“Sveta, I’ll be late tonight. Go to bed without me,” — that’s the message Svetlana got from her husband, and her heart ached even more.
Pyotr had his own car repair shop; it was his life’s work. Sometimes, if a job was interesting, he’d get under the hood himself and could spend days working on a repair. Svetlana thought that tonight he must have stayed there again, tinkering with some engine. She was already used to it.
But it was only nine in the evening; she wasn’t sleepy at all. It was Friday night, which meant the weekend lay ahead. She knocked on her daughter’s door:
“Marusya! Manka!”
The girl sat with headphones on and didn’t hear her mother. Svetlana walked over and waved a hand in front of her face.
“Marusya!”
She lifted one earphone.
“What is it, Mom?”
“Want to go for a walk? We could go to a café and grab a burger.”
“What’s with you, Mom? Did Petya get stuck at work again?”
Svetlana nodded, trying to hide her anxiety.
“Alright, let’s go! I’ll get ready — five minutes!”
Pyotr wasn’t Masha’s biological father; for Svetlana, this was her second marriage. The first hadn’t lasted even two years. She met Petya when her daughter was five, and they’d been together for eight years now. The only thing that truly upset Svetlana was that she hadn’t been able to get pregnant. They had tried, but nothing worked. She wanted a child with her husband so badly.
Pyotr treated Masha very well, loved her as his own, but Svetlana felt that any man would want his own child. A fear had settled in her soul that sooner or later her husband might leave her to have what he had every right to.
That’s why on evenings like this, when her husband was stuck at work, Svetlana felt incredibly lonely. And today she felt especially sad.
She was forty, and it seemed her body was beginning to fade; it felt like she was losing the chance to be a complete woman forever.
“Too soon, of course, but maybe that’s fate…” Svetlana sighed, noting yet another cycle glitch in the app on her phone. Today’s message from Petya had completely thrown her off balance.
Masha quickly changed and came into the hallway.
“Alright! Let’s go?”
“Let’s.”
While they waited for their order, Svetlana nervously twisted a paper napkin in her hands.
“Mom, come on! He’s always hanging out with his cars…”
Svetlana even blushed. She hadn’t expected her daughter to comfort her so openly.
“Sweetie… I just don’t like being alone, that’s all!”
Masha sipped her lemonade and shook her head.
“Well, you’re not really alone. I’m sitting here next to you!”
“And I’m very grateful for your company!” Svetlana smiled.
The waiter came and brought their food. But as the young man was about to walk away, Masha stopped him.
“Could we get another burger to go? And some fries with it?”
“Of course, I’ll bring it when it’s ready.”
Svetlana looked at her daughter questioningly.
“We’ll take it to Petya at the shop. You’ll calm down, and you’ll see there’s no one there but wrenches and screwdrivers!” Masha was very pleased with her idea.
“Alright, sunshine. Thank you!”
For the rest of dinner they chatted and laughed. Svetlana let go of her worries and, for half an hour, managed to just be a cheerful, cool mom.
Then they got into a taxi and headed to Pyotr’s garage. The closer they got to the neighborhood where his workshop was, the more uneasy Svetlana felt. Her daughter was texting a friend and couldn’t see how her mother’s hands were trembling.
“We’re here. Paying by card?” the driver asked.
Svetlana nodded and held out her phone to the terminal. For the first time during the ride, Masha looked up at her mom. She was pale. Masha nudged her with her elbow.
“Come on! Let’s surprise him! It’ll be fun.”
The woman nodded. She really hoped their visit would please her husband.
When they approached the repair shop, they saw light inside. Masha grabbed her mother’s hand and pulled her in. They entered without knocking. The girl lifted the bag with the burger and shouted loudly:
“Surprise!”
Everything happened quickly after that. Svetlana immediately saw her husband hugging a woman. He turned at Masha’s shout and didn’t immediately understand what was happening, so he didn’t let go and kept holding the stranger. The woman, about thirty, raised her tear-streaked face to look at Masha and Svetlana.
It was clear she’d been crying. She started gulping air, as if she wanted to say something, but another wave of sobs swept over her. She dropped her head into her hands and kept crying.
Svetlana stared at her husband in confusion, then slowly stepped back. As she turned her head so as not to bump into the door, she noticed a boy, about five, sitting in a small leather chair.
The boy was playing on a phone and looked up in surprise at the intruders who had disturbed their calm.
Svetlana couldn’t hold it together any longer; she ran outside. Masha, still too young to react as quickly, nevertheless understood she had to follow her mother. She handed the bag of food to the boy.
“Here… enjoy your meal…”
Then she looked at her stepfather, who still couldn’t get a word out.
“Petya… we’ll go,” Masha stammered, then ran after her mom.
Finally, Pyotr realized what had just happened. He rushed to catch up with his wife.
“Sveta! Sveta! Wait!”
He ran out of the garage, seeing Masha trying to comfort her mother.
“Sveta! Don’t go! Please wait!”
She turned toward her husband, emotions raging inside her. All the fears, the pain, the suspicions, the resentment for herself and for the fact that her husband had a secret — it all surged over her. Pyotr stepped closer and tried to touch her hand, but Svetlana pulled it away.
“Don’t touch me! Don’t you dare! Do you hear me? Just not today! Not now!” She was shaking.
