Never Judge

As Ray paced across his office, trying to think of a way to get his wife to be less stressed, a maid knocked and informed him that his father-in-law had arrived.

Ray quickly made his way to the door to greet the former CEO, maybe he would have more insight into his work-a-holic daughter's mind. 

"Uncle." Ray greeted as he guided Emilio Reyes into their home.

"How many times do I have to remind you to just call me dad?" Emilio Reyes said with a laugh as he patted Ray on the back.

"Old habits die hard." Ray said with a grin as he led his father-in-law into his wife's office. "I've called you uncle most of my life, calling you dad is a big adjustment."

"You've been married to my daughter for over a year, Ray, you are family." Emilio Reyes said with a smile as he settled on one of the couches.

"Coffee or Tea?" Ray offered.

"Scotch." Emilio Reyes said with a grin, to which Ray simply nodded and walked over to his wife's liquor cabinet.

"Dad, I have a question." Ray said as he poured the brown liquid into a glass.

"What is it?" Emilio asked his son-in-law.

"You see dad, I'm trying to get my wife to rest, she seems incredibly overworked and stressed, but it seems that no matter what I or Cedric do she refuses to slow down." Ray said with a sigh as he walked back to the couch and handed the older man his drink.

"Thanks." Emilio said with a nod as he took the glass. "What's the question there?" He asked as he took a sip of his drink.

"Well, how do I convince Ayanna to slow down, to relax, to live life a little?" Ray said as he sat down across Emilio.

"Your wife is like every woman in the Reyes clan, she is stubborn and strong willed." Emilio Reyes explained. "You saw how my wife was, you've seen how my sister and niece are. The women of the Reyes family will never stop unless they have proven to the world that they are worth their family name."

"But they've always been worth their family name." Ray said with a confused look on his face.

"To you, to me, and to those closest to them, yes, but you forget that to the public they are women from a powerful family. Many people think they owe their success to their family name and to the men of the family." Emilio Reyes explained to Ray.

"So are you telling me there is nothing I can do to get Ayanna to rest even for a little while?" Ray asked.

"It will be difficult, but I'm sure you can convince your wife." Emilio said with a nod. "You are trying to conceive, am I right?"

"We've been trying for a while now, dad." Ray admitted with a nod.

"Then remind her that stress will not be good for making me a grandkid." Emilio Reyes said with a grin. "And tone down your work with her. Don't make her feel like she is doing any less work than you."

"What does that have to do with the whole proving their abilities speech dad?" Ray asked as he gave the older man a confused look.

"Nothing really, I just wanted you to know that part." Emilio laughed as he emptied out his glass.

Before Ray could say anything else, the door to Ayanna's office opened and Ayanna stepped in wearing a business suit.

"Dad, you're early!" She greeted as she walked over and gave him a hug. 

"Ray and I were just bonding. I was reminding him to call me dad and not uncle." Emilio said as he hugged his daughter back.

"Dad, don't be so tough on him, I also call his parents uncle and auntie sometimes." Ayanna said with a smile as she walked over and sat next to her husband.

"Alright Ayanna." Emilio Reyes said as he smiled at his daughter. "Shall we discuss this problem your brother has caused instead?" He asked.

"Ah yes, my annoying brother." Ayanna said with a giggle. "Have you spoken to him today, dad?" She asked her father.

"I have, I called him the moment the news broke out and all he did was ask me to trust him." Emilio Reyes complained.

Ray rolled his eyes as he thought of how Cedric was handling this matter. It was nothing new that Cedric would forget to tell people about his plan. This had happened several times in the past already, and Ray had been the victim more than once.

"So did he tell you anything different?" Emilio asked his daughter. "Is there anything we  need to  tell the executives or anything we need to prepare?"

"Honestly, I don't know much, dad." Ayanna said with a frown. "All Cedric told me was that he would deal with the matter by tomorrow and that we just needed to keep everyone calm and the business running."

"Well he is clearly not guilty of the accusations." Ray said with a laugh. "I mean, why would Cedric need to bribe a government official."

"Yeah, whoever is trying to blackmail him didn't think this whole thing through." Ayanna said, shaking her head. 

"So basically our job is to keep everyone calm and make sure the company doesn't bleed too much money." Emilio Reyes said as he scratched his chin, thinking of a method that would work.

"Actually dad, Cedric just wants us to stay calm, he doesn't mind the boycotts." Ayanna said with a frown, it was something she didn't agree with her brother on, but after what she had seen in their sales reports it sounded like Cedric had a reason not to worry.

"Is your brother crazy?" Emilio Reyes said in disbelief. "News like this could lead to people leaving the brand permanently."

"Dad, that's the thing, we haven't seen any effect." Ayanna told him.

"That means either people don't care, or they don't believe in the rumors." Ray said as he thought of the situation.

"So we just calm down and wait?" Emilio said in a distressed tone, he was clearly not calm with what his son was doing. 

"Dad, you need to trust my brother." Ayanna said in a stern tone. "The executives will be arriving in a few minutes, I still need to see to all the arrangements."

"I trust him, this is just absurd." Emilio said as he crossed his arms on his chest.

Ray wanted to laugh at his father-in-law. The old man wasn't acting like a CEO, he was acting more like his grandson when he didn't get the candy he wanted.