Homebound

Chapter Six

"I feel like I'm going to throw up" I exclaim as Harley stands besides me. Darby's had been mostly empty today but the after lunch rush it had been especially slow.

"I'm so excited" Harley says with a massive smile on her face as she leans against the bar and watches me dry a glass.

It's Thursday afternoon and our last shift before Hex is released. This time tomorrow he'll be out and the thought makes my heartbeat heard in my ears and my brand burn. Tonight will be the last night I have to sleep by myself. Both Harley and I have taken tomorrow off work so that we could spend the whole day with him and then we have the entire weekend as well. I've never been so excited.

Jacob walks over when he notices the giddiness between Harley and I "what's got you two so happy?" he asks, his cologne filling the air around us.

"Oh, nothi-"

"My brother is coming home tomorrow" Harley cuts me off as she folds her hands together and bounces on her feet in excitement. Jacob thinks that Hex is in the army and has been gone since I started at Darby's.

"Your brot- your Darling?" he points from Harley to me. I nod. It makes me confused when I see the light in his eyes dim a little. What the hell?

"Isn't that amazing!" Harley throws her arms around me.

"Uh yeah" Jacob chuckles and rubs the back of his neck with his hand, almost awkwardly. I ignore it as I copy Harley and throw my arms around her. Nothing can dampen my mood today.

I roll my eyes when I hear the office door open; he must've been watching us through the cameras.

"Harley, can you come to my office please" Stevie calls. She rolls her eyes too but happily skips her way inside before the door shuts behind them.

I look at Jacob as we both shake our heads in disapproval.

*

"I heard about the good news" Josie says as I hold the phone between my shoulder and ear while I make Teddy's dinner.

I miss seeing Josie's face everyday, her radiant energy always rubbed off on me. I hadn't seen her in a while but we call a few times a week. It's easier on her; she prefers to stay at home these days. It makes sense; it can't be easy lugging a whole other human around.

"Who told you?" I ask as I laugh.

"They haven't taken me off Hellbound's groupchat yet" she laughs, almost evilly. "I can still see everything" she says, making me laugh. "But seriously Poppy, I'm so happy for you" I can hear the smile in her voice.

"Thank you Josie; means a lot" I say, trying my best to not get emotional. Josie had been there from the beginning. From the moment I first set eyes on Hex to the moment I left Hellbound, she was the one that looked after Hex for me while I couldn't. Not to mention it was her that kept our secret and allowed us to bond. She's done more for us then I could of ever asked her to.

"It's no problem Poppy, I was rooting for you guys from the start" she chuckles "anyway, I want to invite you to my baby shower. I know it's not really your kind of thing but I thought maybe it could be one of yours and Hex's first outing's together?" she asks.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world" I agree. I had never been to a baby shower before and it'd be nice to have the support of Hex with me. I do a little excited dance as I think about all the little things I'll get to experience with Hex. I know some of the people I worked with at Hellbound will be going to the baby shower and I'm not going to lie, I have mixed emotions about how they'll react when they see one of Hellbound's ex-inmate's walk into a baby shower with an ex-guard.