— Look, I still have this dress, — Olya said, placing it on top of the other clothes that her daughter no longer wore.
The first one to be born was Sveta, now five years old. Just a year later, Nadya was born to her sister Vika, and a couple of months later, her sister-in-law Angela also had a daughter — Yulia. That’s why Olya always took care of her daughter’s clothes, so that some of them could be given away later.
— Look, here are some pants! — Olya took dark purple jeans off the shelf.
— How lovely! — Vika exclaimed.
— Ehhh, — Kirill, her husband, entered the room and immediately protested:
— Stop giving everything away! You have a sister-in-law!
His wife looked at him and remembered Yulia — a little girl to whom she often gave things.
— Stop giving everything away, — Kirill grumbled disapprovingly.
— Alright, I’ll sort them out and set some aside for you later, okay? — Olya decided to stop for today and not give away any more of her daughter’s things to Vika.
Children grow up so quickly that Olya often has to buy new clothes for her daughter. Some get torn, some get hopelessly dirty, and some she simply outgrows. It feels like just yesterday she bought a onesie, and now it’s already too small.
— Don’t touch it, — she said to her husband just in case, — that’s for Nadya.
— Why? — there was a hint of hurt in his voice.
— Yulia already has a onesie, but Nadya doesn’t.
— Alright, — Kirill responded reluctantly.
Olya sorted through all the clothes: some she sent to the laundry, some she sat down to stitch, as she couldn’t give them away torn. She found that improper. After that, she divided the clothes into two piles — one for her sister and one for her sister-in-law. However, a couple of days later, when she returned from work, she found that the piles she had set aside for her sister and Angela were already gone.
— Kirill! — Olya called her husband. — Have you seen where the clothes are? I placed them on the shelf right here.
— I gave them away, — Kirill replied without a hint of embarrassment.
— What do you mean, you gave them away? — the housekeeper was surprised. — I had separated them into two piles: one for your sister, the other for mine!
— Sorry, I think I grabbed everything, — he said, feeling embarrassed.
Olya looked at her husband with frustration. It was a good thing she hadn’t told Vika. She was about to get upset when she noticed that the onesie with the dinosaur on the back was suddenly gone.
— Where’s the onesie? — she whispered, hardly believing her eyes. She opened her daughter’s wardrobe and began checking the shelves. But it wasn’t there.
— Kirill, — her husband had already left the children’s room, so he had to come back.
— What now? — he asked, raising an eyebrow.
— Where’s the onesie? — Olya nervously patted the empty shelf. — It was right here!
— I gave it away, — he replied calmly.
— What do you mean “gave it away”? — this time Olya got angry. — I set it aside for Nadya! I told you it was for my sister. You said you remembered, and now you’re telling me you gave it to your sister-in-law!
— Damn, — Kirill, like a guilty child, scratched the back of his head. — I forgot…
— You forget too much! — she was upset because Vika knew about that onesie, and if it wasn’t brought, her sister would be upset.
— Sorry, — Kirill muttered again.
— Leave! — Olya waved him off sharply.
A week later, Olya, Kirill, and Sveta went to Nadya’s birthday — she had just turned four. The little girl wasn’t interested in clothes, she liked toys — which was understandable, she’s a child.
— Here, take it! — Olya said, pulling a brand-new onesie out of the bag.
— Thank you! — Vika smiled brightly. — Nadya, come here, let’s try it on!
Kirill, seeing that his wife had given a completely new onesie, immediately approached her and asked:
— Where did this come from?
— We’ll talk later, — Olya replied. She didn’t want to argue at the moment, so she decided to postpone the conversation with her husband until the evening.
But in the evening, she thought that Kirill had forgotten about the gift, but he reminded her himself:
— Why did you give her a new onesie? Shouldn’t my niece wear a hand-me-down?
— This is your fault, — she answered coldly. — If you hadn’t given away the onesie I had set aside for Nadya, I wouldn’t have had to buy a new one. I don’t understand why you took it when Yulia already has one.
In response, Kirill just shrugged.
— I promised to give a onesie as a gift — so I did, — Olya said, making it clear to her husband that the matter was closed.
In the morning, as Olya was getting Sveta ready for daycare, she asked Kirill to go to the store and buy some paints, an album, and clay for their daughter.
— Can you do that? — she asked just in case.
— Sure, I’ll go, — Kirill replied.
