A/N: Many thanks to Phish Tacko for her work beta'ing this.
Ch. 45
Sweeney was having another bad day. He'd woken up sick and cold, and had spent the majority of the morning throwing up. Mrs. Lovett had been too busy with her shop to help him at all, and for some reason, it made him sad. The woman may have annoyed him sometimes, but truth be told, Sweeney kind of liked having someone take care of him.
As soon as he'd recovered somewhat, Emma had started screaming. She's been doing that a lot, lately – crying for no reason. Mrs. Lovett said it was something called "colic," and that sometimes babies acted like that, but it was still frustrating and it kept him up at night. Now, the baby was at it again, screaming as loudly as possible.
"Yes, Emma, I'm coming," Sweeney muttered as he stood up from his chair. He'd been resting for a bit, but apparently that was not to be. He walked over to the baby and picked her up. She wasn't dirty and she had just eaten recently, so he had no idea what was wrong.
"Calm down, Emma, calm down," He cooed, rocking her back and forth. "Shh…"
It didn't work. The baby still continued to cry.
After close to an hour of rocking Emma, talking to her, even singing a little to her, she eventually quieted down and started to fall asleep.
'Finally,' Sweeney thought to himself as he put his daughter down in her crib. Maybe now he could relax a bit.
With Emma tucked in, Sweeney decided to go see if Mrs. Lovett was busy. He still had yet to see her at all.
"Mrs Lovett?" He called, walking down the stairs.
"I'm outside, Mr. T!" She called back.
Sweeney glanced over and noticed that she was outside, in back of the shop. He took a few steps towards her, but smacked right into... something. He couldn't actually see what it was. Stunned a bit, he stepped back, only to notice that he'd walked right into the glass doors that'd been installed last year.
"Damn it!" He yelled. His nose felt like it was broken, and it was bleeding, not to mention that almost everyone was staring at him.
Mrs. Lovett heard him and came rushing over.
"Are you okay, Mr. T?" She asked, concerned. She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Tilt your head back to stop the bleeding."
"Ah think mah nose is broken," Sweeney said as he leaned back.
"Let me see when it stops bleeding."
Sweeney did as he was told, and Mrs. Lovett looked him over.
"It's not broken," She said. "You just hit it hard."
"It feels broken."
"It's definitely not broken."
Sweeney sighed, unwilling to continue arguing. "Fine. But when it sets the wrong way and I look funny, I'll blame you."
Mrs. Lovett rolled her eyes. "Stop it. You need glasses."
"I don't need glasses!"
"Are you going to argue with me about everything today? I swear, Mr. T, you're worse than my ex mother-in-law."
"My vision is perfectly fine! And I'm not arguing. It's not arguing if I'm right."
Mrs. Lovett just stared at him, saying nothing, wondering if her friend would realize how dumb he sounded.
"Okay, yeah, that was stupid," He finally admitted. "Can you take me to the eye doctor, then?"
"Sure. I'll take you after the dinner rush is over."
"Thanks."
00
A couple hours later, Sweeney and Emma were in the back seat of Mrs Lovett's car, and the group was heading towards the local eye doctor. The man had agreed to take them at the last moment, after Mrs Lovett had pleaded with him to give them an appointment.
Once at the doctor's office, Sweeney took a seat in the waiting area, holding Emma on his lap. Mrs. Lovett picked up a magazine and began to read as they waited for the doctor to call them in. After a few minutes, she stood up, and went to ask the secretary where the bathroom was.
While Mrs Lovett was gone, the last patient that the doctor had walked out of the exam room. Sweeney couldn't believe who it was.
"Judge Turpin," Sweeney said, glaring at the judge.
"Mr. Barker," The judge replied, grinning evilly. "So interesting to see you here. And you've brought your daughter, too." Turpin reached up, and stroked Emma's cheek with his thumb.
"Thankfully she didn't get your looks."
Sweeney moved back, pulling Emma with him. "Don't you EVER touch her."
"Here we go again with this. What are you going to do to me?"
Knowing he was cornered, since Emma was there, Sweeney glanced over at the secretary, who was doing a good job at pretending to not pay attention to what was going on.
"Answer me, Barker," The judge hissed.
"I'll find a way to get you back for everything," Sweeney whispered, scowling at the judge. "I'll get you when you least expect it."
The judge looked as if he was about to reply something, when the doctor walked out into the waiting area.
"Is there a problem here?" The doctor asked, looking at the judge, then at Sweeney.
"No. No problem at all," The judge replied, smiling at the doctor. "I'll see you later, Mr. Todd."
Sweeney just scowled at him.
Mrs. Lovett happened to exit the bathroom at that moment, just as Judge Turpin had left. She noticed the look on Sweeney's face, and came over to him.
"Is everything okay, Mr. T?" She asked.
"I'll tell you later," Sweeney replied. "Let's just get this exam over with."
00
Later that evening, Sweeney, Mrs. Lovett and Emma returned to the shop. Mrs. Lovett noticed that Sweeney was being extremely quiet on the ride home.
"Aren't you happy, Mr. T?" She asked, trying to get him to talk. "You've got a prescription and you'll have good vision in a few days."
Sweeney just shrugged indifferently, and continued staring out the window as she drove. When they got back to the shop, Sweeney quietly followed Mrs. Lovett inside, taking a seat on her couch once he was in her living area. He put Emma down next to him. She was asleep, at least.
"I'll bring us something to eat. I'll be right back," Mrs Lovett said, smiling kindly at Sweeney.
Sweeney just grunted in reply.
When Mrs. Lovett reappeared a bit later, she was surprised to see Sweeney sitting with his head in his hands. She quickly put the tray of food she had down, and came to his side.
"What's wrong?!" She asked him, concerned. "Why are you upset?"
"I'm not upset," Sweeney whispered, but his voice gave it away. He was obviously crying.
"You're crying," She said. "I can tell. What's wrong?" She wrapped an arm around him.
Suddenly, Sweeney leaned towards her. Nellie pulled him into a hug, letting him rest his head on her shoulder. For a few moments, she just held him, letting him cry. When he finally seemed to calm, she spoke again.
"Tell me what's wrong now?"
"I'm just tired. I had a long night, a long day... Emma keeps crying… When we were at the doctor, Judge Turpin appeared..." He trailed off, more tears falling down his cheeks.
"Aw, it's okay, Mr. Todd. It's okay." She held him a little tighter, and ran a hand through his hair.
For a bit longer, Sweeney continued to cry. It felt good to let go of the feelings he had deep inside.
Soon enough, Sweeney began to really feel tired. Mrs. Lovett could hear him yawn. She was just about to suggest that he sleep there for the evening, when she realized he was already asleep in her arms.