chapter 12

“Our warmest of welcomes” their host began, “I believe all of you are new to the island, so I shall tell you a little about it—and us.” She looked around the room slowly and appeared to grin as she met the gaze of Mia, Noah and their new friends.

“As I’m sure you’ve found by now, our family doesn’t like to leave you with little on your plate. Your time here is about succumbing to your fantasies, letting go of your stresses for a while…” She gestured towards the food. “And enjoying yourselves without the limits of your everyday lives.” She pointed towards a group of similarly dressed waiters and waitresses. “And if you ever want for anything, tell one of our staff. Our natural remedies are very much included and the pride of our islands.” There were faint murmurs of confusion around the room which quickly died down as their host finished. “I think that’s everything. As we say here, ‘go big or go home’.”

Noah wasn’t quite sure if this whole holiday package was just designed to make people bigger—everything was centred around food and ‘letting go’, but then maybe, he concluded, that’s just what he and Lola had figured because that’s what they were into. Either way, he was ready for the night. And by the looks of things, everyone else in the room was too, as they began getting up from their tables to get food from the buffet. Noah noticed their host pointing towards him whilst talking to one of her waiters and before he knew it, a tray which appeared to have on it a stack of burgers was coming their way.

“Oh erm, looks like they’re already bringing us something,” Mia said as she followed Noah’s gaze. Lola and Alex looked around to see the waiter approaching. They helped him put the large tray down in the centre of the table.

“Shall we just take one each?” Alex asked the man. He laughed “oh no! All of these are yours — for starters. Courtesy of our lady.” “All of them?… And for starters?” Mia stuttered. The man replied “Yes… and yes.” He looked at Noah and Lola who seemed unphased. “I trust that isn’t a problem?” “Er no, they look amazing!” Lola replied, “thank you.” the man smiled at them all and then turned and walked back to the bar.

Lola turned back towards the table. “Everyone’s going after the fries and pizza. They’re my faves. Don’t wanna miss out!” she said, eyeing Noah and getting up to get even more food. Noah wasn’t to be beaten and excused himself to get drinks for everyone. When they reached the small row of people in the queue for the bar, they giggled to each other.

“This feels kinda cheeky…” Lola said sheepishly. Noah replied “I dunno... they both seem up for the meal and I dunno about your Jake, but Mia said she enjoys…” he gestured around his belly, “the extra roundness.” Lola grinned “I suppose. Jake sat playing with his little round belly for ages this morning. Couldn’t stop watching. I had no idea he’d enjoy it.” Noah replied, laughing “competition’s still on, then; first partner to pop their buttons.” Lola nodded “...and ya know if things get a bit much for them… feel free to feed me instead…” Noah felt a buzz down below. “I wouldn’t… want to get in the way of Jake…” he said honestly. “I don’t think they’ll see it like that!” Lola replied quickly, giving him a cheeky glance. They were now front of the queue and they gasped at the stacks of food as they’d never seen before.

“Take a tray please sir and madam!” exclaimed a waitress who was handing out large circular trays to guests. Noah and Lola took one each and thanked the lady. But before they could do anything, their trays began to be filled by waiters who swarmed around the guests. Noah shrugged and they just grabbed everything they wanted—and more for their table. They found themselves struggling to hold the trays up as they reached the end of the bar. “What are they gonna think?” Lola stammered, barely able to plot a route back to their table looking through the enormous pile of food on her tray. “I can’t believe they haven’t caught on to what’s going on here,” he huffed. “They must know.” Lola puffed back her agreement “anyway, I don’t care. When else are we ever gonna be given the chance to do this?” Before Noah could answer, they got to the table. Mia and Alex helped their out of breath partners settle the trays next to the burger laden one.

“There’s no way we’re eating this!” Alex laughed. Mia chimed in “well, I don’t know about us... You two might get through some of it.” She and Alex giggled.

“You guys been chatting, huh?” smiled.

“Uhuh… we have... kinda weird that both of you like… know about… this… but we didn’t…” Mia replied. “Do you guys know each other? Did you plan this?”

