Learning New Lessons

Chapter 1 - One Step at a Time

Emily Tucker put the last of her boxes down in her new rental house. She was exhausted from all the work of moving, both mentally and physically.

She ordered a pizza. She zoned out. She ate the whole thing binging Netflix, which was basically the only thing she’d brought with her on her TV.

Emily looked down. She had a decent sized food baby. This was new. When could she eat a whole pizza? When had she ever even tried? She was stunned and weirdly proud of herself. She walked to bed rubbing her new belly with love.

Emily went to sleep. Somehow, a full belly was comforting in the middle of all this change. Very comforting and nice.

Emily’s whole life has just flipped. She’d grown up in the suburbs of Chicago as the older of two kids with loving parents. She’d had an abusive college relationship end in March before she’d graduated, and she’d been lost and decided to move away to give herself a new start. It was in rural Lima, Ohio teaching fourth grade. Pronounced like the bean, not the South American capital city. It was the complete opposite of growing up in the suburbs and then going to college in Chicago proper as she could get, and that was what she was looking for.

Emily still didn’t know if that was going to be a good idea. She knew no one in town. But she was teaching 4th grade, just like she wanted to, and living without the worry of what his reaction to all her decisions, which was a massive step up from the last 18 months

The first week was a blur. So much to learn. The families were so nice. Emily ordered a lot of bad take out, like every day. She ate it all anyway. She knew it wasn’t sustainable, but she didn’t have time.

Around the third week, she realized she’d never make money if she was always eating out. She learned about crock pot meals from colleagues, where she could dump a bunch of things in and she’d have dinner when she got home. No cooking, just eating. Delicious.

But by October, her jeans weren’t closing well - or at all! Her bras and panties were digging into her sides and her hips. She had gained some weight. She went to talk to an older teacher, Mrs. Longer, who taught next door during the first set of conferences in mid October.

“How do you juggle?”
“I don’t, deary. I have my husband cook, or I exchange meals. Would you like to swap sometimes?”
“Yes! Absolutely.”

Mrs. Longer’s dinner came in a huge bag. It was a family portion, but it was the best thing that Emily had eaten since moving to town. She found herself slowly pushing each forkful into her full and overstuffed mouth. She ate every last bite. Her belly looked huge and round and she’d loved every second of it!

Emily told herself it should have gone over days. But she enjoyed the food. It was comfort. Her new belly showed how much food comfort she wanted and needed. She bought some new jeans. Bigger jeans. She wasn’t going to be unprofessional or unrealistic.

“Your dinner was so good! How did you make it?”
“Love, and lots of butter, deary.”

Emily knew she was gaining weight. Fewer and fewer of her clothes fit. But she as the days passed, Emily just ate more and bigger and extra food portions. It felt like a slippery slope… and yet… she wondered where it led.