Like Mother, Like Daughters (12)

The winners of the last LMLD poll asking what activity the girls should get up to next were cycling and rock climbing. Cycling is up first! Hope y'all enjoy it.

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“We just have to try harder. If we’re more active, what we eat won’t matter so much.” Even as the words left her mouth, Veronica knew she was lying to herself, and to Claire.

Claire knew it, too, but she figured it was probably better to let her eldest sister continue her delusions, at least until their vacation was over. The last thing any of them needed was Veronica melting down in the middle of their vacation and ruining it for them all because she couldn’t just enjoy herself. If pretending to manage their weights would mean Veronica was preoccupied and they got to have a fun vacation, Claire saw no reason to rock the boat.

Not that she wasn’t feeling the results of their cruise. She wasn’t sure how much she’d put on, but she could tell she was gaining. Even with a wardrobe made up mostly of stretchy swimsuits and comfy tops and bottoms with plenty of elastic woven in, she could tell things weren’t fitting her quite the same. But given how many times she’d had to say goodbye to clothes she’d outgrown since starting college, it was hard for her to feel all that worried about it. Buying new clothes was a bit of a pain, especially the bigger she got, but she just couldn’t muster up much concern.

She would never say this out loud—at least not to Nic, or even to Minnie—but… she’d sort of accepted that she was a fat girl, and would continue to be fat for the foreseeable future. She had plenty of moments of self-consciousness, especially during this trip when she was spending so much time in clothes that exposed a whole bunch of skin, and most especially when Nic kept freaking out about her own weight gain. On the whole, though, she was content. She liked to eat, and she didn’t feel like spending a whole bunch of time in the gym or running or counting calories and budgeting for “cheat days.” She was about to be a senior in college and getting closer every day to graduating and having to be out in the real world, and concerning herself with her own waistline felt kind of childish to her.

She was smart enough to know that vacation with her sisters was probably not the best place to share her hot takes about the value (or lack thereof) of thinness, but had to admit that Veronica’s obsession was wearing on her patience. That was what having sisters was all about, though, wasn’t it? Loving them even when they were flawed.

Veronica, similarly, had loved spending so much uninterrupted time with Minnie and Claire and being a trio again, but god if they weren’t both stressing her out. She’d continued signing them all up for various excursions and activities, but in between the other girls always seemed to manage to find opportunities to gorge themselves (and, in so doing, encourage Veronica to stuff her face alongside them).

The thing that most confused her was that Minnie seemed completely unaware of—or maybe just in total denial about—her recent weight gain. Plenty of it had gone right to her already generous bust, but you’d think the fact that she was pouring out of every bra and bikini top she owned might tip her off. Her rounding tummy pooch and increasingly thick thighs seemed to be invisible to her, even as her favorite pair of denim cutoffs kept squeezing her tighter by the day.

If she’d been a little more willing to do some self-reflection, Nic might’ve been able to admit that she was gaining just as much, with little restraint on display no matter what she might have said. She liked to think she was merely being pulled along for the ride, but no one was telling her she needed second helpings at every meal or insisting she drink the sugariest, most calorie-dense cocktails at every opportunity.

Instead, she channeled all her frustration into trying to get them all out and about and exercising, not realizing she was only whetting all their appetites further.

Case in point: she signed them all up for an island cycling tour. The tour was listed as “beginner-friendly,” and slated to cover a mere 10 kilometers. That was, what, six miles? Practically nothing, especially with scenic stops along the way to break it up. Surely that wouldn’t even be enough for any of them to break a sweat.

She might’ve been right, too—except for the heat, and the humidity, and the fact that none of them had been able to resist overeating at breakfast. They wobbled off the ship late in the morning, barely resisting cradling their too-full tummies. Each sister had dressed for the occasion, though their outfits were already having their limits tested.

Minnie was dressed the most casually, wearing only her trusty denim shorts (currently held together at the front with a hair tie threaded through the buttonhole) and a black bikini top with two salacious skeleton hands that looked like they were struggling to hold up her generous bust printed across the front. Her previously flat stomach was had become more globular by that point in the trip, though it was hard to say just then how much of that was the weight she’d put on and how much was the constant bloating that clung to her after every lavish meal. Her belly didn’t yet hang down, instead sticking out proudly above the waistband of her low-slung shorts.

Veronica had actually packed a pair of bicycle shorts, though now she wished she’d tried to find a new pair at one of the shops on the ship. She knew the shorts were a garment designed to be tight to the skin, but their grip was nearly unbearable. She’d had to stuff her increasingly wide bottom and softened belly into them, and heard multiple seams pop when she did. The lycra was so tight against her skin she had to take a moment to be grateful the fabric was black; it meant that the dimples of cellulite on the backs of her thighs were only visible from very particular angles. Even so, the pucker of fabric around the divot of her bellybutton was easy to spot, only calling further attention to the outline of the flabbiest part of her glutted gut. She’d wanted to still look at least a little fashionable, so she’d opted for a cropped t-shirt, but as they walked to meet up with the rest of the bike tour group, it mostly felt embarrassing. Why had she wanted to put so much of herself on display? She tried not to think about it, or the slight pinch of her shirt sleeves at her softened upper arms.

