Aleska Jones felt something, warm and full, as she watched her daughter, arms elbow-deep in the dirt.
Her naturalist, happiest place. Where the burden of seriousness and maturity faded away. Where Jupiter stopped holding her shoulders just so, where her hair started to slip and frizz out of its careful and meticulously constructed braids. Where her smile became so wide Aleska could see each and every one of her teeth, missing or not.
It was like watching Max and the stars. Something deep and beautiful alight in those eyes that had caught Aleska's breath on that cold, freezing day walking home from work.
Something that had near broken her heart when she had seen that light blossom in the very eyes that Max had given their little Jupiter.
Jupiter and plants and dirt. It was a recipe for a happy, energetic child that seldom let herself behave like a child.
It was even more so when she had company.
Venus Greyson stood above Jupiter, a large hat on her curly head, her eyes covered with large wrap-around sunglasses. The poor woman had light sensitivity, and more often than not her eyes required those glasses, a pair that was bright and pink, shaped like hearts. Aleska felt a slight smile, life on her lips, seeing the woman hovering above her child, a large clipboard, no doubt the plans, and lists upon lists that Jupiter had eagerly created for the landscaping of their home pinned and kept securely by the board.
Aleska was honest enough to know she felt conflicted, seeing Venus Greyson slip so seamlessly into Jupiter's life.
It was perhaps a by-product of their previous situation, or perhaps a by-product of her natural maturity, but Jupiter was hard-pressed to connect to people. She in her little world had never had a friend. She loved her family, of that Aleska never doubted, but she had always held herself slightly away. Drifting high, like a star, above and disconnected. It had been only Aleska who Jupiter would be open with, only Aleska who would bring her little Leo back to Earth. But now her world had expanded since her accident, since her kidnapping. And Aleska felt odd at no longer being the only person with whom Jupiter would look too.
Jealousy, how silly do you think me, Max, to be jealous of a young woman who has done nothing but give herself to our child?
Aleska thinks perhaps Venus should have something more than her life, other than following after Jupiter, but she then remembers her story, being orphaned despite her relative state of adulthood, was a difficult thing for anyone. From what Sergi had been able to find of the girl, she seemed self-isolated, and seeing her with Jupiter made Aleska jealous, yes, but also made her see how wide Jupiter would smile at the quiet woman, how often she would turn to her. And how wide Venus was smile back.
It was perhaps odd, for Jupiter's first friend to be a twenty-two-year-old woman, but how cruel would be Aleska be to tear that away?
Especially when Jupiter rarely wanted anything, rarely asked to be indulged.
Kiza, the teenage girl from next door, was beaming, next to her daughter, carefully helping her arrange the seedlings that would bloom into ornate, full flowers that Jupiter had meticulously chosen herself. Their sole neighbor, Mr. Steven Apini, 'Just call me Stinger, an old nickname from my uni days,' was next to Aleska, the remains of lunch spread across the table. It was a strange day, that the Apinis were not here, in their home. More often than not, when they weren't present, Jupiter was over with them, fascinated by the cycles of the stinging insects that had swarmed her. Another oddity. Aleska had spent much of her own time in the United States avoiding people herself. But she found herself liking their neighbors, and it was partially because she felt Venus needed a friend near her own age, and Kiza Apini was a perfect fit for that.
But it does not mean she is idle or oblivious to the oddness that surrounded them.
"Is odd," she murmured, looking to Kiza's father, "Is it not Wednesday? I realize that Kiza is never in school?"
"Kiza has always been very sick," confessed the man, eyes dark, hands clenching in his lap.
Horror spasmed in Aleska's chest.
"It… It isn't feasible for her to be in school. Her medical schedule is too strict. I've been homeschooling her."
Aleska blinked, rapidly.
"I am sorry-"
"It was bound to be asked, Ms. Jones-"
"Aleska is fine… Stinger," she reassured him, her drop of the queer nickname making the man give her a small, warm smile.
"I guess you also wonder why we always let Jupiter come over, or why we are eager to accept your invitations?"
Aleska felt her cheeks heart, at the frank and direct manner that the man was tackling her own confusion and apprehension at her usually socially isolated daughter being so keen on making friends with people so much older than her. It had been creeping in her mind, the strangeness of these strangers being so eager to befriend her daughter. But she has been reluctant to ask because of how much Jupiter seemed to adore these people.
"My son went missing," he told her, and his smile was still in place and Aleska felt her hair stand on end with the grief in his eyes, "He's gone, and I will probably never see him again. Not long after he disappeared, I lost the rest of my family. I nearly lost Kiza, once her illness really set in. I've lived a very lonely, long life trying to keep my daughter alive. And when Jupiter came into our lives- well. She's a very sweet girl."
Emotion threatened to take her, and she knew without more words how much Jupiter must've been to this man and his daughter.
"She is so good," Aleska told the poor man, her throat rough with emotion, "She has this thing- this thing of making people feel better."
Stinger Apini beamed. A smile so handsome and warm that it actually took Aleska off guard. Because he seemed gruff and straight-laced. And he rarely smiled, as far as Aleska had seen.
"Yes. Jupiter is good at taking broken people and helping them."
"My Jupiter helped you then, emotionally?"
Something passed in Stinger's eyes, something sincere and grateful that was completely arresting.
"She helped Kiza. Like I said. Kiza has been sick. She's pretty much only had me since her brother went missing, and... I think I wasn't enough. And... I know she's been lonely. Jupiter really changes that, and so has Venus."
Aleska feels shame then, for her unease, for her jealously, for so many things that she had thought. She sniffed, reaching over to squeeze the man's large hand. The man's smile turned larger, sweeter, and Aleska felt her uneasy fade away completely.
The Earth is full of miracles my love, and Jupiter is one of the biggest ones.
