chapter 1

“Claire-bear? Claire-bear wake up. You gotta get ready for work.” Paul softly whispered into the ear of his snoozing wife.

“Mhhhhh… Five more minutesss…” Claire groaned, as she sleepily rolled her doughy body onto its side, putting her back to her husband.

Smiling at Claire’s juvenile tactic, Paul wiggled into a spooning position against his chunky wife. First he gave her generously sized butt a frisky little squeeze, then he wrapped his arm around his wife’s inflated midsection and softly massaged her protruding belly while he gently kissed her neck three times, “*Mwah!* *Mwah!* *Mwah!*”

“Pauuul… Hmhm! Quit it…” Claire groggily protested with a hint of enjoyment. The way her husband kissed her neck in the morning always gave her goosebumps. However, she didn’t like that she had such a massive belly for him to grab on to. Feeling too tired to reciprocate her husband’s warm feelings right now, Claire accused, “It’s your fault I was up so late last night. Just give me five more minutes.”

“Alright, I’ll set your phone alarm for another five minutes, but I’m putting it on the bathroom counter, so you’ll have to get out of bed to shut it off.” Paul explained, while his wife let out a big grunt in response.

“Heyyy be nice to meee, I bring home the bacon, remember?” Claire innocently pouted, as she groggily pulled a pillow over her adorable face.

Smiling at his lovely wife, Paul wrestled the pillow away from her and started getting out of bed, while he said, “You bring home the bacon, I cook it. I know how our system works. I’ll go start breakfast for you beautiful.”

“Ugg…” Claire droned at her husband’s last word to her before leaving the room. Beautiful. Claire felt she was many things, a loyal friend, a hardworking young lawyer, an excellent wife, but today ‘beautiful’ wasn’t exactly one of them.

Rolling around in bed trying to get comfortable, Claire felt heavy. Lying on her back, the size of her thick butt made her back arch upward at an awkward angle. Lying on her stomach, Claire’s big, bloated belly uncomfortably pressed against the soft mattress because of the overindulgent night she’d just had. She had to settle for slumbering on her side, although her boobs had swollen in size so much that they strained the buttons of her pajama shirt from the position. She probably needed new pajamas soon anyway, the ones she was currently wearing were tight against her hips, butt and thighs, as well as her arms, chest and belly. Somehow every part of her body had become her problem area.

Hearing the annoying beep of her alarm, Claire groggily tried to wake up and leave her warm bed. She didn’t spring upward like she used to during her fitter days in college, sitting up was too much effort now, instead Claire rolled to the edge, slid her chunky legs onto the floor, and then used her arms to heave herself upward to her feet. It seemed like getting out of bed got harder every day.

Clumsily lumbering into the bathroom and shutting off her alarm, Claire reached into the shower and got the hot water going. It normally took a moment or two for the water to really get as warm as Claire liked it. Trying to avoid looking at herself in the mirror, Claire threw her hair into a big bun and then donned a shower cap. She’d woken up late and she knew she didn’t have time to dry her long brown hair, so she wasn’t going to get it wet. Unbuttoning her pajamas and freeing herself of their tight embrace, Claire eagerly entered her shower and let the warm water do its job waking her up.

As the refreshingly warm water massaged her chunky body, Claire lathered up some soap onto her sponge. She started washing herself as she usually did, top to bottom. As embarrassing it was to admit, Claire knew she tended to sweat a lot more than she used too, especially her armpits and the area between her cleavage, so she made sure those areas were clean before tending to other areas. Claire hated how soft her arms had gotten, especially her upper arms. They jiggled while Claire struggled to reach around and wash her back. It was an embarrassing reminder that she wasn’t anywhere near as flexible as she’d once been. Washing her back now was such a struggle that Claire normally just made Paul do it when they showered together.

Giving up, Claire lathered up her arms and then turned her attention to her belly. She’d gotten so fat that she had multiple rolls of fat that she had to make sure she washed. She also had to make sure that she washed her underbelly. The process always made Claire envious of when she’d once had a flat tummy. Showering had once been so much simpler. Now she had to bend over to reach every inch of her inflated butt. Her thick thighs rubbed together no matter what she did, and to make matters worse she was afraid to wash her feet because one time a few months ago she’d lost her balance during the struggle to wash them and fallen right on her butt in the shower.

Rinsing herself off and getting out of the shower, Claire wrapped herself in a towel, but was a little shocked to realize how small it felt on her. At first, she thought she’d grabbed a hair towel for her body, but after a quick glance, the more likely explanation slapped her in the face. The towel wasn’t small, she was too big. It was only a few months ago, three months to be exact, that she’d been celebrating a 30-pound weight loss. She’d hired a personal trainer at her gym, she’d stuck to a new diet, and she’d finally got onto a normal sleep schedule. However, then she was assigned to a huge case for her firm. She stopped attending the gym regularly, her diet went out the window and she’d had many sleepless nights due the stress from the high-profile nature of the case.

Claire didn’t want to admit it, but she’d clearly gained some or all of the weight back. Needing to know the damage, Claire dug out the bathroom scale from under the sink. Throwing off her towel, Claire bit the bullet and stepped on. After a moment, a horrifying number met her eyes.

*275*

Claire wanted to cry. She was five pounds shy of her highest weight and the holiday season was just around the corner. She’d be the size of a house by new years for sure…

“If Paul wasn’t such a good cook…” Claire fumed, as her frustration latched onto her husband’s nurturing nature. She knew Paul enjoyed the fact that she was so overweight for some strange reason. She’d married a chubby-chaser and this was the consequence. He never forced any food down her throat, but he did constantly keep the house filled with all of her favorite foods. It wasn’t her fault she couldn’t resist; it was his!