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“Ira, we need to tell her,” Pavel said firmly as the couple closed themselves in the kitchen. “Either you do it yourself, or I’ll have to.”
“Oh God, I can’t,” Irina looked guiltily at her husband. “Maybe at least today we can let her stay here?”
“What will that change?” Pavel asked. “We’ll only make things worse. You realize she’s poisoning life for us and our kids? Anton and Rita were so looking forward to this holiday, prepared so much, and look at this.”
“But we can’t just throw people out the door, can we?” Irina tried to convince her husband. “How will they get to the city?”
“The buses still run!” Pavel declared. “I’m even willing to pay for a taxi. Ira, this will never stop, you understand?”
“There will be a scandal,” Irina said resignedly.
“There will be,” her husband agreed, “but it can’t be otherwise.”
Pavel looked questioningly at his wife.
“So, me or you?” he asked.
“Pasha, let’s do it together,” Irina pleaded.
Pavel smiled.
“All right, that’s even better,” he said. “No one will get offended. We’ll become enemies for her together.”
Irina rubbed her temples.
“Then we’ll have to explain ourselves to Olya and Sergey.”
“Our son-in-law is reasonable,” Pavel reassured his wife. “And Olya should understand.”
Pavel squeezed his wife’s hand, and they both went to the living room, where two women in their fifties were sitting at the festive table, eating and chatting animatedly. Both were already noticeably tipsy. Twelve-year-old Anton and ten-year-old Margarita sat bored in the corner by the decorated Christmas tree, fiddling with their phones. The ladies’ presence clearly made them uncomfortable.
When the homeowners appeared, the two women brightened even more.
“Irisha, Pavel, where did you disappear to?” asked Anna Dmitrievna, a well-groomed lady with magnificent gray hair. “Sit down at the table.”
“Make yourselves at home,” her friend added, and both women laughed at what they thought was a good joke.
However, the hosts did not share their merriment.
“Anna Dmitrievna, you need to leave,” Pavel said calmly.
The uninvited guests instantly became serious.
“What do you mean leave?” Anna Dmitrievna protested. “This is my—”
She faltered.
“No, it’s not yours!” Irina said firmly. “It hasn’t been yours for a year. It’s time you got used to it.”
“But—”
Anna Dmitrievna looked confused and didn’t know what to say. She helplessly glanced at her friend, who was tense, watching the situation.
“Ira, Pasha, this is—”
“It’s someone else’s property,” Pavel said firmly. “It’s our dacha. And we have plans, sorry. We want to celebrate New Year only with our family.”
Anton and Margarita finally tore their eyes from their phones and watched the scene with hope.
“You can’t treat me like this!” Anna Dmitrievna exclaimed. “You know how much this house means to me! My best years…”
“That’s all in the past,” Pavel said decisively. “Anna Dmitrievna, I don’t want a scandal. But you leave me no choice. If you don’t leave on your own, I’ll have to force you and your friend out.”
Anna Dmitrievna looked at Pavel in astonishment and realized he was serious. She pursed her lips in offense.
“Let’s go, Nina,” she said to her friend, and they both reluctantly left the table and headed toward the hallway.
“I can call a taxi for you,” Pavel said after them.
“We’ll manage!” Anna Dmitrievna muttered.
Both deliberately took their time with coats and shoes, as if hoping the hosts would change their minds and ask them to stay. But it didn’t happen. A few minutes later, both women left the “inhospitable house.” As soon as the door closed behind them, Anton and Margarita simultaneously shouted, “Hooray!”
“Quiet!” Irina scolded the children. “She’ll hear.”
“Forget her,” Pavel defended the kids. “Anna needs to get used to reality.”
While Irina tidied the festive table, which had been disturbed by the uninvited guests, Pavel decorated the Christmas tree outside with the younger children. Anna Dmitrievna’s visit had interrupted the process.
Pavel, cheeks flushed from the cold, came inside holding his phone.
“Olga,” he explained to his wife, “wants to talk to you. We already talked.”
Irina became worried.
“I’m going to hear a lot now,” she said more to herself.
She didn’t notice the sly sparkles in her husband’s eyes.
“Yes, daughter,” she said into the phone, “Happy upcoming New Year to you too. You already know, as I understand it. And Sergey too.”
But the further conversation with her daughter surprised Irina.
“Mom, Dad, it’s very important to me that you and Dad get along with Anna Dmitrievna and Roman Vasilyevich,” Olga said shortly before the wedding. “Sergey cares deeply about his parents. And I don’t want to risk our relationship.”
Irina and Pavel nodded understandingly, although the situation was not entirely pleasant for them. Of course, both sincerely wanted happiness for their daughter, but they didn’t really want to “bend over backwards” for the in-laws.
“Dad, don’t dramatize,” Olga seemed to read her father’s thoughts. “No one’s asking you to wash their feet or drink their water. Just a little more respect.”
