— How? That can’t be!
Dasha looked at the doctor in bewilderment.
“— Well, unfortunately, these things happen. You know, it’s impossible to predict. Diagnostics rarely catch this. But don’t worry, it’s nothing critical. With care, treatment, and time, everything will be fine.”
Dasha looked at her son’s wrinkled little face and wept quietly. She understood. The doctor was telling the truth – in time, everything would be restored. Her son would learn to walk, even if later than all the other kids, but… how could she explain all this to her mother-in-law? Not to her husband, but to her specifically.
Dasha and Misha met on the street, at a bus stop. Darya had missed her bus, and Misha’s car had broken down. It was raining outside, and while Mikhail was waiting for help, he offered her a seat in his car. “At least it’s warm in here, and you’ll have to wait at least another half-hour for the bus – they never run on time anyway.” And Dasha agreed. She would have never done that under normal circumstances, but… at that moment she was so freezing that she was ready to give up everything for warmth.
Misha turned out to be cheerful, and the time until the bus arrived flew by. The bus and help for Mikhail appeared at the same time.
“Dasha, write me your number – we haven’t exchanged contacts yet. And so we met by chance, and two months later we filed a marriage application at the registry office.”
Dasha, however, didn’t immediately understand why it was forbidden to get acquainted with the mother before filing the application, but later, after meeting her future mother-in-law, everything fell into place.
Dasha did not please Rita Ivanovna, and that woman was not going to hide it. She gave Darya a scrutinizing look and, without the slightest embarrassment in front of her, turned to Misha and asked:
“— I hope you were joking about your plans to marry her?”
Misha paled slightly and replied:
“— No, Mom, I wasn’t joking, and let’s not make a scene right now, because I’m not going to change my mind anyway.”
Rita Ivanovna snorted:
“— You really need to stop wasting your nerves. Just don’t cry later and say you didn’t listen to your mother.”
Dasha tore her hand away from Misha’s and bolted down the stairs. She wasn’t about to listen to any insults from his mother. He caught up with her by the entrance:
“— Dasha, what are you doing? Stop. When you become a mother yourself, you’ll protect your child from everyone. And it doesn’t matter whether the people around are good or bad; just give her some time. She raised me on her own, and that’s why she doesn’t want to share with anyone.”
Dasha decided that she could handle it. She would be able to endure the attitude that her future, and later her real, mother-in-law would bestow upon her. She hoped that time would pass, that she would get used to it, and everything would fall into place.
But Rita Ivanovna quieted down a little only when Dasha became pregnant. Although no – she would say that only girls raised in slums give birth at the first opportunity. The rest first try to achieve something in life.
Dasha cried, feeling guilty, somehow wrong. As Rita Ivanovna’s neighbor had enlightened her, things were not as rosy as the mother-in-law tried to portray herself.
Once, about thirty years ago, Rita Ivanovna herself lived in some remote village where electricity was provided only two days a week, and then she came to the city, managed to get pregnant by some wealthy man, and demanded money as compensation. She then bought herself an apartment and gave birth to a son.
When Misha grew up, he seriously got into business. And that was the moment of his mother’s star hour. She completely forgot who she used to be, acting as if royal blood flowed in her veins. She completely changed her circle of acquaintances, parting without regret with those people who had once helped her and were considered friends.
Right before the birth, Rita Ivanovna asked Misha:
“— Son, are you sure this is your child?”
Misha looked at his mother in surprise:
“— Mom, what are you saying? Why would you even think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, son. You’re always at work, and Dasha, your wife, is on her own. The girl always lived in poverty, and now so much has befallen her. You know how poverty changes people.”
“— Mom, stop it, alright? Don’t talk nonsense, please.”
“And now, Mother, besides nonsense, you say nothing. Of course, all you listen to is her now.”
Misha sighed wearily. It was unclear how long his mother would refuse to accept Dasha, and what if she never did? Maybe he really shouldn’t have married her? Living his whole life in hell – what a delight that would be. But he couldn’t change his mother; she was one and only.
“— Misha, we have a son,” Dasha said over the phone.
Mikhail’s face broke into a smile:
“— Dasha, you’re great, we’re great.”
Dasha sniffled on the other end of the line:
“— Misha, not exactly great – our son has problems.”
