When the younger son got married, the older children had long since moved out—the daughter married and moved to Yekaterinburg with her husband, and the son went to work in the North. Sveta always knew that the older kids wouldn’t stay in the village for long—the daughter loved the glamorous life, spent her childhood plastering the walls with magazine pictures, while the son, obsessed with geographical maps, dreamed not of a cowshed and a vegetable garden, but of distant countries. But the youngest, Yegor, was always her boy, and when his father died, he said: — Mom, I will never leave you, I will always live with you.
She stood at the edge of the grave repeating—how will I live without you, Vasyenka, how will I live without you. The daughter cried too, the older one stood silent like a block of ice, but Yegorka, who had just turned twelve then, stood by the whole funeral, offering his fragile shoulder. And he kept his promise, even when he was studying, he came home almost every weekend. So he looked for a wife who would agree to live in the village. He built a house, true, on a different street, there was no space nearby. He called his mother to move in with him, but Sveta refused—why have two housekeepers in one house? The bride was named Zoya. She had big blue eyes and long hair, below her waist. Yegor brought her from the city, they studied together, and, as he confessed to his mother, he had courted Zoya back then, but she did not notice him. But now she did. The wedding was loud, cheerful—relatives gathered. Sveta liked the bride—a good girl, clearly strong-willed, just what Yegor needed. And that she couldn’t do much around the house, well, that’s nothing—Sveta would teach her.
The first conflict occurred a week later when Sveta came to help make soup, because Yegor couldn’t do without it, he had a weak stomach since childhood. Zoya yelled at Sveta, saying that her hands were dirty and she was touching the bread with them. But how else was Sveta supposed to touch them? She didn’t argue, left, and in the evening Yegor asked her not to come when he wasn’t there, Zoya got nervous. — Don’t be upset, mom, Zoya is just pregnant, that’s why she’s nervous, – he explained.
And Sveta wasn’t upset. Grandchildren are a joy, something to fill the hole in her heart, especially after her children left, always cold inside.
The parents and friends came to meet the new mother. Sveta tried to say that so many people shouldn’t crowd a newborn, but Zoya called her superstitious and looked meaningfully at her husband. Yegor asked his mother not to make things up, better make tea for everyone, they are all tired from the trip. Sveta did just that. Fed everyone, washed the dishes. And she watched her granddaughter—so tiny, so pretty, she just wanted to hold her!
— May I hold her? – she asked.
Zoya looked at Sveta’s hands and said:
— Just wash your hands first.
— But I just washed the dishes!
— Exactly! What sloppiness!
Zoya’s parents stared at Sveta, and she felt awkward—maybe she really didn’t understand something.
She held her granddaughter, of course. How sweetly she smelled! Such a wonderful girl turned out. Plus, Zoya changed her rules—allowed Sveta to come while Yegor was at work, because she couldn’t keep up with the housework, and Sveta was happy. True, the bride always found something to criticize, and hardly let her hold the granddaughter, but Sveta got used to it. She was offended, of course, but what to do—her son loved her, so she had to get used to it. What really hurt her was that Zoya didn’t accept the pink jumpsuit Sveta bought for the granddaughter.
— Did you buy it at the market? My daughter will not wear such things! And it’s already warm, no need to swaddle the child in a jumpsuit, it’s April!
They named the girl Anya, after a cousin, and Yegor promised that they would name the next daughter in her honor. Sveta doubted that Zoya would want many children, so she didn’t get her hopes up. But here she was wrong.
When they celebrated Anya’s first birthday, Zoya and Yegor hugged and announced that they were expecting another baby. Zoya’s mother sighed, said it was too soon, and Sveta added that there was a small gap between her first children too, and it was fine. The cousin pursed her lips—she always did that when Sveta spoke. In the end, everyone was happy, of course, congratulated the young couple. Zoya blushed, said she wanted a boy.
And it turned out to be a boy, named Vasya, and Sveta cried—she could not have dreamed that they would name the grandson Vasyenka.
She grew very attached to the grandson. Zoya had a difficult second childbirth, and then she stopped resisting—allowed Sveta to help around the house and with the grandchildren, especially with the little one, he practically spent his entire first year in Sveta’s arms.
Zoya lay in bed and complained that her head hurt. She gained a lot of weight, couldn’t lose it, and scolded her mother-in-law for baking pies. But how could they do without pies, Yegor loved them so much? Besides, Sveta didn’t consider Zoya fat. Yes, she got rounder, but that was good. But she stopped baking pies.
The third child, Vanechka, was born pale, frail, it was impossible to look at him without tears. Sveta expected Zoya to lay in bed for six months, but she was wrong—Zoya cared for her little Vanechka with such fervor that Sveta had never seen before. Here she learned to cook, to give massages, to keep the house clean. Sveta took the older children to her place, and more help wasn’t needed.
The children grew, Vanechka remained sickly, so Sveta also helped with school, especially when a girl from their village went missing. She was searched for a long time—police came, volunteers with dogs searched. They found her after a month, in the river. And she hadn’t fallen there by herself… Yegor was very scared then and asked Sveta to take the children to school. And after classes, Zoya picked them up or Yegor did if he got off work early.
