Nikita, sit down! We need to talk urgently!” his wife said as she sat down at the table, her face determined.
Her husband sat next to her. Oksana wiped her wet eyes with a handkerchief:
“I don’t know what to do about my mother. She can barely walk. She won’t survive the winter in her house; it’s about to fall apart.”
“And what do you suggest?”
“I’m telling you: I don’t know.”
“Oksana, as always, you’re relying on me, but she’s your mother, and it’s up to you to decide.”
“Nikita, we can’t take her in. We have a two-bedroom apartment and two boys, already big. Where will we put my mother?” It was clear that the daughter had already made some decision about her mother and was now trying to gently convey this decision to her husband. “There is a paid nursing home in our city.”
“Oksana, you want to send your mother to a nursing home?”
“We have no choice. They say it’s not bad there.”
“But, as you said, it’s paid,” her husband smiled skeptically. “And how much?”
“Two thousand a day. If you pay for a month upfront, it’s forty thousand a month. They’ll take care of her, provide medical services. Forty thousand is a lot for us, but somehow we’ll manage.”
“Oksana, it all seems so underhanded. Mother always brought us jams, pickles, treats for the grandkids—everything from the heart, and we’re putting her in a nursing home.”
“Nikita, do you think my heart isn’t bleeding? We have no choice.”
“Ah!” he sighed heavily. “Are there no other options?”
“I thought about selling her house. After all, she transferred it to my name. But who would buy it now with winter approaching? And how much would they pay for that rundown place?”
“Have you talked to your mother about it?”
“Not yet. We’ll go on Saturday, clean up everything in her garden, and talk to her then.”
“I’ll take care of the garden with the boys,” her husband shook his head. “But talk about the nursing home without me.”
“Nikita, she can stay there until spring, and we’ll figure something out in the spring if she doesn’t like it there.”
“No, Oksana, I feel if we send mother to that home, it’ll be for good. It all seems so underhanded.”
A week already, Lidia Mikhailovna has been in the nursing home. She understands that her daughter had no choice. Really, it’s hard for her to walk, let alone live alone in her own home, now in her eighties.
But she never dreamed of such old age. She wanted to spend her last years among her relatives, but who needs her sick now.
A nurse came in:
“Lidia Mikhailovna. Your grandchildren are here.”
A smile lit up the grandmother’s face when they entered. Even the younger one, Stas, was taller than her, and Matvey was a whole head taller.
“Hello, grandma! How are you here?”
“It’s good, they feed us well here. The nurses and caregivers take care of us,” she bustled as usual. “Sit down, sit down at the table over there!”
“We won’t stay long. We brought you some groceries and warm clothes.”
“Thank you!” and immediately asked. “How’s school?”
“Good,” they answered almost in chorus.
“Keep studying! Matvey, it’s your last year. Have you decided where you’ll go?”
“To our institute.”
“And where are your parents? They sent you, but they didn’t come themselves.”
“Father went to your house.”
“Oh, I should tell him to dig up all the carrots, as it’s starting to get cold outside,” the grandmother cheered up. “And he should cut the cabbage, the heads are already big.”
“I’ll call right now!”
Stas took out his phone and dialed the number:
“Dad, grandma says to dig up the carrots and gather the cabbage.”
“Okay,” his father’s voice came through.
“Give me!” the grandmother took the phone from her grandson’s hand and began giving instructions to her son-in-law. “Nikita, after you dig up the carrots, don’t put them in the cellar right away, let them dry for three days. Then when you come, lower them in. Cut the cabbage with the stalks. Immediately lower it into the cellar. There are two sections there, stick the cabbage stalks down in one, and lay the larger carrots in the other. Take the smaller ones for yourself!”
“Got it, got it. Don’t worry, mom!”
“Nikita, find my Murka and feed her! Poor thing is left alone.”
“I’ll find her.”
“Here!” she handed the phone back to her grandson.
“Grandma, we’re going. Okay?” the older grandson stood up from the table.
“Wait!” the grandmother pulled out her wallet. “Here’s a thousand for each of you. Buy yourself something.”
“But for you…”
“Take it, take it! I don’t need money here.”
“Thank you, grandma!”
They left, and Lidia approached the window and watched her grandsons for a long time.
Nikita parked his “Lada” opposite the windows of his apartment. A neighbor from the farthest entrance parked his “Ford” nearby. Seeing the bags with carrots and cabbage in Nikita’s hands, he asked:
“From the dacha?”
“Sort of, from my mother-in-law.”
“My wife and I are also planning to buy a dacha or a small house, somewhere nearby. The kids are grown up, they’ve moved out.”
“Listen, Anatoliy!” Nikita said thoughtfully. “You have a four-room apartment.”
“Yes, on the second floor.”
