Chapter 8 - investigating the past

We stopped to get Edward some take out on the way back home, I knew he was trying to cheer me up by eating for me but the thoughts were still on my mind about his family. He put away two of the four supersized meals in the car on the way back and the other two once we got in the door. After he waddled up to bed to give Derek a much needed good night's sleep without eating this time. I changed out of the dress and put on my pajamas and went back down to the computer to look up the property records. I couldn't sleep until I knew if my fears had a chance of coming true or not. What the search revealed would give me a chance to figure out my feelings for Edward; if it was truly love or just a very close fondness of his size and what he was doing to Derek for me. A few clicks on the city's property online archives and I found what I was looking for. I read the names of the previous owners and my heart sank.

After Edward died in 1922, his son inherited his father's business and this house. The substantial fortune that his son Joshua had managed to accumulate in the seven years before the crash of 1929 kept the house in the family for another forty years. Then in 1969 Joshua's son Andrew took over the house, the recession of the 1970's however forced Andrew to sell it to his cousin Emilio, who was the grandson of Edward's daughter Mina. She married a Hispanic man in 1940 that had a lucrative shipping and receiving business that he had based in California. Emilio held onto the house until 1997 when it went to his son Javier. That was the name of the seller that sold us the house. Emilio had been the one who put up that false wall in 1985 but for some reason he didn't take the antiques with him after the house was sold, that made me wonder if he just didn't want to or that he didn't care to. I thought about whether or not I should contact Javier and ask him about the antiques in the attic or if I should just keep it to myself. I closed the site and saw a new message in my email box, curious I clicked on it and it was from the realtor asking if it would be alright with us if she could give the seller our email address. She stated that he had some follow up questions to ask us about the house. I felt a chill run down my spine; did he want to know about the antiques? I knew if I didn't find out for sure it would drive me crazy with worry, so I sent one back to her saying that it was fine with us if she wanted to give it to him. Now it was a waiting game to see what questions he wanted to know.

Sleeping over the next few nights was hard; I was worried about the email I was going to get from Javier. I told Edward what I had found out about the house's owners and even he was starting to get worried about it. On days when Edward wasn't possessing Derek I had a chance to tell him about what I found out too. He sat back in the chair and patted his belly.

"Those antiques do belong to their family Andy, and we could fight them if they decide that they want them back on the basis of finders' keepers you know? I like having Edward around too and I know that I couldn't get this fat without his help. I want to keep gaining; I've got the fat bug if you catch my drift." Derek said.

"That's true, they didn't take them when they moved and I know that his father Emilio had to know the antiques were up there. I seriously doubt that he wouldn't have gone up to check the roof for leaks or mold or something in the entire time that he had the house. Old houses need work so he would have known." I said.

I pushed over the pie plate so he could reach it.

"Maybe they knew about the ghosts and left them here on purpose, thinking no one would believe them if they said anything about this place being haunted; like sweeping the problem under the rug so to speak." Derek said.

He took a huge forkful of pie and popped it into his mouth, I had noticed Derek picking up on Edward's sweet tooth lately and I guessed that may be because he was enjoying sweets more than other foods. I loved seeing it; I could make them with the most fattening things I could get. Using actual lard and butter rather than the alternatives added calories to the pies and cakes I made for him and he said that it made them taste better as well. Derek had ordered a huge amount of weight gaining powders and shakes and he would drink them instead of other drinks most of the time. It was all adding to his waistline and he grew bigger from it. Edward found the idea of those products interesting and he would make them up on nights when he would be in control while Derek slept. I watched Derek take a long swig from the Slurpee sized cup he had filled with weight gainer shake; those seventy-two ounce cups were perfect for getting large quantities of the shake into him.

"Mmm, so you think I can hit five-fifty before Christmas?" Derek asked.

"You look like you're already there now I've noticed you've been pigging out a lot recently." I replied.

"What can I say? I've become an emotional eater." Derek said with a grin.

"How so?" I asked.

"Eating like a pig makes me happy and horny; those are emotions." He replied cheekily.

"I see that's a good point." I said.

"I also ordered that new scale so I can track my weight, mom thinks it's to track my weight loss but we both know better don't we Andy?" Derek said.

"So she's been on you about your size again? What is she trying to get you to do this time?" I said.

"Oh the usual; 'I'm concerned for your health,' or 'You know this isn't good for you...' and 'You should take some time off to get back on a healthy track.' I never listen to a word of it, I pretend to so she'll lay off me." Derek replied.

"Hmm, maybe we should take some time off. Take a road trip, travel around to find you the best places to fatten up even more at; carnivals, eating contests, restaurants off the beaten path that have the most fattening foods imaginable...sounds like heaven to me." I said.

"I like the sound of that; go away and come back even fatter than before. That'll piss off my mom." Derek said. "Is there anymore pie?" He added.