He even asked which specific clay and paint set was needed. However, when he came home in the evening, Olya didn’t see the purchases on the table.
— Did you buy them? — she asked, changing Sveta.
— Yes, — Kirill’s voice came from the kitchen.
— I don’t see them. Where did you put them? — Olya went into the hallway just in case. But the paints, album, and clay weren’t there.
— Where are they? Did you buy them?
— Yes, I bought them! — Kirill’s displeased voice was heard.
— Where are they?
— I gave them to Angela, — he said calmly.
— Wait, wait! — Olya walked into the kitchen and looked at her husband in surprise. — I asked you to buy them for Sveta, not for Yulia! And now I’m asking you where the paints, album, and clay are for my daughter!
This question seemed to leave her husband speechless. He thought for a couple of seconds, then answered again in the same tone:
— I bought them, Angela said she didn’t have any paints.
— Idiot, — Olya said quietly.
— Mom, mom, mom! — the little girl ran into the kitchen. — Where’s the clay?
— I’ll buy it tomorrow and bring it to daycare, okay? — Sveta nodded happily and ran back to her room.
— I… — Kirill hesitated, realizing his stupid mistake. — I bought the boots, you asked me to.
— For Sveta? — Olya asked just to be sure.
— Yeah, they’re in the bag.
Olya went to the hallway, found the bag, and pulled out a pair of bright yellow children’s boots. These were the ones they had picked out last time, but they didn’t have enough money then, so they had set them aside for a couple of days.
— Thank you! — Olya went up to her husband and kissed him on the cheek, though she was still upset with him for giving away the stationery he was supposed to buy for Sveta.
Later that weekend, Olya’s mother-in-law, Yulia Grigoryevna, came to visit. She loved her granddaughter, but she rarely spoiled her. Olya didn’t mind this, since she had the money and could afford everything her daughter needed.
— Kirill told me you’re going shopping for kids’ clothes tomorrow, — Yulia Grigoryevna asked her daughter-in-law.
Every three months, Olya and her daughter went to buy everything they needed. Olya made a long list, including everything from socks and hair elastics to jackets.
— Yes, — Olya immediately replied.
— Take Angela with you, she also wants to buy some things, — her mother-in-law suggested.
— Okay, — Olya responded readily.
The next day, the four of them — two mothers and two daughters — went to the children’s store. It was heaven for the kids! They ran around looking at toys while Olya spent almost an hour picking out clothes. Finally, with everything in the cart, they went to the checkout. Angela stood at the front.
— Do you have a discount card? — she asked her daughter-in-law.
Without hesitation, Olya took out her card and handed it to her sister-in-law, who returned it to her a couple of seconds later.
However, when Olya went to pay, she discovered that her discount card was empty.
— Did you use up all my bonuses? — Olya asked, upset.
— But you gave it to me! — Angela answered innocently.
— I thought it was for the discount, not for you to take all my money! — Olya was upset. The bonuses were like money to her, and she had counted on them. Now, standing at the checkout, she was calculating that her purchases would cost at least five thousand rubles more.
Angela didn’t even apologize, just sniffed as if it was her daughter-in-law’s fault. She packed her things in a bag and stepped aside.
There was no point in getting angry. Olya paid for the items and then, as promised to her daughter, they went to a café with a playroom. Sveta loved jumping on the little trampoline and sliding down the slides.
They came here often: Olya sat and drank coffee with her husband, while her daughter played. While Sveta was jumping in the ball pit, Olya went to the counter to buy something tasty. Her daughter must be hungry by now.
— Please, get me something, — Angela approached her sister-in-law. — I’ve spent everything.
“What’s going on now!” Olya muttered to herself, but she realized it would look silly if Sveta ate something while Angela looked on. So, she bought something for her sister-in-law too.
In the evening, when Olya returned home, she told Kirill with a disappointed expression that Angela had used up all the bonuses without asking her permission and that she had to activate the credit card to pay for Angela’s café expenses.
— Thanks, — Kirill replied nonchalantly.
Olya was surprised by his response, but didn’t dwell on it.
— Mom, — her daughter came up to her. — I can’t find the gnome book.
— Check the second shelf, — Olya said. — I think I saw it there.
The little girl ran off but returned a minute later and shrugged.
Sighing deeply because she was tired, Olya entered the children’s room, sat in front of the bookshelves, and groaned.
