– Mom, Oksana and I decided to rent an apartment, – Igor said, looking at his mother with restrained eyes, – a small room, something modest. We don’t need much.
Raissa Grigoryevna, who was putting laundry in the wardrobe, turned sharply, pressing a towel to her chest.
– What’s with these expenses?! – she exclaimed. – Throwing money away? Are you crazy? Igor, use your head! We have a free room!
Igor sighed heavily. He had expected something like this, but still hoped his mother would understand. After all, he was already an adult, about to get married… A family of his own – his own home. Even if it was just a rented apartment for now, it was still his own space.
– Mom, – he began patiently, – Oksana and I need a separate place. We’re young, we need to learn how to live together. But here, you’re the boss… with your own rules…
– And what? – Raissa Grigoryevna retorted, offended. – Am I going to interfere with you? I won’t get involved in anything! You’ll have your room, and I’ll have mine! It’s all convenient.
Igor scratched his head, searching for the right words. Explaining things to his mother was a thankless task. She firmly believed she was always right, and arguing with her was asking for trouble.
– Mom, I work shifts, you know that. I come home for a couple of weeks, then leave again. And Oksana will be here alone…
– Even better! – Raissa Grigoryevna interrupted, her eyes sparkling with triumph. – She’ll be lonely on her own. But I’ll be here. I’ll support her, help her, give advice. Aren’t you happy that I’ll take care of your wife?
Igor realized that arguing was pointless. Everything had already been decided for him. And just to confirm his thoughts, he heard:
– That’s it! It’s decided. After the wedding, you’ll move in with me. And when you save up some money, then you can think about your own place.
Oksana treated everything that was happening with a strange kind of wisdom, unusual for someone of her twenty-two years. She didn’t argue, didn’t get upset. She just nodded, smiled, and tried to stay neutral. At first, Raissa Grigoryevna was even pleased: “See, the girl’s well-behaved, she’s a good match for my son.” But it soon became clear: her silence wasn’t agreement, it was just a way not to cause any problems.
After the wedding, the newlyweds settled into that very room. It was bright, small, with a balcony – it even had some coziness, if you didn’t count the fact that every attempt to live “on their own” was overshadowed by Raissa Grigoryevna’s presence.
Sometimes Oksana felt like a tenant in this house. Every action she took stirred up a storm of reactions, and every silence was met with suspicion. And all of this under a polite, forced mask of friendliness. Raissa Grigoryevna rarely argued openly. She preferred sharp remarks “by the way,” long, heavy sighs, and slyly thrown-out phrases.
As soon as Oksana hung up some softer curtains, replacing the old heavy ones, Raissa immediately noticed:
– White ones? You’ll see the dust on them! Then you’ll have to wash them every week if you want to be fashionable!
Oksana smiled:
– I’ll wash them, no problem.
The one rule in their life was clear: endure, while Igor worked shifts and money was saved. All for their own corner.
But with each passing day, an invisible, almost inaudible, but very tangible tension grew between the women. And one day, it was bound to snap…
When Oksana found out she was pregnant, spring blossomed in her heart. She found herself smiling randomly while walking down the street – at strangers, at trees, at the world. She and Igor had long dreamed of a child, and now, it seemed everything was falling into place: not in their own home, not without difficulties, but at least together, as a family.
Igor was on shift at the time – it was a long one, two months, so she shared the news with him over the phone.
– Hang in there, – his voice trembled with joy. – I’ll try to get back early, and we’ll figure out what to do next.
Raissa Grigoryevna, upon learning of Oksana’s pregnancy, became even more critical than before. She made sour remarks about how Oksana “wasn’t ready for motherhood yet,” and complained that she “lay on the couch all day,” though she herself had once spoken about how hard her pregnancy had been.
But the real blow came unexpectedly.
One warm May evening, after returning from her prenatal appointment, where everything was confirmed to be going well, Oksana found an unfamiliar man in the apartment, a man around sixty. He was sitting at the kitchen table, lounging in the chair, drinking tea from their mug and smiling as if he belonged there. Raissa Grigoryevna introduced him as “a dear friend.”
– I’m a woman too, you know! – she declared proudly. – I have the right to a personal life.
Oksana didn’t say anything in response. She only thought about how hard it would be to live in a tiny apartment with four people, where space was already tight for just three of them. And the next day, Raissa Grigoryevna moved from words to action.
– Oksana, you need to vacate the room, – she said calmly but firmly, placing a cup of tea on the table with a loud clink. – Valentin Pavlovich is moving in with me. We are grown-ups, we want to build our own happiness.
Oksana sat with slumped shoulders, barely breathing.
– Where should I go? – she asked quietly, afraid she might start crying in front of her mother-in-law.
– What’s there to think about! – Raissa Grigoryevna threw up her hands. – You’re young and healthy. You’ll rent yourself a place, you’re not a princess! Igor works shifts, he earns money, you’ll manage.
Oksana opened her mouth to say something, but her mother-in-law was already pulling out her phone.
– I’ll call Igor, he’ll explain everything to you. Looks like you don’t understand what’s going on.
Igor picked up the phone immediately. His voice was tense, tired. Apparently, he had just returned from work.
– Mom, what’s going on? Is everything okay?
Raissa Grigoryevna, using the sweet tone she usually reserved for her son, began to lay out her version of events.
