Kristina, while in the maternity hospital, learned that her mother-in-law had moved in with them.
The young parents were quickly pushed aside by the newly-minted grandmother from their son.
At home, Kristina noticed that the baby bath and a pack of diapers she had bought were on the balcony.
– “How wonderful that you’re having a son. I’ve always dreamed of naming him Karpo! At least name your grandson that!” her mother-in-law chirped joyfully into the phone.
– “Vera Nikolaevna, we’ve already chosen a name. He’ll be Sergey. It sounds beautiful – Sergey Andreyevich,” Kristina tried to explain, surprised.
– “Again you’re not listening to me! What’s with this Sergey? You could fill a fence with those names! I’ve thought of a beautiful and strong name for the grandson, and you’re turning your nose up? I see how it is. Selfish,” her mother-in-law got angry and hung up.
“Her own sons are named Andrey and Alexey! And for the grandson, the best she could come up with is Karpo?” Kristina fumed to herself.
When she told her husband about the conversation, Andrey just laughed:
“Remember your prophetic dream? What kind of fish did you see?”
Kristina and Andrey had been married for over ten years, but they didn’t have children.
First, they focused on their careers and buying a home, then they traveled.
When they turned thirty, they started thinking about having a child, but it wasn’t that simple.
They started long trips to doctors, examinations, and treatments. Though everything seemed fine, pregnancy didn’t happen.
By their twelfth wedding anniversary, they sadly accepted that they would likely remain childless. Andrey, wiping away a tear, said:
“It’s not meant for us to become parents. But I love you and want to grow old with you.”
Exactly one month later, Kristina had an amazing dream. She saw a huge carp in the bathroom.
“Andrey, look, what’s this! How did it happen? You didn’t go fishing!” Kristina screamed in her dream and woke up.
At work, over tea, Kristina told her colleagues about the dream.
Tamara Alexandrovna smiled and said:
– “Looks like you’ll catch a fish for life.”
– “What do you mean?”
– “The dream means pregnancy. Mark my words!”
Kristina just sighed. She hadn’t been hopeful for the last month. But the dates pointed to the fifth day of the delay.
The next morning, the two lines on the test stunned her.
The pregnancy was going well, with only nausea bothering her in the early months.
Then Kristina started being tormented by her mother-in-law.
Vera Nikolaevna, an active woman, had long waited for grandchildren. When she learned about Kristina’s pregnancy, she began giving her advice.
– “You need fifty diapers. Flannel and thin ones. Is the iron ready? You have to wash and iron them on maximum heat!”
– “I wasn’t planning on using diapers. I’ll buy onesies and bodysuits with diapers.”
– “What are you talking about? It’s going to be a boy! No plastic diapers, like in a greenhouse! Only gauze ones. I’ll teach you, or else there will be health problems!”
– “Okay, but I’ll pick the color and design,” Kristina relented. “I don’t like them too bright.”
– “We’ll pick, don’t worry,” her mother-in-law agreed.
A week later, her mother-in-law brought a bag of diapers.
“I’ll manage without you! Look at this flannel!”
Kristina unwrapped the diapers with ducklings and teddy bears, disappointed.
“Well, she bought them, so she bought them. I won’t start a scandal over this.”
At the maternity hospital, Kristina learned that her mother-in-law had moved in “for a week or two to help with the baby.”
After a difficult delivery, Kristina didn’t have the strength to protest.
“Help might be useful,” she decided.
– “Oh, you’re holding him so awkwardly! Let me show you,” her mother-in-law greeted Kristina at discharge.
The young parents were pushed away from their son.
At home, Kristina noticed that the baby bath and diapers had ended up on the balcony.
– “I’ll show you how to bathe him properly! You need to use plastic, not a bath chair! You’ll dislocate my Karpusha’s limbs.”
– “His name is Sergey,” Andrey reminded her.
– “You can name him whatever you like. To me, he’s Karpusha!” her mother-in-law fussed, turning on the hot water.
The bath was ready, and the mother-in-law took the baby to bathe him.
The baby cried as his grandmother washed him with soap and wrapped him in two diapers.
– “It’s warm in the house,” Kristina tried to protest.
– “It’s warm for you, but it’s cold for him. Don’t take off the bonnet, let him sleep like that!”
The night was restless for the couple. The baby couldn’t sleep in wet diapers.
They had to get up, change, and re-diaper. The baby didn’t let anyone sleep.
By morning, the diapers had piled up, and Kristina and Andrey nearly competed to see whose dark circles were worse.
Sergey developed a rash.
– “It’s not a rash!” her mother-in-law disagreed. “It’s because of something you ate!”
– “I’ve been eating buckwheat with chicken!” Kristina protested.
– “Maybe he doesn’t tolerate your milk! You should feed him formula,” her mother-in-law insisted.
– “No way! I’ll feed him myself,” Kristina stood firm.
Her mother-in-law left, but every morning, she took the baby to her room.
“Mom can’t calm him down! Let grandma handle him!” she would say, shoving the pacifier in his mouth.
The baby spat it out, but the grandmother kept trying.
Weighing the baby revealed weight loss.
“My mother-in-law is taking him away from my milk!” Kristina realized, deciding to defend her motherhood.
The next morning, her mother-in-law entered the bedroom in her usual manner:
– “Alright, you eat and wash, I’ll take care of him! What’s the point of hanging on your breast?”
– “No, thank you! He’s still eating,” Kristina firmly replied, hugging her son.
– “If only there was something to eat!” her dissatisfied mother-in-law hoped to go to her grandson.
As soon as Kristina banned her from taking the baby, he started gaining weight.
Vera Nikolaevna sighed and complained that Kristina was tormenting the boy.
“Enough with grandma’s watchful eye,” Kristina decided, and asked her husband to tell her mother that they were managing on their own.
After the conversation with her son, her mother-in-law was offended:
– “I wanted to stay for a couple more months! How will my Karpusha do without me?”
– “We’ll visit,” Andrey comforted his mother.
Every weekend, they went to see her. She would immediately take the baby and kiss him.
“Rest while I’m with the grandchild!” she turned away from her daughter-in-law and son. When saying goodbye, she would press the baby to her chest.
– “You go, but leave the baby with me. He’s better off with me!”
– “And what will you feed him?” Kristina asked jokingly.
– “I’ll find better milk! Not that stuff you’re giving him!”
– “Alright, Mom, we have to go,” Andrey intervened, anticipating that the conversation wouldn’t end well.
Outside, Kristina said to her husband:
– “Clearly, she never nursed you and your brother properly.”
– “We lived with grandma more often,” Andrey admitted.
– “I can tell. We didn’t have a son for her. She’ll have to accept it – she’s a grandmother, not a mother.”