Lena froze with a cup in her hands. She had just been about to pour herself some tea when she heard the doorbell ring. She thought it was either the neighbor stopping by for some salt or a courier with a package.
But standing on the threshold was her mother-in-law.
With a huge suitcase and two bags.
“Galina Petrovna!” Lena tried to smile. “What a surprise! Come in, come in…”
Her mother-in-law squeezed into the hallway, leaving the suitcase right by the door. She sat down on the bench without even taking off her shoes.
Lena stood there, unable to understand what was happening. Her mother-in-law was smiling that very smile that made Lena want to hide. From experience, Lena knew that such a smile never meant anything good.
“Mom,” Andrey came out of the room, wiping his hands with a towel, “are you here for long?”
“Forever,” Galina Petrovna said shortly.
“What do you mean, forever?” Andrey did not understand.
“Just what I said. I’m moving in with you,” his mother began unbuttoning her coat. “Son, help me bring in the suitcase. It’s heavy.”
“Well, this is a twist,” flashed through Lena’s mind.
She sat down on a chair, trying to keep calm. Inside, she was already boiling, but she could not show her emotions to her mother-in-law. The woman would definitely use them against her.
Two years earlier, everything had been different.
The whole family had gathered around Galina Petrovna’s table. Andrey and Lena, Sveta with her husband Misha and their two children. The little ones were running around the apartment, knocking everything over in their path, while the adults sat at the table with tea and pies.
“So, how are you getting on?” Galina Petrovna asked, pouring tea.
“Fine, more or less,” Lena said vaguely. “Though the landlady keeps finding fault with every little thing. Either we didn’t clean something on the balcony, or the television is too loud and the neighbors are complaining…”
“It’s the same for us!” Sveta supported her. “Misha and I are exhausted too. A new contract every year, the rent keeps going up, and there’s no stability at all.”
Lena had been preparing for this conversation for a long time. She had rehearsed phrases, chosen her words. She had decided she had to act carefully, from a distance.
“Galina Petrovna, have you ever thought about… well, helping the children with housing?” she began.
“How helping?” her mother-in-law did not understand.
“Well, if we had a down payment,” Lena tried to speak calmly, “we could buy something with a mortgage. But as it is, we save and save, and prices rise faster than we can put money aside. It’s unclear how much longer we can keep living in rentals.”
“Yes!” Sveta chimed in. “Mom, we dream of having our own place too! Even a one-room apartment, as long as it’s ours!”
Andrey stayed silent, his eyes lowered. Lena knew her husband would not support her in this conversation. In general, he preferred to keep quiet when it came to asking his mother for anything.
Lena took a deep breath and said what had long been on the tip of her tongue.
“Galina Petrovna, let’s do this. You sell your apartment,” she continued quickly, not giving her mother-in-law a chance to interrupt, “and we split the money equally between Andrey and Sveta. Each family will add a little of their own and buy something decent. Take out a mortgage if needed. And you… you’ll live sometimes with me and Andrey, sometimes with Sveta and Misha. We’ll make a schedule so it’s convenient for everyone. After all, we’re family!”
Silence fell.
Even the children stopped running around for a second.
Andrey lowered his eyes to his plate and began vigorously picking at his potatoes with his fork. Misha cleared his throat and reached for a pie. Sveta froze with her cup near her lips.
Galina Petrovna slowly, very slowly, put down her spoon. Her face stretched, her eyes narrowed. She looked at Lena as if Lena had suggested something completely outrageous.
“What are you saying, girl?” her mother-in-law’s voice sounded icy. “Do you even understand what you’re saying?”
“Galina Petrovna, I just thought…”
“So that in my old age I should be without a corner of my own?” her mother-in-law interrupted. “Wander from one place to another like a tumbleweed? Today with one family, tomorrow with the other? Never!”
“But many people do that,” Lena noted timidly. “My friend’s mother-in-law lives…”
“I don’t care how anyone else lives!” Galina Petrovna almost jumped up in her chair. “I’m not some poor relative to be shoved into corners! I have my own apartment!”
“Mom, Lena actually made a good suggestion,” Sveta dared to add. “It’s really hard for us, and this way we could buy something too, and Andrey and Lena as well. Even with a mortgage, at least we’d be paying for our own place, not someone else’s rental…”
“Sveta, you too?” her mother turned to her daughter. “You decided to divide up my apartment?”
“Not divide it, Mom! We just want what’s best!”
