Anna opened the door and froze. On the threshold stood her mother-in-law with two strangers and a bouquet of wilted chrysanthemums.
— Anna, meet them! — Elena Petrovna beamed. — This is Roman and Svetlana, Sergey’s first cousins. They’re passing through the city, and I decided…
— Hello, — Anna replied coolly, not moving from the doorway. — Sergey will be at work until late tonight.
— That’s fine! — her mother-in-law waved it off. — We’ll wait for him. I told you about their wonderful apartment! Come in, don’t be shy. Anna, why are you standing there like a statue? Greet the guests properly!
Elena Petrovna squeezed past her daughter-in-law and headed to the kitchen as if it were her own home.
— Excuse me, — Anna stopped her, — but I’m not prepared to receive guests. Perhaps we can reschedule?
— What’s there to prepare! — her mother-in-law snorted with contempt. — Or do you consider my son’s relatives unworthy of your attention? Roman, Svetlana, take off your shoes, I’ll show you the whole apartment!
— Elena Petrovna, — Anna’s voice turned cold, — this is my home. I decide whom to receive here.
— Your home? — her mother-in-law smirked. — Shall I remind you who helped with the down payment? Or have you already forgotten?
Roman and Svetlana exchanged glances, clearly feeling the awkwardness.
— Maybe we really should come by later? — Svetlana suggested hesitantly.
— Sit down! — barked Elena Petrovna. — As if! You’re not going to wander the streets because of this… lady’s whims!
Anna locked herself in the bedroom and dialed her husband with fingers trembling from anger.
— Sergey, your mother brought guests again without warning. And she’s acting like the mistress of my house.
— So what? — he answered. — They’re relatives. Can’t you show a little hospitality?
— I don’t care who they are. I warned you — this kind of behavior is unacceptable.
— Anna, don’t make a scene over trifles…
— No scenes. I’m simply keeping my promise. Either you set boundaries, or I’ll set them myself.
She hung up and began packing. From the living room came Elena Petrovna’s enthusiastic voice:
— And in this room we’re planning the future nursery. The wallpaper, of course, needs changing — this is too gloomy. And the furniture should be rearranged…
“We?” Anna smirked to herself, folding clothes into a bag.
— Anna is very young, you understand, — the mother-in-law went on in a nightingale’s trill. — No experience at all. Good thing I’m around — I’ll advise, guide. Otherwise she could make a mess of things!
An hour and a half later Sergey came home and found his mother and the guests at a laid table. They were already deep into discussing plans to “improve” the apartment.
— Where’s Anna? — he asked, taking off his jacket.
— Ran off, as usual! — Elena Petrovna declaimed theatrically. — Can you imagine the rudeness! I brought your relatives, and she almost threw us out on the doorstep! Didn’t even offer tea!
— Mom, — Sergey began carefully, — we agreed visits would be cleared in advance.
— What nonsense! — she flared. — Roman and Svetlana are just passing through! Was I supposed to turn away my own flesh and blood because of your wife’s whims?
— You should have called to ask whether it was a good time for us to have guests, — her son said firmly.
— Listen, maybe we really should go to a hotel? — Roman offered awkwardly. — We don’t want to cause trouble…
— You’re not going anywhere! — Elena Petrovna snapped. — As if! Because of the tantrums of that spoiled girl my relatives are supposed to skulk off to hotels!
— Mom! — Sergey said in a warning tone.
— What “Mom”? — she sneered. — Am I wrong? She’s got you under her heel and you don’t even notice!
Svetlana looked anxiously at her brother.
— Roma, maybe we really should leave? This feels uncomfortable…
— Nonsense! — Elena Petrovna instantly switched to a sugary tone. — You’re welcome guests here. It’s just that certain persons don’t know how to behave properly.
For the next four days Anna didn’t come home. Elena Petrovna thundered and raged, calling her son every two hours:
— She’s manipulating you! — she yelled into the phone. — A normal wife doesn’t do this! To leave her husband over such nonsense!
— A normal mother-in-law doesn’t invade someone else’s home without an invitation, — Sergey replied coolly.
— Someone else’s home? — his mother gasped in outrage. — I paid half the money for that apartment! And that makes me a stranger?
— Money doesn’t give you the right to run our lives as if they were your own.
— Wonderful! — her voice turned poisonous. — Choose that capricious fool over your own mother! We’ll see if she even brings you a glass of water in your old age!
— Mom, I’m not choosing between you. I’m asking you to observe basic decency.
— Decency? — Elena Petrovna burst out laughing. — And she’s the one teaching you decency? The girl who can’t even cook borscht!
— Enough!
— It’s not enough! — she shrieked. — I lived my whole life for you, and now because of that… that good-for-nothing I’m supposed to visit my own son by appointment!
Sergey’s father, Pyotr Nikolaevich, listened to his wife’s account and shook his head.
— Lena, you’ve completely lost sight of boundaries.
— How so? — she bristled. — I’m taking care of our son’s family! Or is that forbidden now?
— You’re trying to run their lives as if they were puppets, — he replied calmly. — Remember how your mother-in-law used to meddle in our affairs. Did you like it when she rearranged things in our closets?
