Back to Basics chapter 197
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The hours pass surprisingly quickly without Mike. AJ finds numerous websites advising this place and that to see while in Vancouver, and she makes it her mission to visit as many possible, if not all of them that seem worth her time and energy. She even makes lists, careful to underline the ones she wants to wait and see with Mike by her side. These thoughts fresh in her mind, she rolls over in the spacious king sized bed to look at her husband as he sleeps peacefully next to her, Smackdown droning faintly from the TV across the room. She smiles and leans in to softly kiss him, equally relieved and disappointed when he doesn't stir, aware that he needs his rest more than she needs attention right now. His lips do twitch up in a smile, however, and she grins as well, eyes soft as she presses herself against him once more, staring at his wedding band. In a few short hours, it will be Saturday and their first month anniversary of marriage. It's an incredible, life-affirming thought. "I love you," she breathes against his sleep-warm skin, kissing his throat before dozing off as well.
When she wakes up the next morning, the hotel room smells like cinnamon and fruit, soft sunshine streaming over her. She moans and squirms around in the sheets, loath to get up after such a nice sleep, but the food smells amazing, the weather outside pretty, and she finds herself sitting up despite these lingering reluctances. "Mike?" she asks, rubbing tiredly at her eyes. "Where are you?" The room is quiet and she frowns, wondering if perhaps he'd left early for filming, or...
But then the light in the bathroom flicks off and he pushes the door open, leaning against the doorframe. His lips twitch as he stares over at her, eyes gleaming softly in the early morning light. "Good morning, sleepy head," he greets her, walking over as she scrunches her nose up at him, cupping his face as he leans in and kisses her. She sighs against his lips before he wraps his arms around her midsection and pulls her free of the sheets, smirking when she wraps her legs around his waist and refuses to let go, arms crossing behind his head as he sighs and rests her against the wall momentarily, partially to get a better hold on her and partially to deepen the kiss. "I have breakfast," he whispers to her.
"And we have a microwave," she rebuts, tangling her fingers in his hair and pressing herself flush against him, smirking when he blanks on whatever he's thinking about saying in return. He sandwiches her entirely against the wall at this point, his eyes focusing on her as he runs his fingers under one of the older merch shirts of his that she wore to bed the night before, trailing them along her flesh as she stares back down at him, releasing a shuddering breath. "Happy first month anniversary, Mike..."
His responding grin is sharp and sweet all at the same time, his fingers pausing teasingly against her flushed skin. "Happy first month anniversary, sweetheart." His lips abruptly replace his hand and she moans breathily, arching up into him as he licks and nibbles at her with a growing smirk, his hands pinning her arms to the wall to keep her from tugging impatiently at his hair while he moves at his own, languid pace, enjoying the varying sounds she makes as he does so.
Later, he brings their now reheated breakfast to her and lays it in front of where she's sitting on the bed, smiling as she takes in the fruit covered pancakes and slices of Canadian bacon piled up next to it. They take turns in feeding each other, Mike lazily kissing her shoulder now and again as she trails her hands up his arm, teasing him by holding slivers of strawberries just inches from his mouth before allowing him to taste it. Once the food is all gone, he rests a hand on her arm and lightly squeezes before settling her back against the bed, staring at her with a smile. "I have to leave in a little bit for filming, but I bought you something as a way to commemorate our first month anniversary..." Curiosity gleams in her eyes and he gets up, walking over to the drawers where they had stuffed some of their clothing.
As he searches around, his back to her, she reaches behind her pillow with a pensive look on her face, pulling out something of her own to give him. When he rejoins her, she stares at the small item he has in his hand, beyond curious. "What is it, Mike?"
He merely smiles and leans over, kissing her. "May I see your wrist?" She looks confused but allows it immediately, watching as he traces the bracelet with his fingers, the gold chain looking naked without the butterfly that had been there since he'd first given it to her, to honor her commitment to being Divas champion. Her face starts to fall at the memory until he unhooks the jewelry and lightly lifts it from her hand, resting it against his knee. As she sits up to see what exactly he's doing, something glints against his finger and she gasps as he hooks it into the delicate chain. The bracelet is back where it belongs before she even misses it, now with an added charm that reads Vancouver, with soft rippling waves and sunbeams of gold crisscrossing to meet the letters. "I figured since we're spending our first month anniversary here, we should have some sort of a souvenir. And what better way than something that is always with you?"