“No buts!” Galina Petrovna slammed her palm on the table so hard the cups rattled. “As long as I’m alive, I will live in my own apartment, and I will die in it! It’s my two-room apartment, my corner! I’ve lived here for thirty years, and I’m not going anywhere!”
Lena felt her cheeks burning. She was ashamed. Maybe she really should not have interfered with her suggestions.
“Galina Petrovna, I didn’t mean to offend you,” she said quietly. “I just thought it would be better for everyone…”
“Better?!” her mother-in-law snorted. “Yes! Better for you! And what about me? Dragging a bag from one place to another? Thank you, I’ll pass!”
“Mom, that’s not what Lena meant,” Andrey tried to intervene, still not raising his eyes.
“And how did she mean it? Explain it to me!” his mother snapped at him.
Andrey said nothing. He only continued rubbing the bridge of his nose intensely.
Galina Petrovna got up from the table and began clearing the dishes with a clatter.
“No, children, live however you want. Save money, take loans, do whatever you want. But I will stay in my own apartment. And don’t feed me fairy tales about ‘living together’!” She turned to Lena. “Everyone must have their own home! Their own corner! And I won’t give my corner to anyone, and I’m not going to share it with anyone!”
Sveta tried to say something, but her mother waved her off.
“That’s it! The conversation is over! Don’t talk to me about apartments again!”
The rest of the evening passed in a strained atmosphere. Sveta and Misha were the first to leave, quickly gathering the children. Lena and Andrey stayed a little longer, washed the dishes, and said goodbye.
In the car, Lena was silent. Andrey was silent too.
“I’m sorry,” he finally said.
“For what?”
“For not supporting you. It’s just… you know what Mom is like. Once she decides something, it’s impossible to change her mind.”
“I understand,” Lena looked out the window. “We’ll save up ourselves.”
And they did save.
Every penny.
They gave up vacations, café outings, new clothes. They went to work and back home, ate at home, and entertained themselves by watching movies online.
“That’s enough!” Lena said one fine day, looking at the amount in their account. “We can start looking for an apartment!”
They had saved part of the money themselves, and Lena’s parents gifted them part of it after selling their dacha.
They took out a mortgage and bought a three-room apartment in a new building. Bright, spacious, with high ceilings and large windows. About eighty square meters. Lena had not even dreamed of something like that.
“We did well,” Andrey said when they first entered the empty apartment and their voices echoed.
“We managed it ourselves,” Lena nodded.
They hugged in the middle of the empty living room, and Lena felt a happiness she had not felt in a long time. This was theirs. Their own. Earned by them, without help from her mother-in-law or her apartment.
They invited everyone to the housewarming party: Lena’s parents, Sveta with Misha and the children, and, of course, Galina Petrovna.
Her mother-in-law arrived with a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. She looked friendly and even a little guilty.
“Well then, homeowners!” she exclaimed, stepping over the threshold. “Will you show me what you bought?”
And the tour began.
Galina Petrovna walked through the rooms, gasping, touching the walls, peeking into every corner. She opened cabinets, checked the windows, knocked on the radiators.
“Oh, how beautiful!” she exclaimed at every step. “Such high ceilings! And big windows! And the renovation! Everything is so new and clean!”
Lena smiled, accepting the compliments. It was pleasant to show off their own home, especially after they had saved for it for so long.
“And what’s this, the living room?” Galina Petrovna stopped in the largest room.
“Yes,” Lena nodded. “This is where we’ll gather when guests come.”
“So bright!” her mother-in-law walked to the window. “And what a view!”
They went into the kitchen. Galina Petrovna looked around, peeked into the refrigerator, examined the stove.
“Everything is thoughtfully arranged,” she nodded approvingly.
Then they showed her the bedroom. Her mother-in-law silently inspected the room and nodded.
“And this is the guest room?” she asked when they entered the third room.
“Well, for now it’s a guest room,” Lena shrugged. “Later, maybe we’ll make it a nursery when we have children.”
There was a sofa bed in the guest room, a small wardrobe, and a desk by the window.
Galina Petrovna suddenly began examining the sofa very carefully. She walked around it, then sat on the edge.
“Does it fold out?” she asked.
“It does,” Lena said in surprise. “Why?”
“No reason,” her mother-in-law ran her hand along the backrest. “Just curious. It must be comfortable? Soft?”
“Well, yes, we specifically chose a comfortable one. So that guests can sleep properly if they stay over.”
“Do guests often stay the night?” Galina Petrovna continued questioning.
“Not yet. Only once, my parents stayed when it got late. But otherwise, no.”
