her stomach, Mike gasping when he feels the next kick, looking up at her in shock. "They've been going on like that for a couple days now." She shakes her head with a chuckle and then tilts her head. "I'm sorry, it's still distracting sometimes. What were you saying? You wanna talk about something?"
He hesitates for a moment, looking around their house. It's beautiful, in its way, been a place of comfort and security for them both through good times and bad, Sara knowing no home but here her entire short life, but his career is at a place, between WWE, his movies, and Miz and Mrs, where sometimes he thinks something more would be nice. Something gaudy, and extravagant, and... He licks his lips and meets AJ's eyes, holding his phone out to her. "What do you think about this?"
She takes the device and looks at the sprawling mansion listed there, tilting her head. "It's nice," she says with a shrug. "Is Del Rio looking for a place in California?"
She tries to hand it back to him but Mike lightly grips her hand and closes her fingers around the phone, staring down at him. "No," he says softly. "But I think I am."
She blanches. "What? Mike-"
"Hear me out," he says, gripping her and drawing her over to sit on the couch, settling her in his lap and holding her protectively. "This house is fantastic, I adore it, but I'm trying to get cast in more movies now that the Marine series is done, and we have Sara and this little one on the way. I wanna get you help, a nanny, maybe. Part time, at the very least. Then there's Miz and Mrs filming, which requires me to be away in Texas on my days off more often than not, and I know we both hate that. If we have this big ass mansion, Maryse and I can handle our filming there, and she and Heath can bring their kids to stay during it, and the place is so big that there won't be any overlap, you and the kids can avoid filming while we do what we need to, and you won't need to do a thing. We'll hire staff, they'll clean, and cook, if you want them to, and you can focus more on your mental health campaigns, and..." His rambling stops when he sees the tears in AJ's eyes, her breath hitching deep in her throat. "Sweetheart?" he whispers. "No, no, never mind- it's not- I just, it was a dumb idea- forget I said anythi-"
His words die away as she throws her arms around him, the angle awkward because of her stomach, but she manages to snuggle as close as possible to him, burying her face into his shoulder. "Mike," she sniffs.
He holds her protectively and breathes out. "What is it, sweetheart? What's wrong?"
"I've been missing you so much, and I've been so overwhelmed- the house is just a dusty, cluttered mess, and I feel like I'm neglecting Sara because I'm just so tired and sick with this pregnancy," she confesses, not bothering to move from where she's pressed against him. "I make to-do lists and then I wake up and I feel nauseous and tired and I just can't... Taya helps, sometimes, but I know she's going through a lot with John going through these treatments and I don't want to take advantage of her... and my hormones are all over the place, and you're just not here, and..." She sobs hard, shoulders trembling as she clings to him.
Mike curses himself, rubbing her back gently. "I'm so sorry," he whispers to her. "I'm such an ass for not noticing and leaving you to deal with all of this alone." He waits until she calms down and then eases her back and wipes the tears off of her face, staring up at her. "We'll fix this, ok? We will. I'm not going to force a move on you right now, but-"
She sniffs and kisses his fingers as he continues to brush them over her cheeks and lips, trying to dry her tears. "No, Mike, that's what I'm saying- you've just found solutions to everything I've been struggling with," she tells him softly. "You'd be home more, I'd have help with the cleaning and cooking, the kids would have friends close to their age around more often..." She glances at where his phone'd slipped down onto the couch. "It- it's a little bigger than I envisioned myself ever living in," she says with a soft, shaky laugh, "but... I'm sure I'd grow to love it."
He stares up at her. "What are you saying, sweetheart?"
"I'm saying," she murmurs, settling herself more comfortably in his lap and carding her fingers through his hair, "get your dream house, Mike. I'll be by your side no matter where you end up."
He swallows, overwhelmed by pride for this strong, beautiful woman staring down at him like she sees the entire world in his eyes, and nods, easing up to kiss her. "I love you, sweetheart," he whispers against her lips, his hands trailing under her clothes, brushing along her bare skin, feeling her shiver and arch forward, softly gasping into his mouth. Their eyes lock and he smirks, kissing and licking down her throat before guiding her to properly straddle him. "Good?" he asks softly and she nods, exhaling shakily as his lips trail against her flushed skin, drawing faint moans from her as she finds his hands and squeezes them only briefly before she loses track of them, her lips parting as the soft pressure of his mouth shifts, leaves her panting.
She whimpers out his name, leaning over him and staring blankly at the wall as his hands and lips work their magic, pleasant, tingling sensations following in his wake as she trembles and thinks dazedly about the future, imagining growing old with him and still finding ways to be overwhelmed by his determination to see her happy and fulfilled. "I love you so much, Mike," she breathes out, closing her eyes and turning her focus back onto the present, his affections warming her up from the inside out.
As long as he's by her side, she knows she'll be alright.