– Igor, tell your wife to vacate the room! I’m not alone anymore, Valentin Pavlovich is moving in, and Oksana is resisting, she doesn’t want to leave.
Igor was silent for a long time on the other end of the line. Then he spoke quietly:
– Mom, wait. I’ll be home soon, and Oksana and I will move out. Just be patient a little longer.
– I’m not going to wait! – Raissa Grigoryevna snapped. – I only have one life, and my years aren’t endless! I want to live like a normal person, not walk on eggshells. She has to leave the room tomorrow.
Igor exhaled heavily.
– Mom, she’s pregnant. Think about how hard it is for her right now…
– Found an excuse! – his mother retorted. – Pregnant – not sick, she’ll manage.
Igor closed his eyes, feeling despair overwhelm him. He couldn’t argue with his mother – he respected her, no matter how much resentment had built up over time.
– Fine, – he said hoarsely. – I’ll take care of it.
That evening, Igor contacted his friend Pasha and asked for help. Pasha agreed without hesitation.
– Don’t worry, Igor, – Pasha said. – We’ll help Oksana. We’ll organize everything in the morning.
They found a small apartment – a one-room place, worn out by time, but with a kind landlord who was willing to rent it cheaply. Pasha brought Oksana, helped her unpack the boxes, and arrange the furniture. Then he sat with her in the kitchen, trying to comfort her as she fought tears.
When Igor returned home a month later and saw how much Oksana’s belly had grown, he knew: they couldn’t wait any longer.
The next day, they went to the bank, took out a mortgage – for a tiny, old two-room apartment on the outskirts of town.
Oksana wanted to cry with happiness. It wasn’t a palace, but it was their home, their little fortress.
Ahead of them lay the hardships of renovation, loan payments. But the most important thing was – no one could kick them out anymore, no one could boss them around. They would live their own life.
Two years passed.
It was an ordinary day. Oksana was collecting toys all over the apartment – little Sasha was scattering everything around with the determination of an experienced explorer. Then they went to the store for bread and milk, then to the playground. In the evening, after finally getting the tired little boy to sleep, Oksana sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of tea when the doorbell rang.
She jumped. It was late for visitors, and they weren’t expecting anyone.
Opening the door, Oksana didn’t immediately understand who was standing on the threshold. Raissa Grigoryevna, with suitcases.
– Hello, – Oksana managed to say, feeling her heart drop to her feet.
– Not hello, but welcome me in! – her mother-in-law declared cheerfully, rubbing her hands together. – I’m moving in with you.
Oksana stood frozen, unable to tell whether her mother-in-law was joking or not.
– What happened? – she asked, trying to sound calm.
– I lost my apartment, – Raissa Grigoryevna announced as if talking about a lost glove. – Valentin Pavlovich turned out to be a swindler. He convinced me to sell my place and move south, and then disappeared with my money.
Listening to this, Oksana felt a pang of frustration. Yes, her mother-in-law had treated her cruelly back then. She hadn’t even visited her grandson in two years – no birthday wishes, no phone calls. But now, standing on the threshold, she looked helpless, confused, and still the same mother of Igor’s, and Oksana couldn’t bring herself to throw her out. She wasn’t capable of that.
– Come in, – she said quietly, stepping aside.
Life immediately took a wrong turn. Raissa Grigoryevna took over their house as if it were her own. She rearranged the kitchen – “it’s more convenient this way.” She placed her creams and shampoos in the bathroom. And grumbled:
– It’s so cramped here!
Oksana endured.
Igor came home late in the evening. Forty days of work without weekends behind him, exhaustion on his face, an eager desire to see his family in his eyes.
Oksana ran to meet him, threw herself into his arms, Sasha clapped his hands joyfully, then snuggled up to his father.
Igor laughed, tossing Sasha in the air, holding Oksana close. The house was filled with happiness.
Until Raissa Grigoryevna came out of the room.
– Oh, son, you’re back! – she said, forcing a smile. – I’ve settled in here. It’s a necessary measure, as they say.
Raissa then told her entire story about betrayal and deception. Igor listened in silence, his lips pressed tightly together.
When the story was finished, he asked his mother to go to the kitchen – to talk.
Oksana, standing in the doorway, heard snippets of their conversation.
– We’d like to help you, – Igor started, trying to stay calm. – But the apartment is small, as you can see, there’s barely enough room for us. Sasha needs space to play, he’ll be going to kindergarten soon, we’re accumulating stuff…
– And what, should I live under a bridge now?! – Raissa Grigoryevna immediately raised her voice.
– You still have the dacha. It’s a good house, sturdy, even if it’s small. In the summer, it’s like paradise.
Raissa scoffed:
– And sit there in that cold little cabin in the winter?
– We’ll help with the stove, we’ll insulate it. But, mom, understand this: if you hadn’t kicked Oksana out back then, we would have saved up by now and bought a bigger apartment. But now I’m asking you: let’s figure something else out.
Raissa Grigoryevna fell silent. It seemed she was finally starting to understand that her previous decisions had come back to haunt her.
When her mother-in-law left, and the silence returned to the apartment, Oksana went to Igor and simply buried her face in his shoulder. He held her tightly. Now they had everything: their home, their family, their quiet happiness. And no one could take it away from them.