Noah and Lola looked at one another, wondering how they might explain things. Lola began “No, we don’t, but I guess...” she stuttered, this being the second time she’d tried to explain it in only a day. Noah continued “Some people realise they like getting bigger and find others online. And er… no idea how we ended up booking this holiday… It is quite...” Noah felt his cheeks redden “up our streets.”

As the four of them discussed things, Lola and Noah divvied up a burger, chips and a slice of pizza for everyone and they began to eat. Mia and Noah felt strangely empty, considering the large meal they’d had only hours earlier, and the food was absolutely incredible. Every bite felt like heaven and it wasn’t long before they’d finished their first portions.

“Hey guys” Mia started leaning over to talk to their new friends, “come around to this side of the table. I can’t see you properly through the pile of food.” she giggled at how ridiculous this all was. Lola and Alex shuffled around the table.

“How the hell are we gonna eat all of this?” Lola asked, holding a pizza slice up to her partner’s mouth and sneaking a quick glance at Noah. “I dunno!” Noah replied, staring back at her whilst bringing an even bigger slice up to Mia’s mouth. Both Mia and Alex seemed quite oblivious to their partner’s competition and gladly enjoyed the food.

It wasn’t long before they began feeling full even though they were barely a fifth into the huge pile of delicacies on the table. As if like clockwork, their host appeared at their table.

She made them jump when she greeted them.

“Oh please,” she said smoothly, “don’t let me interrupt your meal. I only wanted to tell you about a wonderful ointment we like to give our guests that we find eases them a little. Just rub it around a little anywhere that you feel tension…” She gave the four a small unlabeled bottle each and then swiftly used a last to pour some of the ointment into their drinks too. She saw her guest’s confused faces and quickly continued “No need to worry, it’s only a harmless herbal concoction. Like I said earlier, it is famous around here.” she curtsied and left.

“She’s weird...” Alex whispered, apparently not too worried, taking a sip of his fizzy juice. The others nodded. Noah and Lola looked at one another and then down at their bottles. Noah took a little and rubbed it underneath his shirt on his stretched stomach. Lola did the same, then copied by Mia and Alex who had stopped questioning this overwhelming experience.

Almost immediately, but almost without realising it, they felt their bellies seem to relax and before they knew it, they were eating at the same speed as before whilst they chatted over their normal lives atop the loud bustle of the other guests. Lola asked Mia all about her channel and Noah and Alex found they had some gaming favourites in common. Barely an hour later and Mia broke the conversation, looking down at her belly. “F——!” she barely managed to exclaim. “My tummy is er…” She was lost for words. Mia’s tummy had not just extended out to the higher than usual table but had swelled underneath it too. “H… how did I only notice this when I tried to get up” she wavered, barely able to believe her new-found huge roundness. They all shuffled their chairs out to look at their own. Even Noah and Lola couldn’t believe what they saw. They looked around at the other guests in the room, most also with large bellies resting under the tables.

“What IS this place?” Alex stammered, trying to pull down his blazer over his belly but failing to do so. With a loud ‘PUCK’ his blazer button flew off. Lola stifled a joyful “Yesss!!” directed at Noah as she excitedly won their competition. “This isn’t funny Lola!” Alex hissed. Mia shuffled further out to try and stand again, but as she did, her belly tore the left seam of her shirt which fell limp to her side as though it were just an old cloth.

Noah felt his pants tighten harder around his waist and when he saw Lola stand as well, her vest coming apart under her stretched lace top, he got so hard that he felt his belly being lifted a little. He couldn’t help but notice a darker patch in her knickers between her previously unbuttoned jeans. She looked at him. And then down at Mia and Alex who were both comforting each other. She smiled and stuffed a further burger bun into her mouth.

The room got louder and the bustle increased as chairs around the room were pushed back, guests stood, some horrified, some excited. Everyone looked around at everyone else. It was clear that most of the guests were enjoying themselves immensely and it wasn’t long before the whole room burst into conversation as people waddled around the other tables, asking where they’d booked from and what they were into. Now they were looking around properly, Noah and Lola noticed some strangely familiar faces in the room too; faces they’d seen on blogs, sites, video sharing platforms, Patreons... Noah looked over to see their overjoyed host sitting at the staff table in the corner, looking around at her guests. She met his gaze and winked.