— Artem, could you stay with Alyoshka?! — Lera, fastening her boots on the go, met her husband at the door. — They urgently called me to work. There’s some kind of emergency. — Lera, what are you doing?! I had other plans for today! — Artem protested at first, but Lera quickly shut down all his excuses. — He’s your son, and he’s more important than any of your plans. In the end, you can take him with you. — Well, you take him, — her husband muttered under his breath, but Lera heard. — Artem, stop being silly! You know we can’t have outsiders over. — Yeah, I know, I know, — Artem grumbled. — Go on, labor hero. Lera rushed to work. Artem entered the children’s room. His son was playing in his corner. — Dad’s home! — Alyoshka dropped his toys, got up, and ran to his father. — Are we going somewhere? — Where do you want to go? — the father lifted his son into his arms. — To the park for cars. And ice cream, — the son squinted slyly. — Oh, you little trickster! You know who to ask for ice cream, — Artem laughed. — And should we go somewhere else too? — Where? — Alyoshka, with his usual curiosity, was ready to go anywhere, but he looked at his father in surprise. — You’ll find out later, — Artem already regretted teasing the child. At four years old, Alyoshka was well-developed. He already knew his letters and could count to twenty. Lera enjoyed spending time teaching her son. But she had little free time. As a surgeon in the children’s ICU, she spent much of her time at work. She could be called in at any moment. This time, a critically ill patient had been brought in, and she had to leave urgently, leaving her son with her husband. ©Stella Chiari When she returned home, Lera found that her men were missing. — Hmm, they must’ve gone out, — she looked at the clock. It was already quite late: Alyoshka should’ve been in bed by now. As if hearing her, the front door quietly opened, and Artem entered, carrying the sleeping son. — Worn out, — he whispered, — ran around in the park. The father laid Alyoshka down on the bed. Lera quietly covered him with a blanket, leaned over to kiss her sleeping son, and noticed a faint scent of a woman’s perfume. — Where did you two go? — she asked casually as she left the children’s room. — Alyoshka’s out like a light. — He dragged me to the park. For cars and swings, — Artem behaved as usual, and Lera scolded herself for being suspicious. — Actually, this little rascal also convinced me to get him some ice cream, — Artem gave her a guilty look. — I told him you’d be mad, but you know how he is, hard to say no to him. — That’s true, — Lera laughed quietly, — wonder who he takes after? She flirtatiously shrugged her shoulders, and Artem understood her, grabbing her and carrying her to the bedroom. — Should we make another Alyoshka? Or a Masha? — he whispered in her ear. And then Lera smelled it again. — What’s that smell on you? — she looked at her husband closely, and her cheerful mood suddenly disappeared. — And it’s on the son too. — Ah… that?! It’s a car air freshener I bought. I liked it at first, but when it hung there, everything got soaked in it, couldn’t breathe. I threw it away, — Artem set Lera down. The romantic mood seemed to vanish instantly. — Sorry, — Lera mentally scolded herself. — It’s nothing, let’s go to bed. We need to get up early tomorrow, — Artem turned toward the wall. Lera had no choice but to sleep. In the morning, Artem left while everyone was still asleep. At the factory where he worked, major repairs were starting, and some bosses were staying overnight. Artem was no exception. Sometimes he would leave very early, sometimes return after midnight, disappearing for days at work. When both he and Lera stayed late, Alyoshka would be picked up by his mother-in-law. When Lera woke up, her son came to her bedroom and crawled under the blanket. — Who’s come here? A kitten? — she sleepily hugged her son. — Are you hungry? — Uh-huh, — Alyoshka was growing and always hungry. Other mothers with children his age envied his appetite. They couldn’t get their own kids to eat porridge or soup. — Well, let’s go! — Lera got up, washed her face, and went to make breakfast for her hungry child. — Aunt Sveta doesn’t have plates like these, — Alyoshka examined the little bears at the bottom. Lera flinched. — What Aunt Sveta? — her heart began to race. — We went to visit her after the park yesterday. Dad said she’s his acquaintance, — Alyoshka laid his head on his hands folded on the table and looked at his mother sadly. She felt like he wanted to say more but changed his mind. — And what did you do at Aunt Sveta’s? — Lera tried to stay calm, but her hands were trembling. — I played with Vitalik, and dad had tea in the kitchen. — And Vitalik is Aunt Sveta’s husband? — Lera asked hopefully. — What are you talking about, mom?! — Alyoshka laughed. — Vitalik is Aunt Sveta’s son. He’s still little. He’s two years old. The plate with the bears fell from Lera’s hands and shattered into pieces. — Stay seated, don’t get up, — she told her son. — I’ll clean it up. She swept up the shards, unable to believe that Artem was lying to her. And that it wasn’t a car air freshener. She could still tell the difference between it and women’s perfume. “If she’s just an acquaintance, why didn’t he tell me about her?” — Lera thought as she cooked syrniki. — “He didn’t even mention that they went somewhere to visit. If Alyoshka hadn’t said anything, I wouldn’t have known. So, these were his plans!” Her insides were boiling. “What should I do?” — she mentally went through her options but couldn’t settle on one. Alyoshka was devouring the syrniki, and it seemed like he had already forgotten about Aunt Sveta and Vitalik. Lera was relieved that it was Saturday, and she didn’t have to go to work. Where could she go in this state?! She’d make a mess of things. — But why did dad kiss Aunt Sveta and Vitalik when we came and when we left? — Apparently, this fact was still bothering Alyoshka. “This is what he wanted to say,” — Lera’s heart squeezed from the emotions and her son’s feelings. — It’s because your dad is very polite, — Lera forced herself to smile. This explanation satisfied Alyoshka, and after eating, he went to play in his room. Lera was frantically thinking: “This Aunt Sveta lives in the same city, and she has a son, Vitalik, who’s two years old. She’s probably on social media, in dad’s friends list,” — Lera opened her laptop. — “Maybe she doesn’t use her real name, but it’s worth trying.” She set the city, name, and approximate age as filters. Among Artem’s friends were many Svetlanas, Svetochkas, Svetiks. She scrolled through photos of these women but couldn’t imagine any of them with Artem. Suddenly, something caught her attention, some common acquaintances in the pictures… Lera stared at the photo of a pretty brunette and felt her heart racing again. She clicked on the woman’s profile and began looking at all her photos. Here’s a woman with a baby bump, here she is with a stroller, and in this photo, with a handsome little boy who looked very much like… Artem. — Do you know Aunt Sveta too? — Alyoshka came up quietly, and Lera jumped. — You went to her place, right? — Lera asked. — Uh-huh, and this is Vitalik, her son, — he pointed at the baby. — Do you remember where they live? Was it far from the park? — Lera seemed to have figured out what she would do. — No, not far. There’s a toy store in the building. Dad bought Vitalik a car. And I got bubbles. I asked for them myself. Want me to show you? — his eyes lit up. — Of course, I do! — Lera waited for her son to bring her his father’s gift and remembered where that troublesome toy store was. She thought she remembered. Alyoshka came back with the bubbles, and they blew and popped them together. It was hard for Lera to force herself to laugh, but for her son’s sake, she managed. Then she called her mother-in-law. To be continued in the first comment

