Mike smiles upon coming out of the bedroom to find Alicia and Ricardo already up, Sara sitting in her booster seat, cheerfully eating Cheerios and waving her spoon around when she sees him. "Hey, sweetie," he greets her, leaning in to kiss her on top of her soft brown curls. "How are you this morning?"
"Daddy," she says, eyes wide and so blue that Mike always feels like he's drowning in them when she looks at him like that. "Where Mommy?"
"She's still in bed, remember? The doctor told her to get lots of rest so she'll be ready to meet your little brother or sister soon." He kneels down to look her in the eye. "I know things are weird right now, but it's ok. She's gonna be just fine, I promise you."
Sara's chin wobbles, just a little, and she holds her little arms out to him so Mike moves quickly, hoists her up out of the seat and hugs her close, murmuring senselessly into her ear until her breathing steadies and he thinks she's not about to start sobbing at any minute.
"That's my girl," he whispers to her, rubbing her back soothingly. "There ya go. How about this, you finish eating your cereal, and once Mommy wakes up, we'll go hang out with her for awhile." They've limited the time Sara spends in the bedroom, because she doesn't understand why AJ can't get up and do things with her like before, but he knows that that's not the best solution either, because AJ is yearning for her little girl, and Sara has been on the verge of tears for a few days now. His only relief is the doctor thinks she could go into labor at any time, and if it drags on much longer, they may move her into the hospital and induce. He had been relieved for the all-natural aspect of the previous birth, but right now, AJ's health and the baby mean more to him than anything like that.
"Yes," she says with a loud sniff, that makes Mike smile fondly down at her.
"Alright, that's what we'll do," he says, quietly putting her back in her seat and giving her her spoon back before slumping down next to Ricardo.
"Alright?" he asks him and Mike nods, a sharp, jerky little motion of his head.
"I hope so," he mumbles. After he eats a couple slices of toast and drinks a cup of coffee, he eases into the bedroom and sees AJ lying awake, staring at the ceiling. "Hey," he greets her, walking up and softly kissing her. "How are you feeling?"
"Alright," she says restlessly, and he smiles at her. "Just wish this little one would come already so I could get out of this bed for longer than a few minutes at a time."
"I know," Mike says, resting his hand on top of hers. They sit quietly for a few moments, feeling the baby kick and shift around, before meeting each other's gaze. "Can Sara come in for awhile? She's really missing you."
AJ lets out a soft, pained sigh. "Of course she can," she says, sitting up and wiping at her eyes. "I miss my baby too."
Mike nods, helping her adjust the pillows so she'll be more comfortable. "I know you do." He eases back out into the hall and takes Sara from a waiting Ricardo, smiling grimly at him before taking her inside.
"Momma!"
"Hello, Sara," AJ greets her, hugging her tight. "Awww, Mommy's missed you."
"I miss you too, Mommy," Sara's little voice echoes in Mike's ears, muffled against AJ's collar as she clings to her.
Mike sits on the edge of the bed and watches his two girls talk and play, AJ pulling out one of Sara's books on the side table and giggling when the little girl's entire face lights up, with a soft, affectionate smile on his face. If you had told him ten years ago this would end up being his life, he'd have laughed in your face and called you pathetic. But now... he couldn't imagine it any other way.
The week passes quietly, AJ painstakingly doing everything her doctor recommends, and come Friday, Mike decides he can make the trip to Las Vegas for the Smackdown draft. He's not part of the pool, his turn comes on Monday, but he decides that he wants to be there, just to witness it all. Besides, Heath is on the pool and he thinks he should be there for him just to support him, especially in case it goes like it did that one year, and he ends up being drafted by no one, forced to fight for a contract.
AJ is quiet when he tells her, and he lifts her hand and kisses her knuckles. "Is that ok?" he asks softly and she nods.
"No, yeah, of course, you go and do that. We'll be fine. Ricardo and Alicia are here." She smiles at him and he nods, leaning in to kiss her on the lips. "Have fun."
"Always," he says with a faint laugh. "I'll be home as soon as I can."
"Mm hmm." She watches him leave and he pauses at the door to wave at her, which she returns before he goes to say bye to Sara.
He's in the car, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, heading towards the airport to fly out to Vegas, when he keeps flashing through the farewell with AJ just now. The strained look in her eye, how tightly clipped off each of her words were, how tense her smile was. At first, he'd thought she was just frustrated with him leaving when he didn't need to, when Sara needs them both the most, but the more he thinks about it. The more he realizes that wasn't annoyance or frustration.
He hits the brakes suddenly, and swerves out of traffic into a parking lot, ignoring the loudly honking horns all around him, before he's spinning the car back around and going the way he came.
He rushes out of the car as soon as he arrives home and gets into the house with shaking hands, nearly dropping his keys at least three times, before barrelling through the halls to pause at their bedroom. AJ is curled up, panting, sweat dripping down her face, and she looks up in shock when the door crashes open. "M- Mike?" she asks, clenching her teeth through another contraction. "Oh- oh my God-" She grabs for him as soon as he crashes down on his knees next to the bed. "I forgot how much this hurts," she sobs.
"I've got you, it's ok," he soothes her, quickly scrabbling for his cell phone and dialing AJ's OB GYN. "Have you been timing them?"
