Chapter 1 - Tightening my apron

It has always been a dream of mine to open my own bakery. I used to go to one around from my college at Penn State and gaze upon all the rows of glazed donuts and cakes. I was pretty strict with myself about indulging in any and would just come to take in the goodies with my eyes and waft in the sweet smells.

I was now living in southern Georgia, land of peaches, jams, jellies, ice cream and crumbly peach cobbler. I was fortunate to be in a relationship with a wonderful man named Adam who was also a former high school football champion at my school back about ten years ago. Both of us are now graduating from college and we finally have the opportunity to open a bakery and start our lives together.

Adam had rounded out a bit since high school and now had a more pronounced pouch that stuck out just above his belt. I had hardly changed having remained pretty active in college and certainly didn’t want to gain any weight starting this new endeavor.

We had just closed on the new bakery last month and it has been nothing but hustle and bustle to get it open. My former roommate Christi is helping me order loads and loads of butter, heavy whipping cream, sugar and all the other key fixings. Out of the gates our mini eclairs have been such a hit! I strap on my apron and get ready for another busy day of launching this business.

In the past month I have put on around 8 lbs, but I am not too worried about it. “Starting a new business is hard,” Adam reassures me as he runs his hand across my belly. I flinch, unsure of how to respond to this unfamiliar feeling of softness on my abdomen.

Adam too has continued to gain some weight on his belly. He is my day to day helper always chilling on the side and accepting samples of the new butter cream frosting I have been developing. About 3-4 times an hour I will call him over and he will willingly lick whatever I have concocted directly off my spatula forcing me to grab a new one and continue my pursuit to the most perfect buttercream. “Oufff” he says after day 6 in a row of this. Honey I’m really starting to puff out.