“You’ve got it all wrong! Honestly! I swear to you!”
Svetlana shot him a look full of hurt and disappointment.
“I swear, it’s a very important job… nothing more… Please, believe me…”
Svetlana shook her head.
“Then stop and come home with me and Masha. Right now. Do you hear? Come home with us.”
Pyotr stepped up and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“I can’t. I’ll come in the morning, I swear. I need to finish this.”
Svetlana tore herself free and walked away. Masha hurried after her mother. Pyotr was breathing heavily, watching them go, but he couldn’t run after them. He had to stay.
Masha heard the front door open early in the morning. She slipped out of bed and tiptoed into the living room. Pyotr was pale and barely standing. He saw his stepdaughter and smiled.
“Hi, Mash… How are you two?”
Masha looked at her stepfather, trying to decide how to act around him. She liked him; in many ways, he’d replaced her father. And she knew he couldn’t lie — Pyotr was pathologically honest. But last night, when they came home, she’d had to comfort her mother, give her a sedative, wait until she fell asleep. And now Masha needed, at least for a while, to stay on her mom’s side.
“Bad, of course! What did you expect?!”
Pyotr could see from the girl’s eyes that she didn’t want to keep up this act, so he went straight to the point.
“I didn’t cheat on your mom. It’s not at all what it looked like. I can tell you everything, if you want… But I think your mom and I need to talk it through ourselves.”
Masha believed him and gave in almost immediately.
“Alright… Want me to make you some coffee? You look awful…”
Pyotr shook his head.
“I’ll pass. I’ll just take a quick shower… then we’ll see.”
Svetlana woke up an hour and a half later. She found her husband dozing on the couch in the living room. She cleared her throat to wake him.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Sveta…”
Pyotr jumped to his feet.
“Let’s talk right away,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “Please.”
Svetlana sat next to him. Pyotr reached for his jacket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper, handing it to his wife.
“What’s this, Petya? Why?”
“Read it… please.”
Svetlana unfolded the paper; her eyes darted across the lines. Then she looked up at Pyotr.
“Petya, I don’t understand at all how this relates to what happened… Really. Can you explain in your own words?”
Pyotr sighed heavily, then nodded.
“Alright. It’s a letter from my mother’s uncle. He’s asking me for help. The girl you saw last night — she’s his granddaughter.”
Svetlana listened, still unable to make sense of what was happening.
“And you had to help her in the middle of the night, right?”
“Yes!” Pyotr jumped up and began pacing. “Sveta, I’ve told you about my childhood a thousand times, haven’t I?”
Svetlana nodded.
“You know my father drank, then beat me and my mom? You know that! And Grandpa Kolya was the only person who protected us… I always told him he could ask me for help anytime. And that moment came…”
“I still don’t understand what that has to do with what I saw yesterday…”
Pyotr sat down opposite his wife and took her hands.
“Sasha got into trouble. Her husband turned out to be a scoundrel. He abused her and their son. Things got so bad she decided to run… but she had no money, no way to do it. All they had was Uncle Kolya’s old car. The uncle is seriously ill, and this was all he could offer. He wrote me a letter asking for help, and I agreed to fix the car so Sasha and her boy could leave and at least stop worrying about that. And… I gave Sasha some money. But don’t worry, it won’t affect our budget.”
Pyotr swallowed hard. Svetlana was crying; she couldn’t look at her husband.
“Sasha’s husband was away on a three-day business trip. This was the only chance to get everything done quickly. I didn’t sleep all night — I completely overhauled the car. In the morning, they left. I know I should’ve told you right away, but last night I didn’t have the strength! I just had to keep working, not stop, not look around. And I made it… Now they’re safe. She took the boy with her… Do you understand? Come on, Sveta!”
Svetlana covered her face with her hands and began to sob.
“I know what you must have thought. I know. But it’s not like that… I swear! Please don’t cry! I’m begging you, Sveta.”
He hugged his wife, trying to calm her.
“Why didn’t she go to the police?”
“Because he has connections. And also because, by the time they’d have sorted everything out, he would have killed them. That’s all. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about. People like that brute don’t see any limits. In a rage, they do things you can hardly imagine.
And you don’t need to think about it. It’s all behind us now. From a distance they’ll be able to resolve it, but Sasha and her son will be safe.”
“You’re good… you’re so good…” Svetlana said through tears.
Pyotr hugged her.
“You’re the best person I know.”
Suddenly she froze and raised her tearful eyes to her husband.
“And I’m so glad…”
Pyotr looked at her, not understanding what was happening.
“And I’m glad that my children will have you by their side…”
“Children? Not just Masha? Children?” He stared at his wife in surprise.
Svetlana nodded and burst into tears again. Pyotr scooped her up in his arms and began spinning her around the room. Suddenly Masha peeked out of her bedroom.
“Spin her, spin her! She’s going to throw up on you… Morning sickness is no joke!”
Pyotr and Svetlana looked at Masha and smiled. She stuck out her tongue at them and went back to her room.
“I was so afraid it wasn’t true, but then I took a test last night. I was terrified you might never come back to us…
And honestly, I was so scared that all those awful thoughts about a mistress and an illegitimate son were real. But I’m glad it’s not like that. I’m glad we’re going to have a normal family.”
Pyotr kissed his wife and started spinning her around the room again.
