The draft comes, the draft goes. Mike remains on Raw, as he'd hoped. Yes, his time on Smackdown had many bright spots, and he wouldn't have minded returning there, but for now, Raw is home, and it gives him the chance to spend more time with AJ and the girls than working Smackdown would too. There are changes, some people he didn't mind hanging out with get taken over to Smackdown, but new people and faces he hasn't seen in awhile get drafted to his show. And the NXT kids also open doors to new possibilities.
There's a lot to think about, a lot to strategize about, but for now, he, his kids, AJ, John, and Taya are all hanging out on the beach, enjoying the sun, the repetitive sound of the waves brushing against the sand, the sharp tang of the coconut water John had brought for them all, smirking at the look on Mike's face when he'd unearthed them.
"So," John says lazily. "I guess this is almost as good as Puerto Rico, huh?"
Mike hums, squinting at him over his sunglasses. "Almost," he says with an overdramatic sigh.
"Oh, ignore him," AJ says with a roll of her eyes, waiting until Mike's settled back down, his eyes closed, hands crossed over his chest like he's about to doze off... when a bucket full of wet sand the kids and John had been fighting to shape into some sort of sand castle gets dumped over his upper body and face, leaving him sputtering and flailing around, spitting to get the sand off of his lips. "He'd miss us too much right now if he was in PR."
Mike sits there, a flabbergasted look on his face as he stares at his wife, clutching the offending bucket, a smug gleam in her eye... that slowly dissipates as Mike stands and walks slowly towards her. Clumps of sand flakes off of his skin with each step and AJ's face falls further as she gets a true glimpse of what she's done.
"Mike," she says warningly, taking a few hesitant steps backwards. "Don't do this."
"Do what, sweetheart?" he asks, still following her slowly.
"You know what-" she lets out a vague squeal as he grabs for her, turning and running sharply towards the water. "We can talk about this!" she says, holding her hands up. "Mike-"
Then she realizes her second mistake as Mike ducks and picks up the bucket she had released when she took off running. "AJ?" he asks quietly, running his finger over the rim of the thing.
"Mike, please, it was just a joke-" she says, all but pleading as she steps backwards and almost trips over her own feet at the sudden shock of water against her heels.
He ignores her, still holding onto the bucket as he follows her further down the damp shoreline. "AJ, AJ, AJ," he says softly. "Whatever am I going to do with you?"
AJ stammers, still walking backwards to get away from him, panicking a little more when he begins walking faster. "Mike- the kids are watching- MIKE!" He gets close enough to sweep her feet out from under her, but she gets lowered slowly onto the wet, almost slimy, sand as he grips her around the waist, unable to look away from the smug glint in his eye as he stares down at her.
"Comfy?" he smirks before scooping the bucket back up and unceremoniously pouring more water over her, leaving her gasping and sputtering even as he pulls her up in time to avoid the latest wave.
"Jerk," she mumbles, brushing some of the wet hair out of her eyes.
"Now you know how it feels," he teases her, hugging her tightly as she huffs.
"I guess so," she concedes reluctantly, leaning against him for a few moments before they get up and trudge back to their friends, hand in hand. "I am happy you're here, despite all of that."
He grins at her, kissing her gently. "So am I," he murmurs. "So am I."