We didn't know Roman was a father until a few months after he arrived. Nicole, his daughter, turned up just hours after Aden moved in with Roman. He got two hormonal teenagers in about two hours. Lucky guy!
'Hi Dad!'
It was rather strained to begin with. Nic's mother, Natalie, didn't want Roman in her life, so he had no choice but to leave. Nicole turning up on his doorstep wasn't exactly what he was expecting after not being able to see her for years.
Nicole was a bit of a wild child, so Roman had his work cut out for him for at least a few months until he could tame her. But even in the first few hours of having her in his house it all began to get a little tricky. Her reaction to seeing Morag was one of Nic's most memorable moments. But Ms. Bellingham put Nicole in her place pretty quickly, and at that point she knew it was going to be different than expected. But earlier on in the week, Roman offered Aden a place to stay while his alcoholic father sorted himself out. Aden turned up at the house and fireworks went off as soon as Nicole and himself shared glances.
After a rocky first few months for both Roman and Nicole and their relationship, things started to look up a bit. Nicole was settling in and Roman was beginning to know his daughter a bit more. But the tides turned and things started to go a bit awry. Nicole hooked up with the new guy in town. His name was Elliot and he was Roman's army friend's brother. To cut a long story short, Elliot went a bit mental and started threatening Roman because apparently Roman killed Elliot's brother in combat. Nicole ignored Roman's warnings about Elliot, and this put a lot of strain on their relationship.
Elliot went a little crazy and did some bad things to Roman and Nicole. He kidnapped Nicole, drugged Roman, and then shot Roman with an arrow while Nicole was stranded on an Island with Geoff, both very cold because they had no clothes. As usual, everybody survived and Elliot was sent to jail after accepting the "true" story behind his brother's death.
The aftermath of this incident opened a new chapter for Roman, Nicole and her new boyfriend, Geoff. Roman seemed pretty pleased with Nicole dating Geoff. The months after were relatively calm until Nicole's mother Natalie came to Summer Bay. She was surprised to see how much Nicole had changed and was very taken aback with the way she had matured. Roman wasn't as pleased to see Natalie back as he had just began to make more progress with Nicole. Not surprisingly though, Nic got herself into a spot of bother when she was pulled over by Charlie without a license. Roman wasn't pleased and blamed Natalie for being a bad influence. Natalie left after she made things difficult for Roman.
Everything pretty much went swimmingly from then on until Geoff came up with the brilliant idea of revisiting the island where he and Nicole first became a couple. It didn't end up going to plan because they ended up stranded (again) but this time they were not alone. A guy named Derreck was on the island and he was a bit weird, to say the least. But Roman came to the rescue when they didn't arrive back and took Nicole and Geoff back to the mainland.
Another few months went past and Roman and Nicole's relationship was going well. Roman supported Nicole when she went through her break-up with Geoff.
Roman and Nicole's world was turned upside-down when Roman was involved in a car accident and became temporarily blind. His blindness contributed to a lot of stress between father and daughter. Roman couldn't cope, so he contacted his old army mate David Gardener, better known as Gardy.
Nicole started dating Trey Palmer, something which Roman wasn't pleased about. Gardy arrived and immediately helped Roman get back on track. After a few weeks of Gardy being a creep towards Nicole, he started to get pushy with Roman, 'pushy' being the operative word. In order to help Roman get his sight back, Gardy pushed him off a bridge and into a river to shock his brain and help him regain his sight (his blindness was a mental health issue, not a physical issue). And it worked. Roman could see again and began getting up to more mischief with Gardy while eventually forgetting his daughter even existed. He was drunk every night and brushed off Nicole's allegations against Gardy being a creep. It all came to a head when Roman got in too deep and ended up getting arrested for armed robbery while Gardy ran off wounded (by Hugo after Xavier was taken hostage). He confessed about him killing Elliot's brother in combat in Afghanistan and requested to be sent to prison so he could pay for what he did.
Nicole was heartbroken and deeply saddened when she learnt Roman wasn't going to defend himself in court. They said goodbye to each other and Roman was arrested for the murder of Mark Gillen in combat. He requested for Nicole to stay at Miles and Kirsty's for the foreseeable future as that was now her new home.
