thank you thelovelyflorencelovett for your review :)))
Both the barber and the baker are lounging in Mrs. Lovett's parlor. They just close their shop and are now relaxing. Ben is on the floor in a cross sitting position; his back resting on the love seat where Nellie is laying. He is busy reading a book while Mrs. Lovett is practically dozing off- tired from a very busy day.
Halfway through the book that he is reading, He closes it and looks over Mrs. Lovett. She is already sleeping; her mouth is hanging open, snoring softly, her hands protectively around her belly. He just stares at her sleeping form, marveling about how peaceful and beautiful she looks.
He brushes a stray of her curly hair away from her face; his hand lingering on her face. Her skin is so smooth and soft- very irresistible. His hand travels down from her face to her neck- which is exposed to him, due to her low cut dress. He grazes his hand to the contours of her neck, to her collarbone, and he stops as he is dangerously close to the top of her breasts. He ceases what he is doing and just continues on again with reading the book.
After a few minutes, he hears Mrs. Lovett muttering something that he cannot understand, and crying. She's having a nightmare. He looks at her- her face shows agony, her head moving from side to side, and she is thrashing.
She is now screaming, screaming… his name. He calls her name, trying to wake her up. But she only hits him on the chest and pushes him- while screaming 'No!' he says her name louder but she's just getting more violent. He shakes her; still, she wouldn't wake up. He is getting scared by how Mrs. Lovett is acting- he needs to wake her up. He goes to the kitchen; he grabs a glass and fills it with water. Going back to the parlor, he stands beside her, holding the glass of water. Hesitating at first- but he has no choice- he pours the water all over her face.
She wakes up, sitting abruptly- gasping for air. She does not notice that she is soaking wet- her nightmare is still fresh on her mind. She looks around and sees Ben kneeling at her side with a worried expression on his face. She hugs him fiercely, as if her life depends on it. She cries on his shoulder- she needs comfort, she's scared and he's the only one around. He returns the hug, tracing small circles on her back.
"Shh… it's alright. I'm here." He whispers comforting words to her, trying to calm her down.
After a while, Mrs. Lovett seems to recover from her nightmare. Her hold on him loosens and her crying stops. She's now sniffing and wiping the tears off her face. She pats Ben on the back and pulls back from the embrace, to look at him; she places her hands on his shoulders.
She stares at him, contemplating if he's really in front of her or not. She cocks her head to the side and slowly brings up her hand to touch his face. She closes her eyes as she caresses his visage. The whole time she's doing this, Ben is just looking at her perplexingly. He does not have any idea what she's doing or what's happening inside her mind, he just lets her do whatever she's doing.
She opens her eyes and smiles at him, a sad smile. She sits at the edge of the sofa and asks him, grabbing hold of his hands. "You're not going to leave us, are you? You'll be there for my baby and I, yes?"
He has a questioning look on his face, confused as to why she is asking these questions to him. He places his hand on her shoulder, the other holding her hand. "I have no plans of leaving you and my child, Nell. Always remember that."
The first time he learns about Mrs. Lovett's pregnancy, the first thing that crosses his mind is: how am I going to raise this child? He knows that with a baby on the way, things will be complicated- it's going to be hard. Mrs. Lovett does not need to worry. He knows his responsibilities and his obligations as a father, and he is going to fulfill it- he will manage… they will manage.
"Promise me that you won't." she says in all seriousness. Half of her does not believe that he won't leave them. She has doubts about him. She fears that if Lucy becomes pregnant, Ben would focus more on his wife and their child, and will eventually forget about her… them.
He sighs; he can see it in her eyes that she does not fully trust him. "I promise you, Nellie. I will always be here for you…" he removes his hand from her shoulder and places it on her belly "… and him."
She smiles adoringly at him and lays her head on his shoulder, wrapping her hand around his torso, while her other hand remains holding his. He does the same but instead, he puts his arm around her shoulder; his chin resting atop her head. They stay in this position, content to be in each other's arm.
Silence fills the room. Only their steady breathing and the cackling of the fire can be heard, and listening closely, the ticking off the clock can also be heard. They do not have something to say to one another. They are both in their own world, thinking about many things and maybe… future possibilities.
Suddenly, Nellie looks up, jolting Ben out of his thoughts.
"What?" he asks, seeing that she's staring at him with a puzzled expression.
