I will not take my mother in. I’m often away on business trips, I have no time to deal with an old sick woman,” Nikita said bluntly. A flicker of worry passed through his eyes. “What if she starts a fire or a flood? Who will be responsible then?”
“I won’t take her either,” Boris echoed uncertainly, not caring that their mother was in the next room and could hear everything. “Irka would throw me out if I brought grandma home. And the kids are small, they might get scared of her oddities.”
“Then let Kolya and Nadya take her,” Nikita declared decisively, settling the matter. “If they refuse, we’ll put her in a nursing home.”
Nadya looked at her two brothers-in-law, struggling to contain her growing annoyance. There was not a trace of compassion in the men’s voices, only irritation, as if caring for their elderly mother was a burden to them.
“Why are you silent?” she nudged her husband with her elbow. She disliked that Kolya didn’t even try to silence his brothers, listening to their cruel words about their mother. “Do you agree to take Anna Fedorovna in with us?”
“Well, what can we do,” he shrugged helplessly. “We can’t just leave her here.”
Leaving their mother-in-law alone in the apartment was indeed not an option. Anna Fedorovna had recently turned seventy-five, and her health was failing her significantly. She constantly visited doctors, and several times in the middle of the night, she even called an ambulance. Recently, she began losing her memory, acting illogically, and confusing names and dates.
They found this out by chance. Every week, the sons visited their mother, checked on her, and brought groceries. Once, Kolya, returning home, told his wife worriedly:
“Mom poured coffee into the cat’s bowl and placed sandwiches with butter next to it! It’s frightening… What are we going to do now?”
Nadya sighed sadly then, sensing the beginning of their troubles. Age spares no one, but some are luckier than others. Her mother-in-law, once a kind and gentle woman whom Nadya had met twenty-five years ago, was rapidly becoming helpless.
There was initially some hope that the disease would not progress severely. Anna Fedorovna continued to live alone and complained of nothing. But one day, Nikita, the elder brother, called Kolya in a rage.
I came to visit my mother, and there are cockroaches running around her kitchen! You were there last week, why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t see them,” Nikolai defended himself. “They weren’t there then.”
“Well, they are now, and there are even more of them! She’s got food scattered all over the place,” the man paused briefly. “We need to decide what to do about mother. I’m afraid she’ll clutter the whole apartment. Maybe we should put her in some kind of home?”
“Don’t rush,” Kolya was frightened. “Let’s talk to Borya first.”
“I’m going back to her place tomorrow,” Nikita warned. “I want to pick up some stuff before she throws it out or gives it away. You should come too, and we’ll figure it out.”
That’s how the three brothers found themselves in Anna Fedorovna’s apartment. Kolya brought Nadya along to make sure everything was okay with their mother-in-law. They used to spend a lot of time together: going to the country house, traveling south, and to sanatoriums, sharing family recipes, watching and discussing the same TV shows. When Nadya was younger, she often sought advice from Anna Fedorovna. They only grew apart in recent years, as their need for constant communication diminished.
Seeing all her children together, the grandmother was delighted and rushed to the kitchen to make tea. Nadya followed her and just in time saw that her mother-in-law was about to turn on the electric kettle without water.
“Anna Fedorovna, let me help you,” Nadya said patiently.
“Oh, thank you, Mashenka,” the old woman was touched. “Such a smart girl you’ve grown up to be! You must be getting only A’s in class?”
Nadya didn’t mention that her granddaughter Masha had long since finished school and was now in her fifth year of university, instead she changed the subject to the landscape outside the window. Her husband peeked into the kitchen. After handing Anna Fedorovna over to Kolya, Nadya returned to the room where Nikita and Boris were opening cupboard doors, inspecting shelves, and pulling out drawers.
“It’s nowhere to be found!” the eldest brother said annoyedly. “Did she hide it or take it out of the house?”
“What are you looking for?”
“A carved jewelry box,” Boris replied. “It had all of mother’s jewelry. Rings, gold earrings…”
“So you decided to take them for yourselves?” the woman asked. “Aren’t you ashamed? Anna Fedorovna is still here.”
“Mind your own business,” Nikita brushed her off. “Better help us look. If we sell these jewels and split the money among us, it should be a lot. And the old lady doesn’t need these trinkets anymore.”
“She’s not going to take them with her to the grave,” Boris snorted. “And my wife and I need a new TV.”
Nadya was disgusted by this conversation, overwhelmed by a bitter despair. She wasn’t thrilled about her mother-in-law’s illness, but to openly mock and heartlessly discuss the jewelry box would never have crossed her mind. The sons did not care about the health of their loved one, only about the valuable items.