— Kirill! — she called her husband loudly.
He immediately came up to her.
— What’s the matter?
— Where are the books? — Olya asked, pointing at the small pile of books. — There must have been fifty or more, and now…
— She doesn’t use them anymore, she’s grown up.
— Where are the books? — his wife asked again.
— I gave them away.
Olya slapped her hand on the floor in frustration.
— Do you understand what you’ve done? — she tried to speak calmly, but was already getting angry. — These books were bought by my parents, and they cost a lot of money! How could you give away someone else’s things?!
— What do you mean “someone else’s”? — Kirill didn’t understand her question.
— Someone else’s, because those books, you could say, belong to my parents. And without even consulting me, without asking our daughter… No, no! — here his wife turned to Kirill. — You stole them from our daughter!
— What nonsense! — Kirill grumbled and, without answering his wife, left the room.
— Stop taking everything from the house! — this time, Olya said it angrily.
Once a month, Olya spoiled her daughter: they went to the entertainment center where there was a big pool, slides, dance floors, and a lot of other fun things, not to mention the treats she bought for Sveta. However, this morning, before Olya was about to go with her daughter to visit, her sister-in-law Angela came with Yulia.
— I’m coming with you! — Angela declared outright.
Olya looked questioningly at her husband. She had only told him that she was going to relax with Sveta today, meaning he must have spilled the beans. But she definitely didn’t want to take her sister-in-law with her, as last time she came, they were about to go to the circus, and, of course, Olya ended up paying for the tickets and all the activities.
— No, we’re going to my mom’s! — Olya firmly said.
Her sister-in-law got upset, of course, and Sveta too. But Olya grabbed the purse she had already prepared, took her daughter, and they left, leaving Angela and Yulia with her brother.
That evening, when they returned, Sveta probably spent half an hour running around the house, telling her dad how she dived and then learned how to swim.
— You lied! — Kirill said angrily. — You lied to Angela, saying you weren’t going, but you went to the entertainment center!
— Yes, I went! — Olya replied as if nothing had happened. — I’m not going to pay for your sister’s entrance ticket and everything else.
That evening, Kirill was very upset, as if it were him who wasn’t invited to the entertainment. “Well, whatever,” Olya thought to herself, at least we had a great time.
The next day, Olya came home a little earlier. It was still early to pick up her daughter from daycare, so she thought she’d have time to make dinner. But as soon as she stepped inside, she immediately saw her mother-in-law’s shoes. She had keys: when they went on vacation, Yulia Grigoryevna used to come to water the plants. Listening closely, Olya determined that her mother-in-law was in the children’s room.
— Hello, — Olya greeted, walking into her daughter’s room. — What are you doing here?
The woman was sitting in front of the wardrobe and was rummaging through something.
Olya immediately had a bad feeling.
— Don’t touch anything, this is my daughter’s! — she said challengingly.
— She doesn’t need it anymore, — Yulia Grigoryevna replied rudely.
— Put it back! — Olya demanded firmly.
However, Yulia Grigoryevna looked coldly at her daughter-in-law, slammed the wardrobe shut, and put what she was holding in a bag.
— You won’t get any poorer! — she threw out as she left.
Olya was stunned by such audacity. She couldn’t find the right words — it felt like she didn’t want to argue, but at the same time, the most terrible words were swirling in her head. Her mother-in-law got dressed and, without even saying goodbye, left.
— Can you imagine what happened today? — Olya crossed her arms over her chest and looked at her husband with outrage. — Your mother came and rummaged through my daughter’s things! I told her not to touch anything, but she stole her things!
She used the word “stole” with emphasis so her husband understood what she meant.
— My mom can’t steal! — Kirill defended her.
— Those things were bought by my parents, not your mom, — Olya retorted. — I wanted to give them to Vika, but I had no intention of giving them to Angela. So whether you like it or not, this is called stealing!
— No! — Kirill shouted. His shout made Sveta run out of the children’s room, look at her dad, then run back to her room.
— She stole! — Olya repeated again, looking at her husband. — I demand, I insist: don’t take anything from my daughter again!
Surely, this was the first time Olya had gotten so angry with her mother-in-law. She hadn’t expected such audacity from her.
