Like Mother, Like Daughters (3)

Some notes before we get to the juicy bits! I ended the polls a little early because the results had been pretty static for several days--pretty sure everyone who wanted to vote already had. I'll set the next round of polls for a week instead of 2 weeks and see how that goes.

Poll results: 

• Gain poll: Veronica and Claire tied with 6 votes each, so "chapter 3" will actually end up being chapter 3 *and* 4, with 3 focused on Claire and 4 focused more on Veronica but also with some additional Claire gains.
• Gain method poll: Sedentary job won out with 6 votes! I wasn't able to work that into chapter 3, so it'll get put into chapter 4.

As always, hope you all enjoy, and if you have any requests, drop 'em in the comments or in a message!

***

Claire had been home for close to three weeks. She was lying in bed with maybe the worst stomach ache anyone had ever had. She knew it was her own fault, but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable.

She’d really overdone it. Like, actually overdone it, and by a lot. She hadn’t planned to, but the day had provided a whole lot of opportunities for her to stuff her face, and for some reason she hadn’t turned a single one of them down. So here she was, flat on her back, her stomach looking as round and solid as a bowling ball. She’d tried rubbing it to ease some of the pain, but it was so hard to the touch that it only made it hurt worse. When she lifted her shirt up to look at it, the skin was red and almost shiny. She looked ready to pop.

Finally, Claire figured she might as well try lying on her side to see if that would help. As soon as she shifted positions, she let out a loud, involuntary belch. She clapped her hand over her mouth like that would somehow take back the noise. She waited a beat, certain someone – and of course it would probably be Veronica, with her luck – would come bursting in to ask her what the racket was. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment even though she was alone.

As she moved to try and get more comfortable, she could feel even more burps coming up and buried her face in her pillow to try and make sure no one else could hear her, groaning a little at the complete lack of relief she felt when they stopped. She wasn’t much more comfortable on her side, even the pressure taken off now that her mattress was doing most of the work of holding up her swollen tummy.

She hiccupped a little and moaned at the jostling. God, why had she done this to herself? She started ticking off everything she’d eaten on her slender fingers. First, breakfast. She’d rolled out of bed kind of late, right around 9. Her parents and sisters had decided to drive around town and poke around all the garage sales that morning, so the house had been empty. Not knowing when they’d be back and figuring everybody had either already eaten or would stop somewhere before coming home, Claire had poured herself a big bowl of her favorite sugary cereal and eaten it while she scrolled through her phone.

A single bowl wasn’t particularly satisfying, so she’d poured herself a second, equally large. A little indulgent for breakfast, but it was a Sunday. (Though, if she was being honest, after 3 weeks without a class schedule or cheer practice to keep track of, the days were all kind of blurring together.) And then, after the second bowl was finished, she realized there was only a little bit left in the box, just barely enough for a half bowl, so she’d finished that, too. She tossed the box in the trash and washed and put away her bowl and spoon, feeling just the right amount of full, if a little sloshy from all the milk.

She went upstairs to shower and sent out a few messages to friends who were in town, trying to figure out what her plans would be for the rest of the day. By the time she had dried off and put on clothes, the smells of one of her momma’s famous weekend breakfasts were wafting up the stairs. Even though she’d packed half a family sized box of cereal into her stomach, her mouth still watered. She knew there’d be maple corn cakes on the table, along with plenty of sausage and bacon.

As she thumped her way down the stairs, she heard her family chatting around the kitchen table. Her sisters and her dad were already eating, and they all cheerfully welcomed her, insisting she sit down and have some breakfast. “You must be starving with how long you slept. What’s it been, three days since we’ve seen you?” her dad teased.

Claire stuck out her tongue and took her usual seat. She told herself she’d only have a little. But then she saw that her mom had baked homemade cinnamon rolls. They were a personal favorite of Minnie’s, which was probably why she’d made them, but all three girls tended to fight over them. There was a bowl of cut fruit, too, and ridiculously fluffy scrambled eggs. (She’d asked her momma what the secret to getting them so fluffy was just the week before, and apparently it was whipping in a little dollop of mayonnaise. Ridiculously decadent, but so worth it.)

