Sveta knew for sure—their keys were gone. She had turned the entire entryway upside down, checked the pockets of her jacket and Andrei’s jeans, even looked under the doormat. Nothing.
“Andrei! Have you seen our keys?” she shouted nervously, opening yet another drawer.
“Which ones exactly?” Her husband appeared in the kitchen doorway with a cup of coffee.
“Mine and the spare set. I always put them on the shelf in the hallway.”
Andrei scratched his head and shrugged.
“Nope. Didn’t take them. Mine are where they should be.”
“How is that even possible…” Sveta checked the shelf one more time. “They were there just the day before yesterday!”
She sat down on the ottoman and stared at the floor. They’d been living in this apartment for three years, and the keys had never gone missing. Suddenly she looked up sharply.
“Listen, did your mom come by last week?”
“Well, yeah, when you weren’t home. She brought something, I think,” Andrei sipped his coffee. “But what does that have to do with—”
“And then she came again to clean, remember? I was at work.”
“Wait, you think Mom took your keys?” Andrei frowned. “Come on, Sveta.”
“Who else? The house elf?” Sveta went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. “Neither of us took them, none of our friends have been here in ages. And Tamara Ivanovna came by twice last week.”
“You probably just lost them,” Andrei muttered. “Mom would never do that.”
“Really? Remember how she always criticizes my laundry? ‘You hang it wrong,’ ‘that’s folded incorrectly,’ ‘you should use a different detergent.’”
“Sveta, she only means well.”
“Meaning well is giving advice, not rummaging through someone else’s things!” Sveta put the glass down firmly. “Call her and ask.”
Andrei gave her a doubtful look but pulled out his phone anyway.
“Hi, Mom. Yeah, we’re fine. Listen, quick question… You didn’t happen to take our spare keys, did you? No? And you haven’t seen Sveta’s? They just disappeared somehow.”
Sveta noticed how his face changed.
“Okay, thanks, bye,” Andrei hung up and stared out the window.
“Well? What did she say?”
“She said she didn’t take them.”
“How did she say it?” Sveta stepped closer.
“Just normal!” Andrei was clearly nervous. “Maybe they just got lost!”
“Let me text her,” Sveta grabbed her phone.
Andrei waved his hand and walked out of the kitchen. Sveta quickly typed: “Hello, Tamara Ivanovna! By any chance, did you take my apartment keys? I can’t find them.”
The reply came almost instantly: “Sweet Sveta, I didn’t really think about it—just took them, you never know. Better safe than sorry.”
Sveta read the message twice, hardly believing her eyes. Just took them? Better safe than sorry? Whose home, whose keys?
“Andrei! Get in here, now!” she called, feeling anger boiling inside.
Andrei entered the kitchen looking guilty.
“What?”
“Look.” She held out the phone. “Your mom ‘just took’ my keys! Without asking! How is that okay?”
“Well, Sveta, she worries…”
“Worries about what? That I’ll wash the dishes wrong in my own home?” Sveta’s hands were trembling. “That’s it, I’m changing the locks today.”
“What? Change the locks? Over some keys?”
“Not over the keys—over the fact your mom stole them!” Sveta opened her contacts. “This is our home, not a public passageway.”
“Mom didn’t steal anything! She just… was being cautious.”
“She took my keys without permission!” Sveta was already dialing a locksmith. “Imagine if my parents did the same to you.”
“Come on, you’re overreacting,” Andrei scowled. “You could’ve just asked her to bring them back.”
“So she could make a copy first?” Sveta snorted. “Hello, yes, I need my front door lock changed urgently. Can you do it today? Great, I’ll be waiting in an hour.”
Andrei dropped onto a chair.
“You could’ve at least talked to me first.”
“Did your mom talk to me when she took the keys?” Sveta tucked the phone away. “Just imagine coming home and finding your mother-in-law already sitting there, no warning, no call. Saying: ‘Why are you so late? Why are your shoes dirty? You know you should mop with a different mop?’”
“Mom wouldn’t do that…”
“She already does! You just don’t notice because it doesn’t affect you.”
An hour later, the locksmith was changing the lock. Andrei sulked in the other room like a child. Sveta paid him and received three brand-new keys.
“One for me, one for you,” she handed one to her husband. “The third is a spare, but it stays here.”
“And Mom?”