“Maybe you’ll swap it for my two-bedroom, also on the second floor. In addition, I’ll give you the house with the garden. My mother-in-law is old, she has no strength to take care of it.”
“Wow!” the neighbor scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. “Interesting idea. Need to have a look.”
“Talk to your wife, and come over this evening.”
“I’ll talk.”
Nikita washed, ate, and went to sleep. Oksana went to the kitchen to cook dinner, soon the sons would come, the younger from his sports section, and the older… the older one was in love.
“It’s about time, seventeen years old. Just hope they don’t get into trouble. The younger one also can’t be kept at home. All day on the street…”
There was a knock at the front door. Wiping her hands, the hostess rushed there. Opened the door. Neighbors from the farthest entrance:
“Oksana, we’ve come to visit!”
“Come in! Vika, what happened?”
“Didn’t your husband tell you?”
“No,” Oksana was surprised.
“The husbands are thinking of swapping apartments.”
“Vika, what are you talking about?” – regaining her composure, she bustled. – “Yes, come in, come in!”
She rushed into the room, pushed her husband sleeping on the sofa:
“Nikita, get up! Guests have come.”
The husband got up and rushed to the bathroom:
“I’ll be right back!”
And the guest started carefully inspecting the apartment.
“Can someone explain what all this means?”
“Oksana, our guys want to swap your apartment and your mother’s house for our four-room,” she looked around again. “You have a beautiful apartment.”
The apartment owner returned to the room and his wife immediately rushed to him:
“What have you thought of?”
“If we agree, we’ll move to their four-room and take your mother with us.”
Oksana pondered, a mysterious smile played on her face:
“Well, what? Let’s have tea and go see your apartment.”
“Lida, what tea?” her husband smiled. “For this occasion, put something more serious on the table.”
That night Nikita and Oksana couldn’t fall asleep for a long time, talking, mentally imagining how everything would be arranged in their new large apartment. Mainly the wife spoke until her husband started falling asleep.
“Are you sleeping already?” – she nudged him in the side.
“Oksana, don’t tell your mother anything yet, or she’ll lose all peace. Once we settle in, then we’ll move her.”
On this rainy autumn morning, Lydia Mikhailovna gloomily looked out the window of her room in the nursing home. Her mood matched the weather, and her thoughts were similarly gloomy:
“I’ve been here for three weeks. It seems like my children have forgotten about me. I’m an unwanted mother. My grandchildren came once and also forgot. My daughter called a couple of times.
The first time, she informed me that she had either sold or traded my house for something, and her voice was so happy. Well, at least they will pay for me, forty thousand a month – that’s no small money. There’s nowhere to return to now.
The second time, she said that they were very busy, and would visit when they got the chance. Of course, the young always have a lot on their plate. Today is Saturday, maybe they will come. Why didn’t I buy a phone? And I don’t even know how to use one.”
She sat there for an hour, another hour, thinking bitter thoughts. Suddenly, a car stopped at the gate—it was her son-in-law:
“They came, they didn’t forget!” – but then her joy diminished a bit. – “But why is Nikita alone? And without bags. Maybe something happened?”
Lydia kept her eyes glued to the room’s door. It opened. Her son-in-law entered, smiling:
“Hello, mom!”
“Hello, Nikita? What happened?”
“Pack up! – and again, a smile on his face. — We’re going home.”
“Home? To visit?”
“No, forever. Pack all your things!”
“Now, why are you speaking in riddles?”
“Your grandchildren told me not to tell. They said it will be a surprise for grandma.”
Grandma hurriedly packed, sensing a new turn in her fate. Then, her roommate, who had become a friend, returned from her procedures:
“Lida, where are you going?”
“Valya, my son-in-law is taking me,” she said with a happy voice. – “He says: forever!”
“Oh, you are lucky! My kids seem to have decided I’m here till the end of my days.”
“Valentina, your kids will take you too. It’s hard for them with us old folks.”
Lida looked out the window and saw her son-in-law driving her to his home, and uneasy thoughts crept into her head:
“Why did he take me. They have two rooms, it’s cramped for them as it is. Where will they put me? I’ll be under their feet and keep them awake at night. They’ll send me back to the nursing home anyway.”
They reached the son-in-law’s house. He parked his car where he usually did. He helped his mother-in-law out, took her things, and they headed… to another entrance. She looked at him in surprise.
“Come in, come in!”
They went up to the second floor and approached the door of one of the apartments. It opened and out ran her grandchildren:
“Grandma, come in! Now this is our apartment,” the younger one shouted.
She entered the apartment. Her daughter ran up to greet her:
“Mom, now you’ll live with us. Let me show you your room.”
The room, though small, was so cozy and there was a new bed and a wardrobe. She couldn’t believe she would live next door to her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.
And then, rubbing against her leg and purring, was:
“Murka!” Lydia Mikhailovna cried out joyfully and burst into tears of happiness.