Sweetheart, your future husband’s parents should not be just any parents, but representatives of respected professions! None of this ‘the important thing is that the person is good’ nonsense! What do you mean — you’re willing to settle for an orphan? Have you been watching too many romantic movies?”
exclaimed Vasilisa Antonovna, a 65-year-old woman, addressing her daughter.

“Mama, it was just a joke,” the modest girl murmured quietly, lowering her eyes to the floor.

“With jokes like that, my little comedian, you’ll earn yourself a spanking, even at your 22 years!” interjected Pyotr Anisimovich, a 70-year-old man, swaying in his favorite rocking chair. Although he was not the girl’s biological father (her real father had died 15 years ago), he felt it was his duty to maintain discipline, calling his stepdaughter a “little rascal.”

“Pyotr is absolutely right. These orphans only think about how to make a profit at someone else’s expense! It’s a pity you allowed yourself to study to be a teacher — it’s an ungrateful and poorly paid profession. You’d be better off helping us with the farm,” added Vasilisa Antonovna.

“Stanislaus has wonderful parents: his mother heads a hospital department, and his father is a skilled worker at a factory,” Anna hastily reported, blushing at the same time.

The information about the groom’s mother’s profession softened Vasilisa Antonovna somewhat — she knew that such a position ensured a decent income.

“Only pity that they live in the Far East and will only be able to come for the wedding,” Anna added.

“Well, that’s fine for the wedding. Let her also see my ailments — sometimes I prick, sometimes I cut,” the woman mumbled, sitting down next to her husband.

They were awaiting Stanislaus, who was to meet the bride’s family. Anna, barely holding back tears of frustration, hurried to warn the relatives that she would meet the groom outside, so that he might not inadvertently drive past their house.

Meanwhile, Stanislaus was slowly approaching the village in a luxurious car with bouquets for the bride and the future mother-in-law. He was overwhelmed by strange feelings — for the first time in his life he was required to pretend to be a wealthy man.

The car was even “his,” and he did have an apartment. However, all of that was temporarily borrowed at the request of Anya, who feared her parents’ reaction. She had explained that they were very demanding and would never accept a poor son-in-law. He had to borrow a car from a friend, and instead of the old state-provided shack he was assigned after the orphanage, he had to imagine himself living in a comfortable three-room apartment.

Stas was taken aback by the bride’s request. But he agreed, since he would be living with Anya, not her parents. Moreover, after the wedding they planned to say that they were moving to the capital for work, even though in reality they would continue living in the neighboring town where they had met a year and a half ago.

Back then, at a student event, a red-haired girl with lively eyes had literally charmed him, pulling him out of the world of endless textbooks.

The young man’s life had not been easy. At the age of five, he lost his parents in a car accident; no other close relatives were found, and he was sent to an orphanage. Fortunately, he grew up to be a respectable man, enrolled in medical school, and was now about to graduate.

His dream was to save lives so that others would not have to endure the grief that had befallen him. It was, after all, due to the incompetence of a doctor at a rural clinic that his parents had died — something he learned many years later.

Books had filled his life until Anya appeared, rekindling his desire to be happy. They fell in love immediately, and it seemed that nothing could come between their happiness. But Anya’s parents, afraid of losing their only daughter at such a venerable age, desired the perfect match for her. To them, poverty was worse than any vice.

The girl had to fabricate a story that her groom was rich and successful, worked at a private clinic, and owned an apartment and a car. Of course, Stanislaus was uncomfortable starting their acquaintance with a lie, but for love he was ready to do anything.

As he pondered all this, Stas was almost at his destination when he noticed Anna wildly waving to him from a bus stop. The breathless girl jumped into the car and, sobbing, admitted that she had told her parents that he had parents: a head of a hospital department and a factory foreman.

They spent half an hour discussing the details of the lie, after which Stas, kissing the bride, went off to meet her parents.

A month later, in the emergency department, a complex eight-hour surgery was successfully completed. Thanks to the efforts of two surgeons, an elderly patient was literally pulled back from the brink.

Exhausted yet content, Maria Ivanovna rested in the residents’ room. As the head of the purulent surgery department, she treated all her patients with equal care, regardless of their status. Many wealthy individuals tried to thank her, but the doctor always refused, explaining that she was simply fulfilling her professional duty.

For her steadfast principles, her colleagues considered her somewhat odd. With her talent, she could have become rich long ago, but she preferred a modest life in her husband’s small apartment, commuting by bus to work.

At least Maria Ivanovna lived in peace, without fear of sudden misfortunes like what happened to their chief physician, who received eight years in prison.

Distracted from her thoughts about the recent surgery, she noticed her new assistant, a young orphaned surgeon who had been working with them for only a few months. Unlike her, he looked dejected, as if on the verge of tears.

