Flames

Brothers Past and Future, part 1

"Uncle Roman! You have shoes again!"

Becky couldn't stop herself from laughing as Roux let go of her hand and went running up to Roman, who swept her up in a big hug. It had been a while since Roux had seen him, and yet the first thing she commented on was his shoes. Bronson had just stolen his sneakers on the last episode of RAW and that, more than chair shots or bloody faces, seemed to bother Roux. "Of course he does, sweet girl. Uncle Roman has more than one pair of shoes, just like you do."

Roux still craned her neck until she could see Roman's feet again. SummerSlam was over two nights for the first time, but she was still trying to see as many of her aunties and uncles as possible before Saturday's opening bout. "Are you getting your other shoes back?" she asked.

Before Roman could answer, Seth reached over and ruffled her hair. "Watch out for this one. We caught her telling secrets to her preschool teacher."

Roux turned just enough to stick her tongue out at her father. "You said I'm supposed to tell Miss Joy the truth!"

Becky had been watching the exchange and trying not to laugh. Teaching a young child right from wrong and all the nuances in between was more difficult than she had envisioned, and it was hard to get upset at Roux when she had a valid point. This time around, however, the secret in question had been about Seth's medical status, which he was keeping quiet for story reasons. The preschool teacher understood and promised not to say anything to anyone, thankfully, but Becky still wasn't sure the lesson had sunk in yet. "You are," Becky said slowly, "but... some people don't need to know certain things. If you don't tell them, that doesn't mean you're not telling the truth."

Roman shot her a sympathetic look. As a father of five—ranging from an almost-adult daughter to one set of twins less than a year older than Roux—he had endured most of the parental plights imaginable. "Your mom's right. Like I'll tell you that I have my sneakers back, because I know you'll keep the secret. Mama and Dada will too. But I'm not going to tell my driver, because he doesn't need to know. Does that make sense?"

Roux frowned. "But why doesn't he need to know? Maybe he's worried about your shoes too!"

"He could be," Roman agreed, "but he's a driver. He needs to focus on his job. It doesn't really matter to him if I have my shoes or not."

Becky squirmed a bit, trying not to look at Seth as he adjusted his crutches. He was playing up an injury angle so he could cash in his Money in the Bank at SummerSlam and they were trying to keep it very quiet. She had even posted pictures and videos of him on crutches in his daily life: having coffee at a cafe, out walking with Roux, everyday things. Maintaining the ruse had been difficult, but they'd had to tell Roux something since she saw him without the crutches at home. Unfortunately she had almost immediately told Miss Joy, which meant running some damage control. Luckily the leak hadn't seemed to spread any farther, but Becky could very easily understand Roux thinking that Roman—one of her favourite uncles and one of Seth's closest friends—should know the secret too. "Some of it is business, sweet girl. It's like... trying to make something a surprise. Remember when we went to Buddy and Mateo's birthday party and Auntie Brie and Auntie Nikki kept the trip to a zoo a secret until we got there? Well, Dada and I knew, but only so we knew what kind of shoes to wear. That's why we didn't dress up."

Several emotions shuffled across Roux's face: irritation, confusion, curiosity. "I wanted to wear my Caution dress and you wouldn't let me," she replied with just a hint of a sulk.

Becky nodded. "Exactly. Because I knew you would be running around and there would be dirt and mud and water and animals in the petting zoo, and I knew you would be upset if your dress got ruined. So Dada and I kept the secret, but we did it to make things better for you."