Chapter 1 - Meeting the Parents

“You’ll be fine,” Matt Torres said, as he buttoned up his medium dress shirt, “We’ve been dating nearly eight months, but all I do is talk you up to them. They’re going to love you. I promise.”

“Okay,” Katie Miller said, as she slipped on her cute winter boots.

Katie was finally meeting Matt’s parents, eight months in. They had meant to met sooner, but they travelled quite a lot around the US, and this was the first time they were home in months. They owned a popular bakery, which had grown into an empire all around the states, and they made liked to visit every location to make sure that everything was up to standards. Manning the business was their only work, and they made a lot of money from it, allowing them to travel whenever they wanted, which also allowed Matt to have grown up rather lavishly, being the only child.

They were business owners, but above all else, bakers. So, as Matt grew up, he naturally had a bit of weight to him, since he had a bit of a sweet tooth. He mostly grew out of it in high school, but it still lingered just a bit, as he was 5’8 and 170lbs.

“Okay, I’m ready whenever you are, babe.” Matt said, “I have the hotel key, too.”

“Coming!” Katie yelled, grabbing her purse, and closing the hotel door behind her.

She felt nervous in the car, but Matt was quick to calm her nerves until they arrived at the house. The hotel they choose was only a thirty minute drive from his parents house. They lived a whole 700 miles away, and figured that flying for the weekend would make things easier.

When they arrived, Matt kissed her, “They’ll love you, I promise.”

They walked to the door, and rang the doorbell. Katie fixed her hair as the door opened, and she was face to face with a top heavy woman.

She was short, maybe 5’0 even. She worn a loose dress, but her thick body was still apparent. Her under arms hung low, and jiggled as she raised them to hug Matt.

“And you must be Katie! Aw! C’mere, I’m a hugger.” She went in to hug Katie, and Katie was able to feel just how wide she was.

“Wow, all skin and bones huh?” She said.

“Mom! Please.” Matt said, slightly embarrassed.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Torres,” Katie said, blushing and laughed awkwardly.

“Oh, sorry, dear. You’re just so skinny! But wow, you’re beautiful! A real looker! And please, call me Elena. You both come inside, Matt, your father just finished cooking, and the table is already set!” She laughed, and went inside. Katie walked in first, Matt following behind.

This is where Katie met Matt’s father. He was roughly the same height as Matt, maybe a little taller. He was just as big as his wife, but instead of being top heavy, his weight was equally distributed throughout his body.

“Ah, so this is the infamous Katie i’ve been hearing about?” He smiled, and shook her hand.

“Yes, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Torres.” Katie returned the smile, before he made a small tsk sound, and said, “No, no. Please, call me Robert. ‘Mr.’ just feel estranged.”

She nodded, and made small talk with Robert. Eventually, Matt and Elena came in, and they all began to eat dinner. Katie immediately felt comfortable with Elena and Robert, and Matt smiled as he watched them all get along.

Katie took note, however, that Elena pet pushing more food to Matt, and even asked under her breath why he wasn’t eating. He whispered something back, and she rolled her eyes, before smiling again, and continuing in the conversation.

Katie also noticed how much his parents were eating, but she constantly complemented the food, and understood why Matt grew up chubby. They offered her seconds, and even though she couldn’t eat more, she didn’t want to make a bad first impression, so she said yes. Luckily, the food was so good, she was able to forced down most of the second plate.

Eventually, everyone finished, and Katie offered to help clean. Matt was going to join in, before Robert pulled him away to show him something in the backyard.

As Elena and Katie cleaned, they made small talk, until Elena turned a little bit serious.

“You seem like a sweet girl, Katie. But of course, I love my son, so I wouldn’t want you to hurt him. But I can see you really care about him, and he really cares about you, too.”

“Yes, I really do. I would never hurt your son-“

“It’s just,” Elena interrupted, “Now of course, we tried to make him happy. Not spoil him, but happy. And he was really happy as a kid, until middle school, where he was bullied for his weight. I watched my son starve himself just so he could fit in, but I know that neglecting what he wants isn’t going to make him happy. I just hope you can love my son, and I just want him to be happy.” She sniffled, and continued with drying the dishes.

“Oh, wow. I didn’t know that…I can promise you, I would do anything to make him happy.” Katie was aware that he grew up chubby, but always said he just happened to lose the weight as he got older. Matt never told her that he got bullied for his weight, nor did he starve himself.

Eventually, they strayed from the topic, and both guys walked back into the house. The rest of the visit went well, until it was time to leave. They all said their goodbyes, Matt and Katie drove home.

“Matt, your mother told me something today. I don’t know if it’s a sensitive topic but..” Katie started. Matt shot her a confused glance, before looking back at the road, “I mean, what is it?”

“She told me you used to get bullied for your weight? And that you starved yourself to lose weight?”

Matt snorted, “Oh that. Nah, it’s not sensitive at all. She’s a mother, so it’s a bit different from her perspective. Yes, I did get bullied for my weight, so naturally I got determined to do so. So I did occasionally skipped out on take-out night, and eat less, but that was because I knew my eating was the problem. I dropped enough weight where I wasn’t bullied in high school. But that’s it.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, because she was making it out to be real bad.” Katie sighed.

“I mean, yeah, it does suck not being able to eat what I want, and basically constantly on a diet, but I’m under 170lbs, so I guess that’s all that matters.”

Katie stayed silent, hearing Elena’s voice in the back of her mind: “…neglecting what he wants isn’t going to make him happy. I just hope you can love my son, and I just want him to be happy.”

“I mean, what’s stopping you from just….not…dieting?” Katie said, carefully.

Matt just stared straight ahead, “My weight. I would probably get a bit big if I stopped.”

“I constantly diet too. That’s how I stay under 110lbs. What if we both just took it easy for a while, you know? Just relax.”

“Jeez, did my mom make you overthink or what?” He laughed, and so did Katie.

“I’m serious, Matt. I think it would be nice for the two of us to just, relax. Take it easy.”

Matt smiled, relaxing his posture, before agreeing, “Yeah, I guess I could stand to loosen up. But if i gained a bit of weight, don’t complain to me, this is your idea.”