Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Sweeney Todd. I do own the characters I make up for this story, and my plot. Once this story gets into the realm of the musical (as opposed to the pre-musical) the plot does not belong to me, but my embellishments do.

A/N: Warning: Sex. Not explicitly described, but there.

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It was a beautiful wedding, simple, but beautiful. Nellie wore flowers in her hair, and Albert's beard was trimmed and he was smiling. He was much older than her. She was barely eighteen, he well into his thirties, but he was gentle and had a good business. He was a butcher, so they'd never run out of food. He's make a good husband, and she would try to make a good wife.

After the congratulations and well wished, the newlyweds took a carriage to their home above Albert's shop on Fleet Street. True, there was space behind their shop to live, but Albert insisted on not renting out the top, because they wanted more space, and would need it, once their family started to expand. The shop, of course, was closed for the day, and Albert carried Nellie up the outdoor staircase into their bedroom. She laughed at the silliness of it all.

He laid her down on the bed, then proceeded to the dresser, shedding the burdensome jacket. Nellie just lay on the bed, reviewing the events of the day, smiling at the still tangible memories. How proud her mother looked, how much fun the children had, jumping around while their mothers told them to sit still. She smiled. She loved the children, no matter how much trouble they managed to get into. She couldn't wait to be a mother of her own; motherly instinct was bubbling inside of her, just waiting to come out.

Albert brought her out of the past as he smiled at her, taking off her veil. She smiled back as he brushed stray bits of hair out of her face. Slowly, he took of the other niceties of the day, her gloves, the small bit of jewelry, her shoes. Her reached up her legs for her stockings. Her dress was elaborately buttoned in the front, but he patiently unfastened all of them. He no longer looked at her face, but his hands, and what he was doing.

All that was left on Nellie were the flower petals remaining in her hair. He surveyed her, and she became suddenly nervous, as if she was scared that she would disappoint in her youth. Albert smiled, but somehow Nellie knew the smile was not for her, but for himself. Quickly shedding the rest of his attire, he climbed on the bed and started with a kiss on Nellie's neck.

Nellie, still slightly nervous, stayed still, watching Albert. All of his kisses were not for her, and as he worked his way inside, he was also inside himself, his smile inward. Nellie saw him in his own world of pleasure and closed her eyes, knowing it was not her place to interfere.

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A/N: Don't stone me, please. I was trying to think of a good place to start with the Life of Mrs. Lovett, and I found out by looking at the script that she was a widow. Her husdband died two years before Sweeney was sent away. It would have been probably right before he died that the Barker's moved in upstairs. I needed to find a way to make Mrs. Lovett unhappy with the relationship, but happy enough so that she still talks about him amiably after his death. Also, I wanted to show how Mrs. Lovett got to the cynical person she is in the show. It also didn't help that I was reading a very long discussion on the Sondheim forums on whether or not Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett were sleeping together (hey, it's incredibly relevent to the characterization of both characters.. Sweeney probably wouldn't, but there's a line in "By the Sea" suggesting they were). This chapter was written because how someone responds to sex is important to their character, no matter how much people condemn it, it's a vital part of marraige. Marraige used to not even be legal until it was consumated. So there.