Never Judge

When Cedric arrived home he was greeted by a laughing Ayanna.

"What's so funny?" Cedric asked his sister as he went towards the stairs.

"Oh, nothing. You'll find out soon enough." Ayanna said as she fought off a giggle. Cedric raised an eyebrow at her but decided not to probe any further.

As he got up to his and Adrianna's floor he was a stack full of pillows and several suitcases outside their room.

"Adri, are you going on a trip? Why didn't you tell me?" Cedric asked as he entered their room.

"Out!" Adrianna shouted as she threw a pillow at him that he easily caught. 

"Why? This is our room." Cedric said as he moved closer to his wife.

"Tonight you sleep somewhere else." Adrianna said.

"Adri, calm down. Remember, being mad isn't good for the baby." Cedric said in an attempt to get his wife to calm down.

"Get out and I'll calm down." Adrianna said pointing at the door.

"Okay, okay. What did I do?" Cedric asked as he scratched the back of his head.

"You can come back when you've figured out what you did wrong." Adrianna shouted as he closed the door behind him. 

Outside he saw Ayanna and Veronica giggling as they carried some pillows.

"Shouldn't you guys be in your rooms?" Cedric asked the two girls.

"Don't be stupid brother. It's girl's night. Adrianna is mad at you so we're sleeping over to keep her company and for her to rant. You can go over to either the guest room or your office." Ayanna teased Cedric.

"Or you can keep Miguel company. He's pretty pissed at you right now cause Adrianna dragged me away." Veronica said as she and Ayanna slipped into the room.

Cedric grinned at Veronica's statement, so she was fully aware of Miguel's feelings. He wondered what game Veronica was playing, making Miguel suffer like that. Cedric decided that it was something he shouldn't think of especially since it was Miguel's problem and not his. He had his own right now, he couldn't even figure out why Adrianna was so mad. He quickly took out his phone and invited the boys out for drinks at Hype bar. 

They all agreed so Cedric got on one of his flashier cars that he rarely drove and went to Hype bar. He made sure to cover his face as he entered through the back door, some bystanders however still managed to spot him and snap some photos. Many quickly assumed that it was the Reyes Heir, others just thought it was some rich heir that didn't want to get caught partying.

When Cedric got to Ray's private room in Hype bar the other boys were already there. Cedric sat on the couch as Alexi handed him a drink.

"No girls?" Cedric asked, usually the sisters were quick to tag along to gatherings like these.

"I warned them that you and Adrianna were fighting and she managed to take away my wife and your sister." Miguel pointed out as he took a drink.

"What mess did you stir up that made your wife so mad and take my fiance?" Ray asked as he rolled his eyes at Cedric. "I had a romantic evening planned with your sister, when she suddenly called and said her sister-in-law needed her."

"I don't even know. I was suddenly thrown out of our room!" Cedric complained. He had just come home after the social gathering with their business partners and all of a sudden he wasn't even allowed in his own room. "Although, Adrianna's been acting odd the past week." Cedric said as he recalled her behavior.

"Amatures." Alexi said with a laugh.

"What would you know? You never stay long enough to be in a relationship with a woman." Miguel accused his friend.

"There is a reason why I don't stay with them long term, to avoid things like this." Alexi scoffed.

"Cedric, you've been the topic on social media a lot recently." Eric said as he scrolled through his phone. "Do you think that could be related to why she is mad?" Eric was the eldest among them and possibly the most experienced when it came to women. Alexi's multiple women didn't count since they were all casual encounters.

"Well there is one thing." Cedric said hesitantly as he remembered that someone was parading around letting people assume that she was his wife.

"What?" Alexi impatiently asked.

"Well someone has been claiming to be the wife of the Reyes Heir." Cedric admitted to his friends.

"And you haven't done anything about it?" Ram asked as he sat up and listened closely.

"What am I supposed to do? She's mad when I meddle, and now she's mad when I don't!" Cedric complained. It had taken all of his self control for him not to protect her or to release a statement denying the claims. He knew his wife wanted to deal with this in her own way.

"You're an idiot." Eric said, shaking his head as he showed everyone several posts on social media. "You can't help her so you decided to make things worse for her? Really Cedric? You rarely go to these kinds of events and you had to go to one where the pretender was present. According to some posts you even spent a longer time talking to her and her father."

"It was a business event." Cedric said with a shrug. "Adrianna should understand."

"Add to that you let these photos stay online. You didn't ask Ram to get rid of them. We all know Ram can easily get rid of them." Eric said in a raised tone. His night too was ruined by Cedric's foolishness. 

"Cedric, you a**hole! This is your fault completely!" Ram shouted. 

"Even if Adrianna normally understands these things she's pregnant and hormonal. Her emotions aren't as stable as they usually are." Miguel said, giving a more scientific explanation.

"What do you guys want me to do?" Cedric asked as he downed another drink. "Going home now won't send the girls away. They'll just stay longer."

"Then go sleep in the guest room and apologize to her tomorrow." Alexi said with a shrug.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Alexi has a point." Eric said.

"Let's just drink, and drown our sorrows away." Ram said in a sad tone.

"What's up with you?" Alexi asked as he moved closer to his friend.

"Arranged marriage and all that. The usual. Things I can't really avoid." Ram drank another glass, Alexi grinned and poured him another one.

"You know I met this interesting pair of twins. They are amazing -" Alexi was going to go into detail when Miguel cut him off.

"We don't want to hear that. We aren't like you." Miguel said, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, be a whipped husband like Cedric." Alexi said as he left the room.

"Let's call it a night." Cedric said with a sigh.

When Cedric got home he asked the maids to prepare the guest room on the ground floor. He was about to go to sleep when someone knocked on the door.

"Mom?" Cedric was surprised to see his mom holding warm milk and some cookies.

"You used to love eating these when you were a kid. I'd always give them to you when you had nightmares or you couldn't sleep." Priscilla Reyes said as she recalled things from over twenty years ago.

"Come in mom." Cedric said as he helped her with the milk and cookies.

"Did I think I was santa or something?" Cedric said with a laugh as he sat down and drank the milk.

"You and Adri had a fight? I wanted to check on you." Priscilla asked her son.

"Yeah. It's my fault and her fault, we're adults mom. We'll figure this out." Cedric said as he took a bite out of the cookie.

"I know it's tough. Adjusting back, especially for you. You have Adrianna and the baby to think about. I guess I just wanted to say that I know you're all grown up now, but mom and dad will always be here if you need help or if you have any questions you want to ask. We will always be on your side." Priscilla said with a smile as she got up to leave.

"I'll just take these out later." Cedric said pointing at the glass and plate in front of him.

Priscilla nodded and was halfway out the door when she turned back and said. "Your dad and I are proud of you Cedric. Always remember that." 

Cedric was left alone in the guest room after his mom left. He felt sleepy all of a sudden, he didn't know if it was the alcohol or the milk and cookies, but he slept his best sleep that night despite being at odds with his wife.