Oleg and Tamara had been married for nine years. During all those years, they unsuccessfully tried to have a child. Tamara dreamed of having a baby, fantasizing about motherhood, but it just didn’t happen. She and Oleg went through all the possible doctors, received treatment, visited health resorts, performed rituals, and even turned to alternative medicine. Nothing worked.
A few unsuccessful attempts at using assisted reproductive technologies weakened the couple’s faith in luck.
“Is it really true that I won’t be able to have a child?” Tamara asked, visibly upset.
“I don’t know.”
It was clear that Oleg was tired. He was ready to give up on the idea.
“Maybe we’d be better off without children? No one disturbs your sleep, doesn’t demand attention. We live for our own enjoyment.”
“This is not life! I want children!” Tamara cried, and for the first time, she and Oleg had a serious argument.
The next day they made up, but it was clear to both of them that something needed to be done. The only solution that came to mind was to adopt a child from an orphanage.
“I don’t know. This is a responsible step. What if something goes wrong?” Oleg asked seriously. But Tamara was determined. She was confident that they should gather the necessary documents and certificates.
“We’ll start on Monday. The weekend will fly by… we’ll have to dedicate those days to family.”
“Your aunt has a birthday. I remember.”
“I don’t want to spend so much time on this trip! And why does she always invite us to her country house?! Why can’t we meet in the city?”
“Maybe we won’t go?”
“Mom will be upset.”
“Then we’ll have to postpone everything until Monday.”
The couple agreed on everything and went to the family celebration. Tamara’s aunt, Larisa Lvovna, lived outside the city. She had a small house, a bathhouse, and a gazebo in the garden. It was in this gazebo that she entertained her guests.
At her birthdays, a small group usually gathered. These were close family and friends: Tamara’s mother, Larisa Lvovna’s daughter, Vika, and a few people from her work.
This time, Larisa Lvovna decided to invite only family: her sister, daughter, and niece with her husband. The table was modestly set. The birthday girl sat at the head of the table, giving orders.
“Olezhek, open the bottle. You’re the only man here, take care of the ladies.”
Oleg didn’t mind. The women smiled, chatted, and exchanged news.
“What’s new? When will you make us grandparents?” Larisa Lvovna asked, a little tipsy, as she launched her usual question.
“Soon. We’ve decided to adopt a child,” Tamara avoided eye contact. She didn’t want to discuss this topic.
“You didn’t tell me about this,” her mother frowned. “Why am I always the last to know?”
“Because there’s nothing to talk about yet. We just started gathering the documents.”
“Actually, I don’t support your idea,” her mother continued.
“We’ve decided.”
“Tamar, your mother has a point. Why do you need someone else’s child?” Larisa Lvovna supported her sister.
“He won’t be someone else’s. He will be ours.”
“There are plenty of options these days! Why go straight to extreme measures?” Vika chimed in. She was 19, unmarried, and childless, but believed her advice would be useful to Tamara and Oleg.
“Like what? Maybe you’ll suggest we ask a stork for a child?” Oleg chuckled.
“No, why? I’m actually grown up, and I know where babies come from. I also know there are surrogate mothers.”
“We’ve thought about it. But we don’t want to get involved with a stranger. She’ll definitely be a stranger, and who knows what to expect from her,” Tamara said.
The women exchanged glances, each lost in thought, and for a while, the conversation shifted to another topic.
The toasts began again, and Tamara even started to relax. But, as it turned out, it was premature. When she volunteered to help prepare tea, Larisa Lvovna grabbed her sleeve and pulled her around the corner of the house.
“Tamara, I thought you should take a closer look at Vika.”
“What do you mean? It’s too late to adopt her,” Tamara tried to joke, but her aunt didn’t appreciate her humor.
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t.”
“She can have a child. Vika is young, healthy, and not a stranger. Plus, she looks like you.”
“How do you imagine this? Besides, Vika won’t go for it.”
