Confinement Day Three, Mother-in-Law's Post Sent Her to Prison

On the third day of my postpartum recovery, the postpartum nurse was helping me start nursing when my mother-in-law leaned in.

The pain was so sharp I squeezed my eyes shut, and she made a few clucking noises and went back out.

When the baby latched on, she held up her phone and aimed it at me. Thank heaven. Grandma's precious boy finally gets to eat.

I blocked the shot fast, but the video of me starting to nurse and feeding him still went up on her social feed.

I begged her to delete it, and she looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

"That little bit of flesh on your chest, so precious now, is it? It's my feed. I get to decide whether it comes down."

Ten minutes later, the nurse held up her phone and looked at me, at a loss.

"Ellie, your mother-in-law didn't just post it to her feed."

I looked at the likes and comments climbing under her TikTok video.

I clenched my fist. This time, I'd make her rot behind bars.

1.

"Ellie, maybe try talking to her again. Get her to take it down."

The nurse, Eva Fox, was mortified.

I set my sleeping son back down and, biting through the pain of my incision, made my way out to the living room one slow step at a time.

My mother-in-law was on the couch, her sweaty bare feet propped up on the coffee table.

"Mom, take that post down. Now."

She spat out a sunflower-seed husk and looked at me, put out. "Take down what?"

Seeing my face darken, she dragged up a smile.

"Ellie, aren't you being oversensitive? I only put that up to share the good news, to let everyone know the Lamberts finally have a fine grandson, that the family line will carry on."

I forced my anger down. "You want to share the news, fine. Use a photo of Baby Noah. There's no need to film me on the sly and post it."

She slapped the seeds in her hand down on the coffee table. "Eleanor Fox, what are you getting at? Are you calling me a thief?"

"If you hadn't gone and had him early, before I even got here, I'd have gotten a video of my precious boy coming out of the delivery room too."

She jammed her hands on her hips, fury in her eyes.

"This is my son's house. I'm his mother. I do what I want, and you've got no right to call me a thief."

She tapped the video open. "I'm filming my precious grandson. It's got nothing to do with you."

Seeing the whole screen filled with my bare body, I couldn't stop the anger surging up.

"Mom, open your eyes and look. Who exactly is in that video?"

"Mom, that's my body. That's my privacy. You can't put it out there."

Watching me shake with rage, she couldn't have cared less.

"Your privacy? Eleanor, you're a city girl, so maybe you don't know how it works: a wife belongs to her husband's family. You married my son, so everything about you belongs to us Lamberts."

"I just filmed a little video to let everyone know I've got a grandson. Don't go making a federal case out of it."

"Privacy, whatever that nonsense is. I'm an old woman from the country. I don't understand any of that."

Eva tugged at my sleeve and said softly, "Ellie, Baby Noah's awake. He wants his mom."

In a daze, I thought I could hear my son crying.

I turned and headed for the bedroom.

"Mom, I married Percy Lambert. I wasn't sold to the Lamberts. You'd better take that video down right now, or you're violating my privacy, and I'll pursue it."

She glared at me. "Pursue it? Eleanor, I'm a country woman who came up from the sticks. Don't throw all these fancy words at me. I don't understand them."

"Same as I said. It's my feed, and I've got the right not to delete it."

"You"

I clenched my fists, ready to keep arguing with her.

Eva caught my arm. "Ellie, the baby comes first. Go see to him."

Back in the bedroom, my son lay asleep on the bed.

Eva urged me quietly, "Ellie, I don't think she'll listen to you. Call Percy now, while not many people have seen it, and have her take it down fast."

"Look at how she is. Going head to head with her won't get you anywhere."

I'd been so angry at my mother-in-law that my head had gone foggy.

I'd actually forgotten that the one person she listened to was her son.

I called my husband. Nothing but a busy signal.

Ten minutes later, I tried again. Still on another call.

I sent a message. It sank like a stone.

Seeing my brow stay knotted, Eva tried to reassure me.

"This time of day, Percy's probably driving home."

"Ellie, don't work yourself up. Give it a little longer. Once he's back, I believe your mother-in-law will delete it."

Watching the likes and comments keep climbing under my mother-in-law's post, phone gripped in my hand, I was frantic.

I wanted nothing more than to snatch her phone away and delete it myself.

Just then, the bedroom door opened.

Percy was home.

Before I could get out a single word of everything I'd been holding in,

my mother-in-law came in right behind him, wailing to the heavens.