Ideal Father Figure Rating: 4/5 - It was a great relationship, but it was rather flawed in some aspects. The constant ups and downs really did bring the two of them closer, but Roman let old friends get in the way, and that really did take it's toll in the long run. Perhaps if Roman had trusted Nicole a bit more and maybe didn't involve old army pals, then I think we would have seen a lot more interaction and trust between father and daughter. But Nicole did mature in a lot of ways and we've seen a better side to her, and that's thanks to Roman and his fair punishments and parenting.
'Positive influence'
Roman's relationship with Aden was strong for most of Roman's time in the bay. It only got a tiny bit sour near the end of Roman's stay in the Bay.
Aden was the typical town bad-boy. He thought he was larger than life and always had something to say. There were a few occasions where he challenged Miles who used to be homeless. Roman, who was Miles' friend, found out and planned something to help Aden realise that Miles was a good guy. Miles went a head with the plan, albeit nervous, and it was actually mildly successful. Aden began to see the error of his ways after Roman's little plan.
After finding out about his abuse as a child, Aden had a bust-up with Larry, his father, and ran away from home. He was injured when the Diner roof collapsed on top of him, and was sent to hospital. There, he came to the conclusion that he could not stay at home any longer, and that was where Roman stepped in. He offered Aden a room at his place until his father sorted his own personal issues out.
When moving into Roman's house, he met Nicole, who had just came into town that same day. There was an immediate connection and Roman spotted it right away and lay down some ground rules. No staying in each other's rooms and always leave your bedroom doors open, basically all the stuff a father would say to two young hormonal teens.
Roman and Aden's relationship got a lot stronger as the months went on. Trust was gained between the two while Aden dealt with more problems with his father. Alcohol had consumed Larry and Aden tried to help his dad through it all. Roman kept his distance from the situation as it was a private family matter, but he couldn't prepare for what Aden was about to do.
After discovering that his father knew his father was abusing Aden as a child, Aden lost it completely and kidnapped his father, Rachel and eventually Belle. He wanted his father to pay for what he did, or what he didn't do as the case was. It all turned ugly when Angelo turned up and arrested Aden and he was almost charged with attempted murder.
While Roman dealt with his own issues (like Elliot and Nicole), Aden was in a clinic recovering. The bind between Aden and Roman was still strong, but both knew stuff needed to be dealt with before trust was gained again.
Roman was there for Aden when Belle got addicted to prescription drugs (following the accident at the school formal where Belle was seriously injured). They broke up and Aden was trying his best to get on with his life. He started work on a trawler where he met Joey and the weird Robbo, who then went on to try murder Joey after sexually harassing her.
Roman's household was back to normal in no time. But tides turned quickly when Belle saw Aden sleeping with Nicole. Roman found out and kicked Aden out of the house. Aden slept on the beach until Miles offered him a caravan for free until the stuff at home was sorted out. It wasn't fully "sorted" until Roman was arrested for armed robbery (thanks Gardy!) and the pair said a heartfelt goodbye to each other. He said he was proud of both Nicole and Aden, and then he was sent to prison.
Ideal Father Figure Rating: 5/5 - This really was a special father(ish)-son relationship. It was strong for the most part and respect was key in maintaining it. Roman was kind of like the father Aden wished he had; No alcohol abuse, no physical confrontations. It helped Aden mature more and grow into the young man he is today. Roman helped Aden realise he shouldn't judge a book by it's cover or a person by their past (like he did with Miles). Thanks to Roman, we have an Aden who people love. He seems to be making the right choices so far, lets just hope Roman's influence and input helps Aden for years to come!
Was Roman the ideal father figure?
All in all, Roman was a very good father figure to both Aden and Nicole. We started a poll just after Roman left Summer Bay to see how people rated him as a father. 104 people voted in the poll - 76% said he was a good father to both, 15% said he could have done better, 3% said he was a good father to Nicole only, while another 3% said he was a good father to Aden only.
Was he a better father than Tony and/or Miles? 28% said Roman was a better job than Tony and/or Miles, while another 28% said he was better than Miles but not Tony. 20% said he didn't do as a good job as Tony and/or Miles, while 16% said he was better than Tony but not Miles.
And finally, we asked if people liked him as a character overall: 68% liked him, while 20% said he wasn't the worst but not their favourite. 10% said they had a love-hate relationship with Roman, while 1% said they didn't like him.
The general perception of Roman as a father figure was positive. The majority of our members liked him, while there were some who didn't, but that's normal! .