Before she even really had time to think about it, Claire had loaded her plate with some of everything and was already chowing down. Even her sisters were indulging a little extra, gushing over the cinnamon rolls and how nostalgic the flavor was, crunching on slice after slice of bacon. Claire ate with equal gusto, matching her sisters plate for plate even though she’d already half-stuffed herself with her first breakfast. Everything was just so good – perfect combinations of sweet and salty and fatty and crunchy and fluffy. Everyone only slowed down when all the serving plates were empty and they were all so full they had to sit back.

“Been a while since I’ve had a meal that good,” Minnie sighed blissfully, one hand on her rounded-out stomach.

“No kidding,” Veronica had said as she suppressed a belch. “‘Scuse me. Momma, that was amazing.”

Their mother thanked them, looking pleased right down to her toes at all the compliments. “I just like making sure all my girls are comfortable when you’re home.”

Too bad for Claire that she’d stuffed herself a smidge beyond her capacity, then, wasn’t it? While the rest of her family was pleasantly overfull, Claire felt a little like she might need to be rolled back up to her bedroom for a late morning nap. She pulled out her phone, needing some extra stimulation to keep herself awake. A friend from high school had invited her to the mall, saying she was going to meet up with some other girls from their old cheer squad.

Claire pulled herself out of her chair with a huff. “I’m gonna head to the mall with some friends. I should be back later this afternoon.” She kissed her mother on the cheek and thanked her for breakfast again, then waved at everybody else on her way out the door.

As she stepped outside, she regretted her choice of outfit a bit. The little jean shorts she was wearing were looking pretty tight on her and only accentuating her rounded little food baby. The crop top she had on wasn’t long enough to hide anything. Shit, her friends would probably tease her and ask if she’d gotten herself knocked up while she was away at school.

Thankfully, she was headed to the mall where she could pretty easily pick up some roomier clothes. It was kind of time for it anyway. Even before three weeks of laziness at home had hit her, all her clothes had been pretty tight. Now…? Let’s just say it was time.

The drive to the mall was close to half an hour. Just long enough for her stomach to settle a bit so she didn’t look quite so round when she met up with her friends. And when they did finally meet up, everyone squealing and pulling each other into hugs after so long not seeing each other, Claire got the pleasant satisfaction of realizing she was still the smallest girl in the group. Her three friends – all of whom were about as short as she was, and who had been similarly slim back in high school – had chunked up quite a bit. While her own gain had seemed spectacular, in less than a year it looked like all her friends had gained twice as much. Like Claire, they also seemed to have avoided upgrading their wardrobes recently. Pooching tummies peeked out from underneath tight tops, and love handles and muffin tops poured over tight skirts and shorts. Every one of them had gotten so chubby it was almost hard for Claire to recognize them. One of the girls even had a little double chin!

Seeing how much they’d let themselves go after just a year made Claire feel much more relaxed. Compared to her sisters, who seemed to never gain a pound, she was failing at maintaining her physique, even though she was still doing cheer. Compared to these old teammates, though? She felt like she was in peak condition.

The whole group had walked around a bit, peeking into different stores. One girl decided to stop and get a fresh-baked cookie at one of the dessert shops in between, and they all wound up getting some. Claire’s chocolate chip cookie was so gooey and sweet it almost made her sick, especially given that she was still full from her double breakfasts. Still, that didn’t stop her from licking the chocolate off her fingers and somehow still managing to feel self-righteous about it all.

They did do some actual shopping after that, and Claire picked up some clothes two sizes up from what she normally did. She would’ve felt ashamed, but then one of the other girls mentioned that she could only fit into “really stretchy” large sizes these days, and how clothes were just getting so small these days, and suddenly that shame was transmuted into vanity.

