Chapter 7 - friday afternoon: going out in public-updated

She opened her pretty eyes, and looked at the clock again by her Mom's bedside. The time was now a little after 2:00 PM. Her huge stomach still felt hungry it seemed, no matter how many times she filled it... until she felt so full she might burst. It must have shrunk with the crowding inside from the creature.

She toyed with the idea of going out in public to get some groceries and maybe buy some more comfy maternity clothes. Ugh, but she couldn't! She refused to let anyone see her like this. It was a muggy July afternoon, if it was winter she could hide her fatness with coats and sweaters. It was boy shorts and tank top weather, sadly. Wrong time of year for discreetness.

Hmm...what to do... She rubbed her stomach thoughtfully.

"Oh! Yes! Of course!! Duh..." She could just drive to another town where nobody would recognize her! There was a big department store in the next city, about 15 miles from the house. She could just go over there and do her shopping in total secrecy. She'd pay cash so it wouldn't show up on the books...no problem. Why hadn't she thought of that before?

She'd have to forego the dip in the pool until she had suitable swimwear. And she definitely needed some bigger clothes and underwear. But she couldn't go out naked. She'd have to find something, anything, in the house that fit. Time to dig a little deeper in the old closet.

She forced herself out of bed and back on her swollen feet, and made her way to the storage closet once more. She went to her Mom's top dresser drawer first and pulled it out. Just as she remembered, the seamstress measuring tape was there. Ugh...time to get this over with.

She waddled her big butt over to the mirror and measured herself. Her waist was...48 inches at the navel. Her bust was still 34 inches around, under her boobs. Then she measured the fullest swell of her womanly assets. 44...Jeez Louise. She was bigger than her Mom after all.

She had to go get her iPhone to calculate the bra size. She quickly pranced down the hallway butt nekkid and grabbed her iPhone off her bed. She went to HerRoom.com and found the bra size calculator she normally used for herself and plugged in the measurements.

WTF???

She was a 34-H?!? "Oh. My. Gawd. I guess it will be a plus-size maternity then."

She'd have to go braless until she could get fitted. So without further ado, she pulled on her Mom's black polyester top, the stretchy one with the gather in the back, and then went digging for some fat pants. Bah, forget the pants. A skirt might be necessary. She had to dig really far back in the closet rack before she found this polyester silky skirt with an elastic waistband that expanded to monstrous proportions. It was flowery and totally not her style. Oh well. The more out of character she looked, the less likely anyone would recognize her.

She decided to go for the full dorky fat girl disguise, and got her Mom's old pair of horn-rimmed glasses. Carefully, she popped the lenses out so she could see through them. She put them on her face and wow...they really did change her appearance. Then, so she wouldn't look like a total fashion disaster, she found a nice hairband and a matching bracelet and slipped a fake pearl necklace over her head. There. Now she didn't even recognize herself. She looked like a woman that no teenage boy in his right mind would bother to flirt with, being preggers aside.

She tried to wriggle her bloated feet into a pair of Mom's flat shoes, but they just wouldn't fit. So she slipped on a cheap pair of light blue foam flip-flops instead.

"Babe, you really do look like nobody's girlfriend now." She said to herself. She was wearing maternity clothes that were about 25 years out of style, some old 1970's thick glasses and a flowery skirt, which she never would wear herself.

Grabbing one of her Mom's old black leather purses and snatching a glance in her mirror of a woman so strange it shocked her, she at last felt ready to take on a venture out into public, confident about being totally incognito.

She made her way down the stairs to the entry hall, and instead of going out the front door (someone might see her leave) she went for the garage instead, where she knew her Dad's SUV was parked. She had found his key hanging on the wall, exactly where he left it.

She had never driven his car before. This would be an adventure. She squeezed herself in, struggling to tuck her belly underneath the steering wheel. Oof...That sorta hurt...and she pulled the door shut. She hit the button on the sunroof, and the garage door slowly went up, as bright sunlight filled the garage. She turned the key and heard the engine roar to life. Putting his Aviator sunglasses on she found on the dashboard, she carefully reversed out of the garage and pulled out of the driveway. Nobody was out, at least nobody she could see in her mirrors. Good.