In the evening, everyone left for their homes. They informed Anna Fedorovna that she would be living with Kolya starting next week, and Boris would take her cat. Surprisingly, the grandmother didn’t object—she was even glad to spend time with her son and daughter-in-law. Nikita planned to call an exterminator to treat the apartment for insects.
“I’ll throw everything out here, then call the cleaners and rent out the apartment,” he explained. “It shouldn’t just sit empty. She definitely won’t come back here.”
“Just make sure you split the money evenly among all of us,” Boris instructed. “Mother is still our common responsibility.”
That’s how Anna Fedorovna ended up at Kolya and Nadya’s place, settling into the room of their daughter-student, who had been living with her boyfriend for two years. The presence of her mother-in-law in the apartment reminded Nadya of old times. When Masha was little, her grandmother often picked her up from school. When the parents came home from work, their daughter’s homework was already done. And in the summer, Masha and Anna Fedorovna would go to the dacha for three months. The daughter still fondly remembers the times when they went to the river and the forest to pick mushrooms and berries.
Now, everything was different. The former Anna Fedorovna was slowly fading, remaining only in the memories of her loved ones. She no longer recognized Nadya, confusing her sometimes with Masha, sometimes with Boris’s wife—Ira. Each time, Nadya felt a heaviness in her soul. It was painful to watch someone who didn’t recognize you and didn’t remember your shared joyful and happy moments.
“I’m here,” the daughter-in-law gently responded, trying to hide the tears in her voice when she heard a different name.
Trying to entertain her mother-in-law, Nadya would turn on love-themed TV shows—ones that might distract the old lady. She watched the developing relationships between the characters with interest until she tired and fell asleep in her chair. The son and daughter-in-law were glad that the grandmother wasn’t causing any trouble, but they were glad in vain…
A few days later, Anna Fedorovna disappeared. She left the house early in the morning while everyone was asleep and did not return. Overwhelmed with fear and their hearts pounding, Kolya and Nadya spent several hours running around the neighborhood looking for the old woman, to no avail. They were about to go to the police when a man’s phone rang.
The caller identified himself as Anton and informed him that he had found Anna Fedorovna in the entrance of his building. She had a bag with her belongings and an old address book, where the first page had her son’s name and phone number written on it.
“Mom, why did you leave?” Kolya complained when they brought the frightened old woman home. “Can’t you sit at home? We do everything for you! You wanted grapes—we bought them. Nadya downloaded TV shows for you, sit and watch to your heart’s content. What else do you need?”
When he brought his mother home, his face was white as chalk from worry. Only now did the son truly realize how serious the situation was.
“I want to go home,” the grandmother muttered plaintively, looking bewilderedly at her son. “Barsik is unfed…”
“Boris took the cat,” Nadya replied, soothingly patting her mother-in-law on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about him. Better tell us, why are only Kolya’s contacts in your address book? You have two other sons, don’t you?”
“Why are you asking? She doesn’t remember anything,” the husband murmured, feeling ashamed of himself and his helplessness.
He should have been there for his mother and taken care of her. But he, like the other brothers, often brushed aside her problems.
“I remember everything!” suddenly protested Anna Fedorovna, momentarily returning to her former self. “I wrote down Kolya because I know you will always come to help. The other boys don’t have time for this.”
“Mom, you’re mistaken,” the son shook his head. “Nikita and Boris also worry and care about you…”
“Sure, they do,” the grandmother sadly smirked. “You think I’m too old to see and hear anything? They were looking for my jewelry box to sell it!”
“Who told you that?” Kolya tried to calm his mother. “You dreamed it.”
“But it’s not true. Nikita asked me several times to show it to him, knew where it was. He even suggested pawning a gold pendant. I disagreed, and after he left, I hid my jewelry box, then took it with me so they couldn’t get it.”
Anna Fedorovna triumphantly looked at Nadya and Kolya. She was still clutching her bag. Digging through it, the old lady pulled out the very carved jewelry box from the bottom and placed it on the table.
“Mom, why did you take it outside?” the son held his head. “Anything could have happened!”
“I’m giving my jewelry to Nadya,” the grandmother softly said, ignoring Kolya and tenderly stroking the box. “Let her have it all. I don’t need the gold anymore.”
Nadya had no choice but to accept the gift from her mother-in-law. These jewels were not just gold, but a memory of a loved one that needed to be preserved. Promising to keep the jewelry and pass it on to Masha, the woman carried the box to her room.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She felt sorry for Anna Fedorovna, this kind and good woman who had become like a second mother to her. It was regrettable that such a misfortune had happened to her, and Nadya could not help in any way. The only thing she could do was continue to care for her grandmother, trying to ease the rest of her life. Holding the jewelry box in her hands, Nadya realized that no treasures in the world could replace the health of a loved one.