Ma… Looks like you won’t get to wait for grandchildren,” Pavel was happily eating his favorite pies, which Irina had just taken out of the oven and was generously piling onto his plate.
“Why do you say that?” his mother asked, surprised.
“Well… I’m already over thirty, and there’s not even a hint of a fiancée. Sanka’s son is already going to school, and the second one is on the way. And I don’t even have any candidates.”
“Well, you’ll meet someone,” Irina smiled warmly. “Getting married just to keep up with others and to make us and your father happy with grandchildren is a foolish idea. Honestly, I think it’s better to stay without grandchildren than to see my son unhappy in marriage.”
“Ma, you’re like gold! Better than any therapist. By the way, will the pies be ready soon?”
About two years had passed since this conversation, and the young man had started to seriously fear loneliness.
However, the idea of loneliness didn’t particularly trouble him at first.
As long as he was relatively young and full of energy, his free time was almost entirely filled with friends, acquaintances, and socializing. He enjoyed moments of being alone, but the thought of becoming an old, lonely bachelor gradually began to weigh on him.
And then what? When the phone stops ringing with invites for barbecues or requests to “drop by for a minute”? What then?
No, Pavel didn’t want that kind of future. He understood: he could no longer delay — a decision had to be made.
By that time, he had been dating Nastya for six months.
And it seemed everything about her was perfect: she was mature but not too young, beautiful, with an impeccable figure, intellectually developed (backed by two degrees), and worked at a solid company. However… Pavel felt something was missing — the feeling that makes your heart stop from tenderness or soar with excitement.
So, he still hesitated, unsure about taking the final step.
Moreover, some vague doubts were growing inside him, the reason for which he couldn’t clearly identify.
Small details in Nastya’s behavior scratched at his intuition but didn’t reach his conscious mind. They left only a light unease in his soul, which quickly faded away.
Nastya, however, seemed not to notice his hesitation and clearly saw their future together.
A month into the relationship, she introduced him to her parents, unmistakably signaling that she considered him her fiancé.
After all, you don’t introduce parents just like that.
Then she more and more frequently talked about their future together, dreaming of a house, travels, plans.
And recently, she completely threw him off guard by suggesting they choose a name for their future child.
“What’s this about?” Pavel was prepared for any answer and perhaps even wouldn’t have minded hearing, “We’re having a baby.”
“Just for the future,” Nastya laughed. “Don’t stress. But actually… why don’t you introduce me to your parents?”
Pavel looked at her carefully.
“In principle, she is really good… She’ll make a great wife… The kids will be beautiful…” he thought, and aloud he said: “Of course, I’ll introduce you. And besides, I propose that you become my wife.”
“Oh, you’re such a romantic! Wow!” Nastya laughed and stretched out her hand, ruffling Pavel’s hair, which had furrowed in a frown. “Come on, don’t be mad. Everything’s great, and even a bit unusual. A proposal by the river, under falling golden leaves, not the usual candles and music.”
And she twirled in a dance, humming a popular song.
“Ma… I want to introduce you to my girlfriend… We’re filing for marriage, and soon your son will be a family man,” Pavel called his mother. “Hello… Hello… Ma, why are you silent? Aren’t you happy?”
“Why wouldn’t I be happy… I am happy… It’s just…”
“What ‘just’? I don’t understand. You haven’t even seen Nastya, haven’t talked to her, and you’re already unhappy?”
“Where did you get that I’m unhappy? Okay, enough with the empty talk. When will you come?”
“Saturday evening. Is that okay?” Pavel asked.
Irina pressed the hang-up button and thought for a moment. She understood very well why the news hadn’t thrilled her. But she didn’t voice her thoughts to her son.
How could she tell him that a mother’s heart is hard to deceive?
She didn’t see that sparkle in his eyes, the one that you see in a person who is in love. She didn’t notice the wings behind his back, as you see when someone is truly happy.
So, he decided to get married simply because “it’s time.”
Well, what mother would be excited by such news?
