Rita woke to the barely audible crying of her daughter. Half-asleep, she glanced at her phone. Half past six in the morning. It was still dark outside; December had turned out especially gloomy that year.
Stanislav was asleep, sprawled out with his arms thrown wide, and he did not even stir at Mashka’s whimpers.
“Stas,” she whispered, shaking her husband by the shoulder. “It’s your turn.”
Her husband mumbled something incomprehensible and turned over onto his other side.
The woman sighed and got up herself. This scene repeated itself every morning: Stanislav slept very deeply after his night shift at the café, while she did not. Even though the evening before, his wife had stayed up late translating technical documentation for a machine-building plant and was very tired.
Taking her daughter in her arms, Rita went to the kitchen.
Mashka immediately calmed down and pressed herself against her mother. The one-year-old little girl was a copy of her father: the same gray eyes and stubborn chin. Only her temperament, thankfully, was still more agreeable.
While the bottle was warming, the woman checked her email. She had received a new order from a regular client: a translation of a contract for equipment supply, a three-day deadline, and decent pay. They would be able to pay the internet bill and buy Mashka a winter snowsuit.
“Working again?” Stanislav suddenly appeared in the kitchen. “And you woke the child too.”
“I didn’t wake her. And yes, I’m working, because we need something to live on.”
Her husband poured himself coffee and stared at his phone. Rita was sure he was reading the news now, then he would switch to social media, then back to the news again. This process could drag on for a whole hour.
And during that time, she had to feed Mashka, get ready, and take her daughter to her mother’s, because Rita had an important online meeting with Chinese partners scheduled for today.
“Mom, hi!” Rita called her mother half an hour later. “Can you watch Masha today? I have negotiations.”
“Of course, sweetheart! I was just about to go to the store. I’ll buy something tasty for my granddaughter.”
Irina Anatolyevna adored Mashka and never refused to help. A month ago, she had retired and could now devote as much time to her granddaughter as needed.
Her mother’s apartment was warm and cozy. Irina Anatolyevna had already set the table for breakfast and prepared toys for Masha.
“How are things with you, darling? How is Stanislav?” her mother asked, placing her granddaughter in the playpen.
“As usual. A tiny salary, no prospects.”
Rita did not add that her husband had once again given money to his sister. Victoria found a new reason every month to ask her brother for help: utility bills, clothes for her son, medicine. And Stanislav did not know how to refuse her.
“Have you thought about looking for something more suitable for him?” her mother cautiously suggested.
“I have. But he’s not exactly eager to change anything.”
The negotiations went successfully. The Chinese partners approved the new terms of cooperation. Rita was looking at a long-term contract with good pay. The woman was pleased: finally, she would be able to relax a little and not grab every order that came her way.
When she returned home that evening, Rita immediately understood that her husband was in a bad mood. Stanislav was sitting in the kitchen with a gloomy face. In front of him was a plate of hastily cooked pasta.
“Well, finally decided to show up,” he said without raising his head. “Had a good time?”
Rita carefully set Mashka down on the floor and turned to her husband.
“Stas, I was working. I had important negotiations.”
“Yeah, working! Sitting at Mommy’s and drinking tea! And I had to make dinner myself after a hard shift!”
“I’m not sitting around doing nothing either! I’m earning money for our family!” Rita snapped. “Today I managed to sign a long-term contract. I wanted to tell you the good news, and you…”
“I couldn’t care less about all your contracts if there’s no food at home!” her husband waved her off. “A wife should stay home, cook dinner, and look after the child! For a woman, family should be the priority!”
Mashka got scared and began to whimper. Rita picked up her daughter and stroked her head.
“Fine. I’ll stay home. Only on your salary, we’ll last half a month at most. And then what?”
“We’ll figure something out.”
“How? With the help of your sister, to whom you give half your salary every month?”
Stanislav turned crimson and sharply turned toward his wife.
“Don’t you dare speak badly about Victoria!” her husband roared, clenching his fists. “She’s raising a child alone. It’s hard for her!”