"Kind of," she pants. "It's- it's like eight minutes apart, but Mike- they're coming a lot faster than last time, I think- I-" Tears pour down her face. "I thought I'd have more time, I thought- I thought there'd be hours, like before-"
"It's ok," he whispers, kissing her forehead. As soon as someone answers, he starts babbling about what AJ's been telling him, numbers and details and answering questions and by the time he finishes, AJ's in the middle of another contraction, moaning softly into his arm, and all he can do is rub her back and wait. When they're told to head to the hospital pronto, it's the best news he's ever heard, not wanting to sit and wait any longer. "Come on," he says softly, looking up to find Ricardo in the doorway, eyes wide. "She's in labor," he tells him quickly. "You and Alicia stay here and take care of Sara, alright?"
"Yeah, of course, is there anything we can do-?"
"Just watch Sara," Mike tells him, moving quickly to help AJ sit up, put her shoes on. "I'll call you guys, I promise," he calls over his shoulder, barely seeing Alicia as they walk past her.
"Wa-wait!" Ricardo calls out, racing after them. "Her- her bag," he says, quickly dropping the overnight bag AJ had painstakingly oversaw Mike putting together weeks ago into the back seat. "Here you go."
Mike closes his eyes and digs his knuckles into his eyes. "Shit. Thanks, man. I- I wasn't here for the first time, I'm panicking-"
"Just breathe," Ricardo tells him, squeezing his shoulders. "She's gonna be fine, your baby's gonna be perfect. Alright?"
Mike nods, looking at him as he exhales slowly. "Thank you so much. For everything. I'll keep you informed on what's going on."
"Of course. Don't worry about Sara, we'll have a good time." Ricardo smiles at him before leaning into the car. "Kick some ass, mami," he tells AJ and she nods, panting shallowly.
"That- that's the plan," she says, tensing up with another contraction.
"Ok, we gotta go," Mike says, patting Ricardo on the back before sliding into the car and putting it into gear, quickly easing onto the road. "Ready?" he asks AJ.
"As I'll ever be," she says quietly and he nods, squeezing her hand quickly before focusing on the road and manuevering around traffic to get her to the hospital as soon as he can.
A few hours later, Sara is in the middle of eating lunch when Ricardo's phone lights up and he grins, staring at the picture there. "Hey, look, Sara," he says softly, holding his phone out for her. "Meet your new baby brother."
She pauses, fingers grimy with banana and butter off of her grilled cheese, and stares at the small baby there, eyes barely opened, fingers curled into a fist, wrapped in a soft blue blanket. "Baby brother," she repeats slowly and Ricardo nods, wondering if she'd have preferred a little sister. "Mommy be alright now?"
Ricardo smiles as he hands the phone over to Alicia and moves to wipe Sara's fingers off briskly before scooping her up and hugging her close. "Yeah, honey, your mommy's gonna be just fine."
Mike sighs and shakes his head, fighting every instinct to not hand over the bundle of blankets swaddling his new son, watching with a small smile as John and Taya coo over the baby. "Man, I wasn't here for it last time," he says quietly. He touches John's arm and catches his eye. "Thank you so much for being here for her when I wasn't. I never imagined how bad it could get." Sitting by and watching AJ struggle, in so much pain that she could barely breathe at points, had absolutely sucked. But labor had progressed quickly, and before Mike had expected it, their son had come, wailing and absolutely unhappy at all of the sudden stimuli around him, into the world.
"So," Taya says with a soft smile as she coos over the baby. "What's this little guy's name going to be?"
"Lemme guess," John teases. "Mike Jr."
"Close," he says softly. "Nah, this little guy's name is gonna be George Hennigan Mizanin."
John stops short and looks up at Mike, eyes suspiciously wet. "Wait, what?"
AJ speaks up from where she's been quietly listening to their soft chatter and everyone looks over at her in surprise, thinking she's been asleep this whole time. "George Hennigan Mizanin," she says with a smile. "I chose the middle name, so don't think that my husband was the one who thought of it." She laughs softly and reaches out, John quickly meeting her halfway, squeezing her fingers. "I owe you a lot. You've been there for both of us through some really bad times, and I'm not sure Sara would've gotten here safely without you." She pauses and swallows, overcome briefly by emotion. "You're my husband's best friend, and I don't know what we would've done without you. Either of you," she amends, catching Taya's eye with a soft smile. "So gracing my son with your name seemed like the least I could do."
John sits quietly for a moment, holding her hand, staring at the baby. Finally he smiles, a little shaky, but wide and pure, and nods at AJ. "Thank you," he says softly. "I promise to be there for him, and for Sara, as much as I can, to help you both support and guide them in this messy old world." When he touches the baby gently, George responds by curling his hand around John's finger and John laughs slightly, leaning in. "Hey, George. Welcome to the world. I know it's bright and scary right now, but you're gonna be ok. All of us here, we're here for you, and we're gonna take good care of you."
AJ and Mike catch each other's eyes, sharing a quick smile, before returning their attention to their son. "Uncle John," Mike teases his best friend.
"Damn straight," John says, grin growing as Taya moves aside to take a picture of the baby.
Mike walks around to look at it and nods, overwhelmed by emotion. "We need to send that to Sara."
"Already done," Taya laughs. "Don't worry, papi, let us handle all these minor details, you just enjoy the moment."
He smiles. "Thank you so much for everything, Taya."
She squeezes him. "Any time, Mike. Any time."