"Toby! Three pies over t' that table over there, an' a tub of gin. 'Urry it up boy!"
Mrs. Lovett paraded on cheerfully through her days as always, as if nothing were ever wrong. And it was true-nothing technically was wrong. She was about three months pregnant, and although the morning sickness had yet to stop, there was still a very little change in her stomach size, so she still had plenty of time to come up with lies as to why she would begin to gain weight. One thing that had changed though, was her appetite. She was a very small woman, and had always had a small appetite to go with it. She was very picky, and was never known to finish a whole plate of food. Lately though, a whole plate of food wasn't enough to keep her going.
"There's no more pies left in the oven, ma'am!" A high pitched voice caused Mrs. Lovett to turn around.
"What was that, darling?" She asked, realizing that she had been standing and thinking in silence for quite some time.
"I said there's no more pies left in the oven," Toby repeated. "An' there's a whole line of customers. An' a big fat man's out there too, 'e looks like 'e could a whole cow."
Mrs. Lovett peered out the window, where a whole line of people had formed outside the door. And, just like Toby had said--a portly, obese man was standing, looking impatient and rubbing his stomach every once in a while, as if to hush the loud growls coming from the inside of his large belly. She winced and turned around so her back was facing him. That's what I'll look like in a few months.
"Ma'am?"
"Yes dearie, I'll 'ave a few pies sent up in a minute. Stall if you can. Sing a song, jus' mind ye manners an' make sure they don't get too impatient."
And with that, Mrs. Lovett left Toby with the crowd, with hope that they wouldn't turn into a vicious wild mob. She learned that hungry people could turn into monsters very quickly, so she was sure to be as quick as possible. She made her way down the stairs to the bakehouse, catching the old beggar woman staring at her out of the corner of her eyes. Ooh, she best be gone by the time I'm up, she thought to herself, her teeth gritting.
She unlocked and pushed open the heavy door and was greeted with the sickly smell of blood and murder. Her eyes nearly teared at the sour smell, and she gave herself a few seconds to adjust to the odor. Once she thought she was okay, she walked over to the side of the room where three dead men were piled awkwardly on top of each other.
"Well ain't that a pretty sight," she mumbled to herself, as she pulled the littlest man by the arm and began to drag him over to the meat grinder. She had to stop and straighten her back out; her bones weren't what they used to be, and pulling three male bodies across a room was quite some excercise for her. Before she began to skin the bodies, she made sure to check the men's pockets for money. She rolled her eyes when she pulled out a few pouches of coins.
"If ye gonna kill the men, at least take their money from 'em afterwards," she said outloud, to no one in particular, although there was a certain man her words were directed to. She shoved the pouches into her bosom and continued with the skinning of the men. However, she had to pause a few times to catch her breath and let the nausea pass. Mrs. Lovett had always had a strong stomach, but things had been changing drastically for her and her body lately.
As she walked over to the last man lying on the floor, the chute above opened, and a man was sent down from the second story, nearly hitting Mrs. Lovett. She let out a surprised squeal and jumped to the side, holding her heart as she looked over and saw the second man next to the first one, lying limp on the floor where she had just been standing merely seconds ago. She looked back up, and the last thing she saw was Sweeney Todd's dark eyes staring into hers before the door closed.
She looked down at the bodies disgusted, before she looked back up at the ceiling. "Mista' Todd!" she yelled to him, angrily.
From up above, Sweeney could hear the annoying voice of the woman below. He stepped on the pedal and allowed the door to open and the chair went back, however, no dead body had gone down this time. It was quite an odd change.
"A word, please." She looked awfully mad; her hands were on her hips and her nostrils were flaring.
"What is it, Mrs. Lovett?" He asked somewhat impatiently. "Many customers, little time."
"A bit o' a warning would be nice when sendin' down a man with 'is head half chopped off," she exclaimed, using wild hand gestures, something she did when she was angry. "Ye coulda 'it me!"
"Wouldn't that 'ave been nice," he mumbled to himself, and allowed the door to shut between them again.
Mrs. Lovett let a huff escape her pouty lips. Some nerve that man has. She sniffed and removed the money from the second man's clothes, and continued with what she had been doing before she was interrupted.
