Tanya, are you going? What should I do?” Marina, 14 years old, asks her older sister.
The girls had been friends all their lives, with the older one taking care of the younger like a constantly busy mother. Oksana combed Marina’s hair and washed her clothes.
She taught her how to manage a household and work in the garden. The parents placed all their responsibilities on their eldest daughter, and everyone agreed except Oksana herself. She completed her high school education and decided to rush to the city. The younger sister did not want her to go.
“Finish school, and I’ll settle there. You can come later. I’ll visit you during the holidays,” Oksana said. She managed to get into the household of the Faculty of Economics.
Still, she did not come; she was looking for a part-time job. Her own business, housework. Oksana even kept secrets from her sister. When she visited her parents in the summer, she brought her fiancé. Marina gasped like a fairy tale prince! The young couple prepared for the wedding.
“Vanya and I thought we would celebrate the wedding here. Prices are lower, and a restaurant in the city would be expensive,” Oksana told her parents.
“Why don’t the groom’s parents help you?” asked the mother.
“They don’t want their son to marry a villager. They wished him all the best.”
“Wow! What did they think of themselves?” Dad was outraged.
“It’s okay; we can handle it ourselves.”
Marina, who was already 18 years old, watched the wedding preparations, and her soul was torn. She fell in love with Oksana’s chosen one and couldn’t help it. How? What kind of curse of fate is this? The girl could not accept that Vanya had not chosen her.
Then the newlyweds left and had to solve housing problems. After some time, Marina overheard her mother talking to her sister, making it clear that she was pregnant. Everyone was happy. And Marina didn’t even know how to react. On the one hand, she should be happy for her sister and her happiness, on the other hand, the girl was deeply hurt.
Every time she visited her in-laws’ house, Vanya noticed that Oksana’s younger sister looked at him strangely. But she kept silent. The young man worked in production, became the head of the economic department, earned a lot of money, and spoiled his wife. But Oksana didn’t really need anything. The pregnancy went as expected. Therefore, it was a real surprise for her when bleeding started, and the doctors had to decide whom to save – the woman or the child.
Vanya rushed into the hallway when his mother-in-law arrived. Both prayed for Oksana and her child’s life. But when the doctor came out with a discouraged face, they suspected that sorrow had come.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t save the girl due to heavy bleeding.”
“And the baby?” Vanya asked, still not believing in reality.
“Your daughter is alive, but very weak. The delivery is premature. I can’t make any predictions.”
Oksana’s mother fainted. Vanya barely brought her back to consciousness.
Marina was shocked. Suddenly, her beloved sister, with whom she had communicated rarely lately, was gone. Vanya went crazy with grief; the girl survived and was named Amalia. That’s what Oksana wanted. They were all overwhelmed with unbearable grief. Marina nursed a newborn left without a mother. And the little girl cried incessantly.
Two months later, Marina was awakened by a scream – the voice of her mother sobbing over her lifeless husband’s body. What is this? After all, Dad was always in the best of health, such a cheerful guy! It’s just impossible. They held a funeral. Mom froze instantly. Nobody expected such a blow.
A few months later, Marina decided to visit her niece and son-in-law. When she arrived in the city, she found chaos in the apartment and a tired Ivan. His parents never forgave him for being disobedient and marrying a couple they believed did not suit him. Therefore, they refused to help him.
“Van, I don’t know if it’s practical, but maybe I can help at home and with Amalia? I still live in a dorm. Come on, can I move in here?”
“I’ll be very grateful because I can’t handle everything myself.”
Marina moved in and took over all the household chores; she and Vanya supported each other, managing to work and study. Sometimes they took walks with the child, and others mistook them for a couple.
A few years later, when Amalia was already in kindergarten, Ivan asked Marina why she was initially so cold to him, and the girl confessed that she had fallen in love with him at first sight. Don’t destroy your sister’s happiness.
“Marina, let’s get married? I got used to you a long time ago; we became close, and Amalia treats you like a mother.”
“I don’t even know… And what should we think? We still live together.”
Mother didn’t even know how to react to such news. How right is it at all? But since fate has decided, let the children live happily. They began preparations for the wedding.
