Nina married young, just after turning eighteen. Her husband, however, was eight years older than she was. To Nina, he seemed mature and wise, and she believed that with him she would always feel safe and protected. At first, that was more or less how things were.
Six months into their marriage, Nina became pregnant. When she told Slava, it seemed to her that he was genuinely happy about the news.
When the time came, Nina gave birth to a son. For the first couple of weeks, Slava tried to help her, but then the excitement of becoming a father wore off. He began finding any excuse to disappear from home, explaining that he worked and needed to rest—and with a small child around, what kind of rest could there possibly be?
Nina felt hurt by her husband and became increasingly nervous. Her little son, sensing his mother’s mood, became fussy and slept poorly at night.
And because little Maksim kept not only his mother but also his father awake at night, her husband began spending more and more nights away from home.
When their son turned one, Slava finally told Nina outright:
“Well, dear wife, I’ve thought about it and decided that we need to separate. So pack your things and leave. I’ll file for divorce myself.”
“Slava, where am I supposed to go with a small child in my arms? You know perfectly well that I have no one in this city.”
“That’s not my problem. Go wherever you want. Go back to your little hometown. Your aunt lives there, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, but my aunt has her own family—a husband, two children, and a small apartment. How are we supposed to live there?”
“I’m telling you again—it’s not my problem!”
“How can it not be your problem? He’s your son!”
“I’m not abandoning my son. I’ll pay child support. But I don’t want to live in the same apartment with a screaming baby!”
“But Maksim will grow up and stop crying…”
“Maybe he will, maybe he won’t! I don’t care anymore. Besides, I have another woman, and once you leave, she’s moving in here. So stop wasting time and get out of my apartment.”
To be fair, Nina really was living in Vyacheslav’s apartment. They had moved there after he brought her from the small town where they had met when he had gone there to visit someone.
The apartment had been inherited by Slava from some distant relative who had no close family.
And now Slava was showing Nina and their son the door.
She had no choice but to pack the essentials for herself and her child and return to the hometown she had left almost three years earlier.
To her aunt’s credit, she didn’t turn Nina away. She let Nina and her son stay with her, especially since Nina had sold her own room in a communal apartment when she left with Slava. After all, Nina had believed that she would live happily ever after with him, just like in a fairy tale, and that they would grow old together.
But… it hadn’t worked out.
Later, her aunt helped her find a job. It was only as a street cleaner, but at least the job came with some kind of accommodation. During those first difficult months, her aunt also helped with food and money, even though her own family was far from wealthy.
A year later, her aunt helped enroll little Maksim in a nursery, and life became a little easier for Nina.
She could have looked for another job, but Nina decided not to, mainly because of the accommodation that came with her current position. So she continued working as a street cleaner.
Most importantly, however, Nina began studying, just as she had once dreamed of doing before she met Slava.
Five years passed.
Nina completed her studies and became a merchandise specialist. Surprisingly enough, her aunt helped her once again. One of her aunt’s good friends owned a grocery store and was planning to open a second one. She hired Nina even though Nina had no professional experience.
Maksim started school.
Now Nina swept courtyards in the mornings and then went to work at the store, dropping Maks off at school on the way.
Six months later, she rented an apartment and quit her street-cleaning job.
Her employer, Galina Sergeyevna, could not praise her enough. Nina, as they say, learned everything incredibly quickly.
When Galina Sergeyevna opened her second store in the same neighborhood where Nina lived, not far from Maksim’s school, she appointed Nina as the manager.
And there was another happy development.
Dima, the young man Nina had been dating for a year, asked her to marry him.
They filed their application at the registry office, and the wedding was scheduled for two months later.
A month and a half passed.
Then one evening…
The doorbell rang.
Thinking it was Alexey, Nina opened the door without even looking through the peephole.
Imagine her surprise when she saw…
Vyacheslav.
And he was standing there with a suitcase.
“Hi!” he said. “I’ve come to see you!”
“Hello… Me? Why?”
“What do you mean, why? You’re my wife!”
“No, I’m not! Or have you forgotten that we’re divorced?”
And they really had been divorced for about six years by then.
“So what if we’re divorced? Getting married again isn’t a problem! We have a son growing up, and he needs a father!”