“She will. She needs to study, and the university she’s chosen is too expensive for us. She didn’t make the cut this year, but there’s a chance to get into the paid program next year. But for that, we need money. We have a whole year. It’s all perfectly planned. She’ll have the baby and study. And the child will be in the family. Our own.”
“You want us to pay Vika for carrying my baby?” Tamara was shocked by her aunt’s suggestion.
“Don’t exaggerate. She’ll give birth, and you’ll help her secure her future. This can be seen as family assistance. Let’s not turn this into a business deal. We are close.”
After Tamara’s aunt proposed such an unusual idea, Tamara stood silent for a few seconds, blinking. She hoped to see a smile on her aunt’s face, to understand that this was just a joke. But Larisa Lvovna didn’t smile. She was completely serious about offering Vika as a “incubator” to carry their child.
“Thank you for the offer, Larisa Lvovna, but my husband and I must refuse.”
“Maybe you should consult him first, instead of making a decision on your own?” her aunt pressed.
“We’ve already made our decision.”
“As you wish. I think that adopting a child from an orphanage was your idea, and Oleg has nothing to do with it. He just doesn’t want to argue with you.”
“This is our personal matter,” Tamara stopped smiling politely and, after reconsidering her decision to help, returned to the gazebo. Oleg and Vika were sitting there, talking animatedly, and for the first time in her life, Tamara felt jealousy. She imagined her husband no longer belonging to her. She imagined her sister, Vika, with a big belly. How she looked at Oleg, and how they all waited for the baby to arrive. The child that should have been born to Tamara.
“Are you okay?” Oleg asked, noticing his wife’s pale face.
“I don’t know… I’m feeling unwell.”
“Tamara! Didn’t you forget you wanted to help with the tea?” her mother shouted from the house.
“Stay. I’ll help,” Oleg stood up and went into the house. Vika and Tamara were left alone. Tamara felt awkward. She had never seen Vika as an adult, formed woman. To her, she had always been the younger sister. It felt strange seeing her sister as a competitor.
They had never been close, but there had never been any rivalry either. As children, the ten-year age gap seemed enormous. Tamara remembered pushing the stroller with her sister in this very garden, under the apple tree. Then came the teenage years. Tamara always thought she was more attractive than Vika. Her younger sister wore glasses for a long time, was self-conscious about her body, slouched, and wore shapeless clothes. But that time had passed.
That evening, sitting in the gazebo, Tamara saw a different Vika. There was no trace of the awkward teenager in her anymore. Victoria had grown into a curvy young woman with a beautiful face. And the way she looked at Oleg made Tamara feel a stab of jealousy.
“You’ve got a great husband, Tamara. I want one like that too,” Vika said.
Tamara felt uncomfortable, and there was no more talk of tea and cake. She got up from the table and went inside.
“You’re pale. Are you okay?” Oleg asked.
“I’d like to leave. I have a headache.”
“Yes, of course. I understand. But what will your relatives say?”
“I don’t know. I just want to go home.”
Oleg brought out the teapot, cake, and lit candles. Larisa Lvovna blew them out as tradition dictated, but Tamara and Oleg didn’t stay for tea.
Tamara barely made it home. She felt nauseous, her ears burned, and silly thoughts kept coming to her mind.
“Your family is probably upset that we’re leaving,” Oleg noticed his wife’s state.
“Yes. Aunt Larisa would probably want us to stay the night. And ideally, for you to sleep not with me, but with her daughter.”
Oleg looked at Tamara in surprise. He had never seen her so upset and displeased.
“Stop. I don’t see Vika as a woman. She’s too young.”
“And if she were older?”
“I’m married to you. And let’s not bring this up again,” Oleg cut in.
They arrived home, and Tamara, claiming to be tired, went to bed.
The next day they planned to go for the documents, but Tamara was called to work. The plan had to be postponed again.
When Tamara came home, she saw women’s shoes in the hallway. She listened and heard her sister’s voice. Vika was laughing.
Tamara, still in her shoes, walked into the kitchen. Her anger bubbled up inside.
