“What a terrible wife your son has!” my neighbor whispered to me. But then something happened that made her shut up forever…
When I returned from Sochi, where I visited my son for their modest wedding ceremony, my heart sang. Not from the luxurious banquets or noisy fun, but from what I saw – Kolya is happy, and his Olga is a kind, sincere, bright girl. They signed without pomp, in a family way, celebrated at home. For them, feelings were important, not show-offs.
I came back to our village near Ryazan, where your every step is in plain sight. Before I had time to put the kettle on, my neighbor appeared on the threshold – Arina Petrovna, the same one who always sticks her nose into other people’s business.
– Well, how was the wedding? Did you see the bride’s dress? Did you have a lot of guests?
– No, there was no wedding. Just a wedding and a small dinner.
– What, you’re stingy with the money? My Vadik partied at the Golden Apple – for three hundred people!
I kept quiet. Her Vadik was already on his fourth marriage, and she still bragged about that lavish wedding, which she didn’t even attend. And her son visits her once every five years.
– But mine has real love. Without show-off, but from the heart.
– Who is your daughter-in-law? Does she at least work?
– A nurse. We met Kolya on the ship – he’s in my naval school.
– Well, well… He’ll leave her anyway. She’s not a match for him.
My insides sank at these words. I didn’t argue, I just closed the door. Since then, we hardly spoke.
Six months passed. Kolya’s contract ended, and he and Olga moved in with me. I was glad that the family was together. Olga got a job at the local hospital, Kolya at the workshop. They lived in perfect harmony, and were fixing up the house.
But Arina Petrovna wouldn’t calm down. She kept coming in with “good” advice:
– What a monster your son has found for himself! A scar across his cheek – a beauty! Your boyfriend is great, and next to him is this…
– This is his love! – I snapped. – And, by the way, he’s a golden man!
Olga’s scar was indeed noticeable, but her soul was so radiant that soon the whole village felt it. A nurse from God – whether on call at night or in bad weather – will always help.
And then a miracle happened.
Late in the evening, an old barn near the hospital caught fire. People came running, each with what they could. Suddenly a cry:
– There’s a child in there! The girl was left behind!
Olga, without thinking, rushed into the flames. A moment later, she ran out with five-year-old Nastya in her arms, and the roof collapsed behind her. She saved her literally at the last moment.
That night, even Arina Petrovna went quiet.
Olga kept watch by Nastya’s bed until the morning. The girl had inhaled smoke, but was alive. Her parents, through tears, thanked her:
— You saved the most precious thing…
— You saved me once, too, — Olga said quietly. — In the nineties, in Chechnya. Our house was bombed. I was seven. A Russian soldier carried me out. He died himself, and gave me his pectoral cross. I always wear it.
She took off the cross. Nastya’s grandfather, Nikolai Semyonovich, suddenly turned pale:
— This… is my cross. I gave it to my son. He was lost in the war…
Tears streamed down his face. For thirty years he did not know how his son died. But it turned out — saving a girl. And now this girl has saved his granddaughter…
“He’s yours,” he said to Olga. “You deserve him.”
A month later, we went to the soldier’s grave. Nikolai Semyonovich stood silently, clutching flowers in his hands. The tears were not from grief, but from gratitude to fate for revealing the truth to him.
And Arina Petrovna never dared to approach. She only looked from behind the fence.
The truth is that kindness and courage are more important than appearance. A scar can be a mark of a feat. And a son’s love is not a reason for neighborly gossip.
That’s the kind of “scary” daughter-in-law I have. The best thing that happened to our family.