Bad Rumors

35

"Ro ro!" Roman dropped to his knees the second the sound of running feet came right for him. He laughed happily as Noel threw herself into his arms. "Ro!"

"H-Hey there, l-little p-princess." Roman lulled softly as he glanced up to see the girl's mother shifting anxiously on her feet. Everyone was made aware of his presence. Or well, everyone was informed about his identity. Some still didn't like him and showed that quite clearly while others were just anxious or avoidant. The prince could see the mother had something she wanted to say so he ruffled the small childs hair before chuckling. "W-Why don't y-you g-g-go see M-Ms. M-Mads? I-I bet sh-she has s-some t-treats she c-could spare."

"Ro, play?" Roman couldn't help but melt. God, he loved these adorable kids.

"Ro, play." He confirmed as he let her go. "But I thin-nk-k M-Mommy m-might need t-to say s-something f-first." 

"Ok!" She giggled as she ran off leaving the two there at the door. Roman stood back up smoothing out his red T-shirt as he smiled.

'Hi.' He signed before laughing and rubbing his neck awkwardly. "I-It's o-ok. D-Did you n-need... uh..." Roman closed off a bit as he hugged himself seeing the fear flash in the woman's eyes. She blinked clearly trying to work through her thoughts before finally just sighing and smiling at him.

"Noel likes you." Roman's eyes shot wide as she looked over at her daughter currently running around with Eric, her best friend here. "She's always talking about her friend Ro."

"Oh." Roman smiled as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, I'm glad. She's a-a nic-ce k-kid." the mother nodded as she rubbed her arm anxiously. "You aren't upset about me being here right?" Roman noticed how she tensed and he sighed shifting back a bit. "If you don't want me to..."

"No! No. Don't.... We've all heard the rumors. It's just a bit surprising to hear your little girl chatting away about how much she loves hearing your stories." Roman nodded still clearly concerned as the mother just smiled softly. "I wanted to thank you."

"W-w-why?"

"It's not easy to make Noel laugh as much as she does with you. You're really good with these kids." 

"I j-j-just enjoy help-ping o-out." The mother's smile softened all the more as she dug around her purse. She held out this card and Roman froze up in confusion, gently taking it to see it was a business card with a schedule on the back. "W-What's this-s?"

"Anxiety was typically the one that ran the meetings and set everything up but with him working over at the Palace now, he hasn't really been able to." Roman frowned as his confusion only grew. "I and a few others sort of took over his role in this and with everything you've been doing I thought maybe... You might want to join too? You don't have to, but the offer is there."

'What is it?' Roman signed making the mother falter. 'I guess a better question would be whether anyone knows sign there.' Roman signed to himself with a sad sigh noticing right away how the woman frowned. "I-I was a-asking w-w-what the m-meet-ting was a-about-t?"

"Oh! Right, yes... It's a volunteer group." Roman's eyes lit up as the woman smiled. "We set up and organize fundraisers, pantries, and community service opportunities. The soup kitchen is one Anxiety got running about two years ago."

"I would love to." Roman held the card close as he just smiled happily. 'I'll definitely join. Trust me!'

"Is that ASL?" Roman flinched as he shyly nodded. "I'm sorry to say I was never able to pick up on it so... I don't know what your saying. However, Anxiety did get him and my husband Jake to some classes to learn. So you won't be alone with that. Do you prefer sign over talking?" Once again Roman nodded as he clutched the card tighter. Her eyes softened as she smiled. "Well alright then. I'll ask Jake about his scheduling that way you don't have to worry about being understood."