Chapter 4 - part 1 cont

The next morning, our last in Kansas City, I took a few minutes after my shower to give myself a thorough once-over in the mirror. Even on an empty stomach (the audible gurgles confirmed that it was in fact empty), my middle was looking a little puffy and squishy. I never had super-defined abs, but they had definitely been toned.

I examined the way my panties fit, the slight pooch of flesh over each hip, the barely increased amount of bum that couldn't quite be covered. I took each breast in one hand, measuring and weighing as much as I could. Was there added heft?

Finally I bounced up and down on the balls of my feet, looking for areas of increased movement. It certainly felt like my bum, thighs, and hips moved a bit more than usual. My belly also got into the action a little.

As I dressed, debating whether my shorts truly were too tight, I began to wonder if this was something I should freak out about. I certainly had no desire to get chubby, but at the same time I was always an advocate for the idea that all bodies were beautiful and that we shouldn't kill ourselves to conform to our culture's rather unhealthy standard of beauty. So would it make me a hypocrite to stress about a couple extra pounds?

I resolved to think about this more later, we had a big breakfast planned before hitting the road.

Three hours, five pancakes, four eggs, four strips of bacon, and a pile of hashbrowns later, we were on our way to Denver. I was sitting up front to navigate as Marcy drove, but mostly I was just trying to stay awake and stave off a severe food coma.

"So where do we get off?" Marcy asked after a little while.

"Uh," I grunted, reaching forward for the GPS. "It's gonna be like another 30 miles."

"Are your shorts unzipped?" she giggled.

"Yeah, did you see how much I ate?" I replied. "Gotta let this belly breathe for a bit."

She reached over and poked my side. "Getting a little chunk there, gal."

"Tell me about it, I feel like a pig getting fattened up for slaughter. It's probably a good thing this trip isn't any longer, I'd really blimp up."

"I think we're all turning into a bunch of oinkers," Marcy laughed. "I could barely get these shorts buttoned before breakfast, now look at it."

She pulled up her shirt to reveal a very full-looking belly that was protruding through the open V of her her shorts.

"Yup," she continued. "I think we're all in the same boat."

"A sinking boat if we keep eating like this," I mused.

Marcy's laughter filled the car.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I think I will always remember Denver as the city that made me wish I owned stretch pants. Or maybe some of those maternity pants with the big stretchy panel in front.

Because it was such a long ride, we stopped a few times for fast food on the ride. We got in pretty late and I don't think any of us were starving, but we still managed to find a reasonably priced place that boasted excellent hot sandwiches and an impressive salad bar.

"Stuffed to the rafters," Bren declared, blearily gazing at her empty plate.

"Full to the brim," Jill chimed in, cheeks puffing out as she fought to stifle a belch.

"Too full to move," I contributed, proving it by not moving a muscle.

"About to *hic* pop," Marcy finished, blinking drowsily.

A few moments of silence came over the table as we all tried to recover from our latest binge. It was supposed to be a lighter meal, but multiple trips to the salad bar (which included mac salad, potato salad, breadsticks, shrimp, and a lot more that wasn't technically "salad") meant we were all tugging on our waistbands before our entrees came out.

My turkey melt was so thick I needed both hands to pick it up and could barely open my mouth wide enough to take a bite. Once I did take my first bite, however, it was all over. Despite signals of satiation from my rapidly ballooning middle, I ate every crumb of the sandwich and the accompanying mountain of chips.

The other girls suffered similar fates, which is why we were all moaning in discomfort and trying to soothe stomachs that had been so overfilled that movement seemed truly impossible.

Once we finally hauled our fatter asses back to the hotel, we slept like proverbial rocks. The next morning wasn't super fun as we all felt the effects of eating too much too late, so we pushed breakfast back and did brunch instead.

Of course brunch meant an early dinner, which of course meant we were ready to eat again later that evening. We went to a little restaurant that supposedly had phenomenal desserts, and it certainly lived up to the hype. After ordering plenty of dishes to share, we passed around the various goodies until every plate was licked clean and I had eaten enough cheesecake to cause the buttons on my blouse to gape.

Day 2, to the surprise of none, consisted of us eating ourselves into oblivion as well. As we were leaving in the morning for the first of our belt-busting meals, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. A small strip of flesh was visible between the hem of my shirt and the waistband of my jeans, which was rather unusual for me. My middle looked oddly thick as well, but I tried to tell myself it was a trick of the light.

Twelve hours later we were getting back to the hotel and any thickness around my waist was certainly no trick at this point. It was well earned. I could hardly wait to kick off my pants and collapse on the bed.

"One more day," Bren remarked. "Then it's back to reality."

"As much as I kind of feel like I never want to eat again, I think I'm going to miss this," Marcy chuckled.

"Me too," I sighed from the bed, rubbing my domed middle. "I'm really glad we all finally got to do this together."

"Absolutely," Jill agreed. "This has been so much fun to just hang out together. And eat, of course. The food has been amazing!"

"We should try to do this at least every few years," Marcy stated. "I know life gets busy but it's been really awesome just getting to spend every minute together and really catch up."

"But probably not more often than once every other year," Bren chuckled. "Or else we'll have to budget in wardrobe upgrades."

"Oh c'mon," Jill smiled. "You look like you've only gained 20 or 30 pounds so far."

"Bitch," Bren laughed, throwing a pillow at her. "You're just lucky your tits grow first."

We all laughed at that, it seemed that Jill's already impressive bust was receiving a bit of a boost. I wondered idly where most of my weight would accumulate if I kept eating like this. Surrounded by wonderful friends, I let myself relax into a light doze as we all lazed around.