chapter 23

Once I embraced this desire to fatten Carolyn, things seemed to change between me and Abigail. I could not really point to anything specific, but she seemed more comfortable around me and I felt that we laughed a lot more. I also really enjoyed the element of plotting, although I think a lot of that was in my head. While Carolyn was dozing in her room to sleep off a particularly large meal, the doctor and I were planning ways to get additional food into her.

Carolyn also noticed this change but did not raise it until we were alone one evening. As I became more supportive of her frequent feeding, Katherine left us alone more often and this was one such occasion. Carolyn was laid on the settee, wearing a new bikini which Frank had given her. Now she was actively gaining weight, there was no need for subterfuge and, in fact, Carolyn seemed pleased that she had to have her clothes replaced.

I was knelt beside her, one hand gently massaging her stomach while with my other, I fed her spoonful after spoonful of a sticky chocolate mousse which Katherine had left for her late night snack. Inbetween mouthfuls, we chatted about our time in London, and Carolyn was still talking about what was going to happen we got back there. She looked at me with her smile, still as beautiful although it was now surrounded by a double chin and wide, plump cheeks.

"So why are you feeding me like this?" she asked without warning, and I felt a look of panic cross my face as I did not know how to answer.

"Well, I... I..." I stammered, as she made herself more comfortable on the sofa, but she did not once take her eyes from my face, obviously enjoying my discomfort.

"What I mean is," she laughed after letting me squirm for a while, "you kept telling me to slow down, and warning me about getting fat." Carolyn patted her large round belly and said, "But now, you have stopped nagging me and you keep giving me more and more food every day." She noticed my embarrassment and laughed again. "I think you keep trying to impress Doctor Locke!" I laughed with her, but it was triggered more by relief than humour. Although Carolyn was fattening quickly and although she knew that she was purposely force feeding herself to ensure that this gain continued, she did not seem to realise just how much her belly had swollen. Carolyn was in denial about just how fat she was getting, and still talking about how she could easily lose the weight after this holiday.

I handed her a cigarette and lit it for her.

"You'll be in trouble with Katherine!" she said as she exhaled a plume of smoke. "I've not eaten all of that mousse yet!"

"Well, I am hoping that will help answer your question," I replied. "I have told you countless times that I just want you to be happy, and I will admit that I had reservations about this 'deal' you made with Doctor Locke, but I can see how much you are enjoying your time here." I circled her belly button with one finger and then poked it inside the deep well of her navel. "If this is what you want, then I will give you it. And by the way, I am not scared of Katherine!"

Carolyn finished her cigarette and then I continued to feed her the mousse. Once it was all gone, I helped her to her bedroom and before long, she was snoring softly. When I returned to the living room, I found Abigail waiting for me on the sofa.

"I have brought a midnight meal for Carolyn," she said. "I think we can get an extra feed in during the early hours, taking her up to six meals per day. With the additional snacking in between and the sedentary lifestyle she has adopted, she will continue to fatten up nicely.
"
I looked at the kitchen table which had a large platter stacked along one side with slices of ham and chicken. The rest was covered with potato salad, pasta in tomato sauce, a selection of cheese and deep fried cornflour cakes. There was also a pile of bread which was lathered with butter. By the platter was a dish containing a full triple chocolate tart in a lake of thick double cream.

"Give her a couple of hours," said Abigail. "I expect her to wake up naturally, but if not, get her out of bed about 1 am. She may argue at first, but once she sees this, the hunger will kick in. Once she finishes it, you need to get yourself to bed because I am coming back early in the morning for her mid-week measuring." With that Abigail left.

I was not looking forward to waking Carolyn; I knew how annoyed she could get when her sleep was disturbed, but it turned out that Abigail was right. Just before one, Carolyn walked into the living room rubbing her eyes and yawning. I heard her stomach gurgle from the other side of the room.

"There is no way you can be
hungry!" I gasped.

Carolyn muttered something and looked from me to the food in the kitchen. As soon as her still sleepy mind registered what was on the table, she walked through, sat down and began eating. I went into the kitchen and sat opposite her, just watching as she greedily shoved the meat and bread into her mouth with one hand, while holding a spoon in the other. Occasionally, she would use this to scoop up some of the pasta or potato salad. I watched in amazement; Carolyn was acting as though she had not been fed for days. Once the platter was empty, she burped and started on the chocolate tart. In all this time, she only said one word to me: "Drink!"

I stood and looked in the cupboards, but the only thing I could find was a bottle of lager. I was knew that there had been more in our kitchen previously, so it seemed that Katherine and her servants were swapping the food we had available. I decided not to even think about it; everything they did was, in some way, a part of the plan to make Carolyn fatter and it was clearly working. I just opened the bottle and poured the lager into a glass and handed it to her.

"Thanks," she muttered with a smile between mouthfuls.
Finally, Carolyn sat back and sighed. There was still some of the chocolate tart left, but the initial hunger that caused her to eat so fast appeared to have been sated. However, she did not stop her feast. Instead, she raised the bowl with one hand and began spooning the cream covered pudding into her mouth with the other. Now, she was eating for the enjoyment of the food, not to fill the painful void of her stretched stomach. After she had finished the pudding, the lager and had a cigarette, Carolyn's eyes began to get heavy again, so I walked her back to her room and helped her into bed before going to bed myself. I was too excited to sleep straight away; I kept thinking about how much bigger Carolyn was going to get!

I must have dozed off at some point as I was awoken by Abigail standing over me with a wet sponge, giggling like a schoolgirl. Once I had overcome my initial confusion, she asked me how the extra feeding had gone. I replied that I did not need to wake Carolyn to feed her, and that I could not believe she had woken up hungry only a few hours after her last feeding. Abigail grinned.

"That is exactly what I had hoped for!" she said excitedly. "Regular overeating stretches the stomach and stops the brain recognising the difference between hungry and full. Also, when this over-feeding is excessively fats and sugars, the body's chemistry goes haywire and causes cravings of more fats and sugars to correct what is perceived as a dietary imbalance. I suspected that after eating all of that chocolate mousse, Carolyn would wake up wanting something more!"

"So what you are saying is... The more that Carolyn eats, the more she wants to eat?" I asked with a frown.

Abigail nodded. "Yes. She will just keep eating everything we put in front of her now. Not because she feels hungry, but because she does not really register being full until she is totally stuffed. She will never be able to lose this weight!"

As we spoke, Katherine and the servants had set out the usual breakfast spread: Pancakes and waffles, coated with butter and syrup. Toast with jam, fried bread, cereal, bacon, egg and sausage. To maintain the dietary requirements for Carolyn, everything was fried, coated in butter or full of sugar, but the smells were amazing and this alerted Carolyn to her morning feast. She waddled into the kitchen rubbing her grumbling belly and moved towards the chair, but Abigail stopped her.

"I need to weigh you," said the Doctor, poking Carolyn's overhanging belly.

"But it's only been a few days!" wailed Carolyn. "I have a week!" She looked longingly at the table full of food.

"Oh I know," said Abigail. "I want to see if you are on course to hit your target weight gain though. I don't want you to accuse me of cheating! I am not going to do any of the other tests; I just want to weigh you." Carolyn shrugged and climbed on the scales.

"Have you gained any more?" asked Abigail, although again, she could clearly see the dial. In fact she was looking straight at it when she asked the question.

Carolyn leaned forward and read the number. "That's a few pounds," she said slowly. "But it has only been a couple of days!"

"That's to be expected," replied Abigail in her official voice. "Your gaining will slow down over time. To continue gaining at this rate you need to increase your calorie intake." Carolyn looked at the doctor, nodded, and without another word sat down to breakfast.