Mom called. We’re moving. Pack your things today; I’ll move you tomorrow, — Lera’s husband, Pavel, informed his wife as a fact. Lera didn’t even manage to answer; he said it casually while putting on his sneakers and grabbing the car keys from the shelf.
— Pasha… But… What about your job? And our daughter’s kindergarten? — Lera ran after her husband into the hallway.
— I arranged everything. I’ll work a part-time job twice a week. I’ll stay overnight at the sites. And I’ve already submitted paperwork to transfer to the regional branch at my main job.
Lera stood frozen, mouth open. When she married Pasha, she never imagined that four years later she would leave the big city for a suburb where the tallest building was only five stories.
— But why? Pasha? — Lera shouted into the void. Pavel slammed the door in the entrance and left. The wife stayed standing in the doorway of their rented apartment, barely managing to hold the door before it shut and cut her off from her two-year-old daughter.
That evening, as often happened lately, her husband was late. When he came back, he looked at Lera and frowned:
— Why aren’t the things packed?! I want to go to bed, not spend the whole night packing! I’m tired!
— Pasha, but I’m tired too.
— From what? Watching TV shows?
— I just nodded off, had the TV on in the background. That helps Alisa sleep better! — Lera explained.
— Feed me. I’m as hungry as a dog!
Lera got up and, fighting sleep, went to the kitchen to heat up dinner for her husband.
Sitting next to him, she finally asked the question that had been bothering her all day.
— Pasha, explain to me what’s going on?
— What do you mean?
— The move! Why? We have a good apartment, live in a decent area, our daughter goes to kindergarten… I’m planning to go back to work in six months.
— Good apartment? — Pavel mocked. — A rented apartment can’t be good! And don’t even talk about that kindergarten! It’s paid, weird, some kind of nonsense, not a real kindergarten! I’m tired of working hard; money just slips through our fingers here!
— But we’re still six months away from getting into a free kindergarten, and even then it’s not guaranteed to be a good one.
— Exactly! And in the village, there’s a great public kindergarten and an apartment of our own!
— Grandma’s. The apartment belongs to your grandmother, and, let me remind you, she lives there!
— Stop jabbering, Lera! I’ve decided everything. Grandma is sick, she needs care.
— Wait… No! Don’t tell me we’re moving to your grandmother’s! I’ve never seen her in my life! And besides…
— Nobody’s forcing you to be a maid for grandma. We just need household help. Cleaning, cooking. We won’t live with her either. But the village is small, you can walk everywhere. And the parents are nearby. We’ll all live close. Your mother was right not to want me to move to the city. We haven’t made anything good here, and prices are ten times higher!
Lera wanted to say something but realized arguing with her husband was useless.
She decided to act according to the circumstances, so she gathered her strength, set an early alarm, and packed a suitcase.
Packing dragged on.
— Take only the essentials. The apartment is paid for until the end of the month, then we’ll move the rest of the stuff, — her husband said. He was eager to relocate his wife and daughter.
Lera traveled to the village with a heavy heart. She didn’t like such “isolation.” She felt like a hermit, afraid that her husband was hiding them far away and secretly planning to continue living in the city, maybe even bringing home a new woman.
— Pasha, I want you to know… I won’t tolerate cheating, — she said, putting things in place in the new apartment. The apartment was provided by some woman connected to Pasha, who had previously rented it to a single woman with cats. It seemed clean, but the smell of cats was strong. Moreover, when Lera opened the curtain, she saw that the illusion of cleanliness was just that—an illusion.
“We need to wash the windows. Wash the curtains. And maybe throw out the carpet; maybe the cats peed on it…” — she thought as Pasha shouted something about her distrust and the meaning of life. Their daughter sat in a chair watching some cartoon. Only she was happy with what was happening.
That evening, her mother-in-law called.
Pavel talked with his mother for a long time, then came into the room and added fuel to the fire.
— I already told you grandma is sick. We moved to be close to her. Tomorrow we have to visit her: clean the apartment and cook food. When mom’s renovation is finished, she’ll take grandma to her place, and we’ll move into grandma’s apartment. But for now, this is how it is.
— Go, — Lera answered dryly.
— I can’t, I have two night shifts in a row. And actually, I’m not fully transferred yet. Maybe I’ll have to stay in the city until the end of the month.
— What?! Then we’ll go with you! I don’t want to sit here like a recluse!
— Don’t talk nonsense. I earn so we can live decently. You know that. I’ll come back. And anyway, it’s not about that now. An elderly person needs help!
— You can’t? Okay. What about your mother?
— Mom is there every evening, but during the day she works and gets tired! Only you sit at home.
— I’m on maternity leave, Pasha!
— Yes, yes. That’s exactly what I meant. I’ve already signed our daughter up for kindergarten. Mom’s friend works there. I was told we can bring her for half a day once or twice a week to get Alisa used to it.
— Pasha, I’m not obliged to do this. She’s your grandmother. You can visit her before work. You handle this! Hire a nurse or cleaning service. — Lera ignored his remark about kindergarten.
— That’s not a man’s job. I’m already doing everything I can for us.
— Not a man’s job? Then whose? The daughter-in-law’s, who’s never seen this grandmother in her life? For what?
— Grandma promised to leave us the apartment. — Pavel reminded, rubbing his temples.
— Us? You mean you.
— Well, you’re my wife.
— So what? Inheritance isn’t shared between spouses. I won’t care for grandma; she’s nobody to me. You expect too much from me, — Lera said and went to the bedroom.
That evening Pavel was very angry with his wife; he went to sleep in the kitchen. Lera thought all night about whether she had crossed the line. She didn’t want to lose her husband. In the end, in the morning, she approached him and agreed.
