chapter 18

The next morning, they drove to the mansion. Once again, Maria met then at the door, looking a little fatter than last time. Of course, Ted was also a little fatter, and Betty was a lot fatter. They greeted each other warmly and Maria led them to the library. Dinah was waiting, and so was the scale. When they walked in, Dinah stood, which was a bit of a sight. She jumped out of her wing chair, and the momentum of her corpulent body coming up nearly carried her across the room. It took six or seven steps for her to regain control, and it was only luck that her path didn't take her into other furniture. At any rate, she found her balance and stood with open arms. Again, she was quite a sight. At somewhere north of 300 pounds, her open arms framed a huge set of breasts, which topped a belly which was bigger and rounder than ever. All of which was in near continuous motion from all the fat that wouldn't stay still.

Dinah's enthusiasm was infectious. Once Dinah came to a relative halt, Betty rushed to embrace her mother. That meant that some 600 plus pounds of female flesh collided, bellies first. Fortunately, there was plenty of give in those massive bellies, so despite the bounce, and the two were able to embrace. Ted, caught up in the moment, rushed to join the embrace. His more than 300 pounds bounced the two women a couple of feet which was just enough for to cause their meaty hips to make contact with the drink cart. The drink cart, at maybe 40 pounds, had no chance. Over it went, with liquor, mixers, olives and ice going everywhere. Maria shrieked at the carnage. Since it was morning, Dinah had ordered Bloody Marys, so when the drink cart went over, it looked like a crime scene. The most bizarre sight was a spread of green olives stuffed with red pimentos in a pool of tomato juice.

There was a brief pause, and Dinah began to laugh. Then Betty began to laugh, then Ted. Maria tried mightily to maintain her professional composure, but it was too much for her to contain, and she snorted with laughter. It took a while, but they all finally settled down.
"Maria," said Dinah, still trying to control her laughter, "we seem to have demolished the drink cart. If I didn't need a drink before, I certainly do now. Worry about cleaning up later. The most important thing at the moment is pulling together the ability to mix us all a Bloody Mary. And I do mean all. If anyone has earned a drink, Maria, you have."

"We have more of everything in the kitchen, ma'am," said Maria, whose hiccups made speech more than difficult, "I'll have us all a drink in just a moment. Dinah, Betty and Ted all sat down. Maria went directly to the kitchen. She must have issued orders because three maids rushed in to clean up the mess. At about the time order was restored in the library, Maria appeared with a tray, and on the tray say four Bloody Mary's. She handed out the drinks and cast her eyes down, "I'll drink mine in the kitchen, if you prefer, ma'am."

"Oh no, Maria," chuckled Dinah, "You'd best join us. We may need you to keep some semblance of control. Betty, you emailed me that you weigh 308 pounds. That shows a competitive spirit to beat your dear old mother."

It was Betty's turn to grin. "Actually, mom, I thought you might still be trying to stay ahead of me, so I kept gaining. I'm up to 314 pounds now."

Dinah laughed uproariously. "That's wonderful! My daughter has learned to think ahead of the competition. Betty, you are definitely ready to take charge of our import company. You'll take them to new heights, I'm sure."

"Shall we make it official, mom?" Betty said, motioning toward the scale.

"No need, dear. Just looking at you tells me that you out weigh me. I'm ready to pass the torch. Maria, would you bring me the folder I prepared earlier?" Maria set down what little was left of her drink, opened a cabinet and brought a folder to Dinah.

"Here are the papers to make you CEO, Betty. I know you'll be awesome. And Ted, I have some work for you, too." Ted had been too busy staring at his very fat wife and very fat mother-in-law to have been paying attention to business. Hearing his name, he took a gulp of his drink.

"Yes ma'am. What do you have in mind?"

Dinah smiled, knowing that she had had to pull his mind back to business. "I have several businesses, and I've only turned one over to Betty. The rest are all profitable, but I am having a hard time tracking them all. I think a bright young man with a degree in software would be able to contrive a system that would give me the information I need to know what they are all up to. Can you do that?"

"It sounds like fun, Dinah. I'll be glad to take on that challenge."

"Fine, then. It's all settled. Well, I'd say it's time for lunch. Maria, I hope there is enough to feed three people who are all over 300 pounds."

"No worries, ma'am. I've told the staff to be ready for hearty appetites."

Once they had all strolled to the main dining room and taken their seats, the first course arrived right away. It was French Onion Soup, hot and covered in cheese.

"Mom," Betty said thoughtfully, "I'm curious."

"Yes, dear?"

"You managed to get us all the way from a couple of exercise and diet fiends to a couple of fat and happy 300 pounders. And you did it in less than a year. What made you think you could do it? Not that I'm complaining, mind you," she said patting her bulging belly. "I'd just like to know."

Dinah was quiet for a moment, thinking over her answer. "Naturally, there's no way that you'd agree to gain over a hundred pounds if I had asked you to. But if I asked you to gain a little bit, that you might go for. Then a little bit more. In other words, dear, in for a penny, in for a pound."