З життя
Після 15 років шлюбу дружина зізналася, що дитина не від мене, але реакція сина довела мене до сліз…
**Щоденник**
Мене звати Олексій, мені 48. Завжди вважав себе щасливою людиною. Була дружина — Мирослава, з якою ми прожили майже п’ятнадцять років. Пережили разом усе — і біду, і хвороби, і роки, коли грошей ледиве вистачало. Та ніщо не видавалося страшним, адже поруч була вона. І наш син — Юрко. Для мене він був усім. Я його виховував із перших днів, носив на руках, коли гарячка збивала з ніг, навчав їздити на ровері, провожав у садочок, потім до школи. Це був мій хлопчик, рідний.
А потім сталося те, що перевернуло моє життя догори дриґом.
Посварилися з Мирославою. Привід був дріб’язковий: непорозуміння, зайве слово, втома, яка накопичилася за роки. Та січа розгорілася несподівано. Я сказав щось різке, а вона у відповідь випалила:
— Та ти йому й не батько! Він тобі не син! Ніколи й не був!
Зціпило. Слова пройняли, ніж у серце. Спочатку навіть не зрозумів. У вухах дзвеніло, кров відлила. Дивився на неї й не вірив. У голові крутилося одне: «Невже?..»
Мира зрозумла, що перестаралася, та пізно. Відвернулася, сховавши обличчя в долоні. А тут — Юрко на порозі. Повернувся із школи раніше. На лихо, увійшов саме тоді, коли його мати вимовила жахливу правду.
Він усе чув.
Тішина заважчала. Ніхто не рухався. Повітря загусло, наче перед бурею. І раптом мій син промовив. Тихо, але твердо:
— Тату, навіть якщо ти не рідний, для мене ти — батько. І я тебе люблю.
Наче прокинувся. Подивився на нього — маленького, беззахисного, але такого сильного у своїй простоті. Очі наповнилися слізьми, але я не стримувався. Підійшов, обійняв Юрка, притиснув — а він у відповідь міцно схопив мене за плечі.
Не знаю, скільки ми так стояли. Знав одне: не віддам цього хлопця ніколи. І неважливо, чи він кровний. Я його виростив. Проводив у перший клас. Учив розуміти світ. Він — мій син. Крапка.
Пізніше поговорили з Мирославою. Виявилося, Юрко з’явився за кілька місяців до нашої зустрічі. Вона боялася сказати. Боялася, що піду. Але побачила, як я його полюбив, і вирішила: нехай краще мовчить.
Так, варто було сказати раніше. Та що вдієш.
Я не пішов. Ми лишилися разом. Не шукав біологічного батька, не розпитував. Бо я — його тато. Той, хто тримав за руку під час перших падінь. Хто сміявся з перших побід. Я був поруч. Не просто чоловік у цьому домі. Я був із ним усім серцем. І залишуся.
А Юрко… став ще ближчим. Іноді здається, що з того дня він — рідніший, ніж був.
Отак. Правда була гіркою, але любов виявилася сильнішою. І це — найголовніше.
Why Does It Matter Who Looked After Gran? By Law, That Flat Should Be Mine! — My Mum Argues With Me Over My Grandmother’s Home My Own Mother is Threatening to Sue Me — All Because My Gran’s Flat Went Not to Her, or Even to Me, But to My Daughter. Mum Claims It’s Unfair, Insists the Flat Should Be Hers. But Gran Made a Different Choice. Why? Perhaps Because My Husband and I Lived With Her and Cared for Her Those Last Five Years. You Could Easily Call My Mum Selfish — Her Needs Were Always Far More Important Than Anyone Else’s. Mum’s Been Married Three Times, But Only Had Two Daughters: My Younger Sister and Me. We Get On Brilliantly, But Neither of Us Has a Great Relationship With Mum. I Don’t Even Remember My Dad — He Split From Mum When I Was Two. Up Until I Was Six, I Lived With Mum at Gran’s. For Some Reason, I Thought Gran Was Awful — Probably Because Mum Was Always Crying. Only When I Grew Up Did I Understand: Gran Was Good, She Just Wanted to Help Her Daughter Make a Better Life. Later, Mum Married Again and We All Moved In With My Stepfather. That’s When My Sister Was Born. But After Seven Years, Mum Got Divorced Again. This Time, We Didn’t Go Back to Gran’s. Stepfather Went Off to Work and Let Us Stay in His Flat for a Bit. Three Years Later, Mum Married Husband Number Three and We Moved In With Him. He Wasn’t Pleased Mum Had Children, Though He Never Hurt Us — He Just Ignored Us. So Did Mum. She Was Obsessed With Her New Husband, Always Jealous, Always Causing Rows and Breaking Crockery. Once a Month Mum Would Start Packing, But Stepfather Always Talked Her Round. My Sister and I Got Used to It and Stopped Noticing. I Ended Up Looking After My Sister — Mum Didn’t Have the Time. Thank Goodness for Our Grandmothers, Who Helped Us So Much. Eventually, I Left for University, and My Sister Moved In With Gran. Our Dad Always Supported Her; Mum Would Call Us Only at Christmas. I Accepted Mum For Who She Was and Stopped Expecting Her to Care, But My Sister Never Did. She Was Always Hurt, Especially When Mum Skipped Her School Leavers’ Party. We Grew Up. My Sister Got Married and Moved Away. I Was Living With My Long-Term Boyfriend; We Visited Gran Often and Stayed Close, Though I Tried Not to Be a Nuisance. When Gran Fell Ill and Went Into Hospital, I Visited Every Day: Shopping, Cooking, Cleaning, Chatting, Making Sure She Took Her Medicine. Sometimes My Boyfriend Helped Out Too. After Six Months, Gran Suggested We Move In to Save for Our Own Place, So We Did. Six Months Later, I Was Pregnant. We Got Married, Had a Simple Family Do — Mum Didn’t Come, Not Even a Phone Call. When My Daughter Was Two Months Old, Gran Broke Her Leg. Caring for Both Was Hard and I Desperately Needed Mum’s Help, But She Refused, Saying She Wasn’t Well and Would Come Later. She Never Did. Six Months On, Gran Had a Stroke and Was Bedridden. If Not for My Husband, I Don’t Know How I’d Have Coped. Gran Slowly Improved, She Even Got to See Her Great-Granddaughter Take Her First Steps, and Lived Another Two-and-a-Half Years. She Passed Away Peacefully in Her Sleep. My Husband and I Were Devastated By Her Loss. Mum Only Came for the Funeral. A Month Later, She Tried to Evict Me So She Could Have the Flat. Mum Hadn’t Realised Gran Had Left It to My Daughter Right After She Was Born. Naturally Mum Was Furious, Demanding I Give Up the Flat or She’d Sue Me. “Look How Deceitful You Are! You Duped the Old Woman, Took Her Flat, And Now You Live In It Yourself! You Won’t Get Away With This! It Doesn’t Matter Who Looked After Gran — That Flat Should Be Mine!” But Mum Won’t Get That Flat, I Know That for Certain. I’ve Spoken to a Solicitor and a Notary. We’ll Stay in the Home Gran Gave Us, and If Our Second Child Is a Girl, She’ll Be Named After Gran.
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