“And it’s easy for me, is it?” Rita held the crying Masha tighter against herself. “Am I not carrying everything alone? Have you ever once gotten up at night for your daughter? Have you ever cooked dinner while I was working?”
“I work too! I’m on my feet all day!”
“For pennies!” his wife snapped. “For that ridiculous money, which you also give to your sister! And I’m supposed to raise the child, support the family, and keep up with everything at home!”
Stanislav rushed to the window, then back again. Masha cried louder and louder.
“Do whatever you want!” her husband threw out, then slammed the door.
Rita was left alone with her crying daughter in her arms. Her body was shaking with anger and hurt. She tried to rock Mashka, but the child sensed her mother’s tension and could not calm down.
Stanislav came home drunk. He collapsed onto the sofa without even taking off his shoes. Rita said nothing, went into the bedroom, and went to sleep alone.
In the morning, the woman woke to the smell of coffee. Her husband was standing by the stove, frying eggs and guiltily avoiding her eyes.
“Rita,” he called quietly without turning around. “Forgive me.”
She silently continued feeding Masha, not looking in his direction.
“I was wrong yesterday,” her husband continued, placing a plate in front of her. “I completely lost it.”
“Mhm,” Rita muttered, still sulking.
“I understand that you work a lot. And that you’re the one who earns most of the money in the family,” Stanislav sat down opposite her and looked at his wife guiltily. “I just… I’m angry with myself. Angry that I can’t properly provide for my family.”
The woman raised her eyes. There was sincere remorse in her husband’s voice.
“You’re angry with yourself, but you take it out on me,” she added quietly.
“Yes. And that’s wrong.”
The spouses were silent for a while. Masha happily babbled, smearing puree across her tray.
“Listen,” the man leaned forward, “yesterday after work, I didn’t go to a bar. Well, first I did go to a bar, but then I went to Seryoga. Remember him? He works at a security agency?”
Rita nodded. Seryozha had been Stanislav’s classmate, and they occasionally kept in touch.
“So, he says they have a position opening up. Senior shift supervisor. The salary is twice what I make now. The schedule is twenty-four hours on, two days off, but the money is good.”
“Really?” the woman felt herself beginning to soften.
“Really. He already talked to management. I’m going for an interview tomorrow.”
“And experience? Qualifications?”
“Seryozha will recommend me. He says the main thing there is to be responsible and not a drinker. That suits me.”
Indeed, her husband had never been drawn to alcohol. He drank only on rare occasions.
“If they hire me,” Stanislav carefully took his wife’s hand, “you’ll be able to work less. Spend more time with Mashka.”
“And what about Victoria?”
The man grimaced with displeasure.
“I’ll deal with Vika. Don’t worry!”
“Stas, I’m not against helping her sometimes. But not every month and not at the expense of our family.”
“I understand. You’re right.”
Rita looked carefully at her husband. It seemed he truly was ready to change something, and not just say pretty words as he had before.
“All right,” she said, squeezing his hand. “But if you start taking things out on me again…”
“I won’t. I promise!”
Mashka dropped her spoon and clapped her hands, looking at her parents. Rita smiled.
“And that contract,” Stanislav asked, “is it really good?”
“Very. Long-term. We can even start saving for an apartment.”
“We’ll see. First we’ll sort out the job, and then we’ll see.”
After breakfast, her husband left for the interview. Rita stayed home with Mashka and started doing household chores. Her heart felt calm. She sincerely believed that everything could now improve. That her husband had truly needed that scandal to understand something.
The woman called her mother and told her what had happened.
“It’s good he came to his senses,” Irina Anatolyevna replied happily. “Stanislav isn’t a bad man. It’s just that sometimes men find it hard to admit they’re not coping.”
“Mom, what if he doesn’t get the position?”
“He will. And if not this one, he’ll find another. The important thing is that he has finally started moving.”
Her husband came home pleased. The interview had gone well, and they promised to give the final decision in two days.
Stanislav was hired. The salary really did turn out to be almost twice as high as before.
Rita sighed with relief. Now she could choose orders instead of grabbing everything that came along.
