chapter 3

The holidays were approaching. Kim had just been promoted at work so she had been very busy all day. Things with Joe were still going very well. They had even discussed moving in together. They decided to let Kim get used to the new demands of her job before taking that step. Joe had started to train a little harder since Kim was so busy with work. It seemed like they only saw each other at dinner time during the week and on weekends. With her new demands at work, and wanting to make sure she had plenty of time with Joe as the holidays got closer, Kim stopped going to crossfit. She figured she could still keep her size 6 body if she just ran 4 days per week. If she was honest with herself she would have noticed that those size 6's were already getting tight. Having those hours in the evening back meant that she could join friends at happy hour if Joe was training or that they could have dinner and a movie. Joe loved movie theater popcorn and they always got a bucket to share. For Thanksgiving, they were going to stay with Joe's family. Kim was packing her clothes and she was worried that she didn't have enough warm clothes to take. Joe suggested a mall trip to pick up some extra jeans and sweaters. She was a little worried because her size 6 work clothes had been getting tight. They went into the first store and Joe held up a cute blue sweater for her to try on. She grabbed a few types of jeans and some other shirts and headed for the dressing room. Joe asked her to come out and model for him. Inside the dressing room she tried on the blue sweater and a stretchy pair of jeans. She had to hop around to get the jeans up the whole way and then struggled to button them. She couldn't believe it but there was a fat roll forming on the top! The sweater wasn't much better it was really tight on her arms and the chest fabric was really straining. She didn't want Joe to see this and was freaking out inside. Just then he called to her and wanted her to come out. She sighed and walked out in her very unflattering outfit. Joe's eyes got wide and she turned red, telling him that she must have grabbed the wrong size jeans. He gave her a hug and said that her beautiful breasts needed a little more room. He told her not to worry and he would grab her some different sizes. She asked for the sweater in medium and jeans in a size 8 while she went in and tried the other clothes. None of the size 6 fit her. She was really upset. How could she be gaining all of her weight back again? She decided to pull herself together. This time it all seemed to be in her hips and breasts so she told herself it just made her curvy. She left the store with size 8 jeans, a few sweaters and some stretchy leggings. She was texting Cindy on the way home that she was upset about getting size 8 clothes. Cindy assured her that she did not look fat and that she was just setting in to the size her body wanted to be. During their trip to Wisconsin, Joe still needed to train for his upcoming race so they got a week pass to the local gym. Kim and Joe both went the first day together. Since she really just ran now, she hopped on the treadmill. Oh how she hated the treadmill. She liked running outside. It felt like torture to try and run on that thing. She noticed some aqua massage tables in the next room. She gave up after 3 miles of running and went to the massage table. It was so nice to relax. Kim enjoyed meeting Joe's family. They were all so friendly but unlike Joe, they weren't very health conscious. His parents and his sister were all overweight. Kim helped in the kitchen and everything smelled so good. All of the rich dishes and sauces and several different desserts made her crave everything she saw. During that first dinner, Joe's mom kept pushing them to eat up. Kim decided to try just a little bit of everything, trying not to be rude. She ended up having seconds on many things and still had room for dessert. When they went to bed that night, Joe told her how happy he was to see her enjoy dinner. The next morning Joe was up early and tried waking Kim to head to the gym. She just couldn't bear the thought of another day on the treadmill so she asked him to go alone. He kissed her forehead and said it was fine. She went back to sleep and woke to a full Wisconsin breakfast downstairs. Again she didn't want to be rude so she sampled everything. She loved the cheesy quiche and had a large second portion of that. She so rarely ate cheese so this was such a treat. Joe came in and kissed her then sat down and dug in. The large means continued and Kim kept sampling all of the rich foods. It made Joe very happy. Kim went to the gym a few more times but just couldn't get excited about the treadmill. Her runs got shorter and her time on the massage table got longer. Thanksgiving Day is apparently the event of the year for Joe's family. They started with a large breakfast and then had several snacks out while they all watched the parade. Then they moved on to beer and other snacks for watching football. Knowing that Kim didn't usually drink beer, Joe had picked up some wine at the store. Kim said she actually wanted to go along with his family and have some beer. It was a local brew and she loved it! By the time dinner actually rolled around, Kim felt super bloated from the beer and snacks. The entire table was covered with dishes of food. There was a huge turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, homemade rolls, and a pan of lasagna (Joe's brother in law was Italian so his mom added that). Kim put a little of everything on her plate and decided on white wine with dinner. She was already feeling her jeans cut into her but she couldn't make Joe's mom feel bad. She ate everything on her plate. She had not eaten gravy in forever. She had seconds on mashed potatoes and gravy plus some sweet potato casserole. She was so full. They waiting about an hour until dessert time. Joe had been bragging about their dessert buffet for weeks. It was just as impressive as he said. Pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, pecan pie, and an apple pie. Plus home made ice cream and whipped cream. Kim wasn't hungry at all and wa still feeling her tight jeans. She whispered to Joe that she might have filled up on too much dinner. He whispered back that there's always room for dessert and that she would love it. He made her a plate with thin slivers of each pie along with ice cream and whipped cream. He made himself the same thing. When he sat down he said loudly, "holiday calories don't count" and the whole family laughed. Kim ate her whole dessert plate. She was so full and wished she could unbutton her pants. She couldn't believe that the rest of the family went back into the living room with beers in hand. She excused herself to the restroom and when she undid her pants, a stuffed belly popped out. She looked like she could be 4 months pregnant. She was standing there looking in the mirror in shock. She took a selfie with her pants unbuttoned and her belly hanging out. She sent it to Cindy saying that she was definitely fat again with a bunch of sad and crying emojis. True to her character, Cindy replied - it's Thanksgiving- we all have bellies like that today. You're gorgeous as always. Kim noticed the scale in the corner. She hadn't stepped on the scale in months, not since she was a size 4. She decided to weigh herself. She weighed 160 pounds! She had gained 30 pounds back since she and Joe began dating. She was so upset with herself. She had to rejoin the family and just couldn't stand to button those jeans back up. She took the ponytail holder out of her hair and looped it through the button hole. This old fat girl trick gave her some breathing space. That night in bed, Joe was extra touchy feely. She was still upset about the weight gain but feeling Joe cup her breasts in his hands and feeling him pull her close made it all ok. She decided she could live with being a size 8 but really needed to be sure she stopped gaining. When they returned from the week in Wisconsin, she told Joe that she loved his family and if he wanted to, she was ready to move in together now. He smiled and pulled her in for a hug. They decided to move into Joe's place because it was bigger and was close to both of their jobs. Kim was hoping that being around Joe and his good habits would keep her in line. The morning she returned to work, she knew that was the right decision. She couldn't button any of her clothes for work!