Never Judge

Cedric woke up when he felt someone kick him.

He opened his eyes to see Adrianna struggling to get out of his embrace.

​​

"Adri, it's too early. There's no work today. Let's sleep in." Cedric complained, pretending that they weren't still in a fight.

"You bastard! You kidnapped me and forced me to sleep on your bed!" Adrianna shouted.

"Don't call me a bastard. A lot of people will ask for a DNA test if you do." Cedric grumbled.

"Stop trying to be funny! This isn't funny!" Adrianna complained.

"I didn't kidnap you Adri. You were passed out drunk at Hype Bar with my sister. If I hadn't come to take both of you home, you would have probably woken up on the cold hard floor rather than in this soft and warm bed with me." Cedric said, still hugging Adrianna with his eyes closed.

"Don't you dare pretend that I'm not mad at you! I'm still mad at you!" Adrianna complained but at this point she had stopped trying to get out of Cedric's embrace.

"I promise to make it all up to you Adri. So please go back to sleep." Cedric said.

When Cedric woke up again Adrianna was still sleeping, so he took a bath and got dressed. Despite it being a weekend Cedric still had some work he needed to go through, so he sat at a desk by his window and worked while waiting for Adrianna to wake up.

He was in a video conference when he noticed his wife waking up. He quickly dismissed everyone from the meeting and ended the call.

"Did you rest well?" Cedric asked Adrianna.

"Where are we? And what time is it?" Adrianna asked.

"It's ten in the morning and we are at the Reyes house. Don't panic about your clothes, Ayanna and mom went shopping for you. They were kind of hoping we would move in here eventually." Cedric explained.

"I'm still mad at you." Adrianna told her husband.

Cedric climbed into bed and hugged his wife from behind.

"I'd rather have you mad at me and safe." Cedric kissed his wife on the lips and pinned her on the bed.

Suddenly Adrianna's stomach grumbled and Cedric burst out laughing.

"Let's get some food in you first!" Cedric said, helping Adrianna up.

By the time she had taken a bath and was dressed up Cedric was already waiting to accompany her down.

"Should I give you a quick tour of my room first?" Cedric teased.

"Well I think this room is five times the size of the room you rented out when we were in University. How did you ever adjust?" Adrianna wondered.

"The room I stayed in high school was even smaller. It just had a bed and a stove. It was either too hot or too cold." Cedric explained.

"Why did your family make you go through that? I remember back in University there were days that you couldn't even eat! And you had to commute or walk everywhere." Adrianna asked.

"It's tradition. It's so that whoever inherits the Reyes Group understands what it is like to have nothing." Cedric explained.

Cedric gave Adrianna a quick tour of his room, he pointed out the balcony, the bathroom, walk-in closet, the separate entertaining area, and the adjoining office.

Cedric's room was on the second floor of the house, and so was Ayanna's. When they stepped out of the room they were immediately greeted by Veronica leaving Ayanna's room.

"So you guys are all made up now?" Veronica asked.

"No. I'm still mad at him." Adrianna didn't give Cedric a chance to answer.

Veronica just laughed.

"Auntie had the best hangover food prepared, come on. Ayanna just needed these." Veronica said, waiving some pills.

At the dining room, Cedric wasn't surprised to see that Katerina and Nicole had also come over.

"Oh come on Ayanna, it was your stupid idea. I told you your brother would be pissed." Nicole said, trying to coax her friend.

"You're just happy because Ian got you home safely." Katerina teased.

"Ian? He's a good kid. Your father would approve." Emilio Reyes said, looking up from his iPad.

"Uncle!" Nicole complained.

"Morning." Cedric greeted.

"You're up! Adrianna! Welcome to our humble home!" Priscilla Clarin-Reyes said, greeting her daughter in law with a hug.

"I think humble would be an understatement, mom." Cedric said, rolling his eyes.

"Ignore him Adrianna, I'm just happy we are eating a meal together at home." Priscilla said.

"Nicole, don't distract Ian. I still have a lot of work I need him to do." Cedric told Nicole as he led Adrianna to her seat.

"Cedric!" Nicole complained.

"Nicole you are too noisy!" A hungover Ayanna scolded the girl beside her.

"So Adrianna, how do you like the Reyes House?" Katerina asked, ignoring Nicole.

"Well it's big." Adrianna managed to say.

"Are you ready to see your house?" Veronica asked.

"Our house?" Adrianna said with a confused look.

"The house Veronica was designing, the one she showed you in Nationalia." Cedric explained.

"Oh yeah, I remember now. I was thinking how odd it was that it felt like the house was designed for me!" Adrianna said recalling the design Veronica showed them. "But Cedric, isn't it too big just for the two of us?" Adrianna asked.

"You can make little Cedrics and Adriannas so that it won't be too lonely!" Ayanna said excitedly.

"We could live here first if you want." Cedric said, ignoring Ayanna.

"What about my parents? Are we just gonna leave them in their house?" Adrianna asked.

"They could live with us at Mountain View if you want." Cedric said. He had provisioned for space if any of their parents wanted to live with them or stay the night.

"That will mean we have to tell them who you are." Adrianna said thinking of the implications.

"I leave telling your parents up to you, but I want to reveal myself to the rest of your family when the time is right." Cedric told his wife.

"Brother is brewing his own revenge." Ayanna told Adrianna from across the table.

"Cedric, Alexi has a message for you. Can I speak to you in private?" Katerina asked.

Cedric raised his eyebrow and nodded.