The first month, everything went perfectly.
Her husband was inspired by his new job, and at home he became calmer and more attentive. He even started spending more time with Mashka: thanks to the twenty-four-hours-on, two-days-off schedule, he now had full days off.
But the happiness did not last long. At the end of January, Victoria became active again.
First, her sister-in-law asked for money for medicine for her son. Supposedly, Vitka had come down with pneumonia and needed expensive antibiotics. Stanislav gave her five thousand.
Two weeks later, she appeared again and said she had lost her documents, and she needed money to restore them. Plus, she had nothing to feed the child with. Her husband gave her another ten thousand.
In March, his sister needed money for kindergarten. Then it turned out there was no money to buy shoes for Vitka. Then that their hot water had been shut off because of debts.
“Stas, do you seriously not notice that your sister comes up with something new every week?” Rita cautiously said to her husband after yet another visit from his sister.
“What do you want me to do? She really does have difficulties.”
“And we don’t have difficulties? We were planning to save money for an apartment.”
“Rita, she’s alone with a child.”
“And we have a child too! And both of us work like horses so we can have something and not go around begging!”
Rita really did continue to work intensively to save money faster for buying an apartment. She still had to take Mashka to her mother’s.
In April, Victoria showed up again.
“Stasik,” she began as soon as she stepped over the threshold, “I’m in trouble. Vitka fell off the swing. A concussion. The doctor says he needs a full examination, but with insurance, the appointment is only available in a month.”
“How much do you need?” Stanislav automatically asked.
“I think ten thousand should be enough for now.”
Rita, who was feeding Mashka in the kitchen at that moment, stood up and came over to them.
“Vika, may I see the certificate from the emergency clinic?”
“What certificate?” she asked, confused.
“Well, if the child has a concussion, there should be a certificate. Or a discharge note.”
“Why do you need it?”
“To understand how serious the situation is.”
Victoria turned red.
“So you don’t believe me?”
“That’s right. I don’t. Because in three months, you’ve had fifteen urgent reasons to ask your brother for money.”
“Stas!” her sister-in-law exclaimed. “Do you hear how she’s talking to your sister?”
Stanislav looked uncertainly at his wife, then at his sister.
“Rita, maybe we should give…”
“No!” his wife objected firmly. “We will not. Vika, if your son really has an injury, take him to the hospital. If you need money to live, go to work.”
“I work!”
“Where? In what position? What schedule?”
The relative opened her mouth but said nothing.
“Stas,” Rita turned to her husband, “we are not giving her a single kopeck. Enough!”
“But…”
“No buts. This is the final decision!”
Victoria left, slamming the door loudly and promising never to come again.
Her husband walked around gloomy all evening.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have done that,” he said. “What if the child really is injured?”
“Stas, if the child were injured, she would be sitting at the hospital, not running to us for money!”
On Friday evening, the doorbell rang.
“Stasik, son!” Olga Pavlovna walked into the kitchen and began taking groceries out of a bag. “I brought you your favorite cake.”
Rita became wary. Her mother-in-law rarely came just like that, especially with treats.
“Thanks, Mom!” Stanislav hugged his mother. “How are you?”
“Oh, how could I be? I’m worried about Vikulya. The poor girl can’t find peace at all! She cries every day. Says her brother has turned his back on her.”
“Mom, I haven’t turned my back…”
“Stasik, this isn’t right. I didn’t raise you like that. Family is sacred. You have only one sister. But you can have many wives.”
Rita, who was coming out of the bathroom with Masha wrapped in a towel, froze in the hallway.
“Victoria needs help,” her mother-in-law continued. “She’s raising a child alone. And you let your wife boss you around. That’s wrong!”
“Mom, but Rita is right too…”
“Right about what? About forbidding a brother to help his sister? That’s greed, son. And selfishness. Your wife is leading you down the wrong path.”
The woman entered the kitchen. Her mother-in-law was sitting at the table with the air of a righteous woman, while Stanislav listened to her in confusion, his eyes lowered.