Elena Petrovna fell silent, but her face stayed stubborn.
— They need freedom, — Pyotr Nikolaevich went on. — Otherwise you’ll lose your son for good.
— But I want to be needed… — her voice trembled. — I don’t want to be pushed into the background.
— You’ll be needed. But when you’re asked, not whenever you feel like it.
A family council set new rules: visits only by prior arrangement, family dinners once every two weeks, no unplanned intrusions. Elena Petrovna agreed, but her eyes showed poorly concealed displeasure.
— Fine, — she ground out between her teeth. — I’ll ask my own son for permission.
— Not me, — Sergey corrected her. — Both of us.
— I see, — his mother said with a poisonous smile. — So your wife’s the boss now.
— Mom, we’re equal partners. And our home is our territory.
— Territory… — Elena Petrovna repeated. — Nicely put. Let’s see how long this “territory” lasts without my help.
For the first two weeks she kept the truce, but then the “accidental” visits began:
— I was visiting a neighbor and thought I’d pop in for a minute… Are you really saying I can’t even stop by?
— Aunt Zina begged me to look at your renovation… She’s disabled; she can’t come herself.
— I had a terrible headache, I thought I’d lie down for a bit… Or am I not even allowed to get sick now?
Each time, Anna demonstratively walked out, and Sergey was torn between his wife and his mother. The situation grew more and more tense.
— Your mother is playing on your feelings, — Anna said after yet another “accidental” visit. — She specifically comes when you’re not home to create conflict.
— Maybe she really did have a headache? — Sergey ventured uncertainly.
— Oh, she was sick, all right, — Anna said with a sarcastic smile. — Sick enough to stop by the pharmacy and, on the way, buy new curtains for our bedroom. Very caring.
— She wanted to help…
— She wanted to show who’s in charge. There’s a difference.
Meanwhile, Elena Petrovna waged an active underground campaign, calling relatives and complaining about her daughter-in-law:
— Can you imagine, she won’t let me into the house! I, the mother, have to ask that… that upstart for permission!
— Maybe she has a point? — Sergey’s sister, Olga, suggested cautiously. — They have their own family…
— Whose side are you on? — Elena Petrovna protested. — “Family”! She’s been married two years and already throws her weight around! I gave my son forty years of my life!
The turning point came quite unexpectedly. Anna returned from the doctor pale and shaken.
— What’s wrong? — Sergey asked, alarmed.
— I’m pregnant, — she said quietly, not lifting her eyes.
Sergey hugged his wife but noticed her anxiety.
— What’s worrying you? Isn’t this good news?
— Your mother. She’ll get even pushier. She’ll teach me how to carry the baby, how to give birth, how to raise it… I won’t be able to stand it.
— I won’t let her interfere.
— You already “didn’t let” her. We can all see the result.
When she learned about the pregnancy, Elena Petrovna changed unexpectedly. She called Anna:
— Anechka, I understand I was too intrusive. You need peace and quiet right now. I promise not to interfere.
— Thank you, — Anna said, surprised.
— But if you need help… I’m always here.
A month later Anna herself turned to her mother-in-law:
— Elena Petrovna, help me set up the nursery. You have wonderful taste.
Her mother-in-law lit up. They spent the whole day choosing furniture and wallpaper. To her astonishment, Anna discovered that Elena Petrovna really did have a talent for design.
— You could do this professionally, — Anna remarked.
— You think so? — her mother-in-law asked, uncertain.
— I’m sure. How about we open a children’s design studio? I’ll handle the organization; you handle the creative.
But the peace didn’t last long. A week later Elena Petrovna showed up without warning:
— Anechka, I’ve been thinking about our business. Maybe we should call the studio “Mother’s Dreams”? “Children’s Dreams” sounds too banal.
— But we’ve already ordered the sign, — Anna replied evenly.
— So what? Money isn’t the main thing! The main thing is to create the right image!
— Right for whom? — Anna didn’t look up from the paperwork.
— For those who understand beauty! — Elena Petrovna began pacing the room. — Not everyone is so… simple in their tastes.
Anna finally raised her eyes.
— If you want to hint at my “simplicity,” just say it straight. Time is precious.
— I’m not hinting, I’m saying it openly! — her mother-in-law’s voice rang with anger. — You don’t understand what real style is!
— But I do understand real business, — Anna answered coolly. — And if you want to ruin it before it even opens, by all means keep going.
Elena Petrovna spun on her heel and headed for the door.
— We’ll see which of us is right! Without my talent your studio will turn into a run-of-the-mill little shop!
— Maybe, — Anna agreed. — But a little shop that brings in profit instead of headaches.
After her mother-in-law left, Anna sat thinking. She knew Elena Petrovna was genuinely talented, but her urge to control every detail could sink the venture before it began.
The next day Anna got an unexpected call:
— Anna, it’s Elena Petrovna. Can we meet?
— Of course. Only this time let’s schedule it in advance.
— Agreed. I need to show you something.
They met at a café. Elena Petrovna looked agitated.
— I thought about our conversation all night. And I realized… you’re right.
— About what, exactly? — Anna asked cautiously.