“So the room is empty?” her mother-in-law looked thoughtfully at the sofa.
“Well, for now, yes. But we’re planning…”
“I see, I see,” Galina Petrovna interrupted and quickly left the room.
Lena did not attach any importance to it then. Strange questions, yes, but there was always something strange with her mother-in-law. One day she would ask how much salt Lena put in borscht, another day she would ask how often Lena washed the floors. She was simply that kind of person: curious.
At the festive table, Galina Petrovna sat quietly. She ate, nodded, but it was obvious she was thinking about something of her own.
“Well, Galina Petrovna,” Lena’s father sat down beside her, “are you pleased with the children’s apartment?”
“They’ve done well, of course,” her mother-in-law nodded. “They managed it.”
“Lena told us you couldn’t help them,” her father continued. “But we sold our dacha. What did we need it for? And the kids were able to buy an apartment!”
Galina Petrovna pressed her lips together.
Her mother-in-law drank tea, sighing every now and then.
“Oh, I shouldn’t have then…” she said under her breath.
“What did you say?” Lena asked again as she passed by with plates.
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud,” Galina Petrovna waved it off.
Later, closer to evening, when the guests began to leave, her mother-in-law returned to the subject of the apartment again.
“Well, you’ve done well,” she said, putting on her coat in the hallway. “You managed it yourselves.”
There was some kind of bitterness in her voice.
“Galina Petrovna,” Lena could not hold back, “but you refused back then yourself. We offered…”
“You offered, you offered,” her mother-in-law muttered. “I didn’t know it would turn out like this for you! I thought you’d buy some one-room place on the outskirts. But this is a three-room apartment in the center!”
“My parents helped,” Lena explained. “And we saved a lot.”
“Yes, yes,” Galina Petrovna pulled on her coat. “Your parents helped. And I… Well, what can be done now? Live and enjoy it.”
She left, and Lena remained standing in the hallway with an unclear feeling. It seemed her mother-in-law had congratulated them. It seemed she had even praised them. But for some reason, an unpleasant aftertaste remained.
“Don’t pay attention,” Andrey said, hugging his wife. “Mom just regrets that she didn’t help. That’s why she’s angry with herself.”
“Maybe,” Lena agreed. “Maybe.”
A week later, Galina Petrovna was sitting over tea at her friend Klavdia’s place.
Klavdia lived in the neighboring building, and they had been friends since school. Together they had lived through everything: university, weddings, the birth of children, Klavdia’s divorce, the death of Galina Petrovna’s husband. If there was anyone she could pour her soul out to, it was Klavdia.
“You should have seen it, Klava, what an apartment they have!” Galina Petrovna waved her hands, barely having time to take off her coat. “Eighty square meters for sure! Three huge rooms!”
“Whose?” Klavdia poured tea.
“Andrey and that Lena of his! They bought an apartment, can you imagine? In a new building!”
“Well, good for them,” Klavdia nodded. “Hardworking kids.”
“Hardworking, yes,” Galina Petrovna sighed heavily. “The kitchen is huge, all new. Expensive appliances, furniture. Everything looks like it’s from a magazine!”
“And what, do you regret not selling your apartment back then?” Klavdia asked directly. She had always been like that: straightforward.
“Of course I regret it!” Galina Petrovna lowered her gaze into her cup. “I could be living like a queen now! Sometimes at my son’s, with everything ready for me, sometimes at my daughter’s! I would have helped the children with money, and I myself…”
“And you yourself would be free,” Klavdia finished.
“Exactly! And now I sit in my Khrushchev apartment. Alone. The children come once a month. And even then, not for long.”
“So what are you going to do now?” Klavdia sipped her tea. “Regret is useless.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Galina Petrovna looked thoughtfully out the window. “I can’t exactly say now, ‘Oh, I changed my mind, let’s do it over!’”
“And why can’t you?” Klavdia leaned forward, putting down her cup. “The children will understand. You’re their own mother! Tell them you were wrong back then, that you thought it over and decided differently.”
“How can I say that?” Galina Petrovna waved her hands. “I was so categorical then! ‘Never!’ ‘As long as I’m alive!’”
“So what?” Klavdia shrugged. “You changed your mind. It happens. My niece’s mother-in-law moves from one child to another every year. First she lives with her son, then with her daughter. And nothing, no one is offended!”
“Really?” Galina Petrovna perked up.