"You said him… you think our child's a boy?" she asks him, just realizing what he says to her a while ago- referring to their unborn child as 'him'.
"I don't know, but I do want it to be a boy. We will do a lot of things together and I will teach him how to shave. He'll be a barber, just like me" He has a dreamy look on his face- he can already imagine the things that he and his little boy could do together.
"How about you Nell, Do you want a boy or a girl?" he bets that she wants a girl- a little baker, just like her.
"I don't care… as longs as my baby's healthy. That's all I could wish for." She answers truthfully, which makes him proud of her. He can tell that she's going to be a really good mother- she only wants what's best for her child.
Ben wakes up, shielding his eyes from the penetrating glare of the sun. He squints trying to look at his surroundings. Realizing he is not in his room, he makes to get up but notices that there's something beside him that's preventing him from moving, a weight pressed onto him. He checks it and the sight of Mrs. Lovett's sleeping form welcomes him. They both fell asleep last night, sitting.
He does not remember most of what happened last night. All he knows is that Mrs. Lovett and he were talking about their child, but after that, he cannot remember. Maybe they fell asleep from exhaustion and did not bother to go into their own respective rooms. After all, they were really tired from having lots of customers yesterday.
The woman next to him stirs, he looks at her- she is starting to wake up. Mrs. Lovett yawns, stretching her arms and her legs. She does not notice Ben at her side; she thinks that she's in the confines of her bedroom.
"Good Morning, Nellie." He greets her.
"Good Morning, Ben." she greets him, still half asleep. A moment later, she sits up straight and her eyes widens in realization. She looks at him and asks "What are you doing in my bedroom?"
Ben laughs at Mrs. Lovett; she thinks she's in her bedroom. "Nell, you're in your parlor. We fell asleep here." He says, as his laughter subsides.
She looks around and is surprised to see that they are really in her living room. She too cannot remember how they end up sleeping there. "Oh." Is the only thing that she manages to say.
Ben smiles at her then stands up, straightening his clothes, she does the same.
"I'll make us breakfast." She walks past him to go to the kitchen and start preparing food.
"Okay, I'll be in the shop." he says as he heads to her shop, taking a seat while waiting for her.
After a while, Mrs. Lovett emerges from the kitchen holding a tray of food. Ben stands up and takes the tray from her, bringing it to their seat. She mutters a 'thank you' and takes a seat. He takes the plate out of the tray one by one and after that, he takes his seat across her.
While eating, Ben notices that Nellie is staring at something behind him. She has a dreamy look on her face. He looks behind him to see what she is looking at, but there's nothing there that seems interesting. Puzzled he tries to catch her attention by pinching her nose.
She blinks a few times and looks at him questioningly; Ben just shrugs his shoulder.
"A penny for your thoughts?" He asks her.
"I was just thinking of names… you know." She says, pointing at her belly."
"Oh. What names have you come up with?" he has been thinking about it too, the other day. In fact, he has a few chosen names that he can suggest to her.
"Well, let's see… James, Joshua, Robert, or William- if it's a boy…" she looks up at him to see if he has any comments about her choices. Seeing that he doesn't have any, she continues "Anna, Mina, or Flora- if it's a girl."
"Those are lovely names, Nell." He says; he thinks that she did a great job picking out names.
"How about you, do you have anything to add to the choices?" she asks him, excited to know what other names he has in mind.
"Yes. David, for boy and Johanna, for girl." He wants to name his son after his childhood friend, David. They were really close, he considers him his best friend, back then. They would play together; most of the time they would get in trouble and would be punished by their parents. But then one day, David and his family left- he does not know where they went or why they left. Ever since, he has not seen David, he never even got the chance to say good bye to him.
He has chosen the name Johanna for their daughter, naming her after his beloved mother. He has been really close to his mother- he is always at her side. His mother gives him everything he wants, considering he is an only child. She always has her full attention on him. He loves his mother very much, and it is very unfortunate that she died just after marrying Lucy- the cause of death is tuberculosis.
His face looks crestfallen as he remembers his mother. He does have many fond memories of her. His mother is a very lively person, never one to stay still. She is pretty much like Mrs. Lovett. She is also very talkative but she makes sense. He misses her a lot. It saddens him that she would never see her grandchildren, she always want one. She would be a great grandmother.
Nellie notices the look on Ben's face. She wonders what he could be thinking at the moment that upsets him. 'Maybe he remembers something.' She muses. She lays her hand on top of his- which is placed on top of the table- and gives it a squeeze.
