News of the birth of the first child in the Yursky family spread among the relatives far too quickly. The mother-in-law simply could not keep her mouth shut. She wanted to boast to everyone that she had finally become a grandmother to a grandson.
“Valya, since your grandson has been born, you need to set the table properly, and we’ll all come bless him!” Vasily, the woman’s cousin, was the first to say.
The rest of the relatives immediately supported the idea, and Valentina Maksimovna had no choice but to organize a lavish celebration. Diana kept saying that it was too early to invite guests. The baby was still tiny, and she herself had not fully recovered after giving birth. But her mother-in-law had already made up her mind and had no intention of backing down.
“What do you know?” the woman grumbled. “Family must be respected! Their blessing means a lot!”
Valentina Maksimovna knew perfectly well that Diana’s mother was arriving from another city that very same day, but it seemed to mean absolutely nothing to her. So she would arrive — no one was going to throw her out, after all.
“Tyoma, go and pick up Uncle Kolya from the station,” Valentina Maksimovna ordered her son.
“What do you mean, Uncle Kolya? Where’s Dad?”
“Your father went to pick up Larisa, of course. He can’t be everywhere at once.”
Artyom scratched his chin. His mother was giving orders and preparing a real feast, but he had his own plans too.
“Mom, I actually promised to meet my mother-in-law. I need to leave for the airport already.”
Valentina Maksimovna frowned. She measured her son with a look that tolerated no objections, as if silently trying to put him back in his place.
“What is that supposed to mean? Uncle Kolya is an important guest. Your mother-in-law can call a taxi. If we don’t meet Sokolov, all the relatives will gossip about us later. We can’t allow that. We must receive our guests properly.”
Diana heard her mother-in-law’s words, and it hurt her that her own mother was not considered an important guest. At one time, she had agreed to live in her husband’s parents’ house because it seemed large and comfortable. She had believed there would be enough space for everyone, that her mother would be able to visit whenever she wished. But now it felt as though she herself was the outsider in this house.
Valentina Maksimovna was not at all worried about how Diana’s mother would perceive such a “warm welcome.” She was not afraid of ruining their relationship. In truth, there had never really been a relationship between them. The two women had never managed to become friends, and since they lived in different cities, the distance only pushed them further apart.
Still, Diana had been looking forward to seeing her mother. She hoped that her difficult relationship with her mother-in-law would not affect their time together. Inna Romanovna would be seeing her grandson for the first time. She had wanted to come for the hospital discharge, but there had been some problems buying tickets, so she had only managed to come now.
When Artyom entered the room, he looked at his wife guiltily. He was torn and did not know what the right thing to do was. On one hand, he wanted to build a good relationship with his mother-in-law, and he had promised to pick her up. On the other hand, there was Valentina Maksimovna and the condition she had set. Going against his mother was not easy, because she held authority in the family, and her word usually became final.
“I understand everything. Nothing terrible will happen. There are plenty of taxis at the airport, so Mom will get here on her own, and I’ll meet her here,” Diana said calmly, although inside her emotions were spinning wildly. “You can go pick up your relative.”
She felt hurt, but she did not want to start a fight over something that seemed so small. Her mother was an understanding person. She would not be offended if her son-in-law could not meet her. In that, she was completely different from Valentina Maksimovna and her relatives, who only needed the smallest excuse to take offense.
Inna Romanovna arrived by taxi. She joyfully embraced her daughter and hurried to meet her grandson. Bogdan reacted calmly to the new face. He did not cry, and even fell asleep in his grandmother’s arms. The little boy was not so peaceful with everyone.
Soon the guests invited by the mother-in-law began to arrive. The house became noisy. The relatives kept asking for the boy to be brought out so everyone could see him.
“Diana, why are you just sitting there? Come out already! Show my grandson to everyone. It’s family that came, not strangers,” Valentina Maksimovna said, peeking into the room.