“Honestly! Six months here, six months there. She even likes it: everywhere feels like home, everywhere she’s with her own people. And she doesn’t have time to get on anyone’s nerves.”
Galina Petrovna fell into thought. She drummed her fingers on the table and looked out the window. Klavdia stayed silent, giving her friend time to think.
“You know,” Galina Petrovna finally said, “maybe you’re right. Why not? I’m their mother. I have the right to change my mind!”
“Of course you do!” Klavdia supported her. “You raised their children while they worked. You gave Andrey money for his first car, I remember. You helped Sveta with her wedding. And now they can’t help you?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying!” Galina Petrovna became inspired. “Their apartment is huge! Three rooms! The guest room is completely empty! Why should it sit empty? I could live there and not bother anyone.”
“So talk to them,” Klavdia advised. “Explain that you were mistaken then. That now you see the situation differently.”
“Oh, but I’d have to sell the apartment, and I don’t want to,” Galina Petrovna grew gloomy.
“Then don’t sell it. Give the apartment to Sveta,” Klavdia suggested. “She has children; they need it. Let them live in your two-room place, and you move in with Andrey. Everyone wins!”
Galina Petrovna sank even deeper into thought.
“You know,” she said slowly, “that’s an idea. Sveta really does need it. She recently complained that her landlady wants to sell the apartment, so they’ll have to move out. And where will they go? They don’t have money to buy, and they won’t get approved for a mortgage. Misha only found his new job six months ago.”
“You see!” Klavdia rejoiced. “So everyone will be fine. Sveta will settle into your apartment with the children, and you’ll move in with Andrey. Perfect!”
“Only there’s that Lena,” Galina Petrovna pressed her lips together.
“So what? Lena is a daughter-in-law. She’ll endure it. You’re her mother-in-law, after all, not some stranger,” Klavdia reasoned. “And the room is empty anyway! What objections could there be?”
“Exactly!” Galina Petrovna slapped her palm on the table. “The room is empty! If it’s empty, that means there’s space! What, are they going to begrudge me?”
“Exactly,” Klavdia nodded. “Think about it and decide. I believe it’s the right decision. You’ll help Sveta and settle yourself somewhere too. At your age, it’s hard to live alone.”
Galina Petrovna went home, but the thought had already lodged itself in her head. It spun around and gave her no peace. The more she thought, the more she liked the idea. And truly, everyone would benefit! Sveta would get the apartment, and Galina Petrovna herself would move into her son’s bright, spacious apartment.
All that remained was to organize everything properly.
And now, after all those conversations with Klavdia, Galina Petrovna was standing in Lena and Andrey’s hallway with a suitcase in her hands, clearly ready to settle in permanently.
Lena was still trying to process what was happening. Was this some kind of dream? A nightmare?
“Mom, wait,” Andrey raised a hand. “Let’s first figure this out. What about your apartment?”
“Everything is fine with the apartment,” Galina Petrovna finally took off her coat and hung it on a hook. “I gave it to Svetka and the kids. Let them live there; it’s just right for them. And I need somewhere to live too!”
“What do you mean, you gave it away?” Lena felt everything inside her tighten into a hard knot.
“I gave it away normally,” her mother-in-law shrugged. “She, Misha, and the children will move in there in a week. So I decided to move in with you in advance, while they pack their things.”
“Right,” Andrey rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Mom, let’s go step by step. Did you transfer the apartment to Sveta?”
“Well, not yet, but tomorrow we’re going to the notary,” Galina Petrovna nodded quickly, walking into the living room and sitting down on the sofa as if she owned the place.
“And you didn’t consult us?” Lena asked quietly.
“Why would I consult you?” her mother-in-law was surprised. “It’s my apartment. I have the right to do with it as I wish!”
“You do,” Lena agreed. “But then why did you come to us?”
“Because I need somewhere to live too!” Galina Petrovna spoke as if she were explaining obvious things to a foolish child. “Naturally, I won’t be able to stay in a two-room apartment with Misha, Sveta, and two children. It will already be cramped for them!”
“Then sell the apartment and divide the money,” Lena suggested. “Just like we said two years ago. We could pay off part of our mortgage, and Sveta could buy something too.”
“No!” her mother-in-law cut her off categorically. “Sveta needs an apartment, not a mortgage. She needs one urgently! They’re being kicked out of their rental! Where are they supposed to go with children?”
“And why should we have to deal with that?” Andrey sat down opposite his mother. “If you decided to help Sveta, that’s your decision. But why should we…”
“Because you are my children!” Galina Petrovna interrupted. “And you have a big apartment! Look around, Andryusha! Three rooms! Just the two of you! One room is completely empty!”