“Excuse me, Olga Pavlovna,” Rita said slowly, “but what exactly do you mean?”
“That family is sacred! Your sister-in-law is raising a child alone, and you forbid her brother to help her. What do you call that?”
“I don’t forbid him to help. I forbid him to support an adult, healthy woman who doesn’t work.”
“She works!”
“Where?” Rita crossed her arms over her chest. “In what position? Name at least the field of work.”
Olga Pavlovna was taken aback for a second.
“And if she doesn’t work, so what? She has a small child!”
“I also have a small child! The same age as her son! But I work! Do you know why? Because there’s no one else to feed the family! Your son’s salary is enough for half a month! And he constantly hands money over to his sister too!”
Her mother-in-law turned crimson.
“Don’t you dare talk about my children like that! Stas earns well!”
“Better than before. But it is far from the ultimate dream!”
“And why do you need more if you don’t raise your child anyway? You only create the appearance of it!”
Rita gasped.
“What?”
“You heard me! You think I don’t notice anything? Why did you give birth if you don’t want to raise her?” Olga Pavlovna blurted out. “You constantly take the little one to your parents! You get rid of her like she’s a burden! Normal mothers stay home and take care of their children!”
“Oh really? And what do they eat? Air? What do they buy clothes with?”
“With their husband’s money! As it should be!”
“With their husband’s money?” Rita laughed angrily. “Every month, your daughter pulls almost half of Stas’s salary out of us! Half!”
“That can’t be!”
“Oh, it absolutely can! And meanwhile, she doesn’t work a single day!”
“Victoria is raising a child! And you are a bad mother! Real women don’t trade their children for a career!”
“Stas!” Rita pleaded, turning to her husband. “Do you hear this?”
Stanislav sat with his face buried in his phone and remained silent.
“He hears,” her mother-in-law nodded. “And he understands that I’m right.”
“Really? So I’m a bad mother because I earn money? And your daughter is a good one because she spends it?”
“She’s alone!”
“I’m alone too! Because my husband is tired after work, and on weekends he helps his sister!”
And then Irina Anatolyevna appeared in the doorway. She had just arrived to pick up her granddaughter for the weekend.
“Forgive me for interrupting,” the woman said in an icy tone. “I accidentally witnessed your conversation.”
Rita turned around. Her mother was standing in the doorway. Her face looked such that even Olga Pavlovna fell silent.
“Irina Anatolyevna!” the mother-in-law exclaimed. “We didn’t hear you come in.”
“Apparently. Otherwise, you would not have allowed yourself to make such statements about my daughter.”
“But I’m telling the pure truth!”
“The truth?” Irina Anatolyevna walked into the kitchen. “Then let’s speak frankly.”
She looked Olga Pavlovna in the eyes.
“I know my daughter better than anyone! She has never lived off anyone. She worked part-time while at university. She got married and supports her family. She gave birth to a child and didn’t quit working because she understands that one salary isn’t enough to survive on.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” her mother-in-law began.
“It has everything to do with the fact that instead of being grateful to your daughter-in-law, who keeps your son afloat, you call her a bad mother!”
“She is a bad one! She drags the child around other people’s homes!”
“Other people’s?” Irina Anatolyevna was surprised. “Am I a stranger to my own granddaughter?”
“Well… I mean…” the mother-in-law faltered.
“And why have you never once helped with the child? Why have you never once offered to sit with your granddaughter? You, our dear relative!”
“Why should I? It’s not my responsibility!”
“I see. So it’s my responsibility to sit with my granddaughter while her mother works and supports the family. And your responsibility is only to criticize and ask for money for your daughter! Is that it?”
Olga Pavlovna jumped up.
“How dare you!”
“And how dare you call my daughter a bad mother?” Irina Anatolyevna was furious. “Rita gets up with the child at night, feeds her, plays with her, takes care of her when she’s sick. Then she works until midnight to provide for the family. And you also demand that she support your daughter? Shameless woman!”
“Victoria…”
“Victoria is an adult woman! It’s time she earned money herself!”
Rita looked at her mother with admiration and gratitude.