Nastya was very nervous about meeting her future mother-in-law — she knew full well that first impressions are the most important.
So, she carefully chose her clothes — to look stylish but not too flashy. She did her makeup subtly, modestly.
And, as she thought, she made a pretty good impression on Pavel’s parents.
Pavel’s father, who had blossomed, showered her with compliments.
But the future mother-in-law, whom Nastya feared most, remained composed and polite, without any hint of negativity or, worse, aggression.
“So, what did you think of my parents?” Pavel asked later.
“They’re fine. Especially your dad.”
“Yeah… Dad’s a real eagle! And mom’s a great strategist.”
The next day, his mother asked Pavel to come by for a serious talk.
“So, how do you like my Nastya?” Pavel, confident that his mother would give a positive assessment just to start the conversation, was very surprised by her answer.
“She’s beautiful.” Irina sighed and shook her head. “But…”
“What’s wrong, mom? What’s wrong with Nastya? I can see you don’t like something about her. What is it?”
“Well, that’s just it, son, I can’t quite figure out what it is. It all seems smooth, neat, but… on a subconscious level, I noticed something’s off. Yesterday I couldn’t figure out what my intuition was trying to signal. But today it clicked. I think she doesn’t love you, son. This girl doesn’t love anyone except herself. Do you understand? She was admiring herself yesterday, watching herself from the side, thinking, ‘Oh, I’m so beautiful, cute, and smart…’
And you weren’t even in her thoughts.
She won’t be a good wife for you, Pasha.”
“Wow… You’re like Baba Vanga,” the son smirked. “Are you really so sure about this?”
“No. I’m not sure. I told you, my subconscious sent a signal… Maybe I’m wrong. You decide, of course — you know best.”
“Hey, mom…” Pavel’s father, who had entered the kitchen, overheard the end of the conversation. “Don’t mess with the guy’s head. She’s a nice girl — modest, beautiful, works — what else do you need?”
“Well, yeah,” his mother reluctantly agreed. “I just want our son to be happy, for his wife to love him, and not to marry just for the successful man with a flat, car, and job.”
His mother’s words stung Pavel, but only for a moment — soon, it seemed, he had forgotten them.
However, they subtly hooked into the place where his own doubts about the choice of life partner had been hiding.
And having made his decision, he no longer hesitated — he just headed toward the goal, slowly preparing for the upcoming celebration.
He bought the rings they had chosen together with Nastya.
They discussed the guest list — about one hundred people.
Pavel couldn’t imagine anything happening that would prevent the wedding.
“Unless some kind of force majeure happens,” he thought. “Like a tsunami or an earthquake.”
At his age, he didn’t think about sudden death as a reason to cancel the wedding.
Nor did he think about infidelity from either side.
Such nonsense didn’t even cross his mind.
Pavel didn’t anticipate that something small, which might seem insignificant to someone else, would soon turn everything upside down in his soul.
“Pasha, Dad’s car is at the shop, could you take him to our country house? He left some metal piece there, and he urgently needs it. Yes… Of course, in the evening after work… Okay, thank you.” Nastya called, lifting Pavel’s spirits — now they saw him as part of the family, someone who could casually go to the country house.
Pasha knew the road — they had driven there with Nastya several times in the summer.
Now, late in the fall, the country houses and trees dusted with the first snow looked different, but still lifted his spirits — soon, soon, the New Year, which Pavel would celebrate as a married man.
He stopped by the familiar gate. Nastya’s father opened it, and then…
A joyful dog named Timokha rushed toward them, wagging its tail, while a cat named Maruska darted from under the porch, meowing mournfully and running to Nastya’s feet.
“Go away,” her father pushed the dog away.
Pavel looked at the man confusedly and called the sad dog over.
“Come here, stray… What’s the matter? Missed me?” He petted the dog on the neck and searched his pocket, finding only a stick of mint gum. “Sorry, buddy, but there’s nothing else…”
Timokha looked at the gum with longing eyes — it was clear that the dog was very hungry.