“So you finally remembered?”
“I always remembered!”
“Oh, really? You remembered? Then why didn’t you send him a single birthday present? Forget the present—even a simple birthday greeting would have been something!”
“I paid child support. I still do, in case you’ve forgotten!”
“Your child support is a joke! It’s enough for maybe one trip to the grocery store. You certainly can’t buy anything valuable with it.”
“Whether you can or can’t, the important thing is that I pay!”
“Yeah, pennies! And anyway, you should leave before—”
“What? You’re going to call your friends in uniform? I’ll tell them I came to see my son and you’re refusing to let me see him! Then we’ll see who gets into trouble.”
“I’m not forbidding you from seeing your son. But it’s late today. Come tomorrow.”
“Fine! I’ll come tomorrow,” Vyacheslav said, and started walking down the stairs.
“Wait! Answer one question,” Nina stopped him.
“What?” her former husband asked, turning around.
“How did you find out my address?”
“Well, there are still helpful people in this world.”
“And who exactly was so helpful?”
“What do you care?”
“I do care!”
“That’s enough! Leave me alone! I’ll come tomorrow!”
And he left.
Nina stood there for another couple of minutes, watching him go.
And I once loved that man! flashed through her mind.
The next morning, Nina took Maks to school and then went to work.
After school, Maks usually came straight to Nina’s store and stayed there with her until evening.
But that day, for some reason, he didn’t come.
Nina began to worry.
Several times she stepped outside the store, looking down the street for her son, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Finally, unable to take it any longer, she called his teacher.
When the teacher told her that Maks had left school a long time ago, Nina became hysterical.
After calming herself down a little, she called Dmitry and then went to the police station.
She filed a report, and a search for Maksim began.
They found him three hours later at the bus station.
He was with Vyacheslav.
They were already boarding a bus, and if the police had arrived just a little later, they would have been gone.
Then followed two hours of arguments at the police station, where Vyacheslav passionately insisted that Nina was a terrible mother and wife.
He claimed that she refused to let him see his son and that even back when they were married, she had constantly turned Maksim against him.
But when the officers reminded him that Maksim had only been one year old at the time and could hardly have understood what was happening, Vyacheslav began talking such complete nonsense that even the police officers—people who had seen all sorts of things during their careers—looked at him as though he were an idiot.
Eventually, they explained to him that if he wanted to see his son, he needed to discuss it with Nina and agree on specific days and times.
They also warned him that if he ever attempted to take his son away again without the mother’s knowledge, he could be held legally responsible.
After making him sign the necessary documents, they let him go.
The police also explained everything to Nina and allowed her to go home.
Nina, Maksim, and Dmitry—who had dropped everything and rushed to her immediately after her phone call—headed for the exit.
When they had walked some distance away from the police station, Vyacheslav approached them.
Instead of calmly discussing the situation, he began threatening Nina.
Dmitry immediately grabbed him by the front of his clothes, gave him a hard shake, and promised that if he ever laid a finger on Nina or Maks, he would have to deal with him.
“And now I suggest you leave this town while your arms and legs are still intact, and never show your face here again,” Dmitry told Vyacheslav.
“What are you going to do to me? I’ll report you, and then we’ll see…”
“Remember one thing,” Dmitry replied. “I live in this town, and I have a lot of friends here. You’re a stranger here, and who knows what might happen to you… So leave peacefully while you still can. I hope you understand me. And if you don’t, I can explain it more clearly.”
“I’ll—”
“Slava, just go, all right?” Nina said.
“Oh, to hell with all of you!”
Vyacheslav waved his hand dismissively and walked away in the direction of the bus station.
Two weeks later, Nina and Dima officially registered their marriage and celebrated the occasion surrounded by friends.
A year passed.
Recently, Nina gave birth to a daughter, little Arina, so she is currently on maternity leave.
Throughout that year, Nina walked Maks to school and met him afterward, but Vyacheslav never appeared in their town again.
Let us hope that he never comes back.
Although… who knows?
Perhaps when Maksim grows up, he will want to see his father himself.
But for now…
Let us wish Nina, Dima, Maksim, and Arina all the best.