After laying her husband to rest, Anya made up her mind to tackle the clutter in the shed—a place her husband always kept off-limits. She let out a SHRIEK when she laid eyes on IT

Then the boy heard her talking to his grandfather. Grandma Tanya said she was working. You see, it’s an omen.

When you bring an orphan into the house, then your own children will be born. That’s how Anna adopted Jack. That’s how it worked out.

The boy didn’t understand everything. But the fact that his mother had adopted him was firmly planted in his mind. He didn’t say anything at first.

He cried quietly to his mom. And then he asked if his mom needed him. Anna had to confess to her son.

But she told him 1,000 times that she had always loved him, and would always love him. And Robert joined the conversation, assuring that Jack is the most, that there is a native person to them. Their love, their care soothed the child’s worries.

Anna told her mother everything afterward. That’s who was pulling her tongue. Betty just made a sour face.

It’s my fault. Anna just waved her hand. What’s she gonna ask of her mom? Thanks for helping me out in a difficult situation.

And the fact that he said too much, so maybe it’s for the best. After all, the secret is always revealed. And it is important to say everything correctly and in time.

And so those five years passed. How Robert and Anna got married. Jack is 12.

Daria and Kevin are three years old. The boys are very friendly. Jack is mom’s first mommy’s helper.

He takes the kids for walks, reads books and plays with them. Daria and Kevin are like tails after him. They love Jack and he loves them.

Anna sometimes thinks, looking at her husband and children. Did she ever imagine that everything would turn out this way? Certainly, there was not a terrible loss in her life, that could have broken her whole life. Then the secrets that came after that loss.

And her husband’s infidelity could have broken her too. But she endured, because then the power of motherhood was already manifested in her to the highest degree. Yes, she wanted to be a mom.

And she became one. Jack’s illness showed that there are a lot of wonderful people around who can come to the rescue. And family people in this situation sometimes perform a miracle.

A miracle. Yes, a miracle happened in her life. When a dead-end situation became the beginning of a new path for a new turn in her life.

She met Robert at first and never thought it would turn into something more. Yes, she met some bad people along the way. But life punished them.

So what’s next? What’s next is a quiet, measured life and happiness. There’s a great seafood restaurant here at the hotel. The table’s set.

We can go downstairs right now. The deputy general manager waved his hand hospitably toward the elevators. I sighed.

We had just signed a lucrative contract that our firm had been pursuing for years. But the last thing I wanted to do was spend the evening in a restaurant. To be honest, I miss my wife and son.

We’ve been living together for five years now. But I still lose my head like a boy when I see my wife. I guess I’m a one-woman man and there’s nothing I can do about it.

I can’t bear to be away from my family. As I stacked up the signpapers, I puzzled over what reason I could come up with to go home today. If I leave now, I’ll be home by morning.

True, it’s quite a long drive, almost 500 kilometers. But that’s okay. I have long been used to long distances and abnormal situations.

Ever since I was in the army, Robert, I’m very embarrassed. But I won’t be able to attend the banquet. There are problems at home, so I’m leaving right now.

In any case, you will visit our firm soon, and I will do my best to make up for my departure today. I made up an excuse on the fly and now tried not to look in the eyes of the general. That’s okay, Christopher.

After all, the banquet is not the main purpose of our meeting. I think we still have a lot to do. Robert smiled and we shook hands firmly.

In my room, I changed my clothes, packed my shirt and business suit in a plastic bag, pulled on the usual camouflage for the helm of my boots, and put a silver medallion on a leather lanyard around my neck. In such clothes, I felt much freer and more confident. Without wasting time, I threw my things into the car, checked the note, and in half an hour drove off the ring road onto the highway leading to my hometown.

At home, thank God, I was fine. No problems. I just wanted to hug my beloved wife and son quickly.

Gradually, it was getting dark. It was early fall before the prolonged rains, and the first frosts were still far away. The road was deserted.

Only at the Benz roadside bushes sprinkled on me. Caught out of the darkness by the headlights of my car, the engine ran smoothly without strain. I lightly stoked the gas pedal, bringing the speed to 120 kilometers per hour.

The cruising speed of my car. I myself rebuilt the engine vectors, spent almost a month, re-welded the sills, scaled holes, and painted. The car is a real Japanese made for the USA.

Got it to me for a ridiculous price. I remember the surprise, squeamish face of my wife and brother. But frankly, I didn’t care about that.

The main thing was that I liked the car. My grandfather, my father’s father at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, confidently held on to the chair of the general director of the metallurgical plant. I don’t know how, but after a while he became its owner.

He managed in this turbulent time not only to save the plant, and accordingly, the workplaces, but also by carrying out reconstruction, to reach the leading positions in its branch in our country. Time passed. The plant prospered.

Grandfather managed to buy and build several more production facilities, expanding the scope of his activities. One of the new areas of activity was the organization of production of steel structures for construction. This direction was headed by his son, my father.

Today, on his behalf, I signed a lucrative contract for the manufacture and supply of steel, load-bearing beams for a huge construction company, bringing my father’s firm to a new level. But despite some independence, all the threads of management of the huge household were at my grandfather. There are two of us in the family, me and my brother.

We are twins. We are already over 30 untrained people can’t tell us apart. At first, our parents could hardly distinguish us.

I’m the oldest. 20 minutes after I was born, Stephen was born, and that sealed my fate. I don’t know why, but my parents gave all their love to their younger son forced to measure with my existence.

Everything was for Stephen. Toys. Tutoring.

As the eldest, I had to defer to my younger brother in everything. No one was interested in my interests and desires. Stephen went to tutors, studied music, always wore a clean suit and learned good manners.

