Lera stood at the kitchen table, watching as Katya, in another room, diligently colored her favorite animals in her album. Her five-year-old daughter was so absorbed in the process that she wouldn’t have noticed what her mother was doing. Lera smiled and returned to her thoughts.
However, an inner voice kept reminding her of her fear—a fear that had lingered since childhood and resurfaced as soon as she decided to take a serious step and buy a house. Memories of her mother were still a heavy burden on her soul. She remembered one of the last conversations with her mother before their relationship broke down. «Are you thinking about leaving again?» her mother had angrily narrowed her eyes as soon as Lera brought it up. «Lera, that’s madness! People are already looking askance, and you want to bring shame on our family. Your father would never approve of this.»
Lera had struggled to hold back tears then. Her husband, Vadim, had long ceased to be the caring person she had once married. He was cold, demanding, and often resorted to yelling, and sometimes even threats, whenever things didn’t go his way. But her mother, seemingly ignoring this, insisted on her point of view.
«Mom, you see what’s happening… You know how he treats me, how he looks at Katya, as if she’s superfluous to him,» Lera tried to get through to her mother, hoping she would understand her worries. But all she heard in response was a dismissive: «Lera, all men are like that. Do you think your father was an angel? How much I had to endure because of him! But I stayed—for the family, for you. And you should also think not only of yourself. Be strong, don’t disgrace us!»
«Stayed for the family…» This became something of a mantra for her mother. Lera felt a cold detachment then, as if she and her desires meant nothing to her mother. With each of her words, Lera understood that in her mother’s eyes, she remained the child who could be controlled and blamed if she decided to go against her wishes.
Then, a few years ago, Lera finally mustered the courage and left Vadim, preferring solitude with her daughter to a life of constant fear and humiliation. The divorce was difficult, Vadim didn’t miss a chance to insult her, and the support from her mother, which Lera had so hoped for, never came. Her mother behaved as if Lera had personally offended her by shattering the family illusion, and since then her resentment had grown. Lera decided she would never again allow anyone to control her fate. She had been too afraid to stand up for her desires for too long, but now she had finally found the determination to build a life where she and Katya would have their own space, where they could feel happy and at peace.
Working at a graphic design firm, Lera gradually saved money to buy her own home. She had to endure a tough year when she and Katya rented a small one-bedroom apartment in an old house. The walls were cracked, the windows covered with drafts. But Lera always found a way to decorate this temporary home and create coziness. She bought cute blankets, curtains, changed the drapes, and even that made the space a bit warmer and more joyful. Nonetheless, the thought that they were living a «temporary» life weighed on Lera. She dreamed of her own house, a place where her daughter could grow up peacefully, not moving from place to place as they had been since Lera left Vadim.
And so, two years after the divorce, Lera made the initial payment on a small house in the suburbs. It wasn’t a huge country estate, but rather a cozy house, but it immediately won her heart. It had a small garden with jasmine bushes by the fence, a spacious, bright kitchen, and two rooms. Lera saw how Katya ran around the house and joyfully examined every corner, exclaiming in wonder: «Mom, will I really have my own room? Really?» Lera smiled and hugged her. «Yes, kitten. Now you’ll have your own room,» she promised. From that moment, her main task became the renovation. The house was in an old condition: the walls were worn, the ceiling had cracks, and the floors had long needed replacing. Lera decided to do as much as she could herself. There was a lot of work, but, taking out a loan from the bank and postponing her vacation, she started the renovations. In the evenings, after putting Katya to bed, she painted the walls, sealed the cracks, and tidied up the rooms. It was hard work, but day by day the house transformed. Lera imagined how soon they would sit here in the kitchen for dinner or how Katya would read fairy tales in her cozy little room.
One evening, taking a break from the renovations, Lera decided to call her cousin Sergey. They hadn’t seen each other in a long time, but Sergey had always remained a close person to her, someone she could turn to for support. «Serge, you won’t believe,» she began, smiling when he picked up the phone. «I think I’ve officially become a homeowner.» «Seriously?» Sergey genuinely rejoiced. «Lera, that’s great! I’m very happy for you. You were brave to decide on this. How’s the house?» «I’m actually doing renovations right now.» «You know that when you finish, I’ll have to come over and check it out,» Sergey laughed. «Absolutely! I’ll be waiting,» Lera laughed in response. She almost felt Sergey nodding, as he always did when he pondered her words. Her heart warmed at the thought that at least someone in the family supported her, not judging her for striving to live her own way. So went several more weeks, filled with work and cares about setting up the house. Lera was tired, but happy. Katya’s room became a fairy-tale corner: pink curtains, a small bed with fluffy pillows, and even a small bookshelf so the daughter could choose fairy tales for bedtime herself. In the hallway, she hung a painting with flowers that she had long dreamed of putting in her home when she still lived with Vadim.