“What problems?”
“Problems with his legs, but with time everything can be fixed.”
Misha moved the phone away from his ear. He looked at it in alarm, then brought it back to his ear:
“— No, Dasha, perhaps they made a mistake. Our son can’t have any problems, because he’s our child. During your pregnancy you received only the best, and any problems are simply ruled out.” He then resolved everything on his end, and called back. He hung up the phone and turned to his mother in confusion:
“— Mom, we have a son, but he seems to have some problems.”
“Problems? How interesting! In our family everyone is healthy. Misha, maybe it really isn’t your child?”
“— No, Mom, it can’t be.” Yet his words no longer sounded as confident.
“— All right, don’t worry. I’ll go to the hospital, find out everything, and sort it out, and you just work. As if you needed another headache with all this womanly business. I’ll handle everything, son.”
Misha looked at his mother with gratitude. “Now that’s my Mom – she can handle anything.” Indeed, Misha really didn’t want to get involved in that mess.
Dasha was just talking to the doctor when Rita Ivanovna appeared. Dasha immediately felt a chill in her chest because the look in her mother-in-law’s eyes did not bode well. Without even looking at her daughter-in-law, Rita Ivanovna led the doctor aside and talked with him for a long time. Dasha went to her son’s room. Her mother-in-law appeared about ten minutes later. Silently, she examined the child, and then turned to Dasha:
“— Well then, my dear, I think you’ll understand everything correctly. In our family there have never been any freaks; everyone is healthy, and this indicates that either you’re sick – though you don’t look it – or, more likely, the child isn’t my son’s.”
Dasha’s eyes widened: “But…”
“— Be quiet and listen very carefully,” the mother-in-law interrupted, “we do not need such in our house, and you’ve never been needed either. What’s the use of Misha having a wife who spreads her legs all over? Therefore, I’ll bring your things here, and I’ll even give you some money so that you can leave the city and never cross our path again!”
Dasha burst into tears:
“— Why are you doing this? This is Misha’s child.”
“— So, you’re not listening to me? I could leave you without your things and without any money. Anyway, I’ll bring everything tomorrow,” the mother-in-law shouted. “And think very carefully before you try to give my son any more trouble. I could create such problems for you that you’d end up on the street, and they’d take the child away from you!”
Dasha cried all night. Misha didn’t pick up the phone even once.
In the morning, her mother-in-law appeared:
“— Your two bags are at the guard’s post; although I think this is more than you deserve.” She tossed money in front of her and then smiled. “Well, I’m not a beast. Here are the keys – this is a house in the village, you’ll live where it’s best, here’s the address. Goodbye, and I hope to never hear about you again. And remember my kindness.”
A few days later, Dasha stood in front of the house. It was odd, of course, that it wasn’t overgrown with grass all the way to the roof, but the appearance was still something. She cautiously entered the yard. The door had no lock. Dasha looked around. It felt as if someone lived here. Darya looked at her sleeping son and cautiously pushed the door.
On an old sofa, a man was sleeping. The whole house reeked of stale alcohol. Dasha jumped back in fear. She bumped into a bucket, which fell, and the man jumped up:
“— Who are you?”
“— And who are you? Rita Ivanovna gave me the keys to live here.” Dasha almost began to cry.
“— Rita Ivanovna? Ah, Aunt Rita!” The man glanced at her. “Wait a minute, and who are you?”
Dasha finally began to cry. What is she to do? Where is she to go? She can’t live here with this drunk man!
The man got up and only then noticed the child in her arms. He whistled:
“— Okay, stop crying; I don’t bite. I’ll tidy things up here. I didn’t say ‘cry,’ did I?” He pointed at the door. “It’ll be better for you and the child over there. How old is he?”
“— Two weeks.”
He widened his eyes:
“— Are you out of your mind! In such a backwater with a little child! Don’t tell me you have nowhere else to live?”
Dasha shook her head in denial.
By evening, the man – who turned out to be a young fellow – looked in on her:
“— What are you hiding here? The bath is ready and there’s food. What will you feed the child if you don’t eat anything yourself?”
Dasha left the room and paused. Everything was tidy, everything clean. Something was sizzling on the table and smelled very delicious.
