Promise Ring

Chapter 1

Filipino cuisine, in case you're unfamiliar with it, is a syncretic assortment of Indigenous ingredients, Chinese and Spanish recipes, and American culinary influences. It has not achieved the kind of mainstream awareness as other national traditions from Southeast Asia, like Thai food, but attend just about any Filipino party and behold the sumptuous feast that will inevitably be waiting: a suckling pig (lechon), buckets of fried rice, savory adobo, rich kare-kare stew with oxtail, fatty pork belly, and of course, the infamous, deep-fried lumpia--if there are any upsides to the colonization of the Philippines, it's the amazing food that was borne out of the intermingling of cultures. However, such a hearty cuisine characterized by oil, fat, and salt doesn't lend itself to "healthy" eating. In the United States particularly, Filipino-Americans have a reputation for being on the larger side; in fact, among Asian-Americans, Filipinos represent the highest rates of obesity in the United States, and second-highest for being overweight. None of this was on Stephen's mind when he first met Genny, but it would help to explain what happened once he did.

Our story begins with a young, second-generation Filipino girl named Genny. Fresh out of college, where she had slowly, but surely grown several pant sizes over the course of four years (after succumbing to the freshman fifteen, of course), Genny's plans for her life had been put on hold by the pandemic; she found herself living back at home, with her parents, her younger sister, and her lola, her grandmother, who was approaching 100 years old. Her father was a tremendous chef, a portly and jolly man, a specialist in his native cuisine, and a luxurious party host who flouted the pandemic restrictions: nearly every weekend, her entire extended family--the ones in the states anyway--could be found dancing in her backyard all decorated and aglow with lights, the music blasting, drinks flowing, her father carving into the pig, her mother always trying to bring out the karaoke machine. Genny routinely found herself overeating, stuffed beyond belief by the end of the night, but she hardly noticed. Her teenage years had been spent doing much the same thing; all that had changed was her metabolism. She was medium-height, not as short as her mother, which meant that her size did not fluctuate as much as her weight: she carried it well, in other words. Her boyfriend of three years, Stephen, had recently expressed his interest in her growing body, and she had been willing to entertain his desires for the past few months--she enjoyed the "booty gains," as the kids called it, that her increasing weight had induced. Once the gyms closed (along with everything else), she figured she could blame it all on the "pandemic weight" that nearly everyone seemed to be experiencing. Her life was, in short, one of leisure, nearly bordering on indulgence, but not so much that she felt guilty about it. She almost felt relief that becoming an adult had been put on hold. Until one day, when it all changed...

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"Ate! Come down!" Genny heard her sister calling from downstairs. She had almost finished getting ready--she was having trouble getting her ass to fit in what was once her favorite pair of jeans. She tried all the usual tactics: pulling with all her might, kneading each cheek into the fabric, jumping and letting gravity do the work, and still no luck. If I've finally outgrown these, maybe it's a sign...

"Ate, c'mon! There's a surprise for you!"

"Hold on, Malaya!"

Her sister's voice, no matter how far away she was, always had this way of defiantly carrying throughout the house. With a grunt of frustration, Genny stepped out of the jeans and looked at herself in the mirror. She felt lumpy. She sported a thin layer of flab on her midsection that poofed out over her waistband. Her arms and legs were flabby, her jawline had grown round and soft, stretch marks had slowly imprinted themselves across her skin nearly everywhere; her hips stretched wide, her thighs chafed (though that had basically always been true). She didn't hate her body, but she didn't love it either. At least for the most part. She turned and examined her booty: tight, perky, oversized, each cheek bulging and jiggling. She was amazed as her body had grown how well her ass had maintained its shape. But now that she had finally outgrown not only her last pair of jeans, but her favorite pair from senior year of college, she realized that maybe her lackadaisical pandemic behavior was finally coming to bite her in the--

"Ate!"

"Malaya, shut up!"

"Don't tell me to shut up! Maybe I'll just tell your surprise to buzz off!"

"Just hold on!"

Genny quickly grabbed her emergency wardrobe, a bright blue sundress, which had been her standard wardrobe as of late, and dashed downstairs. She hadn't even had time to do her makeup; her hair was tied up in a raggedy bun. She figured her sister had just been pretending that it was urgent--until she spied Stephen standing at the threshold...wearing a suit? What was going on? Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her dad, ama, with a prehistoric camcorder on his shoulder tracking her down the stairs, grinning like he had just gotten away with stealing. What was going on?!?

"Genny," Stephen said, his voice rippling with nervous energy.

"What's going on..." she said, as she looked around and realized that her ama was not alone: as she stepped into the entryway, she saw her nay (her mother), her cousins, her titos and titas (aunts and uncles), even some of her friends, her neighbors from down the street, Stephen's parents and his brother, everyone gathered around the couch and looking at her expectantly. She looked again at her father, into the black sphere of the camera lens. She felt immediately cognizant of how tight her emergency clothes felt on her, worried that her frumpy frame would be preserved in posterity for whatever ceremony was taking place. She found her nanay's eyes, who motioned back towards Stephen, still waiting at the doorway. She nervously approached him.