“Mom gets no keys,” Sveta said firmly. “If she wants to come, she can call first.”
Andrei’s phone rang. He looked at the screen and grimaced.
“It’s Mom.”
“Of course,” Sveta smirked. “Probably checking how her little boy is surviving without her.”
Andrei reluctantly answered.
“Hi, Mom… Yeah, we’re home… What? It won’t open? Well, you see, we changed the lock…”
From the receiver came Tamara Ivanovna’s outraged voice. Sveta stepped closer.
“Let me talk to her,” she held out her hand.
“Mom, Sveta wants to speak with you,” Andrei passed the phone and stepped back.
“Hello, Tamara Ivanovna,” Sveta said calmly. “Yes, we changed the lock.”
“Sveta, how could you!” Her mother-in-law’s voice shook with indignation. “Why didn’t you warn me? I’ve been standing outside for half an hour! My bags are heavy!”
“And why didn’t you warn me you were coming? Or that you took my keys without asking?”
“I’m Andrei’s mother! We’re family! How can you treat me like this!”
“Tamara Ivanovna, this is our home,” Sveta tried to keep her voice firm. “All visits must be arranged in advance. No warning—no entry. You will not have keys anymore.”
“But this is…”
“No, this is not up for discussion,” Sveta interrupted. “If you want to come in now, ring the doorbell, we’ll open. But from now on—only by agreement.”
She handed the phone back to Andrei, who looked at her with a mix of hurt and surprise.
“Why are you talking to her like that?”
“How else? Should I wait until she completely takes over our lives?”
The doorbell rang. Andrei went to open it, while Sveta took a deep breath, bracing for the storm.
Tamara Ivanovna stormed into the apartment, lugging two heavy bags. Her face was flushed with anger.
“What is going on here?” She set down the bags and immediately turned to her son. “Andryusha, you let your mother be treated like this?”
“Mom, let’s stay calm…” Andrei began.
“Calm?!” she threw up her hands. “I gave you my whole life! And now your own mother can’t even come in! Was this your idea?” She glared at Sveta.
“Our mutual decision,” Andrei lied, avoiding his wife’s eyes. “We just want everyone to give notice before coming.”
“I’m not ‘everyone’! I’m your mother!” Tamara Ivanovna took off her coat and marched straight to the kitchen. “Now, what do you have in the fridge? I brought cutlets and salad.”
Sveta silently followed her. Anger boiled in her stomach, but she decided not to start a scene right away.
“Tamara Ivanovna, let’s talk,” Sveta sat across from her.
“What is there to talk about?” Her mother-in-law demonstratively began unpacking the bags. “You ambushed me. Changed the locks. Humiliated me.”
“And taking my keys without asking wasn’t humiliating?”
“I’m a mother! I worry! What if something happens?” Tamara Ivanovna started pulling out food. “Andryusha, you understand I do this out of love, don’t you?”
Andrei shifted uncomfortably in the kitchen doorway.
“Mom, you really should have asked…”
“You too?” Tears gleamed in her eyes. “Your own mother is now a stranger? So soon?”
“No one said you’re a stranger,” Sveta tried to stay calm. “But we have our own family, our own space. We want to know who and when comes into our home.”
“My God, who even comes to see you besides me?” Tamara Ivanovna snorted. “It’s not like I come every day!”
“It’s not about how often, it’s about giving notice,” Sveta felt herself heating up. “Just a call: ‘Can I come tomorrow at three?’ What’s so hard about that?”
“And what if you don’t answer? What if it’s urgent?”
“Mom, if it’s urgent, you know we’ll always answer,” Andrei interjected.
“And if you both don’t? I’ll lose my mind with worry!”
“Tamara Ivanovna,” Sveta spoke firmly, “we are adults. There are plenty of reasons we might not answer. That’s normal.”
“In my view, family means taking care of each other!” Tamara Ivanovna raised her voice. “Not locking each other out!”
“Care means respecting personal space,” Sveta shot back. “Not controlling people.”
“What control? I just want to help!”
“Helping means being asked for help,” Sveta stood up. “Not barging in and criticizing.”
“I never barged in!” Tamara Ivanovna protested.
“No? Then why did you take the keys?”
A heavy silence fell over the kitchen. Andrei looked back and forth between his mother and wife, not knowing whose side to take.
