Rocky noticing Adrian in Robert(set somewhere before Rocky V before they leave the mansion)
"Rocky?" Adrian said as she settled down on the couch. Rocky lifted an arm, pulling her in close and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. He frowned when she didn't respond.
"Yo, why the long face?" He asked, turning her chin up to look at him. Adrian curled deeper into his arms, crossing her own tightly across her chest.
"Oh, I'm worried about Robert. Rocky, I wish you'd go talk to him. I think he's having a hard time in school."
"The kid's having a tough time? Is it his grades, because honestly Adrian he's absolutely smarter than I am. I don't know if I'd be such a big help." Rocky shrugged.
"It's not his schoolwork, it's the other kids. I think he's lonely." Adrian sighed. "I never hear about any new friends he's making, and he never brings anyone over. I'm worried. What if he has no one to talk to? That can be hard for a kid." Adrian trailed off and looked down at the floor, wringing her hands.
Rocky smiled and kissed her cheek.
"Don't you worry about nothin'. I'll go talk to the kid."
Rocky got up and walked upstairs to Robert's room. The door was open and Robert was sitting on his bed, reading a book. He looked up when he heard Rocky's knock on the open door.
"Hey Dad," Robert smiled, putting down his book. "What's up?"
"Ah, nuthin' kid. Just checkin' in." Rocky mumbled. "Can I come in?"
"Sure."
Rocky came in and sat down on the end of the bed. He looked around the room, noticing the drawing board in the corner, the well organized book shelf by the window, the fight posters covering the wall. A flash of movement caught his eye and drew his attention to the fish tank behind Robert's head. Bright yellow fish swam lazily between bright leafy greens and blue stones.
"Yo, these fish are pretty colorful, you know. Did you pick these out yourself? They're beautiful."
Robert glanced back at the aquarium. "Mom helped me pick them out. She said they looked like candy." He said, shaking his head.
Rocky smiled, rubbing a finger down the smooth glass.
"Yeah, she always did have a good eye for animals. You got that from her." Rocky laughed. "I'm just lucky turtles are so tough. Not many animals could've lasted so long in my old place, y'know."
Robert laughed.
"So, Dad, did you want to talk about something?"
"Oh, yeah, well I was wondering, if you aren't busy or nothing, maybe you wanna go outside and play some ball with your old man? I tell ya, I was a mean stickball player when I was your age."
"I don't know, Dad. I've got a lot of homework to do still." Robert mumbled, picking at the comforter.
"C'mon kid, it'll be fun. We'll call your friends over, make a game out of it. Whaddaya say?"
"I don't think so, Dad." Robert said quietly. Rocky put a hand under Robert's chin, lifting it up to meet his eyes.
"Yo, kid, why the long face? What? Are you ashamed of your old man?"
Robert looked away and shrugged off Rocky's hand.
"No, Dad, I'm not ashamed of you. I just don't really wanna hang out with any of my friends from school." He grimaced. "If you can even call them friends."
"What d'you mean?"
Robert sighed heavily. "Nothing. It's just that whenever we hang out all they want to talk about is you. They don't really like me. They just like me because the son of 'Rocky Balboa, the Italian Stallion'."
Rocky shook his head, letting out a wearied sigh of his own.
"Yo, kid, I'm sorry. You know I never want to hurt you right? You're number one. Home Team, right?" Rocky held out a fist. Robert hesitated a minute before bumping it back.
"Yeah, home team."
"Now listen, I know you don't wanna hang out with those bums from school, but isn't there anyone at that school that you like?"
Robert looked thoughtful.
"Well, there is this girl in my math class that I think is nice. She's really smart and pretty. But she'd never notice me. She sits in front of me in class but I don't think she even knows who I am."
Rocky chuckled. "Y'know, your mother put me through the same thing when we first met."
Robert brightened a little, looking up. "Nah, really?"
"Oh yeah." Rocky leaned back, stretching out his arms. "You're a lot like her, you know. Very smart, very careful. You're thinkers, the both of you. Me, I'm more of a 'punch first, think later' kind of guy, you know."
"Anyway, when I first met your mother, she was working at the pet shop back in the old neighborhood. At first, I would stop by just to be nice to Paulie's sister. But she was so shy I couldn't ever get her to even look at me. Every day, I'd come by and I'd tell her a joke and every night I'd go by and tell her a joke. And she'd just stand there, silent, like I was a plate of leftovers."
Robert laughed.
"But you know what. Even though she never said anything, wouldn't even look at me, every once in a while I'd see her glance up when she thought I wasn't looking. And sometimes, when I told a particularly bad joke or made a fool out of myself and just wanted to give up entirely, I'd see this tiny, tiny smile on her face, so small I thought I was just seeing things." Rocky looked to the door, smiling to himself.
"But I knew, kid. I knew the first minute I seen her that your mother was the best girl in all Philly." He paused, pulling Robert into a hug. "And she gave me the best kid in the whole world." He leaned in to plant a big sloppy kiss on Robert's cheek.
"Daaaaad! Gross."
"I love ya, kid."
"Love you too, Dad."
"So what I'm saying is drop those bums, and don't give up on this girl." Rocky looked up at the ceiling, trying to be serious and failing miserably. "Y'know I think I've got a math joke you could use…"
Robert grinned. "Oh, yeah?"
"What does the Little Mermaid wear?"
"I don't know, what?"
"An algae-bra!"