Sometimes she looked at him longer than usual, as if trying to memorize every feature of his face, every wrinkle that had appeared over the years.
«You look good,» he said one evening at dinner, looking at her across the table, lit by the soft light of the lamp.
«Thanks,» Olivia replied, and a light smile touched her lips.
«Just don’t look too closely, my whole face will soon go crazy from fatigue.»
He laughed, for the first time in a long while sincerely, from the heart, so that warmth spread in his chest. That laughter was like a bridge connecting them to those days when they could talk about anything in the world without fear of being misunderstood.
Olivia looked at him with mild surprise, but a genuine joy flashed in her eyes, quickly replaced by the same thoughtful silence.
She set aside her spoon, propped her chin on her hand, and looked out the window again, where branches swayed in the darkness.
Alex suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
Not for something specific, but for everything at once. For not noticing before how beautifully she was silent, how her presence filled the house with something more than just habit.
The long-awaited day of the mother-in-law’s birthday arrived.
The preparations took weeks, but everything went perfectly, like clockwork. The house was decorated with such care that it seemed every corner radiated warmth and festive mood.
Garlands softly twinkled, the table featured bouquets of her mother’s favorite peonies, and the air was filled with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and home baking that Olivia had prepared all night.
Guests filled the living room: relatives, old friends, neighbors, everyone who knew her mother as a kind, wise woman who always knew how to support with words and deeds…
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