"Oh, son, take me back home. I can't stand one more minute in this house."

Margaret dropped onto the floor with her tattered bundle and started wailing.

"Mom, get up first. I'm home now. I'll set this right for you."

Percy rounded on me. "Eleanor, did you drive Mom out?"

"She came all this way to take care of you. How could you make such a scene?"

I stared at him, lost. "Percy, what are you talking about? When did I ever tell her to leave?"

Margaret jabbed a finger in my face. "You called me a thief just now. Don't think I didn't catch it. You were driving me out, plain and simple."

"Son, hurry and buy me a ticket. I truly can't stay here."

Her wailing was so loud it startled Baby Noah awake.

I had Eva take him into the guest room.

I pulled up her social feed and held it out to Percy. "Look at what your mother posted. Look, and then come blame me."

He didn't even glance at it.

"Eleanor, you're being too sensitive. My mom just put up a post, that's all. Was it really necessary to call her a thief?"

"She was crying on the phone to me this whole time. She came all this way to take care of you, and you're giving her a hard time?"

Behind him, Margaret wiped away the few tears she'd managed to squeeze out.

When she looked at me, her eyes were pure smugness.

No wonder his line had been busy every time I called.

So that was it. Margaret had been busy the whole time, filing her complaint against me.

But right now, I had no room to dwell on any of that.

I lifted my phone, opened that post, and pushed it right up in front of Percy's face.

"Percy, do you see what's in the video? Did she just put up a post? Every bit of it is me."

Margaret craned her neck. "So what if I filmed you? You're the mother of our precious grandson, aren't you?"

"Son, I only wanted to share the good news with all our family and friends."

"The Lamberts have a new baby. That's the greatest joy there is. Everyone ought to know."

Percy soothed her gently. "Mom, I know what you mean. I understand."

She jutted out her lip, the picture of injury. "But she called me a thief and told me to get out and go home. I've lived more than sixty years, and no one's ever called me a thief. No one's ever told me to get out."

"Son, if you won't stand up for me today, I might as well go be with your father."

Percy's father had died young, never got to enjoy a single day of comfort from his son, and Percy had always carried the guilt of it.

No matter the moment, the instant his father was mentioned, Percy went soft.

"Mom, don't worry. I'll stand up for you. I promise."

He turned on me, seething. "Eleanor, apologize to Mom."

I looked straight at this man. Three days ago, in the delivery room, he'd sworn to me with every word.

I'd walked through the gates of hell to give him a child, and he'd said he would love me and protect me for the rest of my life.

Only three days had passed.

The wound from my C-section was still weeping blood.

And because of his mother's tantrum, he was telling me to apologize.

I said, cold, "Not a chance."

The words were barely out before Margaret started up again.

"Son, look at her. I really can't stay. Just take me back home."

Propping her up with one arm, Percy snarled at me, "Eleanor, if you push my mother into something serious, I will never forgive you."

I forced myself out of bed through the pain and played the video from Margaret's post.

"Percy, open your eyes and look. She filmed me in secret, and then she posted it."

"She's the one in the wrong, not me."

"If anyone should apologize, it's her."

The last syllable hadn't even faded.

Crack. My phone was kicked flying, slammed into the wall, and split in two.

"Percy, are you insane? Why did you smash my phone?"

I didn't even get to finish.

He walked his mother to the couch, then turned on me, resentment thick in his voice.

"Eleanor, my mom just posted one video. Do you have to push her until she can't take it anymore?"

"Have you even watched it? That whole video is me"

"So it's you, so what? Nobody cares. All anyone cares about is that Baby Noah was born. Nobody's paying attention to whether you were in frame or not."

His tone was flat with impatience. He pointed at his mother. "Apologize, Eleanor. Don't make me say it a third time."

I looked at this man I'd loved for five years, and a cold sadness rose up in me.

"Percy, I never knew you could be this blind."

"In that video, Baby Noah shows up for one second. Everything else is me getting my milk started and nursing him."

From the couch, my mother-in-law cut in. "So I filmed you, so what? You married into the Lambert family. I can't even film you now?"

I stared at her face, so full of spite. "No. That's my body. You violated my privacy."

She glared back, offended. "Ugh! Aren't you precious. Son, I think I'll just go back home. She's never going to think I'm good enough."

Percy grabbed my wrist and dragged me forward, gripping hard.

"Let go. You're hurting me."

