Let’s take mine then,” Svetlana persisted. “Why not? We could go on the honeymoon with the whole family. We could even bring your sister, and your uncle and aunt, sorry, I forgot their names.”
“Don’t make it worse, Sveta. What did I say? Dad needs a rest. Mom, as a doctor, advised him to breathe in the sea air.”
“Let them breathe without us! How much longer is this going to go on? If you haven’t noticed, your mom advises your dad on everything related to us!”
After two months of living together, Svetlana and Andrey went to the registry office and got married. Without friends, relatives, or acquaintances.
They had already told his parents and showed them the marriage certificate.
Zinaida Petrovna, his mother, didn’t like it.
“So, there’s no wedding? What about gifts, guests, the feast? This isn’t right. How are we going to look our relatives in the eye?”
“Mom, we don’t have extra money right now. We want to buy a house outside the city. In two or three years, we’ll get married in the church and invite everyone then.”
“A house outside the city? You’ve lived in an apartment all your life. Why do you need a house?”
“Zinaida Petrovna,” Svetlana interrupted the conversation. “You haven’t seen what kinds of houses are for sale. Fresh air, a pond nearby. Fifteen minutes to the city.”
Zinaida Petrovna was silent, and when the young couple bought a house, she came to see it herself and experience the joys of country life.
“How nice it is here! The air! Vitya, do you feel it?”
Viktor Valeryanovich inhaled deeply, looking dreamily at the sky and remained silent.
“As a doctor, I strongly advise you to spend more time outdoors. Look, even your complexion has improved.”
Zinaida Petrovna became excited by the idea, smiled to herself, and went to find her son in the house.
“Andryusha, your father needs fresh air. How many rooms do you have? One should be set aside for Vitya.”
“Mom, right now, we only have one room ready and the living room. The rest need finishing; we planned to do it gradually.”
“I’ll help with the finishing. I’ll pay for the renovation of one room where Dad will stay. It’s nothing for me. I’ll transfer the money tomorrow, and today Vitya will stay in the living room.”
Zinaida Petrovna, who worked as the chief doctor at a hospital, was not used to hearing refusals. She always spoke in a demanding tone and didn’t listen to responses, turning away and leaving.
Svetlana didn’t like this, of course.
“It feels like your mom wants to get rid of your dad. Why couldn’t you say no?”
“Svetlana, that’s my dad. I can’t say no to him for a roof over his head.”
“Of course you can’t! You can’t say no to your mother for anything. I figured that out right away, which is why I wanted to live separately!”
“Don’t be mad, it’s only temporary, and mom will transfer the money tomorrow. We’ll finish the renovation faster. Besides, dad will help; he has golden hands.”
Of course, Svetlana and Andrey didn’t get any money from his mother. His wife felt sorry for his father, took out a loan, and they quickly renovated the house.
Viktor helped with all his might. He not only managed the renovation but also worked in the yard: mowing the grass, trimming trees, and planting flowers. Six months later, he returned to his apartment, as he needed to undergo an examination in the city.
Svetlana sighed with relief. Finally, they were alone.
“Andrey, I thought, why don’t we invite friends over for the housewarming? It was awkward with your dad around. But now we’re alone.”
“Great idea. Invite everyone over for the weekend, let’s have a good time.”
“But no parents or relatives,” the wife warned just in case.
“Of course!”
They agreed with their friends for Saturday, and on Friday evening, the mother-in-law arrived.
“Hello, Zinaida Petrovna,” Svetlana greeted her when she was alone at home. “You should’ve told me you were coming.”
“It’s uncomfortable to keep going back and forth by bus. I would’ve picked you up, or Andrey could have.”
“Why? Can’t I come to my room anytime?”
“Your room?”
“The one Vitya made with his own hands, so it’s ours. Physical strength also costs, you know. He didn’t just help with the renovation.”
“Also in the yard…” Svetlana almost said something sharp, like ‘he tidied up, you can even settle in the garden beds,’ but stopped herself in time.
“Exactly! He also worked in the yard! Part of the yard is ours too.”
Svetlana waited for her husband and immediately expressed her displeasure.
“Your mom came to her room?! What’s going on? She’ll take over the whole house soon.”
“You’re exaggerating. Mom just thought we’d assigned this room to them, so she said it like that.”
“Don’t make it worse. There’s nothing wrong with mom and dad coming over to stay for a few days sometimes.”
“When we have a baby, you’ll thank her.”
“Tomorrow our friends are coming,” Svetlana reminded him in an annoyed tone.
“Tomorrow, mom will be gone by noon.”
The next day, Svetlana started cooking in the morning. She wanted to impress her friends with culinary masterpieces. Her mother-in-law didn’t come to the kitchen until lunchtime.
“What’s that delicious smell? Oh, how lucky my son is to have a wife who cooks. I never liked cooking; it’s more Vitya’s thing.”
“Thank you, Zinaida Petrovna. We invited friends today, to show them the house, and I wanted to make something tasty.”
“And us? Why didn’t you say anything before? Aren’t we invited?”
“Sorry, I thought it would be uncomfortable for you.”
Svetlana took the dish out of the oven, put the pastries in the fridge, and went to the store to buy more products.