“Mom, Sveta’s right,” he finally said quietly. “You should have asked about the keys.”
“So you’ve chosen your side,” Tamara Ivanovna said bitterly. “Fine. Thanks for making it clear. Here are your keys,” she pulled a keychain from her bag and slammed it on the table. “I won’t be needing them, since I’m a stranger now.”
“Mom, stop being dramatic,” Andrei rubbed his face wearily.
“Dramatic? I gave you everything, and you…”
“Everything? Maybe it’s time to stop? Maybe it’s time to let your son live his own life?” Sveta couldn’t hold back.
Tamara Ivanovna gasped in outrage.
“How dare you! You’re turning him against me!”
“No one is turning anyone,” Andrei finally stood next to Sveta. “Mom, Sveta is my wife. We make decisions together.”
“But I’m your mother!” Tamara Ivanovna sobbed.
“And you always will be,” Andrei said more gently. “But we have our own family now. Our own rules.”
“What kind of rules are these if a mother can’t visit her son?”
“She can,” Sveta approached her mother-in-law. “Just call first. Like any normal person.”
Tamara Ivanovna sank onto a chair and covered her face with her hands. A heavy silence hung in the kitchen.
“Fine,” she said at last. “I understand. I’ll call.”
“Thank you,” Sveta felt some tension ease.
“Just don’t think I’ll let this go,” Tamara Ivanovna looked at her. “I still think this is wrong.”
“Mom,” Andrei sat beside her, “let’s just try it. You call ahead, we know when you’re coming, no surprises. Everyone’s more comfortable.”
“For you too?” she looked at her son hopefully.
“Yes, Mom. For me too,” he put a hand on her shoulder. “Sveta’s right. We need personal space.”
Tamara Ivanovna nodded, though her face still showed she was hurt.
“I’ll go,” she said, standing up. “I’ll leave the food. I’ll call tomorrow.”
A month later, Sveta came home from work early and was surprised by the quiet—Andrei was usually home by now.
Her phone pinged with a message: “Hi! Running an hour late. By the way, Mom asked if she can come over for lunch on Saturday?”
Sveta smiled. A lot had changed over the past month. At first Tamara Ivanovna called every day, testing the new rules. But gradually things settled. Her mother-in-law now always gave notice, sometimes even asked if it was convenient.
Sure, she still gave unsolicited advice, but now it was tolerable—because no one could just burst into their life unannounced anymore.
“Of course, let her come! I’ll bake a pie,” Sveta replied.
She went into the bedroom and happily collapsed on the bed. She used to always fear her mother-in-law might show up any moment. Now that fear was gone.
“God, this feels good,” Sveta whispered, staring at the ceiling.
When Andrei got home, she was making dinner. He hugged her from behind and kissed her neck.
“Hi. How’s it going? Did you read my message about Mom?”
“Yes, let her come,” Sveta turned to him. “You know, I think we did the right thing with the locks.”
“Definitely,” Andrei nodded. “Mom still gets offended sometimes, but… things are much better.”
“Noticed? She even calls me now sometimes, not just you,” Sveta stirred the sauce. “Not to check up on me, but like a normal person.”
“Yeah. And she stopped criticizing your cooking every time,” Andrei chuckled.
“Well, not completely,” Sveta laughed. “But now it sounds more like advice than a death sentence.”
They sat down to dinner. Sveta looked at her husband and thought how one simple but firm decision had changed the whole atmosphere of their lives—not only with the mother-in-law, but between themselves as well.
“You know,” Andrei suddenly said, “I was mad at you at first about the locks. Thought you were going too far. But now I realize you were right.”
“Sometimes you just need to set boundaries,” Sveta shrugged. “Clearly and firmly.”
“Exactly,” Andrei squeezed her hand. “Thanks for insisting.”
On Saturday, Tamara Ivanovna rang the doorbell exactly at the agreed time. Sveta opened the door and, for the first time in a long while, was genuinely happy to see her mother-in-law.
“Good afternoon, Tamara Ivanovna! Come on in, we’ve been waiting.”
“I brought pies,” the older woman handed over a basket. “With cabbage, the way Andryusha likes.”
They went into the kitchen, where Andrei was already setting the table. The air smelled of fresh pastries and peace—the kind that comes when everything finally falls into place.
