Never Judge

Ian was at Cedric's office when Ayanna stormed out.

"Wow Miss Ayanna looks amazing." said his newly hired junior assistant.

"Don't let Mr. Laurence catch you staring, you'll probably lose an eye." Camilla warned.

"Mr. Ian is that true?" The junior assistant asked.

"More or less. Mr. Laurence is very protective of Miss Reyes, remember that." Ian said in a cold tone. 

"So who is the boss' best friend?" Camilla's junior assistant asked as she looked over from her desk. 

"I would say Ray and probably Ian." Camilla laughed.

"You're the boss' best friend?" Ian's junior assistant said with a gasp.

Ian rolled his eyes at Camilla. "Do you really need to tell the new kids that on their second week?" Ian asked as he focused on his work.

"Well they'll find out eventually." Camilla said with a shrug. After a while, Ray marched out of Cedric's office with a grin.

"Ian, Ian." Ray said as he leaned over Ian's desk.

"What's up?" Ian asked without looking up at Ray.

"How do I arrange to get a marriage license?" Ray asked.

"Get your assistant to do it, Ray. I'm Cedric's assistant." Ian answered. 

Ray simply sighed, shook his head, and left.

Ian looked at the clock, it was odd that Nicole hadn't called or messaged the whole day. He was thinking of calling when Cedric suddenly called him into the office.

"How's the investigation into the other matter?" Cedric asked.

Ian turned on his tablet and scrolled through the files.

"We followed your dad to this remote house in the suburbs." Ian said as he passed the tablet to Cedric. "We couldn't get a clear view of who was inside but it looks like a small and simple house on the outside, but when we took a closer look it has state of the art security. We're trying to plant someone inside."

"How long did he stay?" Cedric asked as a dark cloud seemed to hover over him.

"The whole night. He only left at sunrise. We even saw him bringing in flowers." Ian reported as Cedric swiped through the photos and videos.

"Did anyone keep an eye on who lives in the house?" Cedric asked.

"A car arrives and leaves once a week, but it's heavily tinted and the driver maneuvers well. We couldn't keep up." Ian explained.

"Keep looking into this and do not drop it. I need to know what my father is doing in that house." Cedric said with a straight face.

"Cedric, do you think uncle is -." Ian was unable to complete his sentence when Cedric cut in.

"I know what you're thinking Ian. I'm thinking it too." Cedric said with a sad tone. "I desperately don't want it to be true." Cedric said with a sigh.

"I'll go back out now Cedric, Dave still needs to be taught a lot of things." Ian told Cedric as he walked towards the door. Dave was Ian's junior assistant. 

Cedric nodded and let Ian go back to work.

As he settled down on his desk his phone began to ring. When he saw it was Nicole calling he excitedly picked up the call.

"Hello?" Ian asked over the phone.

"Ian. Can you come over?" Nicole said as she cried over the phone.

"What's wrong Nic?" Ian said in a hushed voice. "Please tell me."

"Just come over please." Nicole said as she continued to cry.

"Okay, let me tell Cedric then I'll go. I love you Nic." Ian said tenderly over the phone.

"I love you too Ian, so, so much." Nicole replied.

Ian asked Cedric if he could take the rest of the day off. Cedric agreed and told him to inform Camilla so that she could handle the rest of the workload.

"What's the rush?" Camilla asked as she saw Ian packing up.

"She called." Ian told Camilla. Camilla immediately understood who she was and simply nodded. "Drive safe."

Ian said goodbye and left.

"Who is she?" Dave, Ian's junior assistant, asked Camilla.

"Ian's girlfriend. Don't ask anymore, go back to work." Camilla quickly replied. Both Dave and Mae, Camilla's junior assistant, looked at each other in surprise. Neither of them expected Ian to have a girlfriend.

When Ian arrived at Nicole's house he was surprised to see Ray.

"Didn't you leave to get a marriage license or something?" Ian asked.

Ray laughed at him. "My fiance has been stolen by your girlfriend again." 

"Ian!" Katerina called from the stairs.

"Katerina, where is Nicole?" Ian asked as he rushed to her.

"In her room, follow me." Katerina said as she led Ian to Nicole's room.

"Nicole, Ian is here." Katerina said as she entered. 

Ian saw Nicole on her bed crying. He rushed up and hugged her. 

"Nic, don't cry please." Ian said as he held his girlfriend in his arms.

"We'll give you a moment." Ayanna told the couple as she, Veronica, and Katerina left the room.

"Nic, please tell me what's wrong." Ian brushed her hair as he tried to coax her into speaking.

"Ian, do you love me?" Nicole asked.

"That's a silly question Nicole, of course I love you. I just told you over the phone." Ian said as he kissed her cheeks. 

"Ian, promise you won't leave me." Nicole said as she cried into his chest.

"I've promised you that so many times Nicole, you are the only woman I plan to spend the rest of my life with." Ian said as he hugged her tightly. "What's wrong Nic?" Ian asked again. 

Nicole crawled to her bedside table and took out the pregnancy test she had taken earlier as well as the documents from the blood test at the hospital. She handed it over to Ian, nervous about what his reaction was going to be.

When Ian saw the results he was speechless. He just stared at Nicole making Nicole even more nervous. 

"Is this true?" Ian asked. "This isn't some sick joke is it?"

Nicole just shook her head, she was afraid that if she spoke she would cry again. 

"Oh Nicole! I'm going to be a dad!" Ian said as he hugged her tightly and kissed her passionately on the lips.

"You aren't mad?" Nicole asked. "What about your plans?" 

"Why would I be mad? Our baby is growing in your belly right now. I'm probably the happiest man alive." Ian said as he kissed her on the lips again. "My plans are worthless without you, and now we have a little one to enjoy in the near future."

"I'm so relieved." Nicole said as she hugged Ian.

"I love you so much Nicole." Ian said kissing her.