“I don’t want to drag this out,” he said directly, standing in the middle of the kitchen. “I don’t want you to wonder. I am asking for your consent and Varvara Rodionovna’s blessing to become my wife.” Taisiya didn’t cry, didn’t feel overwhelmed. Something inside her just quieted, finally finding its rhythm. Varvara Rodionovna looked at him for a long time, then nodded. “It’s my daughter’s decision. But I have no objections.” “I don’t want a big wedding,” Taisiya said, “I don’t need ostentatious luxury. Just a family where I won’t be betrayed.” “I give you my word,” he replied. The wedding was quiet. A country restaurant near Dnipro, 30 people, warm food, close friends, and colleagues.
Taisiya was in a simple light dress, her mother holding her hand tightly. Among the guests, there was no one who had caused her pain. Gordey Alexandrovich gave a short speech. “I’m not a master of beautiful words, but I promise one thing, to come home every evening.” A year later, on the very day Taisiya was supposed to marry Arkady, she was having dinner with Gordey Alexandrovich and her mother in their new home. Varvara Rodionovna had moved in with them; there was plenty of room in the cottage, and now there was someone to look after her. She smiled more often, her health was stable. Mitya called her “Baba Varya” and followed her around like a shadow, demanding bedtime stories.
“A year ago, this day was probably not one of the best,” Bondar chuckled at dinner. “If it weren’t for that day, I wouldn’t be here,” Taisiya replied. That night, she went out onto the terrace and looked at the lights of Dnipro in the distance for a long time, thinking about the path she had traveled. If she hadn’t gone to the operating room that morning, if she had caved and apologized to the Boyko family, if she had gone back to Arkady out of fear of loneliness, she might have been living a different life, calm on the outside, but empty on the inside. Gordey came out and stood beside her. “What are you thinking about?” “About how one closed door opened another.”
He took her hand and said nothing. Words were not needed; there are endings that don’t need applause. A home with a light on, someone waiting for you, and the peace of knowing you’ll never have to run and make excuses again is enough.
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