Honestly, Aleska Jones thinks perhaps she is a selfish, selfish person.

It is probably inevitable that guilt becomes too much when her stress is too much. She has lived five years of a life she had tried her damndest to never fall into. She had left her hard-won education, her friends, and her father behind with a baby in her belly and dragging her sister in tow. She had left her husband's grave and so many things behind. Put her child in poverty, her sister in poverty, all to escape her memories and the pressure her father had placed upon her shoulders. If it hadn't been for the accident, perhaps Aleska would have left her daughter as an undocumented immigrant, illegal, in the only country she had ever known, just to stay away from her own pain.

And now that that is no longer a horrific reality, what does Aleska do?

She is selfish. Instead of sticking to Jupiter and raising her all that she has- she is pursuing education. Her time as a washerwoman has left her the dislike of the idle, and-

"Mama," Jupiter scolds.

Aleska jumps. Near ten feet in the air, as she turns to see her daughter, sleepwear on, a scowl on her sweet face, and hands placed firmly on her hips.

Aleska blinks.

"You know, you make this face when you worry too much. It makes me sad to see it," Jupiter says, firmly.

Aleska laughs, lets it bubble up. The touch of hysteria is due to the lack of rest, she is sure, and she cannot muster the strength to suppress it.

"And so little Leo, do you see fit to scold me for my worries?"

"Only when they're dumb. And since you haven't moved from this table in nearly twelve hours, I can only guess they're dumb."

Aleska smiles, and then sighs.

"I… I think perhaps I accepted your grandfather's wish to see me as a Professor of Mathematics again too readily. You are young Jupiter, and I fear I am leaving you alone," Aleska confessed.

Perhaps it was foolish to say such things to her daughter, so young, so fragile emotionally considering her new environment and circumstances. But Aleska never liked to lie, especially to her. Jupiter tilted her head.

"I'm never alone," her voice is warm and earnest, "I have grandfather, I have Venus, I have Stinger and Kiza and the cousins and Aunt Nino. But most importantly I have you, Mama. I want you to go back to school. I want everyone to remember Professor Aleska Jones and how smart and wonderful she is in the world of mathematics."

Aleska sighed.

"I- I am also your mother-"

"Being my Mama doesn't mean you can't also have your career. When you left the once Soviet Union, you left that career behind. Dad would have wanted you to get it back."

Aleska blinked back tears.

"Don't you feel as if I am not with you enough?"

Jupiter gave a shrug.

"Sometimes. But no more than when you were working with the cousins. Mama, aren't you happy to be returning to school?"

"Of course, Jupiter. I always wished to be a Doctor-"

"Then don't be guilty. I want you to be happy. Mama, I love you."

Aleska smiled.

"And I love you."

"Now go to bed. You haven't moved in twelve hours."

Aleska laughed.