Story Time

It was hard for him to speak of her now, even after years, but he did it for them. They needed to know. Two boys, that was what she gave him. Wonderful as it was, she wasn't here now, not to comfort them when they cried or tuck them in before bed. Eleanor Lovett had been anything but a lady, but as Sweeney was forced into marriage with her when they found she was pregnant, he had grown attached. They took wonderful walks in the park, sat down by the beach and had picnics. A few times, he had even spoken to his unborn children, though he would never admit it.

The two boys were five now, another reminder that Nellie had also died five years ago. She never knew them, only their crying the first day they arrived. She loved them so much. She had always wanted to be a mother, she said. Only Nellie never got the chance. Not to see them walk, or laugh, or say their first word.

In the months Eleanor was pregnant, she had definitely turned herself into a proper lady, a proper wife.

Sweeney felt that it was partly his fault she died. The cause was childbirth, and after all, it takes two to make a baby. Maybe he should have taken care of her... There was nothing wrong, she insisted.

But now, it was story time. He would tell them about Eleanor Fletcher. Eleanor Fletcher-Todd, the mother of his children, and his final, if he could call it that, love. In his own Sweeney Todd kind of way, that was love. She grew on him.

It took almost three years of story times to realize that.

Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed, feel free to leave a review. Sorry if you think Sweeney is a little out of character. Sorry it's really short. Fun to write, and I hope, fun to read.