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She reached into the bodice and began to take out crumpled bills.

– I'm afraid to ask where you hide your passport, – he muttered, looking at the road.

– That's right. Don't be, – replied the girl, laying out the money on the front.

– There's even dollars, – he said with a leering glance.

– Yes, two hundred and fifty dollars and three thousand rubles.

– Give me a hundred, – he said, holding out his hand.

Nadia gave him a hundred-dollar bill.

– This is to get us signed tomorrow. Hide the rest back, – he commanded, putting the bill in his pocket.

By one o'clock they were all asleep in their rooms. Spartacus no longer had the strength to think about anything. Get married, then get married! In any case, he would have to somehow answer for this towerless, so at least as a husband.

Exactly at 9 o'clock they stood in the doorway of the registry office of the rural district center. Spartacus called his army friend early in the morning. And he helped him to arrange things quickly through his connections. After that he picked up his bride, who was not worried about anything. And they quickly rushed back.

One hundred dollars wasn't quite enough. They had to add the same amount, and they were signed. The bride and groom had to bring a certificate of pregnancy as the basis for the urgent registration.

When he was told about it, Spartacus almost refused, but Nadezhda drew him aside and promised that it would not come to the baby.

– I hope not, – he muttered incredulously.

About an hour later they were pronounced man and wife and issued a marriage certificate.

In her worn jeans and slightly dirty blouse, the bride still looked adorable. He stared at her for a while, then shook his head and walked to his car.

– I never would have thought that my bride would leave the registry office in jeans and with a ponytail on the back of her head instead of a veil…

– Whew! Well, you're my angel savior! – Nadia exulted, getting into an old UAZ.

And a proper outfit and motorcade! He smirked at his thoughts and started the car engine.

– Where are we going? – his new wife asked.

– To my house, – he said and glanced at her, added sarcastically, – to meet my mother-in-law and father-in-law.

– Are you serious?

– Do you want your dad to get suspicious?

– No, sure, you're right… but what would I do there?

– Live.

– For real?

– Yeah, for real. Like my wife. And get ready to work, darling. No one's going to let you lie on the stove.

– Are you kidding me?! We're not really married!

– Well, that's only for you and me. But for the rest of us it'll be a real marriage. – He paused and said, – Either that or get a divorce, and I'll go to your father myself and tell him everything, especially since I know the address and his name.

– No, no, calm down, there is no need to go anywhere and tell anything, – panicked the girl. – Let's better agree on what we tell him about us. You know, when we met and stuff.

– Good idea, – agreed Spartacus. – When did you come from America?

– Over two months ago.

– Did you ever leave the house, go to a friend's house, sleep over, etc.?

– No. Went to my mom's cemetery, that's all.

He looked at her and mouthed words of condolence.

– Thank you, she died when I was ten years old.

– From what?

– She got pneumonia.

He sighed heavily and stroked her shoulder. Nadezhda looked at his hand and he immediately took it away.

– My father died, too, when I was that age.

– And you said I'd have to meet my father-in-law.

– I have a stepfather.

– Oh, okay, I'm sorry.

– It's okay.

– I'm sorry, too. What did your dad die of? – A girl asked sadly.

– There was a fire in our house. He dragged my mother and me out, and then he was rescuing the cattle. And a burning beam fell on him. Everything burned. And my stepfather took us in afterwards…

– You don't like him?

– I'm neutral towards him. He doesn't hurt my mother and I don't resent him.

– Did he treat you like a son?

– I wouldn't say that, – Spartacus said, straining his memory, his forehead wrinkled and his eyebrows pulled together on the bridge of his nose. – My father was my boxing coach; unfortunately, he died a few years ago, too. But Uncle Pasha didn't particularly stress me out, and I was fine with everything. He even taught me a lot of things…

– About what?

– To understand cars, to fix them. He was a car mechanic all his life. Build the house, and do everything around the house. He doesn't drink, he's a regular guy, a hard worker. But he has weaknesses, we all have them, – he added, and smiled slyly.

They came to a small farmstead with a straight high fence, over which hung thick green branches of bushes and trees. They could see that the garden was well maintained and in bloom.

– Welcome home, wife! – with these words, he got out of the car and walked around it, then opened the door for her.

She blushed slightly and put her hand in his palm and followed him.

– For everyone we are a real couple, so don't frighten if I touch you, – he spoke softly and opened the gate.

– Mom, is Uncle Pasha home? – he turned to his mother, who was hanging up the laundry outside.

– Hello, – said the girl, not resolutely.

The woman froze in place, mouth ajar. And just as faintly said hello in response, glancing at the clutched hands of the young.

– Mom, meet Nadia, she's my wife. – Spartacus quickly muttered and rushed towards the house, repeating his question – so he's home or not?

– What do you mean son? – She asked me, confused.

– I said, is Uncle Pasha home?

– Who is it, I don't understand? – mother asked the question as she came closer.

Nadezhda, a little frightened, began to hide behind her husband's back.

– And this, Nadia, is my wife, – repeated Spartacus in a direct tone, as if it were a dog or a motorcycle that he had accidentally purchased.

– What, such a wife? – didn't understand the woman, circling around them. – You didn't tell me you got married and why I'm seeing her for the first time?