She came back an hour later. Her mother-in-law wasn’t there, and the fridge was empty — Zinaida Petrovna had taken half of the treats.
“What’s the big deal?” her husband defended his mother again. “Mom asked, I packed some for her. I couldn’t refuse her food.”
“I’ve been cooking all morning, and now I have to cook again! Is this normal? Or are your parents eating the last scraps without any salt?”
“Are you feeling sorry for mine? You already kicked my mom out. She wanted to spend the weekend with us, to get away from the city. She has a stressful job.”
Svetlana wanted to respond and start a fight but decided against it. Friends were coming soon, and she didn’t want them to see the argument.
A friend who arrived first noticed that Svetlana was in a bad mood.
“Did something happen?”
“Andrew’s parents are stressing me out, and he defends them. Although…” Svetlana reconsidered complaining. “I’m probably exaggerating. Don’t mind me.”
Before she could finish, the doors opened, and Zinaida Petrovna and her husband walked into the house.
“Here we are!” the mother-in-law announced cheerfully. “We didn’t miss it, did we? Your pastries smell so good, I couldn’t stay home.”
Svetlana tried to smile, but it didn’t work well. Her friend whispered just in time.
“I don’t think you’re exaggerating.”
The evening didn’t go as planned, and everyone’s mood was spoiled. The mother-in-law took charge of the “parade.”
“Who put on this music? We should listen to real artists, not this! Skip it,” she quickly changed the music to her favorite.
“Strong drinks, and even weak ones, harm your health! I’m telling you this as a doctor!”
“Everyone should be in bed by 10 o’clock.”
By 10 PM, the restless mother-in-law had sent everyone home.
“We’re not young anymore, we need rest.”
Svetlana didn’t want to argue in front of her friends and waited until everyone left.
“Why does your mom command our house?” the woman was outraged when her in-laws disappeared into “their” room.
“Come on, we had a good time. I think everyone enjoyed it.”
“Yes, especially when they were kicked out by 9:30!”
“Stop! I’m not discussing my parents with you.”
With time, the argument was forgotten, and the grievances passed. Svetlana even got used to the fact that every weekend her mother-in-law or father-in-law would come over.
Andrey suggested they get married in church.
“Let’s invite all the relatives. But we won’t book a restaurant, I looked, we can put up tables in the yard and order food. I think it will be even better.”
Svetlana agreed.
“And we’ll save money, and then go on vacation for a month,” she dreamt.
“Under the palm trees on the white sand! I’ve already picked out the tickets. I’ll pay tomorrow.”
“Great! Oh, and I forgot to say… My parents will come with us.”
The dreamy smile vanished from the wife’s face.
“What do you mean? This is our vacation, just the two of us. Time to be alone.”
“We’ll have time later, and mom and dad might never get the chance again. Book the tickets for two weeks, not a month. That’s enough money for everyone.”
“And at our expense? No way, that won’t happen.”
“Svetka, stop. I’m tired of your tantrums. Mom and dad won’t bother us, we don’t even have to meet them.”
“Then let’s take mine too,” Svetlana persisted. “What’s the harm? We can all go on the honeymoon together. We can even take your sister and your uncle and aunt, sorry, I forgot their names.”
“Don’t make it worse, Svetik. What did I say? Dad needs a rest. Mom, as a doctor, advised him to breathe in the sea air.”
“Let them breathe without us! How much longer? If you haven’t noticed, your mom advises your dad on everything related to us!”
“I’m paying for the vacation. So it will be as I said. Mom will send you the documents by mail so you can book the tickets.”
Svetlana clenched her lips in frustration but didn’t respond to her husband.
“They want to rest, let them,” she smirked.
The wedding went as planned. The celebration was a success, relatives gave good gifts, and there were many toasts and congratulations. Everyone was happy.
The next day, Andrey, Svetlana, Zinaida Petrovna, and Viktor Stepanovich, with their suitcases, got in a taxi and went to the airport.
At the airport, the announcement for boarding the Moscow-Dubai flight began.
“Andrey, you go ahead, we’ll buy some water with your parents and come,” the wife smiled.
Andrey left, and Svetlana turned to her mother-in-law and said:
“Your flight is in an hour, here are the tickets. You’re flying to Turkey.”
“What do you mean, to Turkey?”
“That’s right, there weren’t enough tickets, so we had to split the vacation. Enjoy yourselves properly!” Svetlana waved at her in-laws as she walked away from them.
She caught up with her husband.
“Where are mom and dad?”
“Don’t worry, they went to the bathroom, they’ll be fine. They’re not kids.”
On the plane, Andrey started to worry.
“What seats do they have? Boarding is almost over.”
“They’re at the other end of the plane. Everything’s fine.”
The plane took off, and Andrey wanted to get up to find his parents.
“Relax,” Svetlana said firmly. “They’re flying to Turkey, they’ll rest without us.”
“You sent them to another country?”
“Why are you running after them like they’re kids? They have an all-inclusive hotel.”
“They’ll relax peacefully and come back happy, you’ll see. And anyway, your mom wanted it.”
Andrey didn’t say anything, and Zinaida Petrovna was too embarrassed to tell how her daughter-in-law had tricked her.
The mother-in-law learned her lesson and didn’t interfere with her son anymore.