After all the energy they’d expended walking around and trying on clothes, everyone was ready for lunch. Claire still wasn’t particularly hungry, but she didn’t want to seem rude or like she was showing off by not eating. She wound up eating a good-sized order from the Chinese place in the food court, everything deep-fried and covered in sugary sauce. As bloated as she’d felt that morning, that meal started to push her over the edge. And then of course they needed dessert, so they all got ice cream. Claire knew she could’ve said no, but the energy of the group made her want to treat herself, even though she was sure she was going to bust right out of her clothes if she ate another bite.

With a triple scoop of ice cream now sitting on top of everything else, she’d definitely overdone it. She felt like a ballon, or a whale – something round and heavy. Her stomach pushed out in front of her and hung down a little, heavy with all she’d packed into it. The other girls were looking similar, and it was only a few more minutes before they were all saying goodbye before waddling off to their respective vehicles in the parking lot.

Claire sat behind the wheel of her car. Sitting seemed even worse than standing. She tried to spread her legs a little to give her distended potbelly some room, but that didn’t help a bit. She leaned forward to rest her head on the steering wheel and let out a loud burp. She felt a little disgusted with herself. Why had she kept eating? She’d never been this full before, and if her tummy never ached like this again she’d be grateful. She started the car, planning to head right home and lie down.

But then there was one last temptation set before her as she headed home. She heard her phone vibrate while she sat at a red light. Veronica had texted her. “Could you grab lunch for us before you head home? Momma’s pretty tuckered out from making breakfast, and everybody’s in the mood for burgers.”

Claire let out a little whine at the back of her throat. The thought of even smelling food right now made her nauseated. But she was a good sister and a good daughter, so she asked Nic to send her everybody’s orders and pulled into a drive-through on her way home. The smell of onion rings and grilled meat filled her car as she rolled down her window. Her overstuffed gut gave a grumble as she ordered food for everyone else. As she got to the end of the list, her stomach aching, her own order poured from her lips: a large onion ring, two double burgers, one with bacon, both with extra cheese and mayo, and an Oreo shake.

She couldn’t believe herself. She was going to burst, and she’d just finished lunch and a huge cup of ice cream, and now she was ordering herself a burger? What was she doing?

Again, like she had so many times that day, she tried to compromise with herself: she wouldn’t eat it all, she could always share it. And she didn’t have to eat it now! She could pop it in the fridge for later, have it for dinner that night and maybe lunch tomorrow.

But as she piled bags on the passenger seat next to her, her mouth watered at the thought of biting into a perfectly crispy onion ring. She started rooting through the bags to find her order. Just one onion ring and then she’d be satisfied, she was sure…

By the time she parked at the curb in front of their house, she’d eaten it all. Every last onion ring, both burgers, and she’d drained every drop of the shake. By the time she wobbled to the front door with everyone else’s food, she was so full she felt like she could barely stand. She set all bags down on the kitchen table and called out, “Food’s here!”

Everyone meandered in as Claire was leaving the room. “Aren’t you going to sit down and eat with us?” her dad asked.

Claire shook her head, feeling a little green at the thought of eating even more. “No, I ate with my friends, so I’m just gonna head upstairs.”

And that was how she’d wound up on her bed, swollen like a tick with heaven only knew how many calories. For a moment, she allowed herself to indulge in a darker thought: Is this how Momma ended up so big? It wasn’t hard to imagine that enough days of eating like this strung together would turn Claire into a complete cow.

She hiccuped a little, her eyes feeling heavy. She’d start doing better. Summer vacation was no excuse to get fat. If anything, she should be taking these months to slim down since she had nothing else to do. Her eyelids fluttered. Yeah, that was how she’d spend the rest of her summer. She’d get real skinny again. No more big breakfasts, or double burgers, or chocolate chip cookies for her. She’d much rather have a flat tummy than a full belly.