The Bond
Starting again! Story #1, Saturday 12th April. Content warning: in my considered opinion, not suitable for new mothers. This is a story that plays on the difficult dynamics some families have with in-laws, and the anxieties so many new mothers grapple with about whether they're enough, or doing things "right". Absolutely not autobiographical.
She's crying. Again. Always weeping and wailing. It's annoying, really. And depressing. Honestly, I think she cries more than the baby, and he cries plenty. Sometimes it's both of them together. A lesser woman wouldn't be able to handle it, you mark my words. A weakling would have cracked and left by now. But I'm no weakling.
He is just old enough to bawl properly, now. He's left that delicate and shivering lamb-like bleat in the dust, and he can work up to a really good shriek in nothing flat. Face red, tiny fists bunched tight, lungs really going for it. What a set of lungs my little lad has! Just like his father! People said my smoking was no good, but the boy could have rivalled Freddie Mercury if he weren't tone deaf.
Of course, she, the wet rag that she is, she won't have me smoking anywhere near this baby. I'm practically banished from the property if I want a ciggy. Her Majesty has rules. She sniffs me when I come back in! If she smells any smoke on me, she hovers like one of them mozzies, and tries to stop me picking him up. "Third hand smoke" she calls it. Nonsense, of course. I stop myself from batting her away.
"If I can smell it on you," she says, "he will breathe the chemicals in."
Ridiculous, her airs and graces. First hand smoke never did me any harm, never mind third. Nor his father, if it comes right down to it. You'd think she was the first person ever to have a baby, the way she carries on. As if she knows the first thing about minding a baby!
She doesn't know it all. Her with her squashy tit, leaking that watery stuff everywhere. She calls it "milk" but I can't see how it's any good. Not good enough for any boy of mine, that's certain.
No, there's a reason he was so scrawny, and never slept, and always cried... She said he was "colicky". Rubbish! It was her fault. Her with her nonsense rules.
And now he's gaining weight beautifully. Such a bonnie lad! And it's thanks to me. While Her Royal Highness is napping I top him up with some of the good stuff. He sucks on the bottle, greedy and strong, and it warms my heart, it really does. She thinks she knows best, pffft! I was a mother before she ever was, wasn't I?
She's awake now, still in a robe at this hour of the afternoon, and she's waving her floppy, wet breast at him. "Please," she says, the waterworks starting already, "Please!" I swear, she drips from every part of her body. My little lad, though, he's not having it. He's arching his back and screeching, as if he's just as offended by that revolting pink bullseye as I am.
Oh yes, it warms my heart.
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Editing to add a quick author's note:
THANK YOU to everyone who has commented, and who has welcomed me back so warmly after my break.
If you've been following me at all, you know I was continuing a story-a-day streak after my year of stories last year. Unfortunately, I got pretty ill for a couple of weeks, and I broke my nearly 500 day streak. I'm completely fine now, and keen to break my record.
If you've written something lately you especially would like me to read, please tell me about it and leave me a link in the comments.
See you tomorrow!
About the Creator
L.C. Schäfer
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I'm not a writer! I've just had too much coffee!
Sometimes writes under S.E.Holz
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Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
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Niche topic & fresh perspectives
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Comments (37)
"So helpful, thanks!"
Congratulations on Top Story 👏🏾❤️
Congratulations my dear congratulations 👏🏼🎉
Fabulous work - this is really good. I loved it. All your descriptions were perfect. Congratulations on your win too.👏👏👏👏🥳🥳
Wooohooooo congratulations on your Leaderboard placement! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Yay LC!!! Circling back to say congrats on second most discussed story!!
Welcome back!! What an explosive story to return with! Congrats on Top Story and glad you've recovered from the illness!
🎉 Congrats on Top Story — well deserved! 🙌 Keep it up! 💪🔥
This was disturbing and brilliant.
nice
Strangely, a few days ago, I knew I missed you, but I was like, Mother Combs...no not MC...there was another writer, i saw you in my mind but your name was not forthcoming. then you popped up from nowhere...and I was, Yes LC Schafer...that is her. Weird mojo there. Sure missed your fierceness for a while. In-laws get such a bad rap. It's that darned movie. But I can see the red eyed monster here. Congrats.
L.C., this piece is an absolute masterclass in voice and subtext. You’ve crafted a narrator who is so chillingly self-assured, so steeped in their own righteousness, that the horror of the story sneaks in sideways—and hits like a punch to the gut. It’s a bold and unsettling portrayal of generational tension, control masked as care, and the erasure of a mother’s agency under the guise of “help.” What makes The Bond so compelling is how you’ve weaponized the narrator’s smug tone. We see the damage not through what they admit, but through what they don’t realize—they are the unreliable narrator par excellence. The reader is forced to inhabit their perspective, and that friction, that discomfort, is where the story's power lies. It’s darkly clever and deeply empathetic to the real, aching vulnerability of new motherhood—even though it’s filtered through someone who utterly fails to see it. Also, that line—“She drips from every part of her body”—is grotesquely poetic and perfectly encapsulates the contempt and complete lack of emotional nuance from this character. It’s brilliant writing, even if it’s hard to sit with. And that’s the point. Thank you for tackling such a difficult emotional landscape with this much nuance and guts. It lingers long after the last line.
Welcome back, L.C. I am glad that you are doing better. And wow what a great way to come back this is one excellent story and it was a great read. Congratulations on the top story!
This was incredibly well-written. The voice was so raw and uncomfortable—in the best way. I could feel the tension in every line, especially toward the end, and while it made me uneasy, I think that was the point. I’m not someone who shies away from sensitive or emotional topics, so I really appreciated how fearless this piece was. What hit me the most was the beginning: the image of the mother crying alongside the baby. That moment was painfully real for me. I’ve lived that, and it stirred something in me that made me want to write about my own experiences too. It’s sad knowing people actually deal with this kind of dynamic in real life, but that just makes stories like this even more important to tell. Thank you for putting so much emotion and honesty into this.
Wooohoo!! She's back with a banger!!! Little bit of PTSD triggered from this story because I've got some great monster in-laws!! 😅 Anyway, love the narrative voice you chose!! Congrats on Top Story LC!!
Yayyyyy you're backkkkk! I'm so glad you've recovered. People like this are such a nightmare. When my friend gave birth, her baby had jaundice. And her father in law had the audacity to tell that it's her fault. Like whattttt???? Congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Congratulations on Top Story! Oh, that mother-in-law 😡
Congrats on Top Story! Richly deserved!
Just coming back to say congrats on your T.S.
Back to say Congratulations this was a disturbing well executed story.
Tones of The Hand That Rock The Cradle going on here. I'm just glad MiL was using bottled milk...
In-laws definitely can be a handful (or mouthful, or whatever-ful).
Wow a woman hating on another woman, then feeling they know better than the mother.
Ugh, one of those mother-in-laws. That's your GRANDSON, not your boy! Poor mom. Good story though, and welcome back!
You did what you always do so well...tell the truth in the eeriest way possible! So true that people often prescribe things to us. And we have the right and ability to decide what's best for ourselves.