It was the late afternoon, so classrooms were empty. The spring sunset was casting a glow through the windows. Rebecca was pacing around in front of the empty teacher's desk, fidgeting and pulling at her hair anxiously. Her phone held a prominent place on the otherwise clean desk, catching the corner of Rebecca's eye, reminding her why she found the classroom in the first place.

It was going to be an important phone call and the girl's hallway had the tendency for various students to pass by. Not only that, but if Rebecca called from her room, Agnes or Gina or even Emerald could choose to drop by. Rebecca wanted as much privacy as she could in a Mansion that was in surprisingly short supply, Sure, the outside world could barely find them, but once someone was part of the school's microcosm, her life became the stuff of public knowledge and gossip at times.

Rebecca's life had changed a lot within a few weeks. Rebecca herself was nothing like the meek, confused girl that got off the plane in December. Nothing that happened was expected, and she was still learning how to live her new life, but she was happy.

As happy as she was, and as great as Agnes was being to her, there was one thing she had to do on her own, and she was terrified out of her wits. Putting it off was not going to change anything; for the two most important relationships in her life to continue, she had to toughen up.

She picked up the phone and held it in her hand, summoning what courage she could find. She walked over to the window, opening it for some fresh air. The huge room was beginning to feel too claustrophobic.

She stared down at the screen, which was settled on a name in her contacts. She took several deep, slow breaths, with her finger hovering over the call button. Finally, her skin must have made contact, because the phone began to ring, and Rebecca's heart rate doubled.

Riiiiiiiing.

Riiiiiiiing.

Riii--

The ringing stopped, and there was silence for a moment.

"Hello?"

Rebecca's eyes stung at the sound of the voice. Trying her hardest to keep her voice from wavering, she replied.

"Hi, ma... it's Rebecca... can we talk?"

Rebecca could feel the spring breeze pass through the open window as it caressed her skin, so she knew there was air around her, but she could not bring herself to inhale. She waited without breath until she heard her mother reply.

"Ay coorse, sweetheart. Are ye alrecht? Soonds like something's oan yer mind."

It had been a few weeks since her last call, so the thick accent of her mother struck her. Rebecca's own accent was lightening with her time in America, and the contrast was more noticeable alongside her mom.

"Um, y-yeah, Ah guess ye coulds say Ah've got something on my mind. Is pa there?"

As an attempt to add levity to what was feeling like a somber call, Rebecca's mother, Mackenzie replied, "Oh, ye know yer faither; he's at a pub wi' th' men frae wark."

Rebecca chuckled, which she did not expect. Her mother was always able to make her smile when something was bothering her, and three months and an ocean had not changed that. "It's ten there! Tell pa tae get home! He has wark tomorrow!" she accused with a laugh.

Mackenzie laughed at her child's reaction. She was a young mother, now in her thirties, and she always fought to keep a balance between raising Rebecca proper and allowing her to be a child. She loved her daughter's good behavior, but she wished Rebecca would remember to relax. Besides the obvious catalyst for the move, she hoped Rebecca's time in America could loosen her up a bit. (Not too much, like some of the shameless lasses on telly, but a healthy bit.) "Yer faither will be fine! Anyway, enaw abit him; hoo hae ye bin? We miss ye!" They received emails frequently enough, but calls were understandably more sparse, which added to her curiosity about the reason for the call.

"We miss ye." Rebecca was hoping to get much further in the conversation before the stinging in her eyes produced inevitable tears, but she knew then this would not be the case. For all she knew, after this conversation, she might never hear those words again.

"Oh, Ah've been good down here... really good. Wark is fun, an' my friends are great..." She could feel the first tear slide down her cheek, and she pulled the phone away for a moment so she could stop her breath from shaking.

Before she could continue, she remembered again that this could be the last time she spoke to her mother. The last time she would hear a parent's voice, and if that was the case, she needed to hear one thing, even if it would break her heart. Rebecca's voice was already deteriorating, but she managed to get out, "Ma... Ah love ye."

There was a silence coated with concern, but her mother's Scottish dialect broke it. "Ah loove ye, tae. Ye know 'at."

Rebecca covered her mouth because she was approaching audible crying. Mackenzie knew something was wrong. Rebecca could almost feel her mother's brow furrowing half a world away. "What's wrang, hen?"

Taking deep breaths until her weeping was controlled and relegated to whimpering, Rebecca spoke quietly. Her voice cracked, but she could not put anymore strength in her voice or they would never slip through. "Ah met someain, ma."

"Met? Ye mean, ye foond a boyfriend?" Mackenzie was surprised and puzzled. Admittedly, she was caught off guard that someone wooed her little girl, but she did not know why this would upset Rebecca to this level. Surely her father would instill the fear of God into the boy, but that was no reason to cry.

Rebecca shook her head, even with her mother on the other side of a telephone. She tried several times to speak the words, but they were not coming out. Mackenzie waited on the other side of a silent line, unsure and unready for what came next, but it did finally come in the weak, whispering voice of her beloved daughter.

"Nae ma... Ah found a girl... and Ah really like her..."