Spring came quickly. There were still snowdrifts, but in some places, puddles and little streams had already appeared. As usual, on the weekend, her sister-in-law came to visit Olya with her daughter. Sveta was happy to see the guests, took Yulia by the hand, and was already about to lead her to her room when she turned to her mother:
— Look, I’ve got boots! — and pointed at the little girl’s shoes.
Olya immediately had a suspicion. She opened the wardrobe in the hallway and crouched down; that’s where the children’s shoes were kept, but among them, the yellow boots Kirill had bought for his daughter were missing.
— Kirill! — she called her husband.
He appeared quite quickly.
— What now? — he asked discontentedly, tearing himself away from the TV.
— Where are your daughter’s boots? — Olya asked, pointing at the empty spot on the shelf.
Angela and Yulia had already left the hallway, so they didn’t see Kirill’s embarrassed look.
— I gave them away, — he said.
— You’re an idiot! — Olya very rarely swore, but lately, she had begun to doubt her husband’s sanity. — You gave away the boots you bought for your daughter, I assume?
— I bought them, and I don’t mind giving them away, — he said, unhappy that he was being scolded.
— You’re not a father! — Olya snapped sharply. — A father doesn’t do this!
She was very upset. Yes, she could have gone to buy those boots, but now her daughter would ask why her boots were on Yulia’s feet. What could she say? She didn’t know.
Half an hour later, her mother-in-law arrived.
“Just what I needed,” Olya grumbled to herself but smiled at Yulia Grigoryevna and invited her to the kitchen. After the woman had some tea, she turned to her daughter-in-law:
— Where’s Sveta’s green jacket?
— Why do you need it? — Olya asked, already suspecting what the answer would be.
— My granddaughter’s already grown out of it, I’ll give it to Yulia, — Yulia Grigoryevna said.
— You’ll give it to Yulia? — Olya’s anger flared again. — No, I won’t give it, — she replied firmly.
But Kirill decided to show who was in charge of the house. He didn’t talk to his wife, quickly went to the children’s room where the girls were playing, opened the wardrobe, found the jacket, and then went to his mother and handed it to her.
— So that’s how it is, — his wife said coldly.
Sveta noticed that her dad had given the jacket to her grandmother. She immediately started crying and ran to her mom.
— Don’t worry, — Olya tried to comfort her. — It’s already too small for you, right? — and Sveta agreed with her mom.
That evening, when Sveta had already gone to bed, Olya turned to her husband:
— I didn’t expect such piggish behavior from you! Don’t you think you’ve lost your way? Your family is here, not there, — and she pointed at the front door.
— Angela needs it…
— Shut up! — his wife answered irritably. — She has a husband. I’m not going to support your niece.
— But I only have one sister…
— Disgusting, vile, humiliating, — Olya looked coldly at her husband. — You’ve promised so many times not to do this, and here you are again! — After a pause, she added: — Vile.
Realizing that her husband had developed some kind of syndrome of taking things from her daughter, Olya decided to sort through the clothes while Kirill wasn’t home. After packing them in a bag, she took them to her sister. And, of course, this did not escape her husband’s attention.
— What did you do with them? — Kirill asked when he found out.
— Silence, — that was all the wife said to her husband.
However, it seemed that this only made Kirill angry. The next day, when Olya returned from daycare with Sveta, she discovered that many of Sveta’s things were gone.
— Where? — she almost yelled, asking her husband.
— You girls are always getting more things! Why do you need five pairs of sneakers? Seven pairs of pants and ten sweaters — you could clothe the entire daycare! You should be more modest! — Kirill spat out as he said these words.
— So you gave them away? — Olya asked angrily.
— Yes! — Kirill barked like a dog.
— Another act like this, — Olya pointed at the door to the children’s room, — and we’re done.
Kirill took the threat in his own way. Of course, he reported this to his mother, and the next day, his mother-in-law came running to Olya, unhappy.
— What kind of blackmail is this? — Yulia Grigoryevna asked.
— None of your business, — Olya answered coldly, — I’ll deal with my husband myself.
Her mother-in-law started saying something, but Olya interrupted her:
— If you take one more thing from my daughter, you won’t step foot in my house again.
This threat was something her mother-in-law had not expected from her daughter-in-law. She pursed her lips and, unhappy, left the house.
A couple of weeks later, Sveta turned six. Olya invited her sister, along with her daughter, and also Angela and Yulia to celebrate. Of course, her mother-in-law came too. Olya couldn’t help but notice that Angela was wearing a blouse that was exactly like hers. Olya went into her bedroom, opened the wardrobe, and, not finding it, called her husband to her.