– Artem, will you stay with Alyoshka? – Lera was fastening her boot on the go, meeting her husband at the door. – I was urgently called to work. They have some kind of emergency there.

– Lera, what are you doing?! I had other plans today! – Artem was indignant, but Lera quickly cut off all his excuses.

– This is your son, and he is more important than all your plans. In the end, you can take him with you.

“There you go,” the husband muttered under his breath, but Lera heard.

– Artyom, don’t be silly! You know that outsiders are not allowed here.

“I know, I know,” Artem muttered. “Go on, shock worker.”

Lera ran off to work. Artem entered the nursery. The son was playing in his corner.

– Dad’s here! – Alyoshka dropped his toys, stood up and ran to his father. – Are we going somewhere?

– Where do you want to go? – the father picked up his son in his arms.

– To the park for cars. And ice cream, – the son narrowed his eyes slyly.

– Oh, you sly one! You know who to ask for ice cream, – laughed Artem. – And where else should we go?

– Where? – Alyoshka was ready to go with his father anywhere, to anyone, but childish curiosity made him look at his father in surprise.

“You’ll find out later,” Artyom already regretted that he had so thoughtlessly intrigued the child.

Alyoshka was well developed at the age of four. He already knew the letters and could count to twenty. Lera enjoyed studying with her son in her free time. But she had little free time left.

Working as a surgeon in the pediatric intensive care unit, she spent a lot of time at work. She could be called at any moment. And this time they brought in a serious patient. She had to run away urgently, leaving her son with her husband. © Stella Chiarri

Returning home, Lera discovered the absence of her men.

– Hmm, we’ve been partying for a while, – she looked at her watch. It was already quite late: it was high time for Alyoshka to go to bed.

As if hearing her, the front door quietly opened, and Artyom carried his sleeping son in.

“I’m tired,” he whispered, “I ran around in the park too much.”

Father laid Alyoshka on the bed. Lera quietly covered him with a blanket, leaned over to kiss her sleeping son and smelled the light aroma of someone else’s women’s perfume.

“Where did you go?” she asked her husband casually, coming out of the nursery. “Alyoshka is fast asleep.”

– Yes, he dragged me to the park. To the cars and the swings, – Artem behaved as usual, and Lera scolded herself for being suspicious.