Stanislav finally raised his head from his phone.
“Mom,” he said conciliatorily, “Irina Anatolyevna is right.”
“What?” Olga Pavlovna turned to her son in bewilderment.
“Rita is not a bad mother. She is an excellent mother. And wife. And I, apparently, am a bad husband if I allowed someone to speak to her this way.”
“Stasik!” his mother-in-law gasped. “What are you saying?”
“I’m telling the truth, Mom. Rita works from morning to night. Gets up at night with the child. And meanwhile, I give Vika money that our family needs.”
“She is your sister!”
“Yes. But this is my family too!” Stanislav raised his voice. “My wife and daughter! And they are more important!”
Olga Pavlovna turned pale.
“This can’t be… Stas, what has she done to you? You can’t say that!”
“I can. And I will. Mom, Rita is right. Vika is an adult and can work herself. At least remotely. And you should apologize to my wife.”
“Me? Apologize?” his mother-in-law jumped up. “Never! I didn’t say anything bad to her!”
“You did. A lot of bad things, actually.”
“Stas, I’m your mother. I gave birth to you, raised you…”
“And I’m grateful to you for that. But that doesn’t give you the right to insult my wife.”
“So that’s how it is?” her mother-in-law’s face twisted with fury. “So some strange girl is more important than your own mother?”
“Rita isn’t strange. She is my wife.”
“Fine!” Olga Pavlovna grabbed her purse. “Then choose! Either me or her! Your mother or a wife you might divorce in a couple of months!”
Silence reigned in the room. Rita froze, waiting for her husband’s answer. Irina Anatolyevna held Mashka tighter against herself.
Stanislav looked confidently at his mother.
“I made my choice a long time ago, Mom. When I got married. When my daughter was born.”
“So you choose her?”
“I choose my family!”
Olga Pavlovna stood with her mouth open. Apparently, she had expected any answer but this one.
“Fine,” she hissed. “Very fine. Then don’t expect any help from me anymore. And don’t count on communication either.”
“I won’t count on it,” the man answered calmly and walked to the door. “Goodbye, Mom.”
“Stas!” Olga Pavlovna could not believe that her son was really throwing her out.
“Goodbye!” he repeated, opening the door.
His mother-in-law flew out of the apartment, slamming the door loudly. After she left, the apartment became surprisingly quiet. Stanislav leaned against the closed door and sighed heavily.
“Stas,” Rita approached her husband and gently touched his shoulder, “maybe you shouldn’t have said so many hurtful things. You might regret it…”
“No,” her husband turned to his wife. “The only thing I regret is not doing it sooner.”
“But she’s your mother…”
“She insulted my wife. She demanded that I support my lazy sister. No, Rita, enough!”
Irina Anatolyevna carefully stood up.
“Maybe I’d better leave? You two need to talk.”
“No, Mom, stay,” her son-in-law asked. “And thank you for standing up for Rita. I should have done it myself, but… I got confused.”
“It’s all right, son. The important thing is that everything has been sorted out.”
A week later, Victoria called Stanislav.
“Stas, what is going on? Mom said you threw her out!”
“I didn’t throw her out. I just explained that I won’t let anyone insult my family.”
“But she’s Mom!”
“And Rita is my wife. And the mother of my daughter.”
“What about me? I need your help!”
“Vika, what you need is work. Not help, but work. Do you understand?”
“Are you against me?”
“I’m not against you. I’m against supporting you.”
Victoria hung up and did not call again.
A year passed. Stanislav was promoted at work. Rita continued doing translations. The spouses bought an apartment.
“You know, I was afraid that without your relatives, something would be missing from our lives. Especially for you.”
“And?”
“But it turned out the opposite. It became easier to breathe.”
“For me too. All my life I felt obligated to Mom and Vika. And now I understand that they should be responsible for their own lives.”
Masha ran up to her father and stretched her little arms upward. Stanislav picked his daughter up.
“We have our own family,” he said, looking at his wife and daughter. “And that is enough.”
Rita smiled. Now she was happy. They were together. And that was the most important thing.
