Hey guys! I'm Back! Who missed me!? Oh, no one...? Well then! Just kidding, sorry for not updating in awhile though. But I know it's the story you care about so here you go. Hope you enjoy. And please, please, please review! I love seeing reviews they make me smile!
Haunted Dreams
Chapter 29
Sweeney Todd woke up for the third time that night, covered in sweat and shivering. He sat up panting and stared at the covers beneath him. He the bed creak as Nellie turned over and sat up to face him.
"You okay?" She asked putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Fine." He grumbled. He laid back down, Nellie draped her arm across his chest hugging him. He wrapped his arm around her-hugging her back, taking a deep breath.
"Are you okay?" She asked him again.
He sighed at his annoying, adorable wife. "Yes. It's just a nightmare."
"What'd you dream?" She lifted up her body so her face was facing his, and looked into his eyes as if she could read the answer for his cursed dreams this way.
"I don't want to talk about it." He stated.
"You sure?"
"Yes. Go back to sleep Nell. You need to rest."
She laid back down on his chest, sighed and fell back asleep.
He placed his hand over her huge belly. Nine months pregnant-she's going to need all the rest she can get. She's been fussing at Sweeney constantly for the way he's been treating her recently.
"Stop being so overprotective" she complains to him, basically seven times a day.
Her sarcasm has been "top notch". Well who can blame him? Of course he's been overprotective of her. After the birth of Jeramey; the baby getting stuck, and the mother falling into a month long comma. Who could blame him for worrying?
And now he's even having nightmares about it.
The nightmare that caused him to wake up in a cold sweat just now was one of the most horrific and disturbing things Sweeney has ever seen:
He saw Nellie's body laying on the floor, she wasn't dead-just sleeping. Before Sweeney could go to her, Lucy comes out of nowhere. She holds up a knife and cuts open Nellie's stomach. Nellie wakes up screaming as Lucy continues to dig the blade through her flesh. She stops, reaches her hand into Nellie's abdomen and pulls out a tiny baby girl. She smirks at Sweeney, holding it up for him to see it. And then... she eats it. Her mouth unhinges like a snake and she swallows it whole.
This was when Sweeney woke up in a panic from the nightmare. He felt sick to his stomach thinking about it now. What in the world caused a dark image like that to wriggle it's way into his self-conscious mind.
"Sweeney?" Nellie asked sleepily.
Sweeney shook his head and looked down at her confused, her voice waking him from his day-dream. It was then that he noticed that he was clutching her stomach roughly-hanging on to it as if it was the greatest source of life in this entire world.
"I'm sorry." He said letting go of his wife's pregnant belly.
She leaned the back of her head on his shoulder and held his hand, stroking his knuckle with her thumb lovingly.
"I'm worried Nell." He admitted to her.
"What are you worried about? I'm the one who has to go through all the work." She said laughing.
He kissed her forehead. "Your so brave. And calm. How can you be so calm? Your not scared at all?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I was a nervous wreak last pregnancy. Through out the whole pregnancy actually. This time... I don't know. I guess I'm so calm because I have a feeling that everything will go fantastic."
"There's always something that could go wrong." He said. Always being one for the negative.
"I just have a feeling. Since the pregnancy went so well..."
"But that could be the reason why something will go wrong now." Sweeney complained.
She leaned up to peck his lips with hers. "You worry too much." She whispered.
"Please go back to sleep. You look tired."
"And you look petrified." She said.
He kissed her forehead once more and stared at the ceiling until he heard the soft sounds of her breathing and knew that she was asleep again.
Sweeney Todd was never very religious. But looking at the ceiling above him, thinking about his new baby-he prayed.
Two weeks later, at 5:24 in the evening-Nellie's water broke.
Sweeney was a nervous wreck. But excited. Oh so excited! At this point, he didn't even care if the baby was another boy, he just wanted it out of his wife.
"I put the old sheets down." Nellie said gritting her teeth together in pain. Sweeney helped her lay down on the bed.
"What should we do with Jeramey? This isn't something a two year old should witness." Nellie said.
Sweeney nodded his head, thinking.
"We can ask Mrs. Bloom to-"
"No." Sweeney said suddenly. "I'm not leaving him with a stranger. I'll be right back." Sweeney said leaving the room.
The toddler was sitting in his room playing with his toys. "Jer." Sweeney said coming into the room. He bent down on the floor to reach his son's height. "Jer. Mumma's going to have her baby." He started slowly and gently. How do you explain this type of thing to a toddler?
"My brother?" Jeramey asked looking up at his father.
"I don't know, it's not here yet. But it will be soon. Listen, having a baby is a lot of pain, so your going to hear mumma screaming. But know that everything will be okay no matter what you here, alright?" Jeremay cocked his head to the side like a dog, confused.
"Okay Papa." He said.
"I want you to stay in this room and not to leave until I come get you. Do you understand?"
"What if I have to potty?" He asked.
Sweeney sighed. "Okay you can go to the bathroom next door if you have to potty, but other than that you are not allowed to leave this room. Do you understand lad?"
"Yes Papa."
"Good." Sweeney kissed his forehead.
"SWEENEY!" Nellie screamed from their bedroom.
"Alright I have to go help your mother, I'll be back soon."
"With my brother?" The little lad asked.
"With your sibling." Sweeney corrected-closing the door behind him and running to the bedroom.
Nellie was clutching the side of the bed, her face covered in sweat and contorted in pain. "It's coming."
"Then let's do this." Sweeney said.
Nellie screamed and pushed for what felt like hours. Sweeney saw the head crowning and gently grabbed it.
Again he prayed.
'Please bring my girl to me. Please bring my girl to me. Please bring my girl to me.'
6:00 on a warm, Spring evening in May a little high-pitched scream filled the room. Nellie fell against the pillow panting. "You are never touching me again." She said to Sweeney in all seriousness.
Sweeney cut off the umbilical cord chuckling at his wife. "Anything you say pet."
He started cleaning off the baby, there was so much "birth gunk" on it that he couldn't see the "parts at the bottom". He gently dabbed the wet, warm cloth over the baby's face while it continued to wail. It had an adorable nose and ears, and it's hair shown dark against it's head.
Nellie gained enough strength to sit up and help Sweeney clean their second child. Sweeney kissed her cheek when he saw her move next to him.
"PAPA!" Jeramey screamed from the hall-the sound of his little feet slamming against the wood.
"I told him to stay in his room." Sweeney said annoyed.
"He's two, did you really expect him to listen?" Nellie said.
"Papa!" He whined. It sounded like he'd been crying.
And right when Sweeney was about to find out what the gender is.
"I got it." Nellie said taking the baby in her arms.
Sweeney got up and rushed to the door. "Jeramey?" He said down the hall.
Jeramey ran up and hugged his father's legs. His eyes were red and puffy. "I got scared." He whined.
Sweeney smiled and bent down to pick him up. "Shh, everything's okay now." He soothed, Jeramey wrapped his arms around his father's neck.
"Sweeney! Sweeney come quick!" Nellie shouted.
He turned around and stared down the hall...
Fear stabbed his heart with a knife. Almost dropping his son he raced towards the bedroom. His breaths came out ragged and uneven. Tears welled up in his eyes.
'No. No. No. No. No.'
He walked through the doorway of the room. Nellie sat on the bed holding the now fully clean baby in her arms-her back facing them.
Sweeney set Jeramey down for fear that he would drop the boy when he passed out. And he felt like he was going to pass out.
"Nell?" He asked, his voice unsteady.
She turned around and faced him.
His wife stared at him for a second. Only a second. But to Sweeney, it felt like an eternity. And then she grinned excitedly.
"It's a girl."