“Bogdan has only just fallen asleep. I don’t think we should disturb him now. It’s noisy in the living room. When he wakes up, I’ll bring him out, and everyone will be able to meet him,” Diana forced herself to say, even though it went against everything she wanted. What kind of guests did such a tiny baby need? And she herself would have felt uncomfortable sitting among all those people.
Inna Romanovna immediately noticed who ruled the house. She looked sternly at her daughter, who had always claimed that her relationship with her mother-in-law was wonderful, that she was respected and her opinion was taken into account.
“This is what you call a wonderful relationship?” Inna Romanovna said indignantly. “She pressures you, and you just adjust yourself to her! How much does a woman have to love a man to agree to every whim of his mother? Daughter, are you really all right with this?”
Diana fell silent. Until recently, she had thought she was satisfied with everything. But now she felt more sharply than ever that no one in this house would ever consider her opinion. Even Artyom did whatever his mother told him to do. And Diana would have to do the same.
Something unpleasant stirred inside her. Thoughts she had previously refused to let in now buzzed in her head like disturbed bees. Maybe it was time for her and her husband to move out. Artyom had his own apartment, but he had never dared to fly out of the family nest. He always said a private house was better. Diana had not argued, but a private house was only good when no one constantly pulled at you, pressured you morally, or tried to force you to do what suited them.
When Bogdan woke up, Diana came out to the guests. Whispers immediately spread among those present that Artyom’s wife did not look very good, and that she should take care of herself instead of only the baby. The relatives did not even bother to whisper quietly in her presence and threw ambiguous glances at her.
“Let me hold my grandson!” Uncle Kolya approached. “He takes after our bloodline! He’ll grow up handsome, just like me.”
Diana involuntarily grimaced. This man, with his huge belly and sagging cheeks, clearly had a very high opinion of himself. Yet anyone could see that Bogdan had been born as a little copy of his mother.
“Give him here! What are you afraid of?” Uncle Kolya frowned and reached out toward the boy.
Bogdan screamed so loudly that some people began covering their ears. He did not recognize this relative and seemed frightened by him.
“I’m sorry, but he’s scared. I need to calm him down. I think I’ll go back to the room…”
“What do you mean, scared? Hand him over. Why are you so cowardly? Or are we not family to you?”
Diana was afraid that if her mother stood up for her now, a scandal would break out. But Inna Romanovna had no intention of arguing. She stepped forward, simply took her grandson, calmed him in her arms, and carried him into the room without unnecessary words or questions.
Diana felt completely out of place beneath the many judgmental looks. She was embarrassed, but there was nothing she could do. She left, feeling hurt that her husband had sat silently and was afraid to say anything against his relatives. This was his son. His wife.
“Daughter, if you don’t intend to do anything yourself, I’ll tell your father. He’ll come and take you and Bogdan home,” Inna Romanovna said in an even voice. “You won’t be able to live peacefully in such an atmosphere. They have their own way of life, and you don’t fit into it because you are not as convenient as they would like you to be.”
The guests continued celebrating until late at night. They were not shy about making noise and did not care that they might disturb a small child. When some of them finally left, Valentina Maksimovna called Diana to help clear the table. Diana was already half-asleep, but she obediently got out of bed.
“Rest. I’ll help your mother-in-law myself,” Inna Romanovna said, trying to stop her daughter.
“Oh, please! You are a guest. Sit with your grandson while you have the chance to see him,” Valentina Maksimovna waved her off.
As soon as she and Diana stepped out, Valentina Maksimovna slowed down. She began scolding her daughter-in-law for not being courteous enough to the guests, for not even dressing up to greet them, and for disgracing the whole family.
“You can’t behave like that! They are family! What kind of rumors will spread about us now?”
“What rumors?” Diana asked, unable to believe her ears. “Was I supposed to let them torment a frightened child? Are you serious?”