– True, this sly bug even talked me into buying ice cream, – the husband looked guiltily at Lera. – I said that you would scold him, but you know him, it’s hard to refuse him.

“That’s true,” Lera laughed quietly, “and who would it be like?”

She shrugged her shoulders coquettishly, Artyom understood her, grabbed her in his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

– Let’s make another Lyoshka? Or Mashka? – he whispered in her ear.

And Lera again seemed to smell that aroma.

– What do you smell like? – She looked intently at her husband, and the cheerful mood disappeared as if by magic. – And my son smells like that too.

– Oh… this?! I bought a car air freshener. I liked it at first, but when I hung it up, everything smelled of it, I couldn’t breathe. I threw it out, – Artem put Lera on the floor. The romantic mood suddenly disappeared.

“Sorry,” Lera again mentally scolded herself with the last words.

– Yeah, nonsense, let’s go to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow, – Artem turned to the wall. Lera had no choice but to sleep.

In the morning, Artyom left while everyone was still asleep. The plant where he worked was starting a major overhaul, and some of the bosses were spending days and nights there. Artyom was no exception. Sometimes he left very early, sometimes he came after midnight, and he could disappear at work for days. If both he and Lera were late, Alyoshka’s mother-in-law would pick him up.

After waking up, the little son came to Lera’s bedroom and climbed under the blanket.

– Who’s this? A kitten? – She sleepily hugged her son. – Do you want to eat?

– Yeah, – Lyoshka grew up and always wanted to eat. Moms she knew with children of the same age envied Lera’s son’s appetite. They couldn’t fit either porridge or soup into theirs.

– Well, let’s go! – Lera got up, washed herself and went to make breakfast for the hungry child.

“But Aunt Sveta doesn’t have plates like that,” Lyoshka looked at the bear cubs at the bottom.

Lera shuddered.

– At which Aunt Sveta’s? – the heart began to beat faster and faster.

– My dad and I went visiting yesterday after the park. He said that she was his friend, – Lyoshka put his head on his hands, folded on the table, and looked sadly at his mother. It seemed to her that he wanted to say something else, but changed his mind.

– And what were you doing at Aunt Sveta’s? – Lera tried to remain calm, but her hands were shaking.

— I was playing with Vitalik, and dad was drinking tea in the kitchen.

“And Vitalik is Aunt Sveta’s husband?” Lera asked hopefully.

– What are you talking about, Mom? – laughed Lyoshka. – Vitalik is Aunt Sveta’s son. He’s still little. He’s two years old.

The plate with the bears fell out of Lera’s hands and shattered into pieces.

“Sit still, don’t get up,” she told her son, “I’ll clean this up now.” She swept up the broken pieces and couldn’t believe that Artyom was deceiving her. And it wasn’t car perfume. She could still tell it apart from women’s perfume.

“If she’s just an acquaintance, why didn’t he tell me about it?” Lera thought, frying syrniki. “He didn’t even say a word that they went somewhere to visit. If my son hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have found out. So that’s what his plans were!”

Inside her, everything was boiling.

“What should I do?” she mentally went through the options, but could not settle on any one.

Lyoshka was gobbling up the cheesecakes and seemed to have already forgotten about Aunt Sveta and Vitalik. Lera was glad that today was Saturday and she didn’t have to go to work. Where was she going in such a state?! She would make such a mess.

– Only for some reason dad kissed Aunt Sveta and Vitalik when we arrived and when we left, – apparently, this fact still did not give Lyoshka peace. “That’s what he wanted to say,” – Lera’s heart sank because of her son’s emotions and feelings.

“That’s because your dad is very polite,” Lera smiled, forcing herself to do so. This explanation suited her son just fine, and after he had eaten his fill, he went to play in his room.

Lera was thinking feverishly: “This Aunt Sveta lives in the same city, and she has a son Vitalik, who is two years old. Most likely, she is on social networks, among her husband’s friends,” Lera opened her laptop. “Perhaps she does not have her own name, but it is worth a try.” She entered the city, name, and approximate age through filters. Among her husband’s friends there were many Svetlanas, Svetochkas, and Svetiks. She leafed through the photos of all these women and could not imagine any of them with Artyom.

Suddenly she thought she saw something, some mutual acquaintances in the frame… Lera peered at the photo of a pretty brunette and felt her heart start beating faster again. Going to her page, she started looking at all her photos. Here is a pregnant woman, here with a stroller, and in this photo with a cute boy who looks very much like… Artyom.

– Do you know Aunt Sveta too? – Lyoshka approached silently, and Lera shuddered.

“You went to see her, right?” Lera clarified.

“Yeah, and this is Vitalik, her son,” he pointed at the baby.

– Do you remember where they live? Did you travel far from the park to get to them? – Lera seemed to understand what she would do.

