– What are you doing here? – Standing in the middle of the swan beds, my mother-in-law yelled. – There has never been such a disgrace here before. And I do not need to hide behind a child, I had seven – and not a single weed!
The neighbors had already rushed to her scream. They clung to the fence like crows, and immediately discussed everything they heard. The woman, seeing the audience, was glad to try. Already what she did not say, while I stood dumbfounded. Finally, tired of the noise, took a breath and loudly, so that all the neighbors could hear, said:
– I do not want to see you so … here again. Never in our family were no lazybones. So disgraced in front of people!
I didn’t say a word.
I walked quietly past my mother-in-law, and only hugged the baby more tightly in my arms. Once in the house, went to the cupboard, distributed in a special box everything that was supposed to take mother-in-law this evening and morning. Without even folding, she threw her son’s things and her own into the bag. She left without saying a word to her.
Three days later my mother-in-law called:
– What did you do with all that stuff the professor had put in it? I asked my neighbor to buy some, but she said that one jar is very expensive. And those that are written in a foreign language, so in general, we do not issue and no replacement. So what should I do? You went away, you were offended for some reason, and I have to give my soul to God here?
I answered nothing. I turned off the phone and took out the SIM card. That’s it, I can’t go on, I have neither the physical nor the mental strength.
A year ago, just before my baby boy was born, my husband lost control of his car on a slippery road. I vaguely remember seeing him off to his last journey, the ambulance taking him away, and the next morning I became a mother… I didn’t want anything. Everything around me seemed unnecessary and irrelevant without my beloved husband. I nursed and rocked my son mechanically, because that’s what they told me.
A phone call brought me out of my stupor.
“Your mother-in-law is in a bad way. They say she won’t outlive her son for long.”
I made a decision instantly. After checking out, she immediately sold her apartment in the capital. I invested a part of the money in building a new one, so that my son would have something of his own when he grew up. And I went to save my mother-in-law.
That year I didn’t live – I existed.
I had no time to sleep, because I was taking care of my mother-in-law and my little son. The baby was restless, and my mother-in-law needed my around-the-clock presence.
It was good that I had money. I applied to the best specialists from all over the country to come and examine the patient. I bought everything they prescribed, and in the end my mother-in-law eventually returned to a normal life. At first I took her around the room, then around the yard. At the end the woman grew so strong that she began to walk on her own – and then…
I don’t want to know her or hear from her anymore. Let her find out by herself everything she needs to recover. At least I was smart enough not to spend all the money on her. We moved into a new apartment with our son. I didn’t think it would be like this.
I wanted to live out my life with my husband’s mother, since I am an orphan. But now I am. Only my son needs to be taught: not everyone deserves good treatment. Some people care more about a clean vegetable garden.
