– Alice, what do you think?

– Regarding?

– Oh, come on! Tomorrow is your birthday, your coming of age. I think it should be celebrated in a special way!

– Hmmm. Honestly, I don't know – Alice drawled – I have not paid much thought to it.

– Let`s invite your friends and have a girls-party? We could invite Uncle Kolya, our neighbor. He plays guitar very well. I bet, it`s will be cool party! – Mother smiled.

– No, Mom. No need. I'll just stay with you and read a book.

– Oh baby, I don't understand you at all, – mother drawled in confusion – You should have fun, you should find a groom for yourself, but you are deep inside in your books… soaring in some clouds. I don`t mean to sound morbid, but after all, youth is once in a lifetime.

– Mom, it's fine. Why I should do something I don't like? Better to do something you really want.

– Well, as you say.

Alice asked her mother didn`t cook anything special or give her any gifts, but Alice`s mom could not leave the day of her daughter's eighteenth birthday without attention. So the next day, when Alice returned from the university, she was immediately invited to the table with treats.

– Oh, Mom, come on. I asked you…

– Honey, I don't want to hear anything. Eighteen years comes once in your life, so help yourself. I took a day off today for you.

Alice came home from the university hungry, so she ate the treats which her mom cooked up on both cheeks. Watching with what appetite the daughter ate the meat, baked under potatoes, at the same time throwing a salad of fresh vegetables into her mouth, Katya suddenly remembered the day when Alice turned six months old. That evening, Katya wanted to arrange a small celebration dinner and modestly celebrate this date together with her husband, who for some reason didn`t return from work for a very long time.

His schedule was always stable, a five-day work week, from eight to five, and he always was at home by six-thirty at the latest. But something went wrong today. When it was seven o'clock in the evening, Katya didn't give it much thought. “Well, maybe there was an accident somewhere on the road, and the bus got stuck in traffic” or “maybe he stopped at a couple of shops on the way back home”, she thought. But when it was eight o'clock and he still wasn't there, she immediately dialed his number. She heard the beeps, but he didn't pick up the phone. Katya started calling relatives and friends, but none of them knew where her husband might be.

Six months ago, after Alice was born, Dima has changed. Very often he was depressed. He became more taciturn. Constantly thinking about something, and getting more and more self-absorbed. And Katya, of course, saw it. She often tried to bring him into a frankness conversation, so that he would share with her what was eating him. But Dima always answered “everything is fine”. But Katya understood, that her husband “wasn`t all right” at all. Yes, the economic situation in the country left much to be desired, but Dima was a physicist who worked in a private laboratory, and they had enough money to live on. Yes, little Alice was often ill and cried. She woke up several times during the night, and Katya couldn`t calm her down for a long time. And Dima, of course, went to work completely without getting enough sleep. She knew it was hard for him, but she hoped he understands it was hard for her as well. Katya had to take care of the baby, and entire housework was completely on her shoulders.

Katya didn`t think all this things was critical for their new family. Everyone goes through it. But most of all, with regard to his current behavior, she was concerned about what Dima had once told her. Long before Alice was born, when they started dating, they had a conversation about children. Then Katya asked him: “Who would you like to have in the future, a boy or a girl?” Dima answered unequivocally: “The boy”. Then Katya asked: “What if it's a girl? Won't you love her”? “Of course I will – Dima replied, with not really sincerely smile – “but I hope you will birth me a son”. Katya pushed this thought away as best as she could. The thought that he didn`t love his daughter and might be he don`t need such a family at all, filled her with wild horror! She just didn't believe it. Dima was a very good person. He didn't drink or smoke. He was intelligent, polite, tactful, honest, fair, and made enough money with his own mind. But sometimes we don`t know those with whom, as it seems at the first view, we can live a long and happy life.

When it was ten minutes to nine, Katya thought, “If he doesn't show up at nine, I'll call the police”. But he didn't show up. And she was about to dial the emergency number, but her daughter suddenly woke up and confused her plans. Katya changed Alice's pampers, feed her, and put her back to bed. And when she picked up the phone again, she heard like the gate clank outside and a man's figure past the windows staggering walk. Katya was waiting for him at the front door and when he entered, she was shocked by what she saw. He was drunk! Carelessly “hanging” his jacket on a hanger, which a second later fell to the floor, he silently went into the living room, put a bag with several bottles of beer on the table, took out a glass and poured himself a full one. The beer that had been shaken up on the way immediately frothed, and part of the glass immediately was on the table.

– Dima, what's going on?! – Katya asked in complete bewilderment.

– I drink beer! What is not clear?! – He answered loudly.

– Keep your voice down, I just put Alice to bed. What do you mean, “I drink beer”? You don`t drink at all, do you?

– Well, now I'll drink.

Katya just stood in a stupor, not even knowing what to say to this. Dima was practically a non-drinker person. For five years, he drank, well, maybe two or three shots of vodka on some big holidays and Katya offered it to him herself.

– I have a wonderful life, – he chuckled – and it's getting even more wonderful! So why not have a drink?

– What kind of sarcasm is that? What happened? Can you explain?

– I don't want to explain anything. Leave me. I want to be alone – he said, sipping his beer.

– Oh no my dear! Go ahead and explain to me what a hell is going on? I have a six-month-old child in my arms that requires constant attention. Plus the garden and the housework are also on my shoulders. I don't need an alcoholic in the house.

– Oh, come on! Stop it please. You'd think I'd sit at home all days and spit at the ceiling!

– I didn`t say that. I just want to know, why did you suddenly decide to get drunk?

– Why, why… I told you I have a great life, so I decided to celebrate.

– What is the sarcasm again? What's the matter, Dima? What's wrong with our life? Everything was good, isn't it? You've got a good job, we've got loan in the bank and bought a house, we've had our baby we wanted.

– You wanted to… – he said in a low voice.

– Excuse me?

– Nothing. Go to sleep.

– I didn't catch it. What did you just said?

– I said I don't work in “Vega Technologies” anymore.

Katya perfectly well heard what Dima said, but the news that he had lost his job shocked her no less than what was he said earlier.

– No, that's not what you said. Repeat it! Don`t be like a woman, be a man!

– Like a woman!!?? – He screamed, jumped out from his chair – I'm sick of this damn life, you got it? I'm a scientist! Physicist! But I`m earning pennies! Besides, that scoundrel Albert! I want a car run over him somewhere! He just a spoiled son of a rich dad! He doesn't need the lab and our research. His father died a couple of days ago, and what do you think? He's selling the lab and dismisses all the scientists. Scumbag! Just like that, he manages of other people's destinies, without even imagining what consequences people may have.