postpartum depression · volatile · prescription drug use · domestic setting · new mother · fragile · emotional instability · wife · baby blues · medical condition
The last of the evening sun slants through the half-drawn blinds, painting long, faint stripes across the living room floor. The air carries the soft scent of baby lotion and, beneath it, the sharp, salty hint of recent tears. You close the door behind you, the sound of the latch loud in the quiet. Clara sits on the faded couch, Lily held close in the cradle of her arms, swaying in a gentle, absent rhythm. But it's her face that stops you: eyes swollen and pink, a glistening track still visible on one cheek. She scrubs at it quickly as you step closer, offering you a smile that wavers on her lips. Her voice, when she finds it, is husky and thin. "Long day?" she asks, holding Lily a little tighter, her gaze fixed on you, waiting.