I grew up on my own. I taught myself to play guitar and enrolled in the hand-to-hand combat section. I studied averagely, but after the ninth pressed on studying and soon was in the first five on academic performance.

What to be. I didn’t think much about it. I was easily given to exact sciences and I was going to enter the mechanical engineering institute, but life arranged otherwise.

In 11th grade, I fell in love. The girl was wonderful. Our relationship was extremely serious and we decided to get married right after school.

Adriana was also going to university. We decided to be a couple and live together in a dormitory. They were willing to give us a room.

I took everything into account, except one thing. Two weeks before the wedding, when I had already bought the rings, Adriana called me and stammered and asked me to meet her. Okay, no problem.

We agreed to meet at the park near the fountain. I knew the place well, as I often went there with Adriana to dance. I arrived early and had time to smoke while waiting for the bride.

Finally, Adriana appeared and not alone. She was holding Stephen, dressed in his trademark jeans and leather jacket. When she saw me, she abruptly let go of his hand and came over to me.

Hi, you’ve been waiting a long time. As if it mattered now, it was clear to me. Stephen couldn’t get over the fact that I had a girlfriend.

Like everything else, she had to be his. I shrugged silently. We don’t need to see each other anymore.

My ex-fiancee carefully averted her eyes. All the sorrow in the world seemed to be centered in her shaky voice. I was in love.

Adriana, I understand. I don’t need to explain. I caught my brother’s triumphant look.

I turned and headed out of the park. The next day, I went to the enlistment office and applied to join the army. My father was indifferent to my decision.

I did not voice the reason for my decision. My mother didn’t care about me. She was busy with another extended shopping somewhere abroad.

So within two weeks, I received a summons, passed a medical examination, and was drafted into the internal troops at the recruitment center. I was sent to the intelligence of internal troops, having scrutinized my body for the presence of tattoos. On my perplexed look, the warrant officer paramedic set a tattoo for a scout as a business card.

It remains to fill the last name on the ass for full happiness. Remember, kid, tattoos are for prisoners. Morons and prostitutes.

And so began my service in intelligence. I was a tough and stubborn guy. Soon, I began to do well in the service.

By the end of the first year, I was already a sergeant, a squad leader. I tried to study military science well. I finished sniper courses, learned to drive a car in extreme conditions.

I achieved good results in hand-to-hand combat. I was offered to take tests for the right to carry a green ticket. I passed them the first time.

Several times, I was in hot spots as part of my company. For participation in one operation, I was even awarded the Medal of Honor. I don’t know for what reason my call sign was a connecting rod.

It happened two months before the end of my service. I was ordered to take an artillery adjuster to an observation post and cover him while he worked. The winter sun was already rolling toward sunset.

It got very cold. Breathing scouts. Fog beat between the leafless trees, sticking out here and there on the slope, from where the adjuster dictated the coordinates of the targets.

Finally, the crimson sun was finally hidden behind the horizon, which meant that not a single ray of it could give us away, repelling the attack through binoculars or telescopic sights. In the distance, a mountain river rushed southward with a gray ribbon. On its left bank, the enemy was concentrating its forces.

The task of the squad was as simple as a song, to stay undetected for as long as possible and to identify enemy targets as much as possible, and to get away as quietly as possible. Further worked artillery, the adjuster was already finishing to transmit the coordinates, the target, as on us from the rear struck a machine gun. Bullets with a horse crashed into the world evil ground.

Around me shrieked and dropped his head adjuster. I snapped back with short bursts from my Kalashnikov rifle, trying not to let the enemy get too close. It was completely dark, and I could barely make out the silhouettes of the enemy.

I tried to contact the company commander over the intercom, but there was only crackling in my headphones. The enemy is competently jamming our frequency, not giving the opportunity to establish a stable connection from our side. No one was firing anymore.

My fighters were probably all killed. A click and my machine gun went silent. I was out of ammo.

I pulled out my Stekin pistol and pulled the bolt. Two shadows rushed toward me from the right, not aiming. I fired several times in their direction.

It seemed to hit. I realized that I could not get out. But that was the order.

I turned to the killed adjuster and covering myself with his body. I flicked the radio switch, switched to the spare frequency and began to transmit my coordinates, thus calling the artillery fire on myself. The machine gunner detected my movement and opened fire again.

I felt the bullets pounding into the dead body. I wasn’t scared. I was just mentally dead already, clearly realizing that only a miracle could save me.

The last thing I remembered was the whistling of shells and the rumble of bursts all around me. Then the remnants of my squad made their way to me and pulled me stunned to the rear. I didn’t even have a scratch, just a slight contusion.

Apparently, God still needed me for something. Just before I was discharged, we who survived that battle had a jeweler we know. We ordered medallions as a souvenir.

The material we had was a broken silver cross we found in a ruined Orthodox church, enough for everyone. Only seven people survived that battle. The time of service flew by quickly and I was soon demobilized.

I took away with me the medal for bravery at the station. To my great surprise, I was met by Zarek Naya, former fiance. Adriana frantically clutched at the sleeve of my camouflage and sobbed hysterically, asking for forgiveness.

I even felt a little sorry for her, but I ripped her fingers with red-painted nails from the sleeve and without saying a word, walked to the cab stand. She remained standing on the platform, hands clasped in despair, looking at me with tearful eyes. You can’t forgive traitors.

Yeah, I guess her life with my majority didn’t work out. Brothers, my parent had moved to a mansion outside of town. Stephen, who had graduated from the capital’s technical university and was already vice president of my father’s firm for economic relations, lived with them.

I didn’t go home for a few months. I stayed with a bachelor army friend. I applied to the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, arranged to live in a dormitory…