Ghost of Christmas Future

At a certain point, the hassle of trying to throw any sort of celebration starts to weigh on you. Heavily.

Even just the very thought of all that planning, preparation?

Ech. Exhausting. None of it seems worth all the effort any more.

No.

Enough’s enough.

Why put yourself through any of that stress, when you can simply just enjoy a nice holiday with that special someone you love? Deeply.

Besides, this is around the anniversary of when you two first met after all. The “plus one” you were so skeptical of at that holiday party some years back?

You muster up the energy to reach out to everyone via group text. You announce to your usual group of friends that for the first time in nearly a decade & a half there wasn't going to be a party. It seems weird to say, even after the pandemic couldn’t snuff out a zoom party, as lame as it was. Still, it’s not with some sadness on your part. And the responses seem a tad disappointed, but then again? No one seemed all that particularly shocked by the decision either. Almost as if they were perhaps expecting this.

"End of an era," you receive at first, flanked by heart emojis.

“Bummer! But we were thinking of going out of town anyhow” responds another. 

“We should meet up for drinks soon some other time then! Happy Holidays!”

This is perfect!

None of your friends seem let down by this. You don’t have to exert yourself. And well, let’s face it, no awkward conversations. No concerned looks or beating around the bush from folks you haven’t seen in a while wondering just what’s become of you. Not only is it a relief, you can now simply focus on your loving partner. Making them as happy as you possibly can.

And when they come home, they badger you into exchanging just one of your gifts early.

A Christmas purist, you remain reticent. Christmas gifts are for Christmas Day. Or Eve at the very earliest. But eventually, you cave.

You point them to the set of earbuds they had asked for, wrapped with perfection & set in the gift pile that’s been staring at you both the past few days.

They seem very pleased with them, but still slightly more eager for you to open the present they hand you. And they continue to stare, waiting with bated breath.

Resting the box on your belly, your chubby fingers start to peel through the wrapping. Once clear, you lift the lid.

It seems like a reproduction of THE skirt. The one from your first Christmas party. Only sized up a bit. Oh right. The friend they have. The one that’s a theatrical costume maker. Did they have her… remake it?

Hell, it may even just be a little nicer than the original. The fringe just a bit softer. Wispier. The top portion a nice, rich velvet. It’s just… proportionately? Feels a bit off. Like it seems wide enough for you now, ok maybe JUST- but there’s no way the skirt extends far enough.

How did they realistically think this was ever going to fit? Even at a much larger size, you still, somehow, are much too big for it.

Was that maybe… the point? 

Either way, their face is almost as red as the skirt itself now. It starts to seem like more of a genuine mistake. That they estimated on your measurements & goofed, royally.

But you make a point of NEVER being critical of a gift.

It takes a bit of struggling, lifting your heavy arms in the air over your head, but you wrestle your T-shirt off, & try slipping it on. As suspected, the skirt does little to conceal your soft orb of belly. More tube top than skirt. You must look pretty ridiculous.

Yet oddly? You are suddenly reminded of that confidence you once had, wearing the original. So young, so full of potential.

Boy, did your life ever take a strange path.

And while you imagine that scrawny lil stringbean in the original Santa skirt would probably scream & pass out if she saw you now, You, the you you’ve grown into being, wouldn’t have it any other way.

You feel peckish. Well let’s face it, you’re always peckish these days, but right now a little moreso than usual. And you know all the right buttons to turn your partner on, especially now, with their face racked in guilt over this surprise not fitting as intended.

And then you wonder… if you do bust right out of the seams of this thing, will they come back & try giving you an even bigger one next year?

Is this going to be your new holiday tradition?

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Wrapping up this Christmas sequence before we get further into January. Sorry for any double notifications, but I wanted to get this up ‘Sunday,’ but still had a few details to hammer out. The skirt returns, sorta. And the included timelapse shows the entire sequence (tho original sketches were from sketches outside of Procreate).

I have a few other random things done or close to it before circling back & hitting more of the roadmap stuff, but first, I’m going to compile an all-in-one for this sequence to go up within the next day or two.

Sorry for the delay, thanks for the patience!