– No, not far. There’s also a toy store in the building. Dad bought Vitalik a car. And soap bubbles for me. I asked myself, do you want me to show you? – His eyes lit up.

– Of course I do! – Lera was waiting for her son to bring her his father’s gift and trying to remember where that ill-fated toy store was. She seemed to remember. Leshka came running with bubbles, they blew them together and then popped them. It was hard for Lera to make herself laugh, but for her son’s sake, she managed.

Then she called her mother-in-law.

– Elena Fedorovna, sit with Lyoshka for a couple of hours… I urgently need to go to work, and Artyom has a major. He’ll probably come late. Will you sit? Thank you! I’m waiting!

The mother-in-law came in half an hour. Lera told me when to feed Lyosha, and for the rest I relied on her. Elena Fedorovna was a wonderful grandmother.

Lera easily found the toy store, which was not far from the park. It was located on the first floor of a residential building.

“If I’m lucky, I’ll see them or learn something,” Lera decided to wait, sitting down on the playground.

Either she was lucky, if you can call it luck, or someone from above decided not to delay finding out the truth, but forty minutes later she saw the woman from the photograph, who was pushing a stroller with a two-year-old baby.

– Svetlana! – Lera called out to her. She turned around.

– Yes?!

“I need to talk to you,” Lera didn’t know what she would say to her husband’s mistress, but she didn’t see any point in living like this any longer.

– Have we met? – Svetlana strained her memory, but to no avail.

– Partly. We have a mutual friend, – Lera grinned, and after this grin the woman seemed to understand everything. She looked at the ring on Lera’s finger for a particularly long time – exactly the same as Artyom’s.

– Will you come in? It’s time for me to feed my son, – Svetlana looked calm, only the pulsating vein on her neck betrayed her anxiety.

They entered the apartment. Lera immediately noticed the men’s slippers in the hallway.

“Come in,” Svetlana noticed Lera’s glance, but said nothing. She walked with her son into the kitchen, Lera followed her and sat down next to the table.

– Is this his son? – Lera found this question difficult.

Svetlana nodded.

– He said that he is married and that he also has a son?

“I found out after I got pregnant,” Svetlana said and fed the exact copy of Artyom. In reality, he looked even more like his father, as we can see in the photo.

– And what about him? – Lera continued the interrogation.

– He said to give birth. He promised to divorce you. But he has been promising for almost three years. And then, he came with his son, he says, we need to introduce the brothers, – now it was clear that Svetlana was nervous and even angry.

– Divorce? – Lera was surprised. – Yesterday he offered to give me another child.

The spoon with food froze in the air. Svetlana looked at Lera in amazement.

– This is true?

“Lying is Artyom’s privilege,” Lera chuckled again. “How was he going to live on, I wonder?!”

– I don’t know how he was going to, let him live as he wants, but without us, – Svetlana finished feeding her son and let him go. He went into the room. – Sorry, I don’t know your name.

– Lera. My name is Lera.

– So, Lera, you can hate me, that’s your right, but I’ll file for alimony. This is his son too, – the rival looked Lera in the eyes openly without the slightest shyness. – I’ll be going back to work soon, and I won’t be able to get back into my usual routine quickly. But I’m not laying claim to him anymore. I don’t need a man I can’t rely on. Sorry, we’re taking a nap now.

– Well, all the best. And yes, I will also file for alimony and divorce. So, seize the moment, – Lera did not linger in this house any longer.

As she was leaving the entrance, she ran into her husband, who was rushing to his mistress and second son with a bag of groceries and some kind of toy.

– Did you completely repair everything? – Ler looked at the dumbfounded Artem with a grin. – Hurry up, or they’ll go to bed for a nap.

“Lera,” her husband drooped and looked so pitiful that Lera became more determined to get a divorce.

She just waved him off and went to her son.

Artem went up to Svetlana without any hope, but as he suspected, the door was on a chain.

“No need to knock, Vitalik is sleeping,” Svetlana said through the half-open door. “Don’t come here again. You can only see your son while he’s little in my presence outside this house.”

She closed the door and turned off the bell.

Arriving home, the would-be lover found only an enraged mother.

– Poor Kobelina! – Elena Fyodorovna whipped him with a kitchen towel. – You’ve ruined Lera and Alyoshka’s whole life. Why am I being punished like this in my old age?!

– Mom…

– I’m not your mother after this! – Elena Fedorovna dressed in a hurry and, without looking at her son, left the apartment. Artyom had such similarly different women… He counted on everyone at once, but was left with nothing.

Lera and Svetlana filed for alimony, Lera also filed for divorce. Artem left the apartment, leaving it to his former family.

Artem was not forbidden to see his children, and sometimes both sons were given to him at once. This was so that life would not seem like a bed of roses.