Maria Ivanovna was proud of her assistant. Despite his lack of experience, Stanislaus was achieving remarkable results. Unlike many young doctors who would falter during their training, he grasped everything instantly.

Over time, Maria Ivanovna nurtured the hope that the young surgeon would eventually take her place as head of the department. Although that day was still far off — she had barely turned 45 — the woman was determined to avoid the mistakes of the past, which she continued to regret.

Rising from her seat, she slowly approached the pensive Stas. He, as if detached from reality, was stirring his cooled tea mechanically. He even flinched when the soft hand of the department head rested on his shoulder.

“Is something wrong? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost,” Maria Ivanovna inquired with concern.

Unable to hold back, the young man grabbed her hand and blurted out: “Please, be my mother, or my life will fall apart, and I will never find happiness!”

The words sent Maria Ivanovna’s head spinning — she thought the young doctor had lost his mind. However, after Stanislaus explained himself a few minutes later, she agreed to help in deceiving his fiancée’s relatives.

Two months remained until the grand event when misfortune befell the Semenovs’ family. One evening, while the daughter and the groom were choosing engagement rings, Vasilisa Antonovna suddenly collapsed during tea with her husband. Through gritted teeth and in pain, she asked Pyotr to call an ambulance.

“Here we go again with this circus! Every time you run to the doctors over trifles. If you worked more, you wouldn’t even have time to think!” grumbled Pyotr Anisimovich, suggesting that she simply lie down.

The old man had completely forgotten how he himself, once sick and helpless, had appeared in this very house where Vasilisa had nursed him back to health. Over the years, he had come to regard the farm as his own property, while considering his wife and daughter as mere unwanted claimants to it.

Had Pyotr immediately sought medical help, perhaps the woman could have been saved. But now she was bedridden, rendered helpless.

Her husband mercilessly mocked her: “Well, dear, how many troubles do you cause? But nothing matters; we’re all mortal…”

Nevertheless, the wedding was not to be canceled — Vasilisa herself insisted on it. Inviting her daughter, she handed her an ancient icon that was to be worn until the marriage.

“If only I could live long enough to see you as a bride,” she whispered. “I bear a heavy sin… When I am gone, you will learn the truth from my letter.”

Anna understood little of these words and did not wish to dwell on them, being preoccupied with other concerns.

“Stop it, Mama. You will feel better, you just need time,” Anna tried to comfort her mother.

The wedding day arrived. Maria Ivanovna, together with her husband and “son,” arrived to perform the bride price. By this time, Anya’s mother’s condition had worsened significantly — she could only sit quietly in a wheelchair. Pyotr, on the other hand, refused to participate, citing the need to take the pigs to market.

When Maria Ivanovna saw the bride approaching Stas, she nearly lost consciousness — in the girl’s hands was the icon that her grandmother had given to Maria before her death. Later, she had passed it on to her own mother, with instructions to hand it down to Maria’s daughter when the time came.

Anna was astonished when an unfamiliar woman, having expelled everyone from the room except the groom and the paralyzed mother, rushed to kiss her, whispering: “My long-awaited daughter, the Lord has finally heard my prayers!”

Anna and her groom decided that the woman was out of her mind, but Vasilisa Antonovna revealed the truth: “It’s true. I am not your mother, but your grandmother, Anyuta. Many years ago, my daughter Masha became pregnant by a man who betrayed her. We lived on a farm where Masha was never registered. I, too, was pregnant, but I suffered a miscarriage. My husband cheated on me with the dairymaid from the neighboring village. To keep him, I said that Anya was our daughter and that Masha had a miscarriage. Yet he still left. Later, Masha and I had a terrible falling-out, and I left, fearing she would take away Anya — my last joy in life. When I returned years later, I met Pyotr… I deserve no forgiveness!” cried Vasilisa.

Masha echoed her in tears. Both Anya and Stas were utterly stunned — he had intended to introduce Maria Ivanovna as his mother, yet she turned out to be the bride’s mother, and her own mother — the grandmother. There was much to process, but the wedding could not be postponed. They decided to sort everything out after the marriage.

Pyotr Anisimovich failed to secure the farm. After the wedding, Masha took Vasilisa in. After reviewing her medical history, Masha realized there was a chance to save her mother with an operation that required an experienced assistant.

A few months later, Vasilisa was enjoying a family tea on the terrace of her new home. Pyotr was no more — his greed had led to a fatal outcome.

Fortunately, those close to each other managed to understand and forgive one another. After all, true family is not defined by formal ties, but by the willingness to support one another in any circumstances. And as for who is who — it is merely a formality.