At the same time, Pavel saw his tender, beautiful fiancée disdainfully kick the meowing Maruska, apparently also hungry.
That gesture made Pavel’s heart skip a beat, and something clicked in his mind, releasing all his doubts and his mother’s words from his subconscious.
“I don’t get it…” he said, when his father found what he needed and sat in the passenger seat. “Aren’t you going to take the animals in for the winter?”
“Well, kid, you’re a bit slow! They’re not purebred… They’re just country animals… Disposable…”
“Meaning what? Are you going to leave them here to die of hunger and cold?”
“Pasha, let’s go already… Don’t be a nag. Dad’s right — they’re country animals. If they survive, great. If not, well, that’s their fate.”
“So… WHY did you take them in if you don’t need them?”
“What do you mean, ‘don’t need them’? In summer, they were really useful. Maruska chased mice, and Timokha guarded the house at night,” Nastya said, looking down at Pavel. “Next year, new ones will show up if these… don’t survive the winter. We do this every year. Let’s go already… I still need to make it to my pedicure.”
Pavel was silent the whole way into the city. In front of his eyes were two brown eyes that “almost humanely” followed them to the gate.
He could even clearly hear Timokha’s resigned sigh when the sound of the lock clicked.
“Give me the key to the country house, please,” he asked his future father-in-law. “I think I dropped my bank card in the yard. I’ll go back, and then I’ll return the key.”
“Kisa, I’m not going with you — I’m going for a manicure… Don’t be mad…” he heard behind him.
But Pavel didn’t think of getting mad.
Loading the animals into the car, he went to his father-in-law to return the key, and rushed off in search of an open pet store.
Unfortunately… All the stores were closed until the next day.
Pavel walked away from the last store, having missed it by just ten minutes, and then noticed a woman. In one hand, she was holding a little boy’s hand, and in the other — a leash. A huge old dog with gray whiskers, a snow-white beard, and even gray eyebrows was walking ahead of her with dignity. The dog kept looking back at the woman and glancing reproachfully at the jumping three-year-old, as if saying: “Why can’t you walk slowly like me?”
“Excuse me, do you know where I can buy at least food for…” Pavel began but stopped when the woman lifted her hazel-colored eyes.
Pavel’s heart suddenly stopped… It paused, then sweetly ached, and soared high.
“Of course, I’ll tell you. You can buy it at the veterinary clinic — it’s around the corner. I’ll show you, we’re going there too. My Boris is a bit sick…”
Boris, hearing his name, wagged his tail faster, and the boy added, “He pooped himself today.”
“Ivan!” the young woman said sternly, trying to hold back her laughter. “You can’t say that.”
“How can I say it?” the little boy asked innocently.
“Well… for example…” the woman hesitated.
“Pooped himself?” the boy helped.
“Well, at least that,” she couldn’t hold back her laugh, turning into a girl, just like the one Pavel had fallen in love with long ago.
“Listen, sweetie. We’ve decided that some of our relatives don’t need to be invited. A hundred people for a wedding is too expensive…” Nastya called the next day.
“Weddings are expensive in general,” Pavel replied. “That’s why there won’t be one. I’m withdrawing the application tomorrow.”
“So what? Are you joking, Pasha?!”
“No, I’m not joking.”
“But why?! What happened?”
“Why? You know, I think you won’t understand me anyway. So, let’s not waste time.” Pavel pressed the end call button and blocked Nastya’s phone number.
A year later, Pavel thanked fate for that trip to the country house, which spared him the biggest mistake of his life.
Katya wasn’t as beautiful as Nastya.
She was older than her.
She had a child, whom she had raised without a husband.
And still…
She was the woman Pavel wanted to scoop up in his arms, hold close to his heart, and never let go.
“Mom, well? Don’t tell me Katya’s child is a ‘baggage.’ Otherwise, we’ll be enemies.”
“Son, no, no… I won’t say that…” his mother smiled warmly. “On the contrary. Don’t lose this woman… I’m glad you’ve finally found your other half.