"Whatever it is you might have done to deserve it, Natasha, I shan't deny you your right to be Nikki's mother. Even though once you tossed it away so carelessly as if it were a worn-out pair of socks." Another bullseye. D"nd don't get me wrong here; I am not doing it for you! Nikki requires you around." She nodded here more forcefully.

"So you'd like to continue your education?" she asked after a self-conscious throat-clearing.

"I'll need to find a decent place to stay and a job to pay for—"

"That won't be necessary," she interrupted hastily. "The job, that is. I'll cover your schooling costs."

"The only money...