“Did you get her flight information right?” Shane whispers.

“I thought so,” she whispers back. “Mom? Mom?” she calls out again. There is still no answer. “I guess I got the time wrong. Do you mind waiting here with me for her?”

“Not at all.” Shane walks up behind Molly and envelops her in her arms. She kisses her neck. “I can think of a few ways to pass the time,” she breathes into her ear.

“As tempting as that sounds Shane, I don’t think my mom could take walking in on us again!” Molly laughs.

Shane laughs as well. “So true!” Molly spins around and hugs Shane. As she pulls back just enough to kiss her, Phyllis walks through the front door. Molly jumps back from Shane’s embrace.

“Mom!”

Phyllis looks over to where she heard her daughter’s voice coming from, “Molly! What are you–” She trails off mid-sentence when she sees Shane standing next to Molly. Phyllis turns on her heel and marches out of the foyer.

Molly chases after her, “Mom, please, I need to talk to you.” Shane follows behind her.

“Not now, Molly. I don’t want to get into it.”

Molly runs ahead of her mother and stands in front of her. Her voice is laced with anxiety when she speaks. “Mom, I need to talk to you. WE need to talk to you.” At this, Shane, who was standing behind Phyllis watching, comes up next to Molly and grabs her hand.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay away from my daughter, Shane?”

Shane starts to say something, but is interrupted by Molly. “Stay away from me?! Are you kidding me with that? I’m an adult and I will love whoever I want to love, Mother.”

“Love? LOVE?” That word stuns Phyllis. “You must be kidding me, Molly.”

“No, I’m not. I love Shane and Shane loves me. You are just going to have to get used to that. She is in my life and she’s not going anywhere.”

“Molly, honey, don’t you know her track record? She’s a love-them-and-leave-them kind of girl. She’s going to break your heart. I couldn’t live with myself if I let that happen. I’m your mother. I’m supposed to protect you.”
“I don’t need you to protect me anymore. I want to be with Shane. Please accept that.”