chapter 8

Rose awoke to something that wasn’t overly unusual, but still concerning regardless. After realising Maya wasn’t lay in bed next to her, she hauled all of her 320 pound self up to investigate.

She found Maya pacing back and forth in her apartment’s living room, chewing at her already short fingernails as it was. Her other hand holding her phone.

“Hey, hey...” Rose sleepily plodded towards her and held her in place. It was only then that Maya glanced down at her in a state of worry. “What’s going on? Is it money, because I can—”

Thankfully due to Rose’s quite literal huge contribution, the bakery has been managing to stay afloat for a while despite Maya’s protests that she needn’t pay.

Maya let out a shaky sigh, “My parents are coming to visit.”

“Oh—Well, that’s great! I’d love to meet them!” Rose’s concern was replaced with a bright smile, yet the same couldn’t be said for her girlfriend.

She shook her head as she pulled away, “It’s not great! I know they’re just going to berate me for the state the bakery’s in and I haven’t even told them about you yet!”

Rose paused for a moment as she watched Maya collapse onto the sofa with a loud huff, a small pout formed on her lips. Seeing her so deflated and worried was an awful sight and if she could help it, then Rose would certainly try.

“I’ll help.” She began, joining Maya on the sofa. The cushions tipped over to Rose’s side once she sat down. In fact the whole sofa seemed to veer in her direction when she was on it.

“I’ll design components for you! Menus, leaflets, posters...”

The bakery wasn’t in a bad shape by all means, though it could do with a modern touch. As a part of Rose’s job, she was used to creating brand identities for various companies and this would be no different.

Maya slowly reached out her hand and Rose took it with a tight squeeze, “And when it comes to meeting me? I won you over, didn’t I?” Rose let out her iconic giggle.

-

They spent the next few days together organising the bakery’s layout. Of course all the physical tasks such as cleaning, moving furniture and painting was left to Maya while Rose was more often than not delving into a slice of cake while sketching design ideas.

By the time the couple were done, Maya had to admit it looked...Pretty good. It had a vintage ice cream parlour vibe to it with bright pastel colours on the window frames and structure posts with the seating area matching in tow. Thanks to Rose’s efforts, there was now pop up menus on each of the tables as well as a much larger one behind the counter. It all came together perfectly despite being on a small budget.

The two of them were celebrating with a glass of wine and for Rose, a large slice of triple chocolate fudge cake. Maya definitely looked happier, yet her nerves were still rattling her on the inside.

She glanced around the bakery, a quiet sigh passing her lips, “...Do you think they’ll like it?”

“They’d be silly not to!” Rose chirped in response, leaning over to peck Maya’s cheek.

They clinked their wine glasses together and took a sip, yet they couldn’t enjoy it for long as the door bell jingled. Two middle aged people were stood with suitcases at either side of them, no doubt a couple. The woman was taller than the man even without the heels she had on. She was wearing a long, flowy dress that grazed her ankles and dark sunglasses despite the fact it was dark outside. The man on the other hand seemed a bit more relaxed as he was wearing a button up shirt with a few of the top buttons undone paired with some straight cut jeans.

Maya almost spat out her wine.

“Maya, baby!” The woman cried out, opening her arms for a hug.

She scrambled to her feet, in a mixture of shock, delight and pure horror, “Mum? Dad?! I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow morning!”

Maya accepted the hug while Rose quietly continued with her cake, not wanting to disrupt the family reunion. From what she had said, Maya’s parents now lived a few cities over and traded the bakery life for a high class restaurant. Her Dad loved the bakery and was much more of a small town man himself, though the money was too good to pass up. It would explain her Mother’s...Snooty appearance, versus her Father’s more subtle one.

“Aye, well our train got all messed up. It was either come tonight or at four o’clock in the morning.” Her Dad chimed in, “And you know how your Mother needs her beauty sleep, eh?”

That comment resulted in a well deserved elbow to the ribs from Maya’s Mum, yet Maya couldn’t help but let out a few giggles.

“Oh!” Her Mother gasp, her eyes now connecting with Rose’s, “We saw the lights were still on darling but I didn’t realise you were still open. You should have said!”

“Well—A-Actually—”

Her Dad raised his eyebrows, “Serving wine now are we, M? Business /that/ slow?”

“No, I—”

Rose slowly got to her feet, belly nudging the corner of the table and caused some of the wine to spill out the glasses. “Actually, I’m not a customer Mr and Mrs Porter.”

The two of them blinked at Rose, seeming both confused and quite frankly in awe of her size. Mr. Porter had a bit of a potbelly himself, though Mrs. Porter was just as slim as Maya was. Rose was quite literally the elephant in the room.

Maya hesitantly nodded in agreement as she re-joined Rose, grabbing a hold of her hand and intertwining their fingers. “Uh—Mum, Dad...This is Rose. We’re um...”

The bakery was silent for a moment as the Porter’s looked the girls up and down, until a wide smile was spread across their faces.

“Rose!” Mr. Porter cried out, coming over to give her a firm handshake, “Well aren’t you a beaut, eh? How’d my little papaya get you?”

Maya tried covering her face with her free hand to hide her embarrassment, “Daaaaad.” She groaned.

Rose blushed at her Father’s compliment, “Well I’m sure you already know Mr. Porter, but your daughter’s an excellent baker.”

“And you have her Mother to thank for that,” Mrs. Porter’s heels clicked against the tiled floor as she joined them.

“And this gut has to thank /you/ for that, love.” Mr. Porter chuckled as he patted his own round stomach.

Maya and Rose glanced at one another with the same thought, mischievous smiles forming on their faces.

In an excuse to remove herself from the conversation, Maya offered to get a glass of wine for her parents while Rose showed them around the newly decorated store. She couldn’t help but feel warm inside at the sight of Rose getting along so well with them, especially with her Mum.

She handed one glass each to her parents, all the while they were glancing around the area, “I must say Maya, it looks very quaint here.” Her Mother said.

“It was Rose’s idea, actually...” Maya wrapped an arm the best she could around Rose’s waist, only getting so far though. “She’s been a real help here.”

More than her parents would ever know, anyway.

-

Maya’s parents stayed in Maya’s apartment above the bakery for the few days they were visiting for while Maya stayed at Rose’s. With word the Porter’s were in town, more customers found themselves in the bakery than Maya would see in an entire year. Her parents were a bit of a local celebrity despite no longer living there.

She had to admit she was a little envious that her parents could persuade even the most health crazed customer into buying a slice of cake, but she prayed it meant they would come back for more. Potentially gain a few pounds...

Of course, nobody would ever overshadow Rose and she made sure she knew that too. With her parents taking temporary control of the store, it meant Maya could spend more time than usual making sure she was well fed.

“Another slice?” Maya cooed as she placed the plate by the side of her very full girlfriend. The dress she was wearing had to be unzipped from the back to allow her extra breathing room and even then, the fabric was stretched as far as it could go to the point it was starting to become transparent.

Rose let out a quiet belch as she started to rub her belly, being careful not to upset it.
“Ughn...I’m trying to work and you’re making it /very/ difficult.” She whined.

“Whaaat? Me?” Maya moved her hands lower to pinch at her underbelly, exactly where she was sensitive and laughed when it caused a choked moan in response.

Rose shifted her weight on the spot as she was beginning to get a bit hot and bothered, “I-I mean it! I really need to get this done and...Oh...”

She fell silent as Maya’s hand drifted under her dress.

“Is it really that urgent?” Maya murmured.

She let out a shaky breath, “I...Guess not.”

“Good.”