My husband left me. He took all our savings for his own place and ran away. I was left in a rented apartment with a six-month-old daughter in my arms. My mother-in-law found out about it and came to my apartment. I thought she was coming for a poke, but she commanded:
– “Pack up, you and your granddaughter are going to move in with me.
I tried to refuse – I was very uncomfortable. My mother-in-law and I had been fighting, with varying success, for several years. Neither of us had ever heard a kind word from the other. And then, upon learning of my plight, my husband’s mother was the only one who reached out to me. Even my own mother said there was no place for me in her house. My older sister was against it, she lives with her children at her mother’s house, and my mother has been dancing to her tune all her life.
– Thank you. I will be very grateful for your hospitality. – I muttered through sheer force.
That was the first time I said “thank you” to my mother-in-law from my heart.
– Oh, come on! It’s no stranger. – She waved me off and took her granddaughter from my arms. – Come on, beautiful. Let Mama get ready, and we won’t bother her. Will you go live with Grandma, sweetheart? Of course you are. Grandma will tell you stories, take you for walks, braid your pigtails…
Listening to my mother-in-law’s gentle cooing, I couldn’t believe my ears. She always said that I had fostered a child and that she wouldn’t go anywhere near my “brat. I packed up and we moved in with my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law cleared out the big room for us and moved herself into the small room. I clapped my eyes in surprise, and my mother-in-law told me:
– Well, what are you hatching? The baby needs space, he’s going to start crawling soon. I don’t need much room alone. Make yourselves comfortable. Dinner’s in an hour.
She offered me steamed vegetables and boiled meat for dinner, and she said:
– You’re a nursing mother. Of course, if you want, I can fry something. But dietary is better for the baby. It’s up to you.
There was a whole battery of jars of baby food in the fridge.
– It’s feeding time, don’t you think? If you’re not happy with the range, we’ll buy you something else. You say, do not be shy. – My mother-in-law smiled at me.
Then I couldn’t stand it, and cried. Her kind attitude was so unexpected that I was touched to the core. No one had ever cared about me and my daughter as much as this woman, whom I had always considered the main enemy in my life. She hugged me:
– “Hush, girl, hush. Men are such comrades, unreliable. I’m the one who raised your husband alone. His daddy left when his son was eight months old. I won’t let my granddaughter grow up like that. That’s it, I cried and that’s enough. Pull yourself together!
Through my tears I explained to my mother-in-law that I did not expect from her such kindness, and thanked her:
– Thank you, thank you very much. If it were not for you, I do not know where my daughter and I would have gone.
– I myself am to blame – I raised my son so irresponsibly. Here, I’ll correct what he did, as much as I can. Come on, wash your face and go to bed. We’ll sleep better in the morning.
Daughter’s one year old we celebrated together: me, my daughter and my mother-in-law – our favorite grandmother and guardian angel. We put the daughter to her afternoon nap, drinking tea and cake in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. My mother-in-law went to open it.
– Mammy, meet Monica. Monica, this is my mother. Mammy, can we stay with you for half a year? I can’t afford to rent any more, because I have no job.
Hearing my husband’s voice, I went pale. I was afraid that now my mother-in-law will let them in, and me and my daughter kicked out. Tears came to my eyes.
– Get out of here! And take your girl with you. You robbed my wife and baby and left her without a penny to live on, didn’t you think she’d live on? That’s what life has answered to you for her. Go on, go away, you rascals. And you, Monica, be careful. She might leave you penniless.
I was very wrong about my mother-in-law, and now I am ashamed of that ridiculous feud. My mother-in-law became not even my second mother, but my first. She and I lived under the same roof for six years until I got married. At my wedding, she took the place of honorary mother of the bride. My daughter goes to school and my youngest son will soon be born. My mother-in-law is very much looking forward to the birth of her grandson.