"Stephen, what is happening," she whispered. He smiled and got down on one knee. Gasps erupted around the room.

"Genny, you are the love of my life. When I first met you, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you--and once I met your family and they welcomed me with open arms, I was just waiting for the right moment to make it all happen. If you'll allow me to take care of you the rest of your days, it would make me the happiest man in the world. Genny Reyes--will you marry me?" Out of his suit pocket, he pulled out a ring and held it out for her to slide her finger into. She was flabbergasted. Everything seemed to freeze. She stared at the ring and felt her gaze being pulled through it, as if she were being sucked into a portal: inside, she saw her entire life flash before her eyes. It was...quaint? She couldn't make out all the details. She saw a house overlooking a valley, on a quiet suburban street; she saw faces she didn't recognize, freeways and streets that looked unfamiliar; she saw restaurants and offices and museums and airports; she saw--herself, pregnant, sprawled out on the couch, Stephen massaging her swollen belly or giving her foot rubs and back rubs; she saw chores and cleaning and tidying for herself, but she also saw Stephen cooking and serving and hosting, tables crowded with lavish feasts; she saw a life of leisure. One she was already accustomed to. One which she had never before envisioned for herself, but one which she had somehow fallen into already. It wouldn't be so bad. If you'll allow me to take care of you the rest of your days... his words echoed in her mind. She had once taken care of herself. What had happened? Or, as the portal receded and her consciousness slowly returned to her, perhaps the better question: what other choice did she have?

"Genny?" She was startled back to reality, looking around in a daze at a roomful of expectant faces, and finally locking back on to Stephen's eager eyes.

"Of course," she said. The room erupted. Somehow, "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire immediately started playing. "Of course I will," she said, again, over the din. Stephen nearly transformed into a golden retriever--his body could barely contain the excitement. Her ama had, in fact, already completed the transformation and was bounding around the room, kissing cheeks and dancing, passing out plates, and simultaneously sticking his camera in everyone's face to get their reactions. Genny's body was swarmed with hugs, arms and limbs probing and prodding her, laughter and shrieking, and before she had even had the chance to really process what was happening, suddenly she was in the middle of a dance floor and everyone was jumping, gyrating, moving and grooving; before she knew it, she was drenched in sweat, exhausted, begging Stephen to fix her a plate, which he did, over and over again, as the party raged for hours, congratulations being thrown around like a football, family members ushering her around and her plate somehow always loaded up with more and more food, as she gabbed and gawked over the size of the ring! Can you believe it? and more dancing, until she had to take a break, and her ina reminding her to try the ube halaya, custom ordered from a local bakery, and her dress, how she couldn't have possibly picked a better dress for such a special day, and Stephen's parents, unaccustomed to such festivities, but enjoying themselves nonetheless--it was all so... what was it supposed to feel like? It sort of felt, well... it felt like just another Saturday night. But Stephen was happy, she saw how happy Stephen was, blushing and stealing glances at her, grinding against her on the dance floor, always returning with more lumpia before she'd finished the previous serving. It seemed like Stephen couldn't stop smiling. For that, she was happy. That was a good feeling.

Soon enough, the night wound down. The music stopped thumping. Neighbors disappeared, then Stephen's family, then the cousins, until Genny found herself talking absentmindedly to her tita about wedding venues and she looked around and noticed her ama passed out on the couch, and Stephen entertaining her tito as he vigorously described what sounded like a war movie. Finally, her ina came back in her pajamas and unceremoniously shooed her siblings back home, and the house was quiet. Stephen looked at her longingly and they retreated to her room, silently. Stephen felt victorious, she could tell; she just felt exhausted. The ring was heavy now. It wasn't uncommon for Stephen to stay over, especially after one of the more uproarious celebrations. He began helping her undress.

"Uh oh, what happened here?" Stephen fingered a golf ball-sized hole in her dress, right at the waist, where the dress was cinched tightest thanks to her engorged belly.

"Oh, gosh, I must have danced too hard," she said, with a laugh. Or eaten way too much, she thought.

"Or eaten too much," Stephen said.

"Oh, yah. Or that," she replied, somewhat taken aback. "You were no help in that regard, you were refilling my plate before I could empty it."

"Well, I had faith that it would be emptied at some point--and I didn't want to keep you waiting. I told you, I'm here to take care of you."

"I know, you're right--I appreciate it." She hesitated.

"Besides, you know I'm not against you eating too much. I like the way you've filled out."

Genny blushed.