Vanya had some rare disease, Sveta tried to ask her son, but he only got angry, couldn’t accept that he would have such a son. The bride said that Sveta with her ninth-grade education wouldn’t understand. It didn’t seem so bad—well, he was pale, had a large head and fluffy hair. But otherwise—a normal boy, clever.
Zoya loved her youngest son terribly and noticed nothing around her. Sveta found out earlier than her that Yegor started looking at the saleswoman Katya and tried to shield the girl from this. But good people reported, of course.
That day the children walked home by themselves. Vasya told her about it when Sveta stopped by in the morning.
— Grandma, why do you lead us! We can do it ourselves. Yesterday I myself drove dogs away from Anya, and we didn’t get lost.
Anya was terribly afraid of dogs. But that’s not even the point—Sveta couldn’t understand why Zoya didn’t meet the children? She was walking with Vanya at that time anyway.
Zoya was swollen, with red eyes and a sniffing nose.
— How will I go out now? – she asked. – Everyone will be pointing at me! I bought yogurts for Vanya from her every day, every day!
— Drop it! – Sveta sternly ordered. – Go wash up, get yourself together. We’ll go to the store together.
Surprisingly, the bride obeyed Sveta’s strict order, and within an hour both of them were marching to the central store, pushing Vanya in a stroller—he still walked poorly. Katya, standing behind the counter, raised her head and stared boldly at her rival.
— Katya, we need butter, do you have any? Only the good stuff, my Yegor loves his pie with cottage cheese, Zoya cooks it very deliciously. Give us fresh cottage cheese, and some of those expensive candies—Zoya likes them, and my son spares no money for his beloved wife. He got his paycheck today, said all the money can be spent.
Zoya stood next to her and caught Sveta’s courage—joined in the game too. When the purchases were all packed, Kateryna suddenly blurted out:
— Tomorrow they promised to give me a phone. With a camera. I don’t need your candies!
Sveta discreetly nudged her daughter-in-law—saying, don’t worry, there won’t be any phone. They said goodbye and left, and after lunch they really did bake a pie together, but didn’t leave a piece for Yegor. He, apparently having received a report from his mistress, began looking under the towel, where only crumbs remained.
— You didn’t even leave me any? – he was offended.
— Sorry, we didn’t notice, we ate it all, – Sveta lied. – You, son, have some borscht, it will be healthier for you. And we have news—I arranged it, Zoya is going to work. Remember Uncle Sasha? He opened a delivery service, needs a telephone operator there. And why not, the salary is good, the drivers are nice guys, they won’t offend our Zoya.
— What about Vanya? – Yegor was bewildered.
— What am I for? Can’t I handle little Vanechka? Come on, give me the money, we need to buy decent clothes for Zoya, get her a haircut. Come on, come on, what are you standing for?
Yegor didn’t dare disobey his mother—pulled out his wallet, took out one bill, another, a third… Until Sveta emptied his entire wallet, she wasn’t satisfied. Now go and buy your mistress a phone with whatever you want!
Of course, she hadn’t arranged anything with Sasha yet, but he had once had a crush on her and couldn’t refuse—took Zoya as a second telephone operator.
— Don’t make scenes with Yegor, – Sveta advised. – And pretend like you know nothing. Just no affection or anything like that, stay indifferent. Focus on the children, the house, and talk more about work.
Sveta herself started praising Zoya to her son—she’s a good housekeeper, takes care of the children well, and such a beauty! Well, what else was left to do—if they fought, Zoya would go to her parents and take the kids…
Sveta’s plan worked quickly. Kateryna apparently made a scene over the missing gift, but at home it was quiet and peaceful, and the wife started running off to work early in the morning looking beautiful. He even started meeting her from work after a driver gave her a ride a couple of times. Zoya also coached by Sveta, just asked someone for a friendly ride, so he wouldn’t think anything. Anyway, after three months, Yegor started avoiding that store, and Zoya was all aglow. Vanya, of course, missed his mom, but he spent more time walking with Sveta and even got stronger—why put a cross on a child, let him walk as he can, the main thing is that his head works.
On the eve of Easter, Zoya came in flushed, her eyes sparkling—clearly eager to share the news.
— I’m expecting a baby, – she announced. – I was at the doctor’s today, it will be a girl!
And Sveta had already realized that there was an addition coming, she had an experienced eye. And she knew it would be a girl from the belly.
— Now we’ll have our little Sveta, – Zoya said and smiled. – And where is that pink jumpsuit that didn’t fit Anya? I think it will come in handy, I’m due in the fall.
Sveta beamed, hugged her daughter-in-law, and said:
— It’s there, where could it go! And the booties, and the hat… Oh, how is this… – Sveta got confused, not knowing how to ask without offending. – Well, so it’s like with Vanya…
Zoya waved her hands.
— All good! I didn’t want to say until it was clear. She doesn’t have any disease, we checked the genes.
And both women exhaled. It was good and peaceful. And so much wonderful ahead…