— Here! — she grabbed the hanger with her blouse, which was now mysteriously on Angela. — Explain this to me, my husband! — she smirked on the last word.
— I thought you didn’t need it, — Kirill responded with an idiot’s grin.
— What else have you stolen? — now she wasn’t afraid to call her husband a thief.
— How dare you accuse my son?! — Yulia Grigoryevna shouted.
— I didn’t ask you, — Olya replied coldly.
Kirill’s face turned red, not sure if it was from being called a thief or because his mother was told to keep quiet. Hearing what was going on in the bedroom, Vika decided to take the kids to the children’s room.
— You’re rich, so spoiled! — Yulia Grigoryevna screamed.
— I didn’t want to say this, — Yulia spoke as calmly as possible. — But it looks like I have to. You, — she pointed her finger at her mother-in-law’s chest, — stole my daughter’s things!
Upon hearing this, Yulia Grigoryevna exploded. She screamed, and her face turned as red as a ripe tomato.
— Be quiet! — Olya said firmly, then turned to her sister-in-law. — You stole my things, my blouse.
— My brother gave it to me! — Angela answered. — He said you didn’t need it…
— Shut up, — Olya coldly looked at her. — You knew Kirill was always taking my daughter’s things without asking, but you kept quiet, pretending to be poor, even though you have a husband! I see you wearing expensive clothes. And you even bought yourself a new phone, but you keep whining about being poor and unhappy.
Kirill defended her, but when Olya looked at him, he immediately fell silent. His wife’s gaze was cold.
— And you’re a thief, just a plain thief! Where is the microwave?
— You never use it! — Kirill mumbled.
— Thief! — Olya said again. — My father gave it to me! You had no right to touch it. Thief! Get out of my apartment! — that’s all the housekeeper wanted to say.
— This is my son’s house too! — Yulia Grigoryevna protested.
— The house, — the daughter-in-law smirked, — no, this is my house. Your son doesn’t have a house. Get out, — she turned to her sister-in-law and repeated coldly, — leave. — Then she turned to her husband and added, — and you get lost.
— Stop the hysteria! — Kirill walked up to his wife, but she pushed him away.
— A man who steals from his daughter cannot be called a father! Get out!
Her mother-in-law laughed hysterically, then said:
— Let’s go, let her cool down.
Angela, holding her daughter’s hand, went to get dressed. Kirill, with his head held high as if he had won this battle, got dressed too. Her mother-in-law screamed for a while, throwing all the nastiest words she could think of at her daughter-in-law. But even she had to leave the house.
As soon as the door closed, her sister came out of the children’s room.
— Wow, you dealt with them! — she thought, feathers were about to fly. Vika looked at Olya with admiration.
Sveta came out of the living room. She was upset that her friend Yulia had left.
— You know what? — Olya crouched down in front of her daughter. — How about we go to our entertainment center tomorrow?
— To the pool? — Sveta immediately asked.
— To the pool, — Mom confirmed.
Hearing this suggestion, Nadya — Vika’s daughter — squealed with excitement.
The next morning, Olya called the locksmith, and half an hour later, she had new keys in her hands. Ignoring Kirill and her mother-in-law’s calls, they went out for the whole day.
In the evening, as they were approaching the entrance, Olya saw her husband.
— Where have you been? — he asked in a displeased voice.
— We were relaxing, swimming, jumping, and eating all kinds of treats, — Olya replied cheerfully.
— Why didn’t you invite Angela?
Olya was surprised by her husband: it seemed like he had forgotten everything — she had told him the day before.
— I don’t know anything about that, — she replied with a smile, and as she reached the entrance, she added: — Tomorrow, I’ll file for divorce.
Sveta had already started climbing the steps.
— There’s no home for you here! — realizing that Kirill wanted to follow her, Olya stopped him. — I’ll say it again: you have no home here.
From upstairs, Sveta’s voice came:
— Mom, catch up!
The woman turned away from her husband, adjusted her bag strap, and quickly hurried to catch up with her daughter. The little girl laughed and began telling her mom how she swam and what she would do that evening.
— Shall we draw? — Sveta asked.
— Definitely! — her mom replied, and taking her hand, she quickened her pace.