— Okay, I agree to help. But only occasionally. As much as I can. And promise me you won’t live separately from us and will transfer soon.
— Good. Thanks, Lera. I knew you’re a good wife.
Walking along the dirt road, Lera worried a lot. First, her daughter started going to a kindergarten where she had no friends, she cried a lot and didn’t want to stay. Second, Pasha’s grandmother, according to her husband’s stories, was a rather strict woman. Lera didn’t know how it would go.
The needed house stood apart. The entrance was dark. A smell of an old house, gas, dampness hit her nose… Nothing like the home where Lera lived with her husband just a few days ago. A woman, a neighbor, came out the door. She worked as a nurse and sometimes came to see grandma.
— I gave an injection; grandma is sleeping. You’re the daughter-in-law, right?
— Yes…
— Good. Get settled. I’ll be home until three.
Lera quietly entered the apartment. No, she didn’t want to live in such a place. Though bright and spacious, it reminded her too much of the one she lived in as a child. Even the crystal cabinet was exactly the same… And horrible memories of grandma making Lera polish it until it squeaked.
Lera shuddered as if she heard that sound: newspaper against glass. Disgusting. Unpleasant.
Clear memories from the past surfaced. Grandma was very strict, her stern look and constant nitpicking.
“Why a four? What’s wrong with your handwriting?” — the words sounded so clearly in her head that Lera even grimaced. No, here she would never wash the crystal. Grandma was old now; she didn’t care what was in the cabinet.
Lera quickly shook her head, found a rag, and began to wash the floor quietly so as not to wake grandma.
There were ingredients for soup in the kitchen. Lera had thoughtfully brought some with her. She hurriedly chopped vegetables and threw them into the pot. After making the soup and making sure the apartment was in order, Lera peeked into the room and saw grandma peacefully sleeping.
Lera didn’t wake the elderly woman. She went to pick up her daughter from kindergarten.
A few days passed the same way. Lera didn’t visit grandma every day, only twice a week. But one day, when she came, grandma was awake.
— Lera, daughter! Come here… — the woman called when she heard her daughter-in-law rustling in the kitchen.
— Yes, grandma Nyura?
— Daughter, have you cleaned yet? — she asked.
— Yes…
— Are you in a hurry?
— I have to pick up Alisa from kindergarten.
— Why don’t you bring her with you? Are you afraid?
— Well… — Lera was confused. She really was afraid her daughter might do something wrong.
— Don’t be afraid, bring her. It’ll cheer me up too. Bring her tomorrow. You don’t have to wash the floor; it’s already shiny. Just come. We’ll have tea, look at family albums… — there was so much warmth and sadness in the woman’s words that Lera even doubted that her mother-in-law came to grandma every day.
— Okay. We’ll come together tomorrow.
The next day Lera didn’t come alone. Alisa looked around with interest and ran straight to the cabinet.
— Daughter! Don’t touch!
— Let her look. My father gave us that swan at our wedding. And that ballerina there, my husband brought me from a business trip. I used to dance when I was young… — grandma drifted into memories. Her story flowed like a river, and Lera didn’t even notice how Alisa sat on the carpet listening, playing to herself. And Lera forgot about the milk on the stove.
— Oh, it’s probably all boiled over! — she suddenly remembered.
— Exactly, — grandma laughed. Lera once again caught herself thinking that Pasha’s grandma was very much like her own grandma. Only kinder. Not strict at all.
After removing the milk from the stove and cooking porridge, Lera fed her daughter and grandma Nyura. Then they looked through old albums, chatted, and didn’t notice when her mother-in-law arrived.
— Why are you lingering? I was in a hurry, — Pavel’s mother came into the room and hugged her granddaughter. Alisa smiled and showed her a new toy: a crystal swan.
— I just bought you a present, I was going to give it on the weekend, but luckily I met you earlier! Here! — the mother-in-law handed the child a sticker book, and the girl immediately started sticking them everywhere.
While Lera boiled the kettle, Alisa stuck stickers all over the cabinet and almost broke that very ballerina.
— I won’t bring you to grandma Nyura’s anymore! — Lera exclaimed. — How are we going to clean all this now?
— Don’t worry, there’s lots of cleaning stuff in the cupboard. I recently bought some on advice, just for glass and mirrors, — said the mother-in-law. She was not angry at the child at all, and grandma didn’t seem to be upset about the damage.
While Lera distracted her daughter with cartoons, her mother-in-law peeled off the stickers and sprayed foam on the glass. Then, taking a cloth, she wiped it. The property was saved.
— Well, I guess we should go home then, — Lera looked at the clock. The day had flown by unnoticed.
— See you. Come visit with Alisa more often, — grandma said goodbye.
And Lera came. From that day on, she and her daughter visited grandma almost every day. Lera stopped being angry at her husband. She realized that Pasha wanted what was best for the family, and she appreciated that. She got used to the village, its unhurried life, fresh air.
Her husband transferred to the village branch, was soon promoted, and the need for side jobs disappeared. It was not hard for Lera to help grandma: no one forced her to clean, scrub, or scour… Grandma, though with difficulty, managed to get to the toilet with a cane and Lera’s help, ate by herself, and once even decided to dust the cabinet.
— Let’s do it together, — Lera said, recalling her childhood and that awful sound of squeaking glass. But now it didn’t seem so scary, and washing the crystal in the cabinet, where each vase and glass had its own story, was very pleasant.
Everything fell into place, and Lera understood: very often it depends not on circumstances, but on our attitude toward them. The move became a new chapter in her life. And only better things lay ahead.