Mia drove to her parents’ house, believing that all was now well. She didn’t care what the neighbors said. After all, this was her life.
The bad things must end. She was sure of that. After all, black is always followed by white.
And black had unfortunately already happened. Her beloved mother died a few months ago. No one had even supported her in her time of need. But she has someone to live for. The baby is due in six months. So she needs to be strong.
Here’s the house. Mia always has the key with her. Her father built the house himself, all the comforts of home, even a large bathtub. He tried for his city wife. Mia’s mother was from the city, but she loved the countryside. She stayed here after her husband died.
It’s weird, it’s not even locked. Thieves? Mia went in quietly, looking around and checking every corner. It was quiet, but there was a peculiar stench, and it was very dirty. It was the way her stepfather smelled sometimes. But his mother had kicked him out before she died. He started to drink a lot.
It’s a good thing there’s no one around.
Mia put her suitcase in her room, where it wasn’t so dirty, and started to clean.
Where to begin. When she left after the funeral everything was in order. Which is exactly what was going on here. Piles of dirty dishes with dried-on food scraps, bottles.
I’ll have to check the bathhouse.
The water was hot. Mia put all the dishes in a big basin and soaked. She found a big bag and raked all the bottles and other dirt into it. Took off all the curtains, they were filthy, as if her hands had been wiped on them, all the laundry. Put in the laundry. Threw everything else in the tub.
Suddenly there were footsteps and voices. Mia listened, it was her stepfather’s voice. And he had never been her stepfather. Her mother began living with him when her daughter left to study, which was only two years.
The stepfather was not alone, it was the neighbor, the first drunkard in their village.
-Oh, Mia. How you’ve cleaned us up. And you didn’t mop the floor well. Rinse it. Did you come to live here? We don’t need you here.
-That’s it. Turn around and leave. Give me the key and get out.
-This is my house.
Neighbor tried to put some sense into the conversation, but she was too drunk. Then she waved her hand and fell down. The stepfather started to pick her up and fell too, breaking the bottles in the bag in the process. They started arguing.
Mia opened the door to the street and pushed them out. She locked the door with a deadbolt, good thing her father made one. Now she could continue cleaning in peace. Her stepfather never gave her the key. Maybe he had lost it, or maybe it was still at home, she would have to look for it.
Mia decided to pack the rest of her stepfather’s things into a bag. There wasn’t much. A jacket, boots, a few dirty shirts. The key fell out of the boot. Very good. Now all the keys were in place.
Finally, everything was as shiny as it used to be when Mama was here. And there was no more of that stench. A fresh breeze was blowing through the windows. Mia dozed off from exhaustion.
She was awakened by a persistent knock on the door. Her stepfather must be back, she thought.
She took the bag with his things, opened the door, and threw the bag into the hands of the man who came in.
-This is all your stuff. Don’t come back here again.
But it wasn’t him. The stepfather and his neighbor stood aside. It was their new precinct officer, Mia didn’t know him. He didn’t know her either.
-There was a signal. Show me your papers, young lady.
-You show yours first, maybe these guys hired you.
-Maybe we should go inside. I’m on a call.
– All right, come on in, but don’t let them in.
Mia wasn’t afraid of anything anymore. Anything bad that could happen had already happened. And this was nothing.
The policeman, he checked the papers. Everything was in order. Even the house was owned by a woman. Her father and mother had registered it in her daughter’s name right after it was built.
-They said you broke in, kicked them out, and beat them up. And the house isn’t yours. False alarm.
-How about some tea?
-What about these?
-Will wait. If not, they’ll leave. But you can’t even call it a house.
-You’ve only just arrived and you know everyone.
-I grew up here. Everybody knows me, I know everybody. It’s a good thing I’m here, or they’d have torn the house apart. I guess they weren’t expecting me. But the circumstances were such. This is where I’m going to live now. I’ll go to work on Monday, if I’m hired. In the meantime, I’ve got to clean up the sauna and the house. They’re making a mess here.
-If there’s anything you need.
-You too. I know everything about everyone. I’ll tell you if you need me. But it’s always quiet here. Well, the neighbor sometimes makes a fuss.
-Don’t worry, they won’t come back.
-I’m not afraid. This is my house. He’s nobody here.
The stepfather didn’t show his face again. He didn’t even go near the house. But twice the neighbor came looking for him. He must have gone away.
A policeman began dropping in occasionally for tea or to inquire about someone. That was how they began to communicate.
Mia worked in the library at the House of Culture. In her position there was no choice. But it’s peaceful.
Jacob noticed her rounded belly, but didn’t show it. He just started helping her more, helping her carry a heavy bag or something else. In autumn he helped her dig potatoes, Mia was no longer able to bend over.
-Maybe I should stay with you, just in case?
-Thank you. But I don’t feel comfortable, even though I’m scared.
-All right. Then I’ll stay.
-Thank you. You do so much for me.
– Not like the father-to-be?
-Yes. But he’ll never be. I didn’t tell him anything, I didn’t have time. Or rather, we broke up, and then I found out that I’m expecting a child. But we don’t need a traitor. We’ll manage on our own. And I don’t have a girlfriend either. They’re probably together now.
-And maybe I’ll be a father. I’m so used to you, you’re so good and beautiful and strong. God, what am I saying? That’s probably not the way to do it.
Jacob, something else said and said. Mia laughed.
-I don’t know how to talk. In short. Let’s get married.
-Okay. I’ll think about it. I’ll tell you in the morning.
In the morning Mia was already in the hospital, a little girl was born.
Jacob greeted them from the hospital with a large bouquet of flowers and a small box containing an engagement ring.
-Daddy, welcome the baby.
Jacob took the bundle in his arms with a big pink bow.
-Well, girls, do you agree to my proposal?
-Yes, we do.
All bad things are over, because they don’t last forever. Jacob immediately became a husband and a father.
And the daughter never found out Jacob wasn’t her real father.
