Hidebound

Chapter TwentyEight

"Poppy?"

"Yeah mum?" I call back, alerting her of my whereabouts. I hear her feet walking down the hallway in my direction, she enters the room still dressed in the clothes she had worn to work and takes a seat on my bed besides me.

She clears her throat and takes the mess of necklaces I had been trying to untangle as I try to decide what jewellery to wear when I marry Hex in two days time. "I found a place" she announces, avoiding my gaze like she's wary to tell me.

"Mum, that's amazing!"I praise her, it changes her entire attitude and the worry that she held disappears instantly as a smile takes over. "Where abouts?" I ask and watch as her hands move quickly, much quicker then mine and she finally gets one necklace loose.

"Ten minutes away, it's a small apartment and a little run down but it's a start" she says as I nod. I grab the necklace she had got loose but barely look at it before dropping it again, I am not wearing that.

"That's good mum, I'm really proud of you. When do you get the keys?" I question and grab the second necklace she had freed, this one is rusted so I drop it too.

"Tomorrow" she continues working her fingers on the necklaces, even when I sit silent and stare at the side of her head like she's crazy.

"Tomorrow?" I clarify. She nods. "Mum, when did you find out you got the apartment?" I ask her, slightly shocked.

She shrugs like it's nothing "a few weeks ago".

"Weeks! Mum why didn't you tell me? We still have to pack all your stuff" she hands me another necklace she had freed and I place it on the bed besides me without looking at it.

"You've been busy with work and the wedding, I didn't want to put anymore stress on you" she finally looks up at me and stops fiddling with the necklaces. "And I've already packed" my mouth drops open. How had I not noticed? Had I really been so stuck inside my own head lately?

"I-what, why?" I stutter out.

"I just told you why, honey" she chuckles and goes back to untangling the necklaces.

"No, why are you in such a hurry to move out?" I question as I turn to face her and bring my legs to my chest. Her hair is tied up in a bun but a lot of it is falling out of the hair tie and falls around her face.

"You're getting married Poppy and I-I don't know, you might need that room spare?" She says, her voice becoming higher at the suggestion.

"Mum, I told you. No babies anytime soon, that room is yours for as long as you want it" I state firmly. She puts the necklaces down again and turns to me, pulling me into a hug. The perfume she wears is the same she had worn for my entire childhood and I breathe it in readily.

"What'd I do to deserve a daughter like you, huh? Thank you for everything you've done for me" she whispers in my ear and tightens her arms around me. I blink away the tears that develop in my eyes and breathe in her perfume and the lingering smell of shampoo in her hair.

"No, thank you for everything you've done for me" I say back quietly.

*

"This is nice mum" I say as a drop the box of her items and walk around. Hex walks through the door behind us, carrying two boxes stacked on top of each other. He places them next to mine. He wears a white singlet and it allows me to watch as his muscles and tattoos move underneath, Hex catches my eye when I fail to look away quick enough. He winks, bringing a blush to my cheeks.

The last thing I wanted to be doing was moving out mum the day before my wedding but thankfully as she had said, she had packed everything. She even cleaned her room once it was empty and the unnecessary stress that I caused myself disappeared into thin air.