"What's wrong, Ben?" she asks him, baffled by his sudden change of mood.
"Nothing, I just remembered my mother. I miss her." He answers, giving her a smile that does not reach his eyes.
"Then why don't you visit her? I'm sure she would be happy to see you." She says, trying to cheer him up; but Ben looks more saddened by what she said.
"She's dead." He whispers, more to himself than her. He still cannot accept the fact that his mother is gone; it feels just like yesterday when he's sitting on her lap, singing him a lullaby.
Mrs. Lovett is stunned. She does not know what happened to his mother- and she does not want to ask. He might think that she's a nosy little baker and she does not want that. She'll just wait for him to tell her, if he wants to and if he does not, then she'll just leave it be.
"I'm sorry Ben, I didn't know." She says, giving his hand a light squeeze.
"It's okay." He smiles at her- a big smile- and abruptly stands up clearing away their plates and putting it on the sink.
Mrs. Lovett just shakes her head and clunks her tongue.
Men…
Afternoon comes; Ben is shaving one of his most loyal customers- Mr. Connor. He comes every Friday at lunch and Ben always expects him. He is one of the people who supported Ben to build up his shop. Even though he always offers him a free shave, Mr. Connor still pays.
"How was your day, son?" he asks Ben, while angling his face on a more suitable position, so Ben could shave him easier.
"Fine, Mr. Connor. How about you, sir? And How's your Mrs. Connor? I haven't seen her in a long time." He asks; whenever Mr. Connor goes for a shave, he is always with his wife but Ben has not seen her for a while now.
"She's fine. Next time I come here, I'll bring her with me." He answers, making sure to bring his wife the next time he gets a shave.
"How about Lucy, how is she?" he asks, suddenly remembering the blonde beauty. He is always mesmerized by Lucy, whenever he sees her.
"She's fine, sir. She's not here though." He replies in a saddened tone.
"Ah, the Judge must be keeping her busy." Mr. Connor chuckles.
"Pardon me, sir." He asks him, confused as to what he is talking about.
"She works for Judge Turpin, right?" he just nods in reply, wanting to know what else he is going to say "I saw her riding a carriage with the Judge and the Beadle. It was early in the morning, about three to four days ago."
"Ah, right sir." His mind begins to be bombarded with unpleasant thoughts. His wife, works for the judge? He does not know how to react to that. He does not even know if it's true.
Mr. Connor motions for Ben to come near him "Come here, son. I have something to tell you…" Ben leans closer to Mr. Connor- putting his ear close to Mr. Connor's mouth "Be careful with the judge, your wife's a pretty little thing." he warns him, knowing that the judge can't be trusted, and with that, he left.
Ben goes down for dinner. He takes a seat at the booth where Nellie is already sitting. He does not greet her nor even smile at her. His mind is not present at the moment- he's in no mood for talking. Ever since Mr. Connor left, he has been thinking about his wife. He does not know what to believe, he trusts his wife but, Mr. Connor says he saw her. He does not know if Mr. Connor is just mistaken- he wishes that he is. The good thing to do is just asks his wife when she gets back.
Mrs. Lovett, sensing that her friend has something that's bothering him, decides to ask him. She looks at Ben who is staring blankly at his food, and clears her throat loudly to get his attention. He does not look up. She does not know if he does not notice or he is just ignoring her. She tries again, this time she calls him.
"Ben!" she half shouts, but still, no response.
"Benjamin!" now she's shouting, she snaps her fingers in front of his face, to break him out of his trance- it worked.
"Wha- what is it?" he asks; his voice is almost a whisper. His eyes show many emotions: confusion, pain, anger. Mrs. Lovett does not know what's going on inside his mind. 'Maybe, he's still thinking about his mother.'
"What's the matter, Ben? What's bothering you?" she asks in concern, she's not used to seeing him like this. He looks really troubled.
"Nothing, I'm okay." He smiles at her but his smile looks strained. "I'll be going now Nellie. I'm tired, good night." he stands up and leaves without looking back.
Mrs. Lovett sighs; she knows that he is lying. She wants to help him if he has any problems but it looks like he does not need her help.
I don't like this chapter, it's crappy. -_-
Are you guys still there?
I'll bring Lucy back at chapter 10. let's get some action done!
Show me some love, leave me a review. :)