A little while later Mrs. Lovett came back up the stairs, carrying a tray of eight pies in each arm. One tray was made up of a lawyer and a dentist, the other was of a very fat shoe maker. She looked around for the old beggar woman, and sighed a sigh of relief when she realized she had left. She squinted her eyes and looked over at her pie shop where the chattering of people, mostly women, were heard. No beggar woman there--did she really leave without a challenge?
Toby came running up to her, and she gave him a warm smile, forgetting about everything else. "'Ere we are dear, 'ow're the customers holdin' up?"
Toby took the trays and struggled to balance them, seeing as they were almost as big as him. "Never seen such a hungry buncha people. This might not be enough, ma'm."
Mrs. Lovett took a deep breath in and nodded. "That's alright, guess that means I'll 'ave t' make more pies then." Her eyes wandered up to the barber, where he was leaning against the railing, eyeing his future victims. They made eye contact and he looked away, without any form of expression. She rolled her eyes. Anti-social little nit.
It was rather late when Mrs. Lovett finally closed down the shop. It was getting too much for a pregnant woman to skin dead bodies, make them into pies, and then serve them all at once. After all the customers had left, Toby was left wiping down the tabletops, and Mrs. Lovett was putting the dirty dishes into the sink. She looked at the pile of plates and silverware with exhausted eyes, and ran her fingers through her messy hair. "I'll do 'em in the mornin'," she told herself, as she left the kitchen and went into the pie shop, where Toby was sweeping with one hand, and holding a glass of gin with the other.
Toby looked up and smiled at her, not knowing whether or not he would be in trouble for drinking on the job. She walked past him and ruffled his hair, as she made her way into her room. "Jus' make sure not t' clean with the gin an' drink the broom," she told him, before closing the door behind her.
It didn't take long for the feeling of faitgue to wash over her body. Her eyes felt heavier than they did before, and she nearly fell asleep as she began to untie the laces of her corset. She let out a small sigh as she slipped it off her torso, welcoming the relief of being able to breathe properly again. She slipped out of her gown and slipped on a small nightgown. It was rather small and perhaps even a bit suggestive, but no one was going to see her this late at night. After all, she was going to go straight to bed.
Mrs. Lovett turned to the side and took a good look at her figure in the mirror. Perhaps it was just her own paranoia, but she had to take a second glance at her once flat stomach. Yes, it wasn't much of a difference, only a small one if one was really looking, but she could see it. Her stomach wasn't quite popping out so much quite yet, but she could see that there was a very small bump. She pressed her lips together and rubbed her belly a little, unable to imagine what she would look like when she was seven or eight months pregnant.
She sighed and turned away from the mirror, climbing into her bed. She thought about her plan to hide her pregnancy from the world--would it really work? And if it did, what would she do with the baby once she had it? If it lived, of course. She very well couldn't give it up, not after all these years of trying to have a baby. Perhaps she would say that she found it abandoned in a dumpster, and would adopt it as her own. Just like she did with Toby.
Yes, that's what I'll do then, Mrs. Lovett thought to herself as she suppressed a yawn and laid on her back, staring up at the ceiling. And for now, I best be tyin' those corsets extra tight.
A/N: Um, hi. xD I know, I know. I'll say it for you:
Jesus, woman! You are so slow at updating fics! You're a bum!
I know, I'm horrible. But it wasn't that big of a successful story, so it's not like I had a whole mob of people mad at me, lol. But anyway I hope you enjoyed that last chapter. I've been disgustingly busy with school and dance and musical theatre and everything that takes over my life. But... three day weekend! Maybe another chapter? Or maybe I'll just sleep and watch Sweeney Todd, who knows at this point?
I'm so bad at these multiple chapter stories because I have really little patience, which is why I always usually stick to one shots. If you look, I don't think I've ever finished a story with chapters. Ever. -o Not good! No but I'll finish this one, eventually. I promise, I really do. Watch haha-by next Christmas I'll have chapter five up. xD I'm such a ham.
Anyway I have a question--this story can definetely be lowered to a T rating, right? I have it for M, but it's not like I wrote a porno, right? Anyway if you think it's appropriate enough for a rated T story, let me know, but if it must stay to M, let me know. I just don't want people not reading my stories because they think it's inappropriate.
(Jesus, my author's note was bigger than my story itself! xD)