Claire had squeezed herself into her favorite empire-waisted sundress. At the beginning of the trip, that very dress had fit her well, and mostly hidden her increasingly chunky middle beneath flowing fabric. Now, a mere three weeks later, it hugged her figure tightly, fat belly nearly stretching the pastel blue fabric sheer. Of all three sisters, she looked the most like an overstuffed sausage about to burst its casing. Claire found herself constantly tugging at it and readjusting things again and again, trying not to think about how much she’d need to spend to replace her wardrobe once she got home.

By the time they all found their tour guide and were getting onto their bikes, they were all a touch out of breath, Claire most of all. Walking even the short distance from the breakfast buffet and off the ship was much more difficult when they were all so full they would much rather be taking a nap to sleep off their excesses.

Despite their wardrobe difficulties and questionable fitness, however, they were all eager for some sightseeing by bike, and the beginning of the ride was all smiles. (Well, mostly smiles. Veronica couldn’t help but notice the way her ass completely swallowed her bike seat and blush a little at yet another reminder of just how plump she’d gotten.) They rode through town with the group, listening to the tour guide cover colonial and post-colonial history and point out vernacular architecture.

The streets were well-paved and flat, and the trio of girls felt a bit like they were flying, free in a way they hadn’t really felt since they were kids bikes around their neighborhood. They each felt weightless, the same way they did when swimming, but with the added pleasure of speeding along with the gentlest push on their pedals.

That joyous feeling dissipated once they had to climb a small hill. Really, it was barely a hill—almost a bump in the road. The girls had been in the middle of the pack of tourists before, but once they hit the incline, their pedaling became sluggish and they fell behind, faces reddening now that they had to actually work. It was over soon enough, and they were able to catch up with the group, but it took several minutes before Claire and Veronica had completely caught their breath again.

They all thought that would be the last difficult patch, but then the guide directed them toward a more significant slope. As with the first hill, it wasn’t particularly steep, but this one was taller, leading up to an overlook where they were all supposed to stop and take photos and enjoy the view. Claire panicked a little as they hit the first mellow switchback, already a little breathless. “Do you—think they’ll wait if we have to walk our bikes up?” she asked, pausing for a quick pant between words.

Minnie, slightly ahead of her sisters—gravity had less pull on her, and her ascent was easier for it—looked over her shoulder and offered words of encouragement. “You’ll make it to the top just fine. Walking your bike up would be harder anyway.”

Claire blanched a little at that. She certainly didn’t feel like she was going to make it to the top. It just seemed so far, especially with all the twists and turns in the road. They were supposed to make the ascent easier, but they stretched out the entire ordeal. Halfway up the hill, she was wiping sweat from her brow, patches of moisture appearing where her dress had gotten caught between rolls of chub. It was the first time in a while she’d truly had to confront that she was no longer the tiny, fit little cheerleader she’d once been. She’d noticed that she’d changed, knew there were all kinds of flips and bendy things she used to be able to do but would no longer dare to attempt. But knowing and accepting her size was different than huffing and puffing up the gentlest hill, muscles in her chubby thighs and calves burning, and realizing she was much less fit than she had ever guessed.

Veronica was in a similar boat, though she approached the whole situation with the determination she’d once had during her most rigorous conditioning. She’d pushed her body to do a lot of things that had felt impossible before, and she repeated the mantra she’d told herself then: You’re no quitter. Which was inaccurate, these days—she was very much a quitter. She’d quit her team, quit exercising, quit watching what she was eating… but Veronica would be damned if she’d quit that hill! Mostly because she was certain she’d absolutely die of shame if she was defeated by a “beginner-friendly” bicycle tour. She kept pedaling, trying to wake up dormant muscles, willing herself to the top.

And she did make it to the top—a little behind Minnie, who looked a bit sweaty but was still smiling as she took deep breaths to steady herself. Veronica was near to gasping, forcing herself to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth. They both dismounted and looked down the hill, where poor, tubby Claire was now standing up on her pedals to try and grind her way up the last bit of the hill. “Come on, you can do it!” Minnie called out. “You’re so close!”

“I! Am never! Riding! A bike! Again!” Claire gasped out as she crested the hill and slumped off her bike. She sat down on the closest bench overlooking the island and perfectly blue water, gulping down air. Her dress clung even tighter to her skin, damp with her efforts, soft belly wobbling with every heavy breath.

They hardly got a chance to enjoy the view as they all tried to regulate themselves. They snapped a single photo together that each of them secretly promised to themselves they would never look at again because they all looked so completely disheveled in it. Just as Claire had finally caught her breath, the tour guide was directing everyone to get back on their bikes so they could head back.

It was all they could do to resist whining as they got back onto their seats. “At least it’s all downhill from here,” Claire said with a weak smile. Her stomach growled, just loudly enough that Minnie and Veronica could hear. Their stomachs responded in kind. Climbing that hill had been hungry work.

Even though they’d been riding at a leisurely pace for barely half an hour, and had started the ride packed to the gills, they were already dreaming of lunch.