– Don’t you understand anything at all, – Oleg shouted at his wife Marina, unable to cope with his rage. – How dare you get pregnant? Who gave you permission? We agreed that everything would be according to plan: first the house, then the children. Or do you want to hang out with him in rented apartments, right?
– Oleg, Oleg, come on, I don’t know how it happened there.
– She doesn’t know! Doesn’t know? – Oleg spread his hands, – and what should I do now? Not only am I responsible for you, now I’m also a child!!!
– I mean, are you responsible for me? What are you talking about?
– About the fact that you are completely sitting on my neck and consider it quite normal. Everything you have is bought with my money!
“Is that it?”?? So you think so? Well… then I’ll give birth to a baby for myself. and I will educate myself! Unable to continue the conversation any longer, Marina turned around and went into the room, closing the door behind her.
Resentment burned like a hot coal: how could he say that, do that to her. For five years, for five long years, she did nothing but listen to Oleg, catch his every word, guess any desire, tried to be not just a good, but a better wife. And now, as soon as she told him about something that was not part of his plans, he became so furious.
Marina listened: the front door slammed violently. She came out and sighed heavily: Oleg was not there, he left. Then the woman sank down on the sofa and burst into tears, bitterly and hopelessly, as she cried in childhood when she, small and defenseless, was abused by other children from the orphanage where she grew up.
The fact that she met Oleg seemed to her a small miracle – he, so handsome and successful, was a dream for many girls, but he chose her.
They met on New Year’s Eve on the square, when the celebrating people were having fun and dancing, without sorting out which of them is familiar with whom. Oleg was with his company, but Marina came alone: it was the first New Year that she met outside the walls of the orphanage.
Cheerful cheerful Oleg immediately attracted the girl and she spent all the holidays with him, although she did not allow him anything superfluous. It was the inaccessibility of the girl that conquered the guy and six months later they got married.
Five years have passed since that time. But only now Marina began to understand that she was trapped in a golden cage: she had the right to what Oleg wanted and loved, and all her desires were simply ignored, considered frivolous, unimportant, stupid. And yet she loved him, trusted and appreciated him for pulling her out of constant poverty, and also because Oleg proved his love to her by marrying against the will of his parents.
Memories tired Marina, and she fell asleep, but Oleg did not return to spend the night. First he sat in a bar, then moved to a club. There some girl sat down with him and he spent the rest of the night with her, having cheated on his wife for the first time.
– Where have you been? Marina asked Oleg when he appeared at home in the morning.
– What difference does it make to you? – he muttered, not wanting to explain or justify himself.
– Oleg … how could you … – Marina asked him quietly.
She understood everything, guessed it, she didn’t need to explain anything.
– What did you want from me? You’ve got all my nerves on your own, and now you’re pretending to be a victim? Don’t, dear. We are adults, and I want you to understand this once and for all. And one more thing: as long as I support you, it will be as I say. Personally, I don’t need a child right now, I want to live for myself without solving the problems that will appear if he is born. Therefore, here’s the money for you, you have an appointment for one o’clock in the afternoon, I have agreed. Abortion will be done easily and without consequences. In general, be a good girl.
Marina was silent. Oleg looked at her, wanted to kiss her, but she turned away. He grinned and went to the bathroom, then changed his clothes and went to work.
When he returned, neither Marina nor her belongings were there. There was money on the nightstand that he had left for an abortion. On one of the bills was written: “Buy yourself a conscience.”
A year has passed. Oleg still lived for his own pleasure, remembered and missed his wife, he really missed the comfort that she provided him. Oleg’s new girlfriends were different, they did not want to burden themselves with anything, and this began to annoy him, tired of constant easy relationships.
One morning he came out of the apartment and saw a baby carrier with a baby. The baby was asleep. There was a note stuck in the side:
– This is Ilyusha. If you can, give it to the orphanage yourself.
Oleg was taken aback, then ran down the stairs – no one. Went up – silence. Then he took the child into the apartment and grabbed his head. He understood everything: Marina gave birth to a son and threw it to him because he had treated them badly. She was left without means of livelihood, it is difficult to raise her alone, so she found a way out.
But what will he do with it? The child stirred and began to cry. Oleg looked stupidly at the unexpected surprise and suddenly realized that there was nothing with the baby – no bottle, no nipples, no diapers. Then he left him alone and rushed to the pharmacy for everything a newborn baby needs.
The first three days turned into hell for the new father. He didn’t have time for anything, hardly slept and didn’t understand anything at all. Somehow he bathed the child, rocked him to sleep, walking around the apartment with him in his arms, learned how to make a mixture. But on the fourth day I couldn’t stand it, I packed up Ilyusha’s things, put him in a carrier and went to the orphanage, hoping to get there later in the evening to drop the baby off unnoticed.
He drove seventy kilometers in the firm belief that he was doing the right thing, but when he arrived at the place and approached the door, he was confused. Nevertheless, he put the carrier on the threshold, turned around and went to the car. But after taking a dozen steps, he turned around and almost ran up to his son.
A minute later they were driving home, where Oleg fed and changed the boy, and then suddenly burst into tears, realizing that he had broken down and would never be the same again.
Month followed month. During the day, an elderly nanny sat with the baby, in the evening Oleg hurried to him himself. He has already registered the child for a long time, giving a lot of money to make everything go smoothly and smoothly. I tried to find Marina, but I couldn’t and decided that she had left the city forever.