His grip was strong, wrenching at my incision until it burned.

"Percy, let go of me. Your mother secretly filmed me and put it online. That's against the law. You should be making her delete the video and apologize to me, not swallowing her lies and turning on me. I just gave birth"

Percy flung me off. I stumbled and dropped to my knees on the floor.

The wound, yanked hard, began to seep blood, thread by thread.

The pain tore a cry out of me.

My mother-in-law glanced at me. "Son, what are you doing? Now she's going to pin some new crime on me."

Percy stepped on my hand and gave the order. "Eleanor, you apologize to my mother, properly, and this whole thing ends here."

I pulled my hand back from the wound and shoved hard at his foot.

"Percy, she's the one in the wrong. Why should I be the one apologizing?"

He looked at me, past the edge of his patience. "Mom just snapped a quick video. There was no malice in it. Do you have to blow it up into some huge thing?"

"First you call her a thief, now you say you'll take it all the way."

"Are you seriously going to call the police and have her arrested?"

My mother-in-law grabbed Percy's arm, playing terrified. "Son, she actually wants me arrested. I really don't dare stay here. Hurry up and take me home."

I held back the pain. "As long as she won't delete the video, calling the police to have her arrested isn't off the table."

My mother-in-law clapped a hand over her mouth in fear. "Son, did I hear that right? She actually wants to send me to prison."

Percy looked at me, exasperated. "Eleanor, my mom meant no harm. She just took a quick video, that's all."

"We're family. Do you really have to do this?"

The familiar line made me let out a cold laugh.

"Whether she meant harm or not, she knows perfectly well. And so do you."

Six months ago, when Percy and I got engaged, his mother filmed a vlog.

Thirty seconds, and two-thirds of the shots were aimed straight at my chest and my backside.

I still remember what she called it.

Big hips, big blessings. The Lambert family's new daughter-in-law is going to be a real winner.

The second I came across her video, I handed my phone to Percy.

He was in the middle of a game and barely glanced at it. My mom's just happy. What's the harm in her posting a video?

I told him to look at where the camera was pointed.

You're being too sensitive, he said flatly. My mom just started using a smartphone. She doesn't know how to shoot. It coming out like that is completely normal.

Since I wasn't satisfied, Percy had no choice but to call his mother.

Back then, she deleted the video without a word.

She even made a point of apologizing to me.

At the time, my best friend told me she'd done it to show off and pressure me at the same time.

I brushed off everything she said.

I never imagined the same scene would play out all over again today.

Eleanor, my mom really just wanted to let everyone know Baby Noah was born. Stop being so paranoid and suspicious.

This time I'll speak for my mom. As long as you apologize to her, she'll forgive you and let it go.

I thought of all the ugly comments sitting under my mother-in-law's post.

I glared at Percy. Percy, there's no way I'm apologizing to her. If anything, she's the one who should. I'll give her two hours. If she doesn't delete the videos from her feed and from TikTok, I will hold her responsible.

There was a sharp crack, and a stinging heat spread across my left cheek.

Percy was glaring at me, shaking with rage.

Eleanor, you're so damn unreasonable. Don't think that just because you gave birth I won't teach you a lesson.

My mother-in-law made a show of pulling at him. Son, whatever's wrong, it's all my fault. Don't blame her. For your happiness, I'm willing to go back home. If she really doesn't want to apologize, that's fine too.

Looking at that face that turned my stomach.

I said furiously, Margaret Finch, drop the act. Don't think I don't know what's going on in your head.

If you really knew you'd done wrong, you'd have deleted those two videos already, not stand here playing the innocent little victim.

In an instant, she clutched her chest and fell backward.

Feebly, she said, Son, I already apologized, and she's still cursing at me. What does she want me to do? Just because I wanted to share the good news with everyone, she wants me dead?

Percy rubbed her back to soothe her, glaring viciously at me all the while.

Eleanor, you're impossible. I'm telling you, if anything happens to my mom, I'll make you pay for it.

Son, my chest hurts. I can't stand to look at her, or she really will drive me to my grave.

Percy helped his mother out of the room.

Before he locked the bedroom door, he didn't forget to warn me viciously.

Eleanor, the moment you come to your senses and apologize to my mom, that's the moment I let you out.

You can stay in here and think about what you've done.

With a heavy slam, the door locked shut.

I pressed a hand to my bleeding wound.

Then I took out my backup phone and made two calls.