“It’s a guest room,” Lena corrected.
“A guest room,” her mother-in-law mimicked. “And how often do guests come?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Lena felt her hands begin to tremble. “What matters is that this is our apartment. We bought it. Ourselves. Without your help.”
“Oh, let’s not bring up the past!” Galina Petrovna waved her hands. “Yes, I didn’t help back then. I was wrong! I admit it! But now the situation is different!”
“How is it different?” Andrey asked.
“Sveta urgently needs an apartment, and I have one! I’m giving it to her. And I’m moving in with you. Everyone wins!”
“Everyone except us,” Lena said quietly.
“Why is that?” her mother-in-law was indignant. “Is your own mother a burden to you? Or will I get in your way?”
“You will,” Lena answered honestly.
A heavy pause fell.
“So that’s how it is,” Galina Petrovna straightened. “I’ll get in your way. Well, well.”
“Galina Petrovna,” Lena took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, “let’s be honest. Two years ago, we were sitting at your table. I suggested selling your apartment and dividing the money between Andrey and Sveta. Equally. Fairly. You categorically refused. Do you remember what you said?”
“Well… I said something,” her mother-in-law looked away.
“‘So that in my old age I should be without a corner of my own? Never!’” Lena quoted. “Those were your words. Word for word.”
“That was then!”
“Two years have passed,” Lena continued. “Andrey and I saved. Every penny. We gave up everything. My parents helped with money. We took out a mortgage and bought this apartment. Ourselves!”
“Well done,” Galina Petrovna nodded. “So what?”
“So now you come here and announce that you’re going to live with us!”
“I’m not announcing,” her mother-in-law objected. “I’m asking. I’m his mother. And you have room!”
“There is room,” Andrey agreed. “But, Mom… it’s unfair.”
“What’s unfair?” Galina Petrovna jumped up from the sofa. “That I’m helping my daughter?”
“That you’re helping Sveta at our expense!” Lena stood up too. “You’re giving the apartment to Sveta. Wonderful! That’s your right. But why should the consequences of that decision fall on us?”
“What consequences? I’m moving in with you!”
“Exactly!” Lena felt everything inside her boil. “You’re helping one child and shifting the problem onto the other!”
“What problem?” her mother-in-law waved her hands. “Your room is empty! I’ll occupy it, that’s all! Are you begrudging me that?”
“It’s not about begrudging,” Andrey rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Mom, you yourself said that having your own corner is the most important thing. That you didn’t want to be passed from corner to corner.”
“I changed my mind!” Galina Petrovna snapped. “I have the right to change my mind!”
“You do,” Lena nodded. “But then sell the apartment and divide the money equally. Just as we suggested. Some for Sveta to buy a place, some for Andrey to pay off part of the mortgage. That would be fair for everyone.”
“Have I lost my mind? Why sell it?” Galina Petrovna was outraged. “I gave it to Svetka for free. She’s my daughter!”
“Then that is your choice,” Lena said firmly. “And living with the consequences of your choice is also your responsibility. Not ours.”
“Andrey!” Galina Petrovna sharply turned to her son. “Do you hear what your wife is saying? She’s throwing your own mother out!”
Andrey silently looked at his mother, then at his wife. Lena could see him struggling with himself.
“Mom,” Andrey said slowly, raising his eyes, “Lena is right.”
“What?!” Galina Petrovna could not believe it.
“Lena is right,” Andrey repeated more firmly. “Either you sell the apartment and honestly divide the money between me and Sveta, or you continue living in your own apartment. With Sveta, if you want, or alone. But moving in with us under these conditions is unfair.”
“Unfair?!” Galina Petrovna turned crimson. “I gave birth to you! Raised you! Spent twenty years of my life on you! And you’re talking to me about fairness!”
“That was your choice. It is not our problem.”
Galina Petrovna grabbed her suitcase and bags. Her hands were shaking, her face was burning.
“You are so ungrateful!” she threw out from the doorway. “Then live with your fairness! Alone! I don’t need your apartment! I’ll sort it out myself!”
“How will you sort it out?” Lena asked.
“Just like that! I’ll take my apartment back! Sveta will understand! She is my own daughter, unlike you!”
Lena closed the door and leaned her back against it. Her hands were trembling, her heart was pounding. Somewhere deep inside, Lena felt a drop of regret. After all, she was her mother-in-law. Family.
It could have been different.