“No one was going to torment him. Don’t talk nonsense,” Valentina Maksimovna snorted. “By the way, the dishes have already been cleared. Go make a bed for your mother in the bathhouse. Ours is solid and warm, it’ll do perfectly well as a room. Many guests decided to stay, so all the rooms in the house are taken.”
Diana barely stayed on her feet. They had agreed on everything in advance. She had personally prepared the guest room, and now drunken relatives of her mother-in-law were sleeping there simply because they had suddenly decided to stay?
Without saying a word to Valentina Maksimovna, Diana turned around and went back to the bedroom, leaving the woman standing there in complete confusion. Diana immediately called her husband. Artyom had not appeared all evening. He had not even looked in on her and the baby, had not asked whether she needed anything.
As soon as he answered, Diana asked him to come to the bedroom. She did not hide from her mother the fact that her mother-in-law intended to make her sleep in the bathhouse for the night. Diana was already tired of constantly inventing excuses and ridiculous justifications for her mother-in-law’s behavior.
“Give me the keys to the apartment. Mom, Bogdan, and I are going there for a few days,” Diana said in a demanding tone as soon as her husband entered.
“What are you doing? Don’t get worked up. I’ll settle this now. We’ll find a room for your mother. Don’t worry.”
“No. Enough, Artyom. I tolerated it. I tried to adjust to your mother’s rules, but I can’t do it anymore. I’m tired of it. Give me the keys. And once Mom flies back, we are moving into the apartment. This is not up for discussion.”
“But Mom will be offended,” Artyom tried to object.
Inna Romanovna barely restrained herself from stepping into the conversation and putting her son-in-law in his place. If his mother’s word was so precious to him, why had he gotten married at all? Still, she had promised herself she would interfere in her daughter’s marriage only in the most extreme case, when she saw that Diana could no longer cope on her own. For now, Diana was standing firm. There was no need to become another obstacle between them.
“And my hurt feelings mean nothing to you?” Diana asked. “Then choose — your mother, or me and your son. After what your mother did today, I do not want to stay in this house.”
Artyom gave his wife the keys to the apartment. Inna Romanovna helped her daughter pack. Artyom himself drove his wife, son, and mother-in-law to the apartment, telling Valentina Maksimovna that he would explain everything to her later.
On the way back to his mother’s house, he thought about how his wife was right. She was not obligated to endure everything and keep adjusting. All his life, he had done nothing but try to please his mother, and she had grown used to it and taken advantage of it. Now that he had his own family, he had to take care of them.
He told his mother exactly that when he returned and went to his room to pack his things.
“This is all your mother-in-law’s doing!” Valentina Maksimovna exclaimed. “Everything was fine until she arrived! She won’t let you live normally. She’ll turn Diana against you, you’ll see! And what about your own mother? Have you completely forgotten who gave birth to you and raised you? Who was beside you in difficult times?”
Artyom stopped. He turned around and looked at his mother, and determination burned in his eyes.
“No, Mom. I haven’t forgotten. That is why I am grateful to you, and I will always be grateful for raising me and being there. But you must not control my family now. My mother-in-law has nothing to do with this. That circus with the relatives you arranged just to show off to them made everything clear to me. You live for other people, not for yourself. But Diana and I want to live for ourselves and for our son.”
Artyom was glad he had realized in time what mistake he had been making all along. He was grateful to Diana for not running away from him earlier, for enduring everything and giving him the chance to see with his own eyes how difficult it had been for her to live in his parents’ house.
He moved all their belongings and the baby furniture into his apartment, and they began building their own family nest. Valentina Maksimovna tried to visit them and impose her rules there too, but nothing came of it. In the end, she was forced to admit defeat. She would no longer be able to boast about her obedient son and his child. She would have to find something else to brag about.
Diana and Artyom became truly happy in their marriage. From then on, Inna Romanovna finally calmed down. She no longer worried about her daughter, because she knew Diana was enjoying life instead of wasting away under someone else’s control.
