Victor returned from his trip later than usual, and his wife, Tamara, grew anxious waiting for her husband. She wondered if something had happened on the road, as their son, Colin, kept asking, “Where’s Dad? Where’s Dad?”
Finally, two bright yellow headlights illuminated the Ivanovs’ yard. He had arrived. “Dad! Dad! Hooray, Dad is home!” Colin exclaimed, jumping off the stove, hopping on one foot as he tried to pull on his boot while slipping on his coat.
“Where do you think you’re going, you little nut? It’s freezing out, and it’s night; come back and sit by the stove until your father comes in,” Tamara scolded. Colin sulked, puffing out his cheeks, preparing to cry.
“Don’t you dare cry! Didn’t I say your father will be in soon?” their mother chided. But Victor still hadn’t come inside.
“What’s taking him so long?” Tamara worried. “Is he drunk or something? Colin, you stay here; I’ll go check.”
“I’m scared, Mum,” Colin whined.
“Why on earth are you scared? Stay put like I told you.”
While Tamara threw on her coat and argued with Colin, the door swung open, and a gust of cold air swept into the house. Through the cloud of steam that followed, Victor stumbled inside—and he wasn’t alone.
At the threshold stood a young girl, no older than eighteen, wrapped in a shawl, her brown coat too small for her. She had large, grey eyes that seemed to take up half her face, and soft, golden curls on her forehead.
“Come in, Evie. Tamara, help our guest take off her coat,” Victor said.
Tamara, bewildered, helped the girl remove her coat. It became evident that she was heavily pregnant, waddling like a plump autumn duck, and she made her way to the table, sitting down with her fragile, cold hands clasped in her lap. Colin peered cautiously from the stove.
“And where’s my son? Colin, what are you up to? Come here and see what your dad brought,” Victor said, pulling the reluctant Colin from the stove and lifting him high into the air. “And you, Tamara, whip up something for us to eat; we can’t sit here hungry.”
That night, as Colin succumbed to sleep, he could hear his father mumbling and his mother arguing softly about something, while their guest quietly sobbed. By morning, the whole village knew that Victor had brought home his younger, pregnant sister.
“Her husband left her, and their parents have been gone for ages. Where else is she supposed to go, this poor girl?” Tamara whispered to her friends in the dimly lit barn.
“Why didn’t you ever mention Victor had relatives? I thought you said he was an orphan,” one woman said.
“Just because someone has no parents doesn’t mean they’re an orphan,” Tamara replied sharply.
“But where did the sister come from?”
“She grew up in a children’s home; what more do you want to know, Akulina? Do you want me to talk about her love life next?”
“Oh, come on, Tamara, don’t be silly.”
Soon after, Evie decided it was time to give birth. Victor took her to the hospital, and shortly after, Colin welcomed a baby sister named Mabel into the world. But Evie never returned.
“She passed away,” Tamara said curtly to Colin, giving him a smack to keep him from underfoot.
Mabel was tiny and rosy, almost doll-like. Colin compared her to the neighbor’s doll, whose name was Charlie—he thought Mabel was better. Ha, forget about dolls; now Colin had his very own live baby sister.
“I don’t know, Victor, do what you want; I don’t want her here,” Tamara declared.
“What do you mean? She’s a living child, blood…” Victor protested.
“I don’t care; I’ve made my decision. Do what you want with her.”
“What kind of woman are you? At first, you accepted her. What am I supposed to do? Send her to a children’s home or let her drown?”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have a preference.”
“Don’t put Mabel in the children’s home or the water!” Colin shouted. “Mum, please, leave her; I’ll take care of her. I promise to help, just don’t send her away.”
“Go ahead and help, you little nuisance,” Tamara swung her hand at him. But Colin held tightly to her skirt, screaming and begging to keep his baby sister. Victor sat silently with his head down.
“Fine! Do whatever you want,” Tamara finally relented and walked out to the shed.
Colin approached Mabel, who was peacefully sleeping in her swaddling blankets, unaware of her uncertain fate. He sat beside her and began softly whispering sweet names—sunshine, little one.
Colin couldn’t sleep well that night, constantly fearing that his mother might get rid of his baby sister. “Go to sleep, you little nuisance; I won’t get rid of Mabel,” their mother hissed at Colin. He watched her suspiciously, worried she might still try.