She hit the button for the garage door again, and made sure it was closed before driving away.

Traffic was light, that was a blessing. She put the Galleria Plaza into her iPhone's GPS app. It was about 20 minutes away. To distract herself from thinking too much, she turned on the radio to her favorite country station, humming softly to herself as she drove.

Before she knew it, she was pulling into a parking space at the enormous mega mall known as the Galleria. The parking lot for this place was like 10 acres, she lived out in the Midwest where space was no premium. The mall itself sprawled all over the place. As she got out of the car, she took a picture of her parking space with her phone, just so she'd remember what lot she was in. D-2.

Totally relaxed and confident nobody here would recognize her, as she'd never been in this particular mall before, she walked into the main entrance and joined the bustling crowd of skimpily-dressed teenage shoppers, completely disguised as an ugly forty-something mom who hadn't the slightest fashion sense.

She noticed some odd glances from people when they saw her belly and what she was wearing, but she didn't let that hurt her feelings. Not a single face she recognized. So far so good.

The mall didn't seem that crowded for summer. It was about 90 degrees out, and normally the girls would seek refuge in the cool air conditioned store from the heat and the sun. But the mall seemed almost deserted for a Friday. Maybe everyone was on vacation?

She walked through the main thoroughfare of the gigantic shopping mall, stealing sideways glances at herself in the mirrors. She looked monstrous.

There probably should have been a sign on her butt that said WIDE LOAD. Her belly was sticking out almost a foot in front of her, and the bottom edge of her pale basketball of a tummy was barely peeking out from underneath the black top, stretched to its limit. She waddled across the squeaky clean floor, flipflops slapping the heels of her bare feet. As she walked through the food court, her massive belly grumbled, but she ignored it.

A woman was sitting at a table with a stroller parked next to it and a fussy toddler in it. She had another kid tucked in her arm and was spoon feeding it some ice cream. It wasn't until the woman cast her a knowing smile and nodded to her that she noticed the bulge under the woman's own shirt with the telltale belly button poking out. She had two kids, and another on the way? Gawd. Knowing what pregnancy felt like, how did women DO that?

Who would willingly put herself through this ordeal more than once?? Ugh. What a cow.

She tried to picture herself doing that, and just couldn't. How would she ever get her flat tummy back after having *this* one? Her poor stomach is gonna look like a deflated balloon. Whether boy or girl, this little gremlin better appreciate the trouble.

She was taking the long way through the mall, just looking around at the stores. She obviously had to find plus size maternity wear. So as not to draw attention to herself, she'd have to go in a bigger department store. No Victoria's Secret or Forever 21 shopping spree for this girl! Not anymore. She was wearing big girl panties now. (Well, actually those felt about to rip. She'd have to get new underwear too)

Ah. a Lane Bryant...finally. She waddled in through the open doors, and went straight to the back to the underwear. The store again seemed oddly empty. She approached the sales desk in the underwear section and smiled at the girl behind the counter. Sheepishly, she cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Um...hi...well um, as you can see...I think I need to get fitted for some new underwear. I haven't gone out much, being on maternity leave and all, and uh...this is kinda embarrassing, but I seem to have outgrown all my clothes."

The girl smiled and asked the awkward but inevitable question: "So, how far along are we?"

Smiling sweetly, she said "Oh, still in the first trimester. I'm sure I'll get bigger" as she patted her burgeoning belly.

"Alright, ma'am, come right this way to the dressing room and we'll see what we can do" She led her to the rooms behind the counter and dug a seamstress tape out of her pocket. The doorway sensor beeped as they entered with a sound like a cheap door bell.

Closing the door for privacy, the two of them were now locked in a space the size of a closet. A full length mirror and several hooks were on the wall. The girl cheerfully made small talk as she hung the black purse on one of the hooks.

"So my name's Jessica, I'll help you find what you're looking for. But first, we'll have to get your measurements of course."

She smiled. "I'm..." (Better make up a name) "...Jenn. Uhm, it seems my top is caught, I'm sorry would you mind helping me? Just can't get it over my um, boobs" She chuckled.

"Sure." Jessica stepped behind her and loosened the bow in the back, and the top slipped easily over her head. Her face turned pink as Jenn's swollen udders bounced into view.