When Ilyusha was six months old, trouble came to their house, the boy became very ill. Doctors, when they examined him, found a serious illness that could end very badly. Oleg almost went crazy. He submitted everything he had: property, business, car, got into debt, took loans, but managed, coped, cured Ilyusha, paying for his treatment abroad.
And when he returned to Russia with his son, he realized that now he would have to start all over again. For a long time Oleg worked as a simple security guard, then he became a driver for a rich businessman. They paid him well, and he slowly repaid his debts, slowly recovering from the experience.
Several times he got together with one or another woman, but they all wanted his attention, refusing or not knowing how to take care of Ilyusha.
– You know what, – said one, – if you want, I’ll give birth to my children for you, but I don’t have the joy of messing with your son!
– He’s small, he’s been sick for a long time, don’t you feel sorry for him?
– It’s a pity, of course, but I can’t help myself. And do not believe that a strange woman will be able to love him as a native.
But he still hoped that someday he would meet one. When Ilyusha turned six, Oleg began to look after school preparation courses for his son and accidentally met a woman who had already chosen a program for her daughter.
– You know, – she advised, – I found a good teacher, she takes on any children. Do you want to give me a phone number? You can also sign up.
– Thanks a lot, I’ll call right now.
Oleg was answered quickly and an hour later was invited to an interview. He hurried to the specified address, but when he crossed the threshold of the center, he was stunned: his ex–wife Marina was standing in front of him.
– You? You? – that’s all he managed to say. – How? What are you doing here?
– I’m working.
– So that’s how it is? Are you willing to raise other people’s children, but have you abandoned your own??? Poor cuckoo! Do you even know what I had to go through to get our son back on his feet? Ilyusha was ill and while you were having fun, I, you know, I took care of him, I sold everything, got into debt, which I still pay back! And you lived for your own pleasure and didn’t even think to come and find out if we needed help! You’re trash, Marina, the real trash! And I don’t want you anywhere near our baby. Ilya is only my son!
Angry Oleg turned to leave, but he heard Marina’s quiet voice:
– No, Oleg! You’re wrong! Ilya is not your son and cannot be, because that night my daughter was born.
– What-oh-oh? What-oh-oh did you say-ah?
– It was my revenge on you, Oleg. You’ve always thought only of yourself and loved only yourself. To remind you how you insisted on an abortion, hoping to get rid of our child? And you didn’t respect me at all either, you spent time with mistresses without thinking how much it hurt me. I left to save my baby and when the deadline came, I gave birth to a wonderful girl, Dasha.
My ex-girlfriend gave birth with me, she was brought up with me in an orphanage. And she was even more unlucky than me. She gave birth to Ilyusha from some married man, but she did not endure childbirth. I took her son, nursed both children for the first months, and then decided to give him to you. I wanted you to feel what it’s like to abandon or abandon your son. And you didn’t quit.
I followed you, saw how you took him to the orphanage and how you came back with him. After holding him in your arms, you couldn’t leave him. I admit, I was surprised, I didn’t think that you could stand it, you wouldn’t break. But you did. And I’m glad I did. Only now you are faced with a choice for the second time. Now you know that Ilya is not your son. What are you going to do now? Will you continue to raise him as your own? Or will you quit?
“And the note?” There was a note! I remember her verbatim, you wrote that Ilya is my son.
– It was written there: This is Ilyusha. If you can, give it to the orphanage yourself. And the fact that he is your son, you imagined yourself.
–You’re… so… cruel…” Oleg said in disbelief.
– Yes. But you made me like this. I won’t tell you about the shed tears and sleepless nights. Don’t think I’ve had a great life. Just like you, I went through everything, only unlike you, I had no job, no housing, no money.
For a long time I lived only on child benefit, then I bought an old cheap laptop, wrote works to order, then I became an online tutor. It’s been slow, but it’s gone and now I’ve opened courses for prep students. That’s how you made me strong. You, Oleg, have often reproached me with sitting on your neck. I don’t need you anymore. And our daughter, too.
– I want to see Dasha.
– OK. Here is my address,” Marina wrote the street and the house on a piece of paper and handed it to Oleg.
Oleg took the paper and left, amazed, stunned, crushed by what had happened. For so many years he had been a blockhead, a real blockhead. They laughed at him, tricked him, humiliated him. Stupid, how stupid!
Oleg came home and angrily threw the keys on the nightstand, then turned around and saw the look of Ilya standing in the doorway.
– What’s wrong, Dad? Are you upset about something?
– No, my dear, – Oleg hugged his son and realized that he had made his choice for the second time. – Get ready, we’re going to visit now.
An hour later they stood on Marina’s doorstep and she, smiling, invited them in.
– Dad, who is this? Ilya asked, looking at this beautiful woman with kind eyes with all his eyes.
– This, son, is your mother! And now she’s going to introduce us to your sister and my daughter.
– Oleg! Marina said in amazement.
– Yes, my dear! – Oleg leaned over to her and jokingly said in her ear:
– And this is my revenge on you! Especially since we never got divorced. You’ll have to live with us and now I won’t let you go anywhere. And also,” he added seriously, “thank you for your daughter and for… your son!”
0 Comment