It feels weird leaving his family behind right now, but Florida is warm, and sunny, and he breathes a little easier when he's there. He commentates for a local indy, amused by the antics of those in the crowd. As much fun as he has, he misses Pennsylvania, even with its frigid winter weather and everything else going on. "I've never thought I could feel homesick again," he confesses to Alicia on the phone call that night.

She chuckles. "You've lived in so many different places, I can only imagine. I've lived in a couple places, but you definitely have me beat."

Ricardo smiles. "Yeah, I can outnumber a lot of people in the amount of places lived. But I don't know, I guess things are so tense, you know. I'd rather be home with you all than wasting time in this hotel room until my flight out."

"I can understand that," she says. "I'd rather you were home too. The house is too quiet without you. I think even the babies can sense how strange it all feels when you're not here."

Ricardo hums. "Yeah, I feel like they notice when you're not home too. There's just a weird vibe with the kids."

"Vibes," she teases. "Are you a teenager now?"

He scoffs. "God, I wish," he chuckles. "But no, I'm just hanging out with younger wrestlers for 3LW too much, I guess. Their speech patterns are contagious."

"Wait until our kids are older and we're so confused by everything out of their smart little mouths," Alicia says with a laugh. "It's going to be such a struggle."

"And wen it's over, we'll miss it," Ricardo says with a smile.

"Is it possible to have empty nest syndrome ahead of time?" she wonders.

Ricardo shrugs. "Maybe," he says. He rolls over and looks at the clock. "It's late, I should get some sleep before my flight. I'll see you in the morning." He blows a kiss at the screen.

"See you then," she says softly. "Sleep well, my love."

"You too," he tells her. "Give the babies a kiss for me."

"Will do," she says.

They hang up and he rolls over, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. Eventually he gets more comfortable under the sheets and drifts off to sleep.