Oleg has always been a very exemplary boy, a loving son, and a caring grandson. He loved his mother and grandmother very much. It should be noted that mother Olga and grandmother Zina loved Oleg much more. He has always been too overprotected and put on a pedestal as a little God.

Oleg's father left the family when the boy was eighteen. Having suffered in eternal quarrels and scandals about the upbringing of the child, the family broke up, the father was forbidden to punish the boy for pranks, give him to sports or take him fishing. It was a taboo to punish him, he could get injured in sports, and catch a cold at the open air. The slightest desire of a man to teach his son was met with hostility. And it ended with another stupid and vulgar scandal.

Grandmother Zina, who came from the countryside to help with her grandson, remained in Moscow. Their seniors’ apartment was a large one, left as a legacy by rich and distinguished relatives. His great-aunt had no children, and the only heir was a grandson her dear and beloved sister, Maxim, Oleg's father.

Having met Olya at an exhibition of paintings, a modest, provincial girl studying the art of the Silver age, Maxim just a few months later made a proposition. The couple was among a smart set of artists and the Bohemia of Moscow. Quiet, intelligent, and smiling Maxim and Olga carefully hid their main family problem, they tried to get pregnant for a long time, but fate, generous in everything, did not give them a child for many years.

Maxim was forty, Olga was thirty-eight.

– Pregnant! – reported the district gynecologist with joy and relief.

The late pregnancy was a very hard ordeal. Olya went blue from toxicosis and thin from headaches and nausea. In the last months, she was taken to the hospital. There was a real threat of miscarriage. That happened at the beginning of the ninth month, the long-awaited first child Oleg was born.

The boy was very weak and sickly. Granny Zina rushing to help her daughter and it was reliable support and help. They took turns sleeping, the little boy screamed from colic and often had a fever. In the first three years of life, three adults never got eight hours of sleep each. Oleg had caught all types of children and adult illnesses. He was a regular visitor to all hospitals, managed to break not only his hands but also his legs on the playground, so until he was three years old, the three adult idiots did learn how to take care of a small trouble bag.

A little later it became a bit better, the boy got stronger, almost equal in height and weight with his peers, was ill once every six months and almost never missed school.

The family returned to its usual rhythm of life, Maxim and Olga were engaged in work in the field of art, and Olga's mother helped around the house and with Oleg.

– Pregnant, – the district gynecologist looked at Olga.

There was a vivid discussion until morning. Olga decided to give a birth, although Maxim was strictly against it. The mother was on her daughter's side.

The miscarriage happened almost at the sixth month, the child could not stand the virus Olga got sick with and got still inside. She asked not to tell the gender of the unborn child, even though she knew in her heart that it was a girl. She had already secretly named her, Eva.

Since then, their family had had a black streak. Olga gave up her job at the state gallery and devoted herself to her only son. And his grandmother was taking care of him as well, now both women were praying for him. At first, the husband blamed his wife's insanity on a severe loss and then realized that the wife had gone mad because of her only son. All-day long they waited for him from school, taking him to music, drawing, and language classes. Maxim wanted to go in for swimming with him but met with such a cruel rebuff that he closed the subject.