There was a long, expected pause where Rebecca held her breath, with her heart waiting on Mackenzie's reaction to decide whether it would ever beat again. There was no feedback in the initial drawn-out moments, so Rebecca had no idea what her mother could be thinking or what she would say, but she was not confident. Would she be as bad as Agnes's parents? Would Rebecca be an abomination?

Mackenzie was surprised on the other end, that much was sure. Rebecca had never, in eighteen years, expressed interest in women. Then again, she never expressed interest in anyone in Scotland. She was never sure how she would react when her daughter did finally find a boy for herself, so she was not prepared at all for this conversation.

Her first words came from a place attempting to gain understanding. "Sae... ur ye a lesbian then?"

The question still worried Rebecca; did saying yes lead to the hang-up she was panicking over? "Ah... Ah dornt knoo if Ah'd say 'at exactly... bit Ah like Agnes. An' she's a girl... Sae, Ah like at least ain girl?" It was the best answer she had. She was not labeling herself as a "lesbian," but she clearly had deep feelings for at least one girl.

Mackenzie took some time to process the answer. She would be lying if she told her daughter she understood, but she gathered at least one point: Rebecca liked this girl named Agnes. She took a deep breath. "Is thes Agnes a good lass?"

This question gave Rebecca some hope. If her mother hated her for her choice, she would not want to know anything about Agnes, right? She released a breath, but was not really willing to lower her guard just yet. "She really is, ma! She's sweet an' clever an' she treats me sae well!"

The last piece of evidence her daughter offered gave Mackenzie relief. If Rebecca was going to be dating anyone, male or female, that person would treat her like a princess. She wanted to ask if Agnes was a mutant like her daughter, but the situation was tense enough. The call obviously gave Rebecca anxiety from the sound of wavering breath and tears, and as her mother, Mackenzie did not want her daughter continuing on with this burden.

There was a twinkle in her emerald eyes. "Sae thes girl... is she a bonnie lass?"

This caught Rebecca off guard, because on her list of "questions to expect," Agnes's beauty was nowhere on the list. "Uh, Ah-- well, yes! She's gorgeous!" Rebecca wondered if her mother could feel the crimson cheeks over the phone.

She took a deep breath, her worries slowly easing up. She wanted assurance, though. "Sae... ye still love me?"

Mackenzie's eyes widened at the question. "Ye silly lass! Ay course Ah still love ye. Rebecca... yoo're mah daughter. As long as yoo're you, Ah'll love ye wi' all mah heart-- nae matter who ye love."

Rebecca could feel tears rolling down her cheeks again, sliding to the corners of a pair of lips forming the wide smile of a girl who felt the unconditional love of a mother.

A weight was lifted from Rebecca's chest and she could breath again. She could even laugh again. Her hands wiped away the wet remains of tears from her cheek. Her mother was as fantastic as ever, and it relieved Rebecca of a huge burden.

There was still one thing left though. "Bit... wha' dae ye think dad will say?"

Mackenzie shook her head, even if her daughter could not see it. "Ah'll talk tae yer faither. He can be bullheaded an' old fashioned, bit he loves ye tae much nae tae see ye happy."

The idea of her mother speaking with her father helped a lot. Rebecca's father loved her and was a reasonable man, if not strict, but he was a solid, intimidating man. Even over the phone, she would be on the verge of fainting coming out to him. "Thank ye, ma... Ah love ye sae much..."

Mackenzie smiled. She could feel how earnestly her daughter spoke those words. "Ah know. Ah love ye tae."

Everything had been so heavy in the conversation, and Mackenzie wanted to lighten the mood by bringing up an idea she wanted to talk about before Rebecca called with her news. "Ye know, we miss ye like mad. Yoo'll be out fer th' summer in a few months... ye should come visit!" She paused for a moment before adding with a chuckle, "An' ye can bring Agnes. Ah want tae hae words wi' this lass."

Rebecca blinked, uncertain at first if she heard her mother correctly. "U-um, are ye sure?"

The young mother could not help but laugh. "Aye! Bring th' lassie here! She should see yer beautiful home. Plis, we hae tae remind wee Agnes tha' yoo're our beloved only daughter."

Rebecca choked on her laughter. "Ma! Be nice!"

She sat on the desk now, considering the offer. It would be nice to see Scotland again, and she missed her parents terribly. As for Agnes, taking a trip with the girl sounded like a fun idea, even if it meant subjecting the girl to her father's third degree.

"Ah'll bring it up tae her... bit it sounds wonderful tae me," she said decisively.

Mackenzie smiled widely. "Fantastic. Ah'll talk tae yer faither when he gets home, an' we'll talk tae ye another time aboot plane tickets." With the end of her sentence, Mackenzie could hear the voices of an intoxicated Brit and his equally forgone Scot friend in the distance. It's getting late here though, sae Ah'll call ye tomorrow."

Rebecca had an idea of what was really calling her mother away from the phone, but she held her tongue. "Ah understand. G'night ma. Ah love ye."

With a warm heart, her mother replied, "Good afternoon, sweethert. Ah love ye more."

The call was over, but Rebecca remained in the classroom for a while longer. She looked at her reflection in the window; she was a mess from crying, but she was glad she called.

She had a caring girlfriend.

She had a loving mother.

And she would (hopefully) have a trip to Scotland where the two would meet in her future. Life was unexpected, but life was good.