She gapes at him and smiles, throwing her arms around his neck. "I love it," she breathes, her wrist now feeling normal again- the loss of the butterfly charm had left the bracelet feeling too light, too insubstantial against her skin. But now, with this... everything feels right. More so with the news she's about to tell him. Pulling away, she kisses him once more before grabbing her gift for him. "I have something for you too. I hope you like it..." She presses papers into his hands and watches as he looks down, skimming the legalese there with a confused look on his face. "I've found some people who are willing to take my lease off of my hands. And even better, my landlord signed off on it. I know it's been weighing on you, and thank you so much for giving me time to decide what to do on my own regarding my New Jersey apartment. I know you've been wanting me to make a decision about moving to California since we got married, but you let me come to the decision in my own time. Which, we both know how hard it can be to make any kind of decision with all of the traveling we tend to do." He nods and strokes her face as she nuzzles closer to him. "It was an easy decision to move to Los Angeles, I just needed to find someone I liked to take my apartment. And now I have... and my stuff has already been shipped to California. I packed before Wrestlemania week began, so the new tenants could move in for April."
He laughs and shakes his head, kissing her. "You always have it all worked out, don't you?" She nods and kisses his bare chest, staring up at him as he lays her back down on the bed, running his fingers through her hair. "I love you so much. And I can't wait to properly, officially, welcome you to our home..."
"Well, you can give me a sneak peak of how exactly you plan to do that, can't you?" she asks, giggling as he considers the suggestion, eventually nodding enthusiastically and settling in against her, pressing her into the bed with intense kisses and soft touches as she clings to him, eyes fluttering, their future together mapping itself out in both of their minds as they breathe each other in.
After a quiet afternoon spent wandering around, checking off more things on her to-do list, including exploring a lighthouse which has incredible architecture, she returns to the hotel and waits for Mike to finish filming, which ends much later than it normally has up to now. As soon as she hears his keycard in the lock, she grabs the room service she'd ordered for him out of the fridge and stuffs it into the microwave before turning to greet him with a hug as he opens the door, his arms immediately wrapping around her as he chuckles tiredly against her hair. "That's a nice greeting," he mutters, trailing his hands down her side as she grips his arm and leads him to the bed, watching him worriedly as he slumps down on it. "Been a long day." He grimaces. "So many reshoots... but we got the scenes scheduled for today finished, finally."
She's about to say something but he grips her hips and sits her on his lap, burying his face in her neck as she strokes his back. "I was wondering why it was running so late," she murmurs, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. "But it's ok, you're here now... I'll take good care of you." He hums against her and she smiles, carefully detaching herself from him when the microwave beeps to alert her that their food is ready. He watches through blurry eyes as she sets the plate and a soda down on the table next to the bed before standing in front of him once more, pushing him down onto the bed and settling in behind him, resting against the pillows. "Scoot up, Mike," she urges him, eyes soft as he complies, laying vertically to rest his head in her lap, his legs hanging lazily over the edge of the bed. She strokes his hair and leans over to kiss him on the lips before collecting the plate and slowly feeding him, telling him about the lighthouse and the parks and everything else she'd seen.
She's not that surprised when he falls asleep right there, mid-bite, his body relaxing against her legs. "Aw, poor baby," she whispers to him, gently slipping out from under him. The bed's large enough either way that, once she successfully tugs him up onto the bed completely, he just fits sideways and she pulls his shoes, slacks and jacket off, leaving them on a nearby chair so he can sleep comfortably. After draping a blanket over him, she curls up next to him and rests her hand on his abs, feeling the motion through her fingertips as he breathes in and out deeply. To the best of her knowledge, the movie crew has the day off for Easter, so she should have him all to herself the next day and she smiles, wondering what he'll feel up to doing- sleeping, or staying in bed with her all day, not sleeping... checking off some of the things on her list... "Either way," she whispers to him, "I'll have a great time as long as you're here with me." Tangling their fingers together, she closes her eyes and, sighing, falls asleep as well.
