Daughter

Chapter 4

"What!?" Wonk shot up from his chair. Clearing his throat, a nervous laughter escaped his crooked grin. "I mean- Todd can I speak to you for a moment?" He gave a wide eyed glare to the man as he shifted his head to the side. Sweeney watched Wonka with hardly an expression, unamused. "What ever has to be said can be said here." He replied as Rayna was aware of the tension. Her eyes darted between the two men as her heart began to pulse out her chest. Sometimes her parents would argue like this, one thing would lead to another and she would be hiding in her room. That was a couple years ago now, one of the reasons why she ran away.

Wonka gripped his gloved hands as the rubber squeaked. As an invisible spot light shown on him, he spoke wearily. "I just think it would be more proper to return the girl back to her family." The table fell silent as Sweeney's chair being pushed out seemed obnoxiously loud. "She said she ran away from home and has no desire to go back." He said like a snake biting at the end at each word. Wonka's uncomfortable grin molded to a frown. "Todd I know why you're doing this. It isn't right to keep her." Wonka, knowing damn well why Sweeney wanted to keep her, was trying his best not to place blame. Sweeney's hands swiftly glided to his belt loops baring silver razors. This caught the attention of everyone sitting at the table. Ichabod, baring the seat next to Todd, quickly stood up, interrupting Sweeney's deathly glare to Wonka. "Please Todd, calm down." Wonka was not admittedly frightened, but he held his ground knowing that Sweeney was quick to rage. The moment between the three of them seemed to last hours before Rayna's fight or flight kicked in. She respected both Sweeney and Wonka, making her next words hard to say. "Mister Wonka, mister Todd, I can leave if I've caused too much trouble. I want to go somewhere I don't cause inconvenience." The two men dropped their quarrel, turning to the child. Never once had Wonka met a child so selfless, and never once had Sweeney met a child so pure, besides his own.

Wonka took his seat respectively as he attempted to console the girl. He wasn't 100% on board with the idea of keeping her, but she seemed kind and well enough mannered to be managed. Sweeney still stood almost chest to chest with Ichabod before a sneer broke out across his face and he took his seat, keeping his eyes on the candy man. Wonka extended his hand to finish the shake he offered earlier to the girl. Rayna, a tad confused by this generous offer after such an elevated argument, sat still, watching his purple gloved hand. Wonka anxiously looked to his teacup, back to the girl, shaking his hand and gesturing for her to take it. She took his hand slowly and cautiously as if it was the gaping jaw of a shark. Unaware of her cautious tone, Wonka took her hand firmly and gave it a couple strong shakes before using his other hand to pry hers away and relax. If Rayna felt confused whatsoever by his change of heart offer, she would be dumbfounded after that interaction. The shake went so quickly she didn't notice her hand still suspended in mid air. "Now..." Wonka began turning back to the table. "Who should take care of her?" Rayna pulled back her hand and placed it in her lap, watching the table with wide eyes.

All men seemed to put their heads down, hoping they'd gone invisible. Wonka's question hung above everyone's head like a dead goose. Sweeney raised his frowning face to Wonka with a blaze in his eyes. "I will." He wanted to keep the girl desperately for personal gain, but the table wouldn't allow this. Barnabas quickly interjected. "To see how quickly you reached for a blade in mere argument proves you're not fit for parenthood my friend." These words stung Sweeney as he felt his chances at keeping the girl fall. This doubt quickly changed to rage. "Well who then?" He snapped to Barnabas. "You're a bloody vampire. You think you can do any better?" Barnabas watched Sweeney express his anger calmly. "How about Scissorhands, huh? Like he's age appropriate! The hatter. Oh, the hatter is so far off the deep end he could never conceive the idea of keeping a child sane!" Hatter quickly giggled from his sharp comment, only further proving his statement true. "How about Wonka? The candy man, the friend of all children. I beg to differ. How about those children that went in fine and came out deformed and damaged for life? You think we can trust him with the girl?" Wonka raised a finger to interject, but Sweeney was not yet finished. "The pirate! Jack! The man who drowns himself in liquor! Oh yeah, give him a child. He'll drop her off the side of the ship and not even notice her absence until he sees that his booze are running low and demands she fetch him one!" Jack rocked back in his seat with his hands behind his head. "He's right you know." He muttered to Barnabas beside him, of which the only response he got was a rolling of the eyes. Sweeney slammed his hands on the table in fists as he stood up again in a fit. "You're all terrible! I had a girl! I deserve to take her!" His eyes were fixed on the space in front of him as his expression quickly softened in thought. His mind was somewhere else as he was now sputtering nonsense.

Ichabod once again soothed Sweeney back into his seat as he looked about the table. All eyes were fixed on him as he was the only one not commented on by Sweeney. He nervously shuffled his posture as he opened up. "Now, umm... After that I think we can all agree with Todd that we may not be the best of parents, but I have an idea." While Sweeney was ranting, Ichabod was planning up a way to care for the child that would allow her the safest life for an extended amount of time. "Now if you haven't noticed, there's seven of us." Hatter furrowed his brows as he looked about the men, then smiled, as he did in fact count seven. "There are also seven days in a week." A couple lightbulbs flickered above heads at the tables as Ichabod continued. "We could each have her for a day during the week, and whoever she gets along with best, she can stay with longer." A small mutter passed along the table in agreement as heads turned to Ichabod.

Rayna's eyes grew wide with excitement from the curiosity of her fate. Which eccentric personality would she stay with first? The well renowned candy man of the future? The off hinged, playful hatter? Any options seemed a blessing compared to her normal life. Even the mysterious barber seemed like an interesting guardian in her eyes. She sat up in her seat as her hazel eyes darted between each face. Wonka was quick to raise a finger, interjecting everyone's thoughts with his own superior plan. "Well then, I think we need to do this the way it ought to be." He gave a conniving but charming smile as his eyes narrowed. The table sat silent as they watched Wonka like he was a child giving a presentation about poptarts. Clearly his vague statement was not understood by the others. He rolled his eyes and shifted his stance, his hand resting outwards with a bit of sass. "What I mean is that I should take the child first! The rest can be decided amongst yourselves." He shook his hands outwards as if too "shoo" off the others.

His cocky plan was quickly put aside as a more logical approach was taken. "Why don't we allow the child a more gentle approach to the situation at hand?" Barnabas suggested. "At such an alarming point of life of this child lacking guidance, she should be accompanied by a more realistic lifestyle to her previous." The others agreed as a couple of eyes turned to Ichabod. He was well aware of the responsibilities he was just second handedly given. "Alright, alright..." He began with a bit of reluctance in his voice, "I'll take her for the first day. After that we should alternate between the more likely responsible and the crazy." His words weren't directed at Hatter, but it surely did seem like he implied so from the reactions of others. "That being said..." He continued, "why not the next caretaker be Jack." He gestured to the pirate but quickly pointed his hand around the table, setting the schedule. "Then Barnabas, then Hatter, then Edward." His voice trailed off. "We can end with Wonka and Todd." With that, there seemed no fuss, and everyone took their place in the week. Ichabod always had a way of being the logic and brains for the group when things got out of hand.

Jack swung his hand up recklessly to compliment Ichabod's thinking skills as the sleeve of his shirt caught his tea cup. The cup went flying into the air, tea of golden brown shades were splashing about as time slowed. Since no one had quite the reflexes to catch it in time, the cup went spiraling down and shattered against the table. Like the finally of an act, Hatter stood from his seat and banged his hand together with joy. Sweeney gripped the bridge of his nose as he deeply sighed. This experiment  was going to surely end in a ball of flames.