“Oh, look at that boy—he won’t leave the girl alone, calling her little one,” one of the women chuckled as Tamara remarked, “Yes, I was a bit taken aback at first, but then I grew fond of her. I wouldn’t trade her for anything. Colin will be starting school next year, and I’m thinking of hiring a nanny…”
And so they lived. Victor worked as a driver, Tamara milked the cows, and Colin grew up alongside Mabel. Colin would run home from school, arms outstretched, catching his tottering little sister as she stumbled on her tiny feet. The neighborhood kids all called her little one, and she grew into a vibrant girl.
Colin joined the army, and Mabel cried hard when he left. “He basically raised her, stood in as their parent,” the women would gossip, “Tamara may be a bit brusque, and Victor hardly speaks, but those kids are something else.”
Mabel eagerly awaited Colin’s return from the army. After a month of his return, he settled into a job as a driver and brought home a girl he liked, all the while wondering if Mabel would approve.
She did; Mabel liked the future daughter-in-law very much. Victor got married, and before long, Mabel grew up into a real beauty. She went to the city for education, but every time she came back, she would visit her brother first before going home.
Mabel knew she was Victor’s niece; they never hid it from her to avoid heartbreak later. Both Victor and Tamara loved her dearly, and sometimes it seemed to Mabel that her mother even loved her more than Colin, their little sunshine.
Mabel finished her studies and returned to the village as a doctor. She soon found a good husband, married, and started a family of her own. By now, both Tamara and Victor had aged, and Victor’s time came to go. Tamara declined considerably, and eventually, Mabel took her mother in, even though she was reluctant.
One night, as Mabel slept, she thought she heard someone calling. “Mum?”
“What is it, my dear? Thirsty? In pain?”
“Sit down, my sweetheart,” Tamara requested.
“Of course.”
“Forgive me, Mabel.”
“What for, Mum? What’s wrong?”
“For everything, for wanting to send you to a children’s home…”
“Oh, Mum! But don’t be silly. I know you did what you had to; after all, you brought me home. I hold no grudges or seek forgiveness for anything…”
“You weren’t just a niece; you were my daughter…”
“What do you mean, Mum?”
“Well, dear, I don’t know how your father and your mother, Evie, met. But he turned her away once you were born, telling your grandfather to take you both or else he’d report them.
So that’s how he brought your mother home, with the whole story revealed. Everyone thought she was just his younger sister. Yet, she was quite resourceful, helping with Colin and taking care of him until Victor took her for the birth, and she never came back…”
“Mum… and you accepted your husband’s mistress?”
“I did, child, what could I do? She was pregnant, and what good would it have done your son to be orphaned just because his father couldn’t resist temptation? Perhaps it was meant to be; I wanted a daughter so much, and now here you are…”
“Meant to be by whom?”
“By God…”
“Mum, you’ve cared for that grave your entire life…”
“My dear, it’s not hers. It belonged to a girl, an orphan like your mother, who had the same name. As for your mother… she’s alive and likely younger than me by ten years…”
“What?”
“She left you then and never looked back.”
“Mum…”
“Forgive me, my dear, but I couldn’t carry this secret to my grave; it wouldn’t be fair to you. You may have other siblings—sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles.”
“I do, Mum, of course! Colin is the best brother in the world. I always wished he was not just a cousin but a real brother. You’re my true mother, and Aunt Kate and Uncle Vic are my family; they are your siblings, and I’ve got loads of cousins. I have a large family—all thanks to you, Mum.
You may not have given me life, but you sure gave me one, my dear.”
“My sweet child…”
Tamara lived a bit longer, and when her time came, she left peacefully, smiling at Victor. At the age of her mother, Mabel Victorovna recounted her life story amidst her large family.
All the young girls and women gasped in surprise, declaring they could never have done what Tamara did.
“Don’t judge others’ circumstances; you don’t know what you’d do,” Mabel Victorovna told them. “You never know how life may turn. Remember how many years ago all this happened. Some might falter, but my mother managed to come through. She had a strong character and overcame so much…
For that, she deserves eternal respect, I always say…”
