Never Judge

Cedric sat in his living room, looking at his phone. He had been like that since arriving ten minutes ago.

Ayanna was standing in the kitchen as she tried to feed her little nephew.

She had been coming over more and more, she wanted  to be prepared when it came to having a child, and what better practice than little Yoyo.

"Auntie Ayanna, daddy is sad." Yoyo said as he pointed at his father.

"Can you stay with your nanny for a while? I'll go over and talk to your dad." Ayanna asked the little boy who nodded his head vigorously. 

"Please watch over him, thanks." Ayanna told the nanny as she made her way to the living room.

"What's wrong?" She asked Cedric as she sat down next to him. "You seem bothered." She told her brother.

"It's this whole Lucius Ting - Andrew Chan problem." Cedric said with a sigh as he confessed his dilemma to his younger sister.

"What about it?" She asked.  Ayanna was never one to hesitate asking Cedric any questions. She believed it came from the fact that she had spent a long time away from him that she now treasured every conversation they had. 

"Despite everything we have found out, I'm still missing bits and pieces. Some things just don't add up and I can't figure it out." Cedric said in a frustrated tone as he slammed his phone on the table.

"You'll break your phone." Ayanna pointed out. "And by the looks of it, you already have a solution, you're just questioning if it's the right one. Talk to me Ced." Ayanna urged.

Cedric took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he composed himself.

"I'm sorry for losing my temper." He told his sister as he calmed down.

"Apology accepted, now talk." Ayanna said as she looked at him.

"Dad and our uncles already investigated this matter in the past, remember?" Cedric asked.

Ayanna simply nodded as she listened closely to what Cedric had to say.

"We think that the facts we are missing might be with them." Cedric said with a sigh as he shook his head. "Ayanna, dad already lied to us once about Andrew Chan, if we ask them again there is a high chance that they will be lying."

"And if you don't ask?" Ayanna said as she looked her brother in the eyes. "You miss all the shots you don't take, remember that's what mom used to say. What do you have to lose if you ask?"

Cedric simply shrugged and shook his head.

"Ayanna, who would want to kill a child? Who would go after an innocent little boy and want to murder or kidnap him?" Cedric asked his sister.

"Have you forgotten that Aiden wanted to kill Yoyo?" She asked her brother. "People do stupid things that hurt innocent lives, you know this. Why are you acting so stupid today."

"I have a lot on my mind." Cedric said with a sigh.

"Cedric, you can't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders." Ayanna said as she shook her head and placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Lucius Ting coming after us is not your fault, and if it isn't Lucius Ting then it will be someone else. We have too many enemies to pretend that we will always be safe."

"I know." Cedric said with a frown as she picked his phone up again.

Ayanna looked at him with a frown as he continued to spin the device in his hand. 

"I'll call him, you know. I'll call him eventually and ask him to come over with our uncles, but for some reason I'm very hesitant." Cedric admitted.

"Just make the call Cedric, tell them that we want to celebrate something." Ayanna said with a shrug.

"Celebrate something? I need to be a little bit more specific than that." He pointed out.

"Well, celebrate that everyone is safe, a small get together." Ayanna said with a shrug.

"I don't think that reason will be compelling enough to drag everyone over." Cedric said with a grin as he shook his head.

"Fine, I have something to tell you." Ayanna said as she bit her lower lip. "But you promise you won't tell anyone. Not Ray, not Adrianna." She told her brother as she glared at him.

"Yeah, yeah. I won't." Cedric said as he laughed her reaction off.

"I'm serious, Cedric!" Ayanna said angrily.

"Okay, I promise, whatever you tell me will stay between the two of us. Just us, our little sibling secret." He said with a nod.

"Tell them I have an announcement." Ayanna said.

"An announcement?" Cedric asked, repeating his sister's words slowly.

Ayanna waited patiently as she hoped her brother would understand what she meant.

It took a few seconds but Cedric's eyes suddenly widened as he realized what Ayanna  had meant.

"You're - you're-" Cedric stuttered as he tried to get the words out of his mouth.

"Yes, I'm pregnant." Ayanna said as she felt her lips curl up into a smile.

Cedric quickly hugged his sister, she could feel how happy he was for her. 

"I can't believe it, finally." Cedric said in an excited tone. "Mom would have been so happy for you. I bet she is so excited and happy to know that you are pregnant wherever she is."

"I wish she could have been here." Ayanna told him as she felt herself on the verge of tears.

"I guess all three of you will be giving birth so closely together." Cedric said with a laugh. 

"Yeah, you guys will have to deal with four naughty little kids." Ayanna said with a grin.

"Wait, Ray doesn't know?" Cedric asked as soon as he realized that his sister had asked him to keep it a secret from her husband. 

"No." Ayanna said as she shook her head.

"Who knows?" Cedric asked.

"Dad and Yoyo." Ayanna said with a laugh.

"My son knew before me!" Cedric said in shock. "How could a kid keep a secret like this?"

"Your son is smart!" Ayanna proudly said.

"So that's the announcement you'll make?" Cedric asked his sister as he shook his head.

"Yep, and can you push it to this weekend, I need to tell Ray." Ayanna asked.

"Sure.." Cedric said with a nod.