"About that... I actually grew out of my favorite pair of pants today. This booty is finally too juicy to fit in my largest pants anymore." She shrieked and giggled as he smacked her ass. "Stephen! I know it's probably good news for you, but... it was a little demoralizing on my end. And then, basically right after, I come downstairs and I'm getting proposed to, without any warning. It's just been... a lot, today."

"I understand babe, completely. I just couldn't wait any longer. I want to be yours, I want to start our life together." He reached out for her hand and she accepted. "And I'll buy you some new pants, how about that? They're just clothes, they can be replaced."

"I know, but they're sort of not just pants, you know? It's like... getting married, settling down, whatever, it always represents a period of, like, letting go, or letting yourself go, you know? And I get that you're sort of down if I do that or whatever, but I just never thought I'd settle for something so... easy?" She noticed a look of concern cross his face. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what I'm complaining about."

"No, babe, don't apologize, I'm listening. I want to be here for you. I want to ensure that you don't have to live a life of worry, but if you're worried about, um, not worrying... maybe we can be more proactive about not settling for the easy way."

"Well, once you put it like that... what matters is that I love you. I want to be with you, I just need to get over all this... it's like, I'm not second-guessing you, you know? I don't know, I think I'm just overanalyzing this whole weight thing." She paused. "Or maybe I'm just having trouble believing that it's true." He smirked.

"It's definitely true--you have no idea how much it turns me on that you literally tore the seams of this dress by eating too much." She giggled as he poked her taut belly.

"Oh, did you think that I ate a lot tonight? Pshhh--that was nothing!" She loved teasing him about this; it somehow made the whole thing less serious, less shameful, less taboo. "It's all gonna end up going to my ass at the end of the day too, just wait."

"I bet it will--this thing just keeps getting juicier and juicier," he growled, palming a large handful of booty cheek and leaning in to kiss her neck. She felt his cock grow hard against her thigh, as he slowly descended around her, gently pushing her onto her back on the mattress, and fondling whatever jiggling flesh he could get a hand on. She loved knowing how her body drove him wild; in spite of her troubled relationship with her weight, she couldn't help but feel sexy when Stephen was touching her. With her sister in the room next door, they couldn't be too loud--but it was hard to hold it in while Stephen worked her to orgasm over the course of the next forty minutes. By the time they were finished, the clock read 1:37. Both were exhausted, panting, and ready for bed--but Genny's mind was still racing.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, babe."

She hesitated for a moment. "How...much is too much? Like, is it possible for me to be too large? I'm sorry, I just don't understand how this works..."

She felt his body shift under the covers. Is he uncomfortable? He'd been so nervous when he first told her...and they hadn't talked about it too much since, beyond her teasing him about it. But they were engaged now. This was becoming real. And married couples should be able to talk about anything, right?

"I mean... maybe it's better to get this out of the way now."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I guess that's more so a question that you have to answer."

Silence hung in the air.

"As in..." he started, before she understood.

"As in, there's no such thing as too large."

"I mean... you know what they say. The bigger, the better."

She shifted. The bed groaned. She could suddenly feel every inch of excess flesh on her body, weighing her down and pulling her deeper into the mattress. She felt like she was being sucked back into the portal, reliving her future life and paying attention again to the details--was it a life of suburban leisure? Or would it be a journey into unknown hedonistic territory? She saw herself from above, her belly swollen and nearly anchoring her to the couch--was she pregnant, as she had first assumed, about to turn her life over to myopic clones of herself for 18 years? Or was Stephen in the kitchen, fetching another portion of some delicious feast that she would soon be subject to? One certainly felt more exciting. She had never been particularly active, anyhow. She always enjoyed food. Ever since she was a little girl, she rarely had a meal that didn't entail grabbing seconds (or thirds). But what turned her off about this life she had lived up until now was how predictable it was. Go to college, find a partner, get a job, settle down. Becoming an adult just sounded so--boring. She'd basically spent the past year dreading the idea of leaving and taking on all the responsibilities she knew awaited her--basically the only exciting thing she had going on had been stoking Stephen's lust for her growing body... by growing even larger for him...

And suddenly, the realization hit her. She didn't want to become an adult; she didn't want to take care of herself. Those paths usually meant that you could choose otherwise--a life less predictable, a life that you are in charge of, a life that can become whatever you want it to be. And yet, she had never been able to shake the feeling that becoming an adult would require her to give up on her freedom to live into her wanderlust--her desire for the unknown, the confusing, and the unusual--in favor of what she had seen in her portal-vision: a life of suburban mundanity. Choosing otherwise, in this case, might actually mean doubling down.

"The bigger, the better..." she mumbled. Stephen turned to look at her. She looked in his eyes and saw the unknown, the confusing, and the unusual in the person she knew best.

"Stephen, can you promise me something?"

He looked at her, perplexed, but intrigued. She continued.

"And in return, I promise to grow as big as you'd like."

With that, his eyes widened.

"Anything," he said. "I promise."