Except that she wakes up alone again, disoriented from facing the door instead of the window, and groans, wiping at her sleep-matted eyes. "Mike?" Sitting up, she looks around, but no- there's not even a light on in the bathroom to give him away this time. The room is quiet, empty, and she grumbles, wondering what possibly dared take her husband away in what she was planning on being their first full day to themselves in almost ten days. She's just slammed her fist down on the mattress when she hears something crack, freezing immediately as her eyes widen. "Uh..." To her relief, it's not a real egg, but a plastic facsimile, bright blue with purple ridges. She stares at it in confusion before noticing a sliver of paper against the sheets and she holds it up, frowning.
AJ's To Do List-
1) Look out over Vancouver from the balcony
"Hm," she mutters, slowly getting to her feet and padding over there, staring out at the city. Nothing happens. She groans, hating guessing games. "Mike..." But when she turns back around, there's another bright, pastel pink and red egg waiting for her on the table next to the door and she takes hold of it, prying it apart with a fingernail.
2) Brush your teeth
"Oh my God, Mike," she mutters, running her tongue over her teeth. Deciding he's right no matter how it pains her, she ducks into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she exits, looking more refreshed and with a green and blue egg in hand.
3) Go downstairs to the gym right now
She stops short, blinking. "Wha- what?" She's not dressed, her hair's this side of a bird's nest, and... "No way," she mutters, rushing back into the bathroom to glance at herself in horror. She runs a hairbrush through her hair before tying it sloppily into a ponytail and throwing a t-shirt and some jeans on. "He's going to laugh at me later when I yell at him for even acting like he wants me to go out in next to nothing," she sighs, pulling her shoes on before she ventures out to the elevator. She's barely entered the quiet area with all of the work out equipment when she spots the next colorful egg resting on the grooves of a nearby treadmill that she'd just used a couple of days ago while killing time, rolling her eyes as she plucks it up and frees the note within.
4) Go talk to the concierge at the front desk
She sighs, once more reminded of her bed-whumpled appearance but follows his command anyway, leaning against the front desk as she waits to be noticed, staring down at Mike's sloping cursive on this and the other few notes, her pocket full of the multicolored eggs that she will have to decide how best to store from Canada to California and not lose them while unpacking all of her other things from New Jersey...
Finally a man with a wide smile notices her and bustles over. "I apologize for the wait, how may I help you?"
"My husband," she starts to explain, holding the note out to him, but he doesn't even wait for her to finish the sentence, immediately rushing over to a shelf unit where its contents are out of sight, AJ's confused gaze tracking him as he disappears from sight just to return a moment later, beaming at her.
"Newlyweds, yes?" he asks, peering down at the note quickly. She nods and he smiles. "Your husband gave me something to hold for you. Here it is." As he rests something in her outstretched hand, she instinctively closes her fingers around it and he beams at her. "Have a good day."
"You too," she says, distracted, turning to walk away from the front desk and only making it a few feet as curiosity eats at her. Unfolding her fingers, she stares down at the item held in her palm and gapes. It's another plastic egg, yes, but this one is at least twice the size of the others and, instead of two solid colors in various patterns, this one is covered in stripes of no two same colors. She blinks and begins to pry it apart, gasping when a sleek, golden chain slips out of it and fills her palm, covering a pendant before she can get a very good look at it. "Oh my God." Before she can lift it, someone walks up to her and rests their fingers gently in her palm, pulling the necklace up and holding it in front of her face as it sways, flashing enticingly in the overhead lights. She looks up at it for a moment before focusing on her husband's smirking face, shaking her head at him. "Mike!"
He laughs. "Happy Easter, sweetheart." She turns her attention back to the necklace, swallowing as she realizes what's engraved in the gold surrounding a pink diamond stone that matches her wedding ring. Their initials and the dates of their engagement and wedding box the stone in perfectly. He watches her expression change from shock to amazement before he slips behind her and unclasps the necklace, gently laying it against her collar bone before hooking it in place.
She rests her hand on it and looks up at him in awe, eyes shining adoringly. "Mike... It, it's beautiful." He grins at her but she looks a little guilty. "I didn't get you anything special for Easter... and here you put me on an Easter egg hunt, and this beautiful jewelry..."