“— Don’t think I’m a drunk. I came here on my own to avoid seeing anyone,” said the stranger. “I don’t know if you need to know this, but my wife betrayed me. With my best friend, mind you. Everything just fell apart at once. And what am I for? For whom is all this? So I just sat here. I bought all the alcohol from the local store. I won’t drink anymore, don’t worry.”
Dasha tried not to eat greedily. Sasha was asleep.
“— Why do you keep holding the child all the time? You’ll tire yourself out. Put him on the sofa, and tomorrow I’ll sort out a crib,” the man said.
Dasha smiled gratefully when the man, whose name was Oleg, carefully picked up the baby and laid him on the sofa.
“— Well then. Now, Dasha, tell me what happened to you.”
She sighed and began to explain. When she finished, Oleg shook his head:
“— You really got mixed up with that family. I, of course, have a distant relationship with them, but it’s very far-off. Hmm… By the way, do you have the child’s birth certificate?”
Dasha nodded and handed him the papers. To her astonishment, Oleg pulled out a brand-new, fancy smartphone, photographed the documents, and sent the pictures somewhere:
“— What are you looking at? I’m telling you, I’m not a drunk. It’s just that everything hit me at once.”
They had been living together for two weeks. Oleg had shaved off his two-week-old stubble and turned out to be a handsome young man. Dasha was even left speechless when she saw him like that. And two days later, he surprised her even more:
“— I need to go to the city. I see that Sasha doesn’t really have anything.”
Immediately, Dasha handed him the remaining money:
“— Here, I have some.”
He looked at her mockingly:
“— Hide it, you’ll need it later.”
“— And how will you get there? Are there any buses?”
He laughed and said:
“— I don’t need a bus. I came by car, though I did park it at the neighbor’s and told them not to give it to me until I got myself together, otherwise I might cause a ruckus in the city.”
Oleg didn’t return alone. With him was another man, older – about fifty years old:
“— And where’s that little boy who needs my help?”
Dasha looked at Oleg questioningly, and he explained:
“— This is our little champ when it comes to kids. I sent him the certificate. Don’t worry, if Karl takes charge, all the children run very fast – you won’t even be able to catch them.”
Three years passed.
“— Sasha, where are you off to?” Dasha tried to catch up with her son, who was dashing away on sturdy little legs along the park path. He literally ran headlong into a man, who immediately caught him and tossed him up. Sasha squealed happily.
“— Who here doesn’t listen to Mom?”
Sasha proudly answered:
“— I do.”
Dasha and Oleg laughed.
“— Oleg, this is a nightmare, he just won’t stop running; I don’t understand, will he ever get tired?”
Oleg laughed:
“— No, Dasha, children, in principle, never get tired. They’re like perpetual engines, always moving and whatnot.”
Dasha and Oleg had been married for two years. When the doctor said that Dasha needed to be admitted to his hospital, Oleg immediately declared, “Alright, we’re going back to the city tomorrow.” And almost unnoticed, he completely took over the care of Dasha and Sasha. She kept trying to thank him, but he refused. Yet the way he looked at her made it seem as if she were hurting him. The funniest part was that Oleg, as it turned out, knew quite a bit about the company of her ex-husband Misha, though Dasha didn’t want to hear anything about him.
“— So, where to? How about we go to a café?” Oleg suggested.
Sasha started bouncing in his arms, exclaiming, “— Maiyozino, maiyozino!”
“— Of course, what’s a day without ice cream?” Oleg set Sasha down, and they were about to leave when they heard:
“— Dasha?”
She slowly turned around. Next to her stood Misha and his little mother. She was holding her son tightly by the hand.
“— Dasha, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be living in the village!”
The ex-mother-in-law shifted her gaze to Sasha, her eyebrows shooting up. Misha looked at Dasha and the child, his mouth open:
“— Mom, you said the child was a ‘freak.’”
Oleg immediately scooped up Sasha:
“— Aunt Rita, what a surprise! I honestly hoped I’d never have to meet your family!”
She fixed her gaze on him:
“— Niece, Oleg, and what are you doing here?”
“— And me? I’m here with my family, on a walk with my wife and son. And anyway, we’ll never – goodbye!”
They left, but for a long time the heavy gaze still followed from behind.