The phone call pulled Lera out of the stream of memories. She glanced at the screen and, surprised, raised her eyebrows when she saw her mother’s name. «Hello, mom?» she didn’t know what to expect, especially after such a long silence. «Lera, you couldn’t even tell me that you bought a house?» There was a displeased note in her mother’s voice. Lera froze for a moment, not understanding how her mother knew about it. She hadn’t told anyone about buying the house except her cousin Sergey. «How do you know?» «Sergey told me, of course,» her mother replied dryly. «I knew you would leave me out like that behind my back. Good thing I still have relatives who remember their family.» «I just decided to start everything from scratch, mom,» she tried to explain. «Oh really, and I guess I don’t fit into your ‘from scratch’.» Lera sighed heavily, feeling the familiar pressure and bracing herself for an unpleasant conversation. «You bought a good house, when can I move into it?» her mother asked. Lera felt the ground slipping from under her feet. She couldn’t even find the words—she just stood with her mouth open while her mother continued as if nothing had happened: «My apartment is old anyway, and Aunt Natasha has been saying for a long time that she has nowhere to live. I’ll give her the apartment, she needs it more. So I decided—I’ll be with you, you don’t need all that space anyway.» Lera gathered her strength and finally managed to say: «Mom, did you even ask how I feel about this?» Her mother sighed heavily. «Oh, don’t be selfish, Lera. I’m your mother. I can help you, and I’ll be with Katya. You’re alone, without a man, no family, no proper life.» Lera, struggling to contain her anger, replied: «Mom, I didn’t buy the house for this. I want to build a normal family without your pressure and without…» «A normal family?» her mother interrupted. «Lera, do you hear yourself? You’re a loner with a child! What kind of family? Who will look at you? Only a mother can support and help, but you apparently don’t want to understand that.» Lera felt a heaviness spread through her body. She knew that saying «no» would mean putting an end to their relationship, but she felt that she couldn’t go on living this way. «Mom, I don’t want you to move in with me,» she said firmly. «Katya and I will manage on our own.» Her mother sighed heavily. «So that’s how it is? Well, I understand. You’re ungrateful. Lera, you will regret this. With children like you, who needs enemies.» After that, her mother hung up, not giving Lera a chance to respond. Inside her, a turmoil bubbled—a heaviness mixed with offense, followed by a strange mixture of relief and anger. She knew that the conversation with her mother would have consequences, but she was sure that she had done the right thing.
Weeks passed. Lera blocked phone calls and rare messages from relatives, which came with undertones of reproach and criticism. It took just one message to understand: her mother had started telling everyone that Lera had «kicked her out.» Lera knew that rumors about her «improper» behavior would now circulate, but as unpleasant as it might be, she was ready for such a turn of events.
Support during these days came from Igor, whom she had met just over a month ago. He was a calm, reliable man who knew how to listen and understand. They spent evenings together, and Lera couldn’t help but notice how Igor interacted with Katya—patiently and with genuine warmth. With him, she felt that she had finally found a corner of safety and support, which she had lacked for many years.
One evening, while Lera sat in the kitchen checking her email, she received a message from her cousin: «You did well, of course. You kicked out your own mother, set up your personal life, and now we all get judged. Do you even think about how you’ll now interact with the family?» Lera sighed heavily, understanding that her mother had done everything to cast her in a bad light. Feeling broken, she went to bed. The next morning, her grandmother came over. She sat on a chair, looking at her granddaughter with a warm gaze. «Lerochka, don’t worry,» her grandmother said, taking her hand. «I know your mother like the back of my hand. She’s always tried to live for show, as if her life was a stage where she needed to play the main role and look right. For that picture, she endured your father, his drunkenness, his scandals, his attitude towards me and you… But you, my girl, should not live like that. It’s her choice, and now you have the right to act as you see fit.» «But grandma,» Lera sighed heavily, feeling overwhelmed with despair, «they’re all against me. I didn’t ask much from her, I just wanted to live peacefully with Katya, and now half the relatives think I’m a bad, cold daughter…» «Relatives…» her grandmother snorted. «When did you need their help? When you were going through the breakup, when you were raising Katya alone, did any of them help? And now as clear as day—all the reproaches to you. Your mother knows how to talk pretty…» Lera looked at her grandmother with gratitude. She was the only one who truly understood what it was like to try to break free from the eternal control of a mother. Her grandmother was, in essence, a second mother to her, a person who always supported, listened, and did not judge. «I’m sometimes afraid, grandma,» Lera quietly confessed. «Afraid that I’ll repeat her mistakes, that maybe my life will one day become the same… that Igor will suddenly turn out to be different. I… I’ve heard for so many years that I’m doing everything wrong. I guess I just got used to feeling guilty…» Her grandmother smiled and stroked her hand again. «Don’t be afraid, Lerochka,» she said softly. «You’re a different person. You’ve already proven to yourself and others that you can be strong. And your mother will remain in her invented world. And if relatives believed her words—then you shouldn’t rely on them. The main thing is who is with you and who will support you when it’s hard. And you already see who that is.» Lera pondered her words. For the first time in a long time, it seemed she could breathe freely.
A few days later, Lera sat in the kitchen with a cup of coffee when another message from her mother arrived. This time the text was long and full of reproaches. Her mother wrote again that Lera was ungrateful, that her behavior «stuck in all the relatives’ throats,» that «this is how she’ll treat her daughter as soon as she grows up.»
Lera closed her eyes, trying to suppress the familiar feeling of guilt that so easily arose after each word from her mother. Suddenly, Katya came up to her, hugged her leg, and pressed against her, looking up with her big, serious eyes. «Mommy, what’s wrong? Are you sad?» she asked, raising her head. Lera smiled, sat down next to her, and hugged her. «No, Kitten, everything’s fine. Just thinking about something… But now that you’ve hugged me, I immediately feel better,» she said, and it was true. Katya had become a source of love and support for her, and Lera understood that her happiness and safety were the most important things in life. «Mom, can I invite Igor over? We wanted to make cookies with him,» Katya suddenly reminded her, bringing a smile to Lera’s face. «Of course, invite him, sweetheart.» When Igor arrived, Lera greeted him with a smile. He, sensing her mood, gently touched her shoulder. «Everything alright?» he asked, looking intently into her eyes. Lera nodded. «Everything’s perfect.» At that moment, Lera realized that she was indeed ready to leave the past behind and live as she had always dreamed—with love, honesty, and without fear.
