Shane and Molly pull apart and just smile. Molly shows the tickets to Alice and Tasha and squeals, “We’re going to Hawaii on Saturday!”

“Sweet,” Alice says as she checks out the tickets. “What’s the occasion?”

“My birthday,” Molly says dreamily as she leans back towards Shane to kiss her. “I’m going to call my mother and let her know. I’ll be right back.”

As Molly gets up to leave, Shane leans over the table and whispers, “You guys are coming tomorrow night, right?” “Yeah, SheBar at 8pm, right?” Tasha whispers back.“Yeah, great. Molly’s going to be totally surprised. She has no idea,” Shane says.

“Is Phyllis coming?” Alice asks.“I hope so. I invited her and Joyce,” Shane says as she turns around to check that Molly is still on the phone. Turning back towards Alice and Tasha, she continues, “Molly’s been talking to her mom pretty regularly, but Phyllis still hasn’t come by the house to see her. I haven’t seen or talked to her, other than when I invited her to the party, since Molly and I decided to move in together. I really wish she would come to the party so there isn’t all this pressure on Molly, you know? She wants her mom and me to get along.” “I can’t believe Phyllis is still…” Alice starts, but trails off as she sees Molly approaching.“What’d your mom have to say?” Shane asks as Molly sits back down. “Oh, nothing really,” Molly says dejectedly. “I told her we were leaving on Saturday and asked her if maybe we could all get together tomorrow night to celebrate my birthday since we won’t be here and she said that she was busy and maybe we could do it sometime after we get back.” Shane looks over to Alice and slyly smiles as Molly continues on, “I just can’t believe her. I mean, we’ve been together for a while now and she still hasn’t accepted it.”Shane puts her arm around Molly and kisses her cheek, “It’s okay, babe. She’ll come around eventually.” She rubs her back reassuringly.“I hope so.”

That evening, Molly is watching television as Jenny comes home. “Hey Molly,” Jenny says happily.Looking up from the TV, Molly says, “Hey.”
“Where’s Shane? I noticed her car’s not here.” “Getting Chinese food for dinner.”“Oh, nice. That sounds good.” Jenny heads into the kitchen and drops her bag on the table. She stands there silently for a moment, pondering whether or not now is the time to talk to Molly. She turns around and says, “Molly, listen…I…” but trails off.