He tsks and cups her face. "Hey, you married me... and now you're moving in with me, not to mention you partially took time off to stay with me in Canada while I film this movie, so no. You don't have to get me anything. I have everything I could ever want right here." He trails his hand down her throat to rest over where hers is still against the cool necklace, squeezing gently. "But now we have a whole day ahead of us, and I have some ideas of what we could do..." As he kisses her throat, lightly breathing against her skin, she shudders into him and rests her hand on his chest, feeling his heart beating. When he pulls away, she protests faintly until she sees her list of activities in his hand, gaping at it. "Now there are some things on here that are underlined and have an M by them. I imagine that means you wanted to do them with me." She nods sheepishly and he pulls her closer, kissing her hand. "Well, let's go see how many of these we can do in a day then." Her eyes light up and she giggles as he pulls her out of the hotel, his arms wrapping securely around her as they begin to walk towards the first place on the list.
They go to so many places that her head is spinning by the end of it, overwhelmed by all that she had seen and experienced- totem poles, ferries, a couple of museums... they had even gone bowling, Mike bragging about his prowess at it until she had completely wiped the lanes clean with him, shutting him up for a couple of minutes until his pouting had made her feel bad and she allowed him to beat her at foosball, which she had always sucked at. Ending the day off at one of the parks on her list, Mike leads her over towards a lake with a bag full of food they had ordered from a nearby restaurant. It's getting dark outside and she's tired, her feet throbbing as they sit down, so she's sure they'll be heading back to the hotel soon, but she's not eager for that either, exactly, because it means he'll be back filming in the early morning, and she hates to think of more time spent away from him right now, after such a fun, carefree day. They sit and eat in silence, leaning against each other, their shoes laying in the grass nearby as they languidly kick their feet in the cool water. Sometimes a duck comes close and AJ tosses a bit of her roll at it, giggling as it snaps it up in its bill.
They're still sitting there when- "Uh oh."
"What-oh?" she asks her husband, looking up at him.
"Rain," he says needlessly- she'd already felt it, wincing at the hard water drop that'd crashed against her forehead. Before they can even get to their feet, it's downpouring and he finds her hand as she grips the bag of whatever food remains by now, the two of them running as fast as they can, slipping and sliding in the slick grass, until they find a gazebo, crashing inside and gasping as more rain pours down upon the roof, making it hard to think, much less hear each other over the racket. "No wonder the park was so deserted!" he chokes out. "Guess we should've checked the weather forecast, huh?"
But she looks far from unhappy with the situation, leaning up on her tippytoes to brush some of his soaked hair out of his eyes. "No," she shrugs. "This is fine." He looks down at her, realizing how her clothes- and his- are clinging like a second skin, his gaze darkening as she tugs at his shirt, pulling it up over his head. "I think we need to let our clothes dry though..."
"Yeah, you're right," he mutters, doing the same for her.
She grins at him and lays first their shirts then pants down on a nearby bench before looking out at the rain while he stands behind her, his hands splaying against her ribcage, feeling each of her breaths. "You know, I wasn't entirely truthful earlier when I said I didn't buy you anything special for Easter."
His teasing touch along her stomach pauses. "Oh?" She nods, brushing against him as she collects the forgotten bag near their clothes, turning back to face him with it in her hands. He stares as she tugs something out of the paper, the gloomy skies outside making it impossible to see what exactly it is, until she uncaps the bottle and pours something out of it onto her finger, then holding it against his lips. He stares at her for a moment before lightly sucking at it. He sighs at the slightly sweet taste that washes over his tastebuds, leaving him wanting more. "Chocolate sauce," he realizes.
"Right in one," she says softly, pulling her hand away as she skips away from him, laying down on a bench opposite of where their clothes are at. As he takes her in, she holds the bottle out towards him and smiles. "Well, Mike? Don't you want your gift?"
He laughs, listening for a minute. The rain, instead of calming at all, had only seemed to get louder in the last few minutes, pounding unceasingly overhead. So he finds himself nodding, walking over to her. "Yes, I definitely do, sweetheart."
Time has passed, the rain still relentless against the wooden overhang, as he lazily kisses her neck, her fingers lightly scratching at his back. "Happy Easter, AJ."
She smiles, staring up at the ceiling. "Happy Easter, Mike."