Chapter 4. Unconditional

With Christmas looming just around the corner, Ace didn't need any prompting to start celebrating early. In addition to cooking copious amounts of food as always, he began baking up a storm every day. From day to day the kitchen filled up with steaming cinnamon rolls glistening with sugary and buttery icing, decadent chocolate peppermint truffles, soft gingerbread men with painted-on suits of thick frosting with gumdrop buttons. He assembled tarts, pies, and trifles, each day bringing a new delicacy along with it. And he was the only person at home to eat all of these sweet treats that were piling up. His only goal? Eat for his lady and impress her: and that's exactly what he did.

One evening, they were lazing in the bath together. Sapphire had set up the room all nice for them: soft amber lighting, a myriad of tea candles, rose petals and foamy white bubbles in the water. She even had a diffuser going, creating an atmosphere of lavender with hints of citrus. Ace was comfortably situated with his back leaning against one side of the tub, with Sapphire seated between his legs leaning back so her head was resting on his right shoulder. He liked how his belly provided a comfortable pillow for her back, and he liked how his shape molded to her. But he felt insecure, suddenly, seeing how huge he looked in comparison to her petite form.

"Baby?" He asked tentatively.

"Mmm?" Her eyes were closed, her beautiful face looking so peaceful she was almost angelic.

"Do you think I'm getting too fat?" His voice wavered.

Her eyes opened and she turned her head to look up at him, concerned.

"No, honey, why would you say that? You're perfect." she soothed.

He rubbed a free hand up and down the side of his belly, feeling the soft skin under the water. There was so much fat to squish, he could easily grab a handful now.

"It's just, I feel so big," he admitted sheepishly, "I'm worried you'll look at me one day and realize I'm not attractive."

"Baby, that could never happen!"

Sapphire sat up and got on her knees facing him. She held his belly in her hands, and leaned in to give him a tender kiss on the lips.

She continued the thought, staring earnestly into his eyes as she spoke. He could tell how much she wanted him to see that she meant every word.

"Ace, baby, listen to me. I love you so much. You're my whole world. Your happiness is my happiness. And it's made me so happy to see you enjoying your cooking hobby so much, and your new baking hobby. It makes me smile to see how excited you get about food, how much you enjoy eating food. And I looooveeee", she emphasized, "love love love how you look with this big sexy belly on you. But if at any point you decide this isn't what you want, I'll support you reaching whatever goals you have. I'll love you at this size, at 50 pounds less and at 50 pounds more. And I'll love you the same at every size, it's not a conditional deal."

This brought tears to Ace's eyes.

"I didn't know how much I needed to hear that." He sniffled, unable to continue.

"I love you," she shrugged, "and it doesn't cost me anything to tell you how much."

They didn't bother to put clothes on after the bath. Instead, they elected to spend the rest of the evening naked in bed. Embracing Sapphire, Ace felt as if he was holding the world's most precious gem. He liked that she enjoyed squishing him, squeezing him, and playing with his fat. He liked even more how his larger size made him feel like her protector, her knight. He wanted to shield her from all the bad things in the world. He imagined encasing her in the folds of his body, keeping her safe from anything that could hurt her.

"Oh my gosh, baby, I almost forgot!" Sapphire's cry startled Ace out of his little daze.

"Wha-? What is it?" He rubbed at his eyes. He had been close to falling asleep! This position was just so comfortable.

"I have something for you!" She burst out, eyes shining with excitement.

"And you want to give it to me, right now?" He confirmed incredulously.

"Yes!"

"But baaaaaabbbeeeeeeeyyyyyy," he whined, "I'm so comfffyyyyyyy" he began to hump her gently, playful and slow.

"What can I say? I like keeping you on your toes." She shot him a playful wink and extricated herself from his grasp before he could react quickly enough to prevent her escape. He growled at her retreating back in dissent.

"Don't be like that baby, I'm coming right back!" She disappeared into their closet, laughing. Sapphire re-emerged just moments later, carrying a wrapped box with a beautiful satin ribbon.

"Isn't it a bit too early for that? Last time I checked, Christmas isn't until the end of the month."

"Just open it." She bounced back onto the bed, grinning from ear to ear, and presented the box to him ceremoniously.

"As you wish, my lady," he gave her a respectful bow of the head.

He pulled on the ribbon, untying the beautiful bow. Then he started on the wrapping, careful and systematic.

"Just rip it! What are you waiting for?" She chided him impatiently.

"I don't want to ruin it, you did such a beautiful job! I want to savour this moment!" He defended.

"Oh, baby," she sighed. She watched him intently as he kept her waiting, taking his time to open the box and making a big show out of it. When he finally took the lid off, he was greeted by soft velvet fabric. It was a raspberry red, very in theme with the season.

"What's this?"

"Try it on and find out," she waggled her eyebrows at him.

"You're making me get out of bed for this? You cruel, cruel woman!"

"You love it."

"I do," he conceded and rolled out of bed reluctantly. He unfolded the fabric to see it was a button up jacket of some sort and pants, with feather-soft white trim that was pleasing to the touch. At the bottom of the box lay a Santa hat.

"Did you get me...a Santa suit?" He was confused at first.

"Yes, sir. Try it on though." She was practically vibrating with excitement, but he was still unsure of what this all was leading up to.

He pulled it on. The soft fabric felt very nice on his skin, but the suit itself was far too large. The suit, when buttoned up, hung very loosely. He held out the waistband of the pants, several generous inches in front of where his actual belly ended.

“Um, you sure you didn’t over-estimate my size just a teeny bit? This isn’t particularly flattering.”

If she had looked sweet and angelic before, her features had undergone a twisted 180 to reach the expression on her face now. A devilish glint of fire blazed in her eyes.

“They don’t fit you…yet,” she sang.

His eyebrows shot up as he caught on to what she was implying.

“You are giving this to me to grow into, then?”

“Yup, she affirmed cheerfully, “you have until Christmas Eve. Then, you’ll try this on for me again. If you succeed in filling it out to my liking, you will be rewarded handsomely. If not…” her lips curved into a wicked smirk, “you will be punished as I see fit.”

As she laid out this plan, Ace’s cock began to swell. Every part of him ached for her, his body was physically pointing to her, he needed her.

“Your wish is my command,” was the last thing he said before the Santa suit was tossed to the floor and quickly forgotten about as the lovers lost themselves in each other. Both were driven wild by the same thought: how differently that suit would sit on Ace’s body come Christmas Eve.