— That I’m trying to control everything. But it isn’t out of malice, Anechka. It’s out of fear.
— Fear of what?
— Of becoming unnecessary, — her mother-in-law admitted quietly. — All my life I was only a wife and a mother. And now… my son is married, a grandchild is about to be born, and I don’t know who I am anymore.
Anna listened carefully.
— But that’s exactly why we decided to open the studio, Elena Petrovna. So you could realize your talent.
— Yes, but I’m afraid I won’t manage it. That clients won’t understand my ideas.
— What if we do it differently? — Anna suggested. — You create the design projects, and I handle the promotion. But we make final decisions together.
— You’re ready to trust me with the creative side? — Elena Petrovna asked skeptically.
— I am. On the condition that you trust me with the business side.
Elena Petrovna thought for a moment.
— You know, I want to tell you a story. When Dima was little, I kept redoing his room. I thought I was creating the best environment for him. And one day he said to me, “Mom, I’m afraid to touch anything. What if I ruin your beauty?”
— And what did you say?
— Nothing. I was stunned. Only then did I realize I’d been creating beauty not for him, but for myself.
— That’s why you reacted so sharply to my comments?
— Yes, — she admitted honestly. — I thought history was repeating itself. That I was creating something again not for those who actually need it.
Anna reached across the table.
— Elena Petrovna, let’s make a deal. I promise to always explain my decisions. And you promise not to take them personally.
— Deal, — her mother-in-law shook her hand. — But I reserve the right to creative whims.
— You do, — Anna smiled. — Within reason.
— And who decides what’s reasonable? — Elena Petrovna asked slyly.
— Our clients, — Anna replied. — They’re the fairest judges.
A month later the studio “Children’s Dreams” opened. The first order came from Elena Petrovna’s neighbor.
— I saw the nursery you set up for your grandson. Could you do something like that for my daughter?
— Of course! — her mother-in-law said, delighted. — But first let’s talk with the girl. Let’s find out what she likes.
— Is that important? — the neighbor was surprised. — She’s only five.
— Especially important, — Elena Petrovna replied firmly. — A child’s room should reflect the child’s character, not the parents’ ambitions.
Anna watched this exchange in surprise. Her mother-in-law had truly changed. Now she wasn’t trying to impose her vision; she wanted to understand the clients’ needs.
— Elena Petrovna, — Anna said after the neighbor left, — you surprise me.
— How so? — her mother-in-law asked.
— You used to be sure you knew what everyone needed. And now you’re asking the opinion of a five-year-old girl.
— I used to be afraid of making a mistake, — Elena Petrovna admitted. — I thought if I stuck to my plan, I couldn’t miss. But it turned out I missed precisely because I didn’t consider other people’s needs.
Business at the studio kept improving. Elena Petrovna created unique interiors, and Anna promoted them successfully. Most importantly, an unspoken peace settled between them.
— Anechka, — her mother-in-law said one day, — I want to apologize for how I behaved before.
— For what exactly? — Anna asked.
— For trying to remake your life with Dima. I thought I knew best.
— And what stopped you?
— Realizing that I didn’t want to lose my son and daughter-in-law because of my ambitions, — Elena Petrovna answered honestly.
Anna paused for a moment.
— May I ask you a direct question?
— Of course.
— Why did you used to react so painfully to my remarks?
— Because I saw them as a threat, — her mother-in-law replied without beating around the bush. — It seemed to me you wanted to prove I was wrong.
— And now?
— Now I understand you just want the business to succeed. Your being right doesn’t mean I’m wrong.
That evening Anna told her husband about the conversation with his mother.
— Your mom really has changed.
— I noticed, — he said. — She’s calmer. And she’s stopped giving us unsolicited advice.
— Do you think it will last?
— I hope so, — Dima smiled. — But even if she slips up sometimes, I know how to handle it now.
— How?
— Tell her the truth. Turns out she’s not as fragile as I thought. She can handle an honest talk.
A year later, “Children’s Dreams” truly expanded — not by opening new offices, but by adding services. Elena Petrovna began giving workshops for parents, and Anna launched an online store of designer items for children’s rooms.
— Anechka, — said her mother-in-law, rocking her grandson in a chair of her own design, — I’ve dreamed all my life of working in interiors. I just didn’t know how to start.
— And I thought you just wanted to control everything, — Anna smiled.
— I wanted that too, — Elena Petrovna admitted frankly. — But it’s much more interesting to create beauty for other people’s children than to keep rearranging furniture at my own son’s.
Family tea parties now took place in a garden gazebo her mother-in-law designed herself.
Rocking her one-year-old son in her arms, Anna smiled as she remembered the day Elena Petrovna had shown up with a bouquet of wilted chrysanthemums and two unfamiliar relatives, bursting into someone else’s fortress. It felt like a lifetime since her mother-in-law had considered their apartment her territory; now she even called ahead before bringing a new toy for her grandson. The baby reached for a sunbeam on the wall, and Anna thought that sometimes people just need to find the right outlet for their energy — Elena Petrovna had turned from a meddlesome mother-in-law into a talented designer, from a source of family conflict into a loving grandmother.
