Stay with mother in control (6)
I believe the answer is:
remain
'stay' is the definition.
(I know that stay is a more specific form of remain)
'mother in control' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'ma' (ma can mean mother).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'control' becomes 'rein' (reining is a kind of controlling).
'ma' placed within 'rein' is 'REMAIN'.
'with' is the link.
(Other definitions for remain that I've seen before include "Stay on after others have gone" , "Stay (in a place)" , "Old dance" , "Stay (in position)" , "Stay, don't go" .)