“And what’s going on here?”
“We’re having tea,” Oleg said, surprised. Tamara caught them talking. There was a teapot on the table. “Vika brought the cake we never got to try yesterday. It turns out she baked it herself! It’s delicious.”
“I see. Am I in the way?” Tamara snapped.
“No. On the contrary. Come in and sit down. Want some?” Oleg asked.
“I don’t want any,” Tamara was angry at both her husband and sister. She couldn’t understand the point of these visits.
“Well, I’ll go then… thanks for the tea,” Vika understood that her sister wasn’t happy to see her and quietly started to gather her things.
When the door closed behind her, Oleg gave Tamara a serious look.
“What have you done?”
“Nothing. You can go with her if you want.”
“Stop. Your accusations won’t lead to anything good.”
“Yeah? Then explain to me why you let her in?”
“Because she’s your sister. Wouldn’t you let my sister in?”
“She didn’t warn me about her visit.”
“I didn’t know, and it doesn’t matter.”
“For me, it does!”
“Okay, I understand.”
“No. You don’t.”
“Tamar… you’re overreacting,” Oleg was losing patience.
“You don’t need to say anything more, it’s clear I’m always to blame for everything.”
“Well, for now, you’re really wrong.”
“You know what? I think that’s it. Nothing is working out for us, and maybe that’s for the best. Maybe you and Vika will make it work. I don’t want to participate in this, so I’ll just step aside.”
“Tamara!” Oleg called after her, but his wife had already run off.
What motivated her at that moment, she found out two weeks later.
The test with two lines showed that her mood swings were quite explainable.
“It’s the irony of fate. As soon as we separated, I got pregnant,” she admitted to Lika, the friend she had been staying with all this time.
Tamara didn’t know what to do. Oleg called her, but she didn’t answer. Her mom called several times. Even Vika wrote to her. But Tamara didn’t want to see or hear anyone. She thought everyone was against her. She even began to think that Oleg and Vika were a perfect couple, and that he would choose her, the younger and more attractive girl.
“I think you should talk to him. He needs to know he’s going to be a father,” Lika frowned.
“I’m scared. What if Oleg already chose Vika over me? I’ll come home… and they’ll be there… in his apartment…” Tamara trailed off. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Don’t be silly. You’ve imagined all of this. Go home. You need to talk. You can’t just sit around and hope things will work themselves out. Vika is your sister, and judging by what he said about her, I doubt he’ll be with her. But if you keep hiding from him, your Oleg will find another woman.”
While the girls were talking, Lika’s phone rang.
“Hello? Who? Oh, yes, of course. Here.”
“Who was that?”
“A friend. He’s bringing pickles for you,” Lika laughed.
No matter how hard Tamara tried to understand where this mysterious friend knew about her pregnancy from, Lika didn’t say anything. And soon after, there was a knock at the door.
Tamara heard Lika open the lock and speak with someone. She became curious about this friend and why he brought pickles for her. She followed her friend and froze in shock.
“Oleg?! How did you find me?!”
“I had to go around all your friends.”
“Why?”
“I missed you… please come home,” he said, handing her… not pickles, but a bouquet of flowers. Tamara looked at the flowers with disbelief, then at her husband, and burst into tears.
“She has news for you…” Lika winked and left, leaving the couple to sort things out.
Nine months later, Tamara and Oleg had a son. They were overjoyed by their long-awaited firstborn.
Tamara’s mother was thrilled to become a grandmother, and Vika and Larisa Lvovna never brought up what had been said that evening again. They even managed to preserve their relationships: Tamara and her husband, with their son, began visiting the aunt again. But only after mutual acquaintances introduced Vika to Vitalik. They celebrated their wedding as a family. Vika decided to postpone her studies because she was planning to become a mom.
Everyone found their own destiny, and they could have had a big fight, stopped talking, and even gotten divorced. Fortunately, fate was kind to them all. Each got what they wanted, and everyone became happy.