The thing was, Olga considered meeting Sergey a real stroke of luck. She was the eldest in a family with two younger children, and their income was quite modest. But Sergey’s father, Roman Vasilyevich, had long been a regional parliament deputy and then had organized a very successful business. Sergey himself was a highly sought-after programmer working under contract with several companies simultaneously. Moreover, he was about to embark on a long-term overseas business trip.
Roman Vasilyevich, contrary to Irina and Pavel’s fears, turned out to be quite simple and sociable. But his wife, Anna Dmitrievna, a “housewife by marriage,” carried herself as if she were an heir to an imperial dynasty.
The couple agreed to treat the arrogance of the new relative philosophically and with humor.
The wedding was celebrated lavishly and joyfully, and soon the young couple flew abroad together. And a month later, Roman Vasilyevich suddenly passed away. Unfortunately, Sergey could not attend his father’s funeral due to work. Irina and Pavel took charge of all the arrangements. They also supported Anna Dmitrievna, who quickly lost her former arrogance. Now she called her future in-laws only “my friends.”
Then it turned out that instead of a generous inheritance, the man left his wife and son huge debts, which he had managed to hide during his lifetime. Rumor had it that his sudden death was related to these debts.
Anna Dmitrievna was in complete despair. Meanwhile, Irina and Pavel’s life took a turn for the better. Pavel inherited an apartment in the provinces from a lonely relative. Although it was completely “run down.”
Meanwhile, Anna Dmitrievna had the idea to sell their dacha, which was more like a full-fledged house. Four rooms, not far from the city, equipped with all utilities. She hoped to pay off her husband’s debts this way.
After discussing it, Irina and Pavel decided to buy it. Pavel calculated that if they sold their two-room apartment and the apartment of the late relative, they would have enough money.
“How long can we keep living on each other’s heads?” he explained his decision to his wife. “The kids need space. The air is fresh there, transport runs well. And we’ll help the new relative too.”
Irina agreed, and Anton and Margarita enthusiastically accepted their father’s idea. The opportunity to walk in the forest near the dacha anytime and to have their own rooms made them ready to take the bus to school.
Anna Dmitrievna immediately agreed to the proposal and was very grateful to the in-laws.
“You saved me,” she kept saying. “Holy people, holy!”
After the official deal was concluded, the family moved into the “mansion” and enthusiastically began settling in.
Anna Dmitrievna arrived a month later on a weekend. Early spring was in the air, and the whole family was busy with garden work. Irina and Pavel decided the children would benefit more from eating vegetables from their own garden, so they planned the territory carefully.
“Oh, just don’t touch the rose garden!” Anna Dmitrievna told them. “It’s my pride. And every spring I planted daisies there. I love them.”
Irina and Pavel tried to be polite to their guest. But it was becoming harder.
Anna Dmitrievna calmly ordered things around in the kitchen, tried to rearrange the furniture, indicated which wallpaper to put in the children’s rooms, and what curtains to choose for the living room.
It seemed Anna Dmitrievna still hadn’t realized the dacha no longer belonged to her. Sometimes she came with her bosom friend Nina, and the women made themselves comfortable, causing the hosts to have to adjust their plans. Irina and Pavel sympathized with Anna Dmitrievna in her grief, understood her attachment to the dacha, but their patience was running out. The woman constantly told stories about how she and her late husband built and furnished the house. Every confession ended with bitter tears. The new owners had to bite their tongues again.
“We celebrated every New Year at this dacha,” Anna Dmitrievna told Irina and Pavel. “A magical place.”
“Yes, we agree with you,” Pavel replied. “It’s hard to get used to. But you’ll manage, Anna Dmitrievna.”
The woman seemed not to hear him because on the evening of December 31, she and her friend appeared at the doorstep. Irina was setting the table, and Pavel was decorating the Christmas tree outside with Anton and Margarita.
“And here we are!” Anna Dmitrievna cheerfully announced. “Happy New Year. Come in, Ninok. You can see we were clearly waiting for you.”
The women calmly sat at the table. Pavel firmly decided that the problem of the in-laws’ constant visits had to be solved radically.
Neither he nor Irina was particularly surprised by Olga’s call. Of course. Anna Dmitrievna complained to her son first.
“Olechka, you understand…” Irina began.
“I understand everything, Mom,” Olga replied. “And Sergey is on your side too. You have endured a long time. What patience you have.”
Having received approval from their daughter and son-in-law, Irina and Pavel finally calmed down. The family had a wonderful New Year’s celebration, and on the evening of January 1, Irina received a call from Anna Dmitrievna.
“I wanted to apologize,” she said. “Yes, I kind of forgot myself. It’s just that this dacha… We were so happy there.”
“I understand everything,” Irina replied. “You can always come as guests. Just finally realize that it is now our home.”
Anna Dmitrievna solemnly promised to improve.