“See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Another heaping helping of mashed potatoes were plopped onto Haley’s already overloaded plate, situated next to the green beans and buttery creamed corn. They had already run out of chicken breasts, but there were plenty of sides still left sitting on the counter. Haley must have emptied a whole coop by now, but there was no stopping our greedy undergrad by now. She was on a roll, and all of her mama’s home cooking was just too good to pass up!
“All your frettin’ over whether or not you were gonna pass your exams.” Mrs. West purred with a bemused little laugh, “Don’t you feel silly?”
“Yeah, I guess it was pretty dumb.” Haley’s cheeks bunched, her smile widening as she leaned over to grab the gravy boat, “Hey, do you think I could get some more corn?”
Haley had been eating for what felt like hours. Once she’d gotten her grades back from her finals she’d wasted no time in telling her mother. Her sneaky suspicion that she’d be rewarded for her good—not great, but good!—grades were right on the money. As soon as Mrs. West saw that her baby girl had made straight B’s, she got right to work on planning quite the celebration. All of Haley’s favorite homemade dishes, all on one table!
Haley’s stomach domed out in front of her. She was thickset now, with a wide set of hips and a heavy chest. When it was empty (which wasn’t often) Haley’s pudgy paunch rolled out in all directions as a squishy mass of meat. But after partaking in such a gastronomic feat, Haley’s gut had hardened and distended drastically. It sat heavily atop her pillowy thighs, emitting a heat not unlike a machine in use. It churned and squelched dutifully as Haley eagerly popped bite after bite into her awaiting maw, tongue lolled and her mind clouded with hunger.
“Of course, sweetheart.” Mrs. West said with a pinch of Haley’s softening cheek, “You can have as much as you want—after all that studying you’ve done, I’d say you deserve it.”
As soon as her mother sauntered over with the bowl of home-made creamed corn, Haley dolloped two heavy serving spoons of the stuff. She couldn’t get enough of this—now that she didn’t have to worry about classes, Haley just felt so free! No more Mr. Casper ragging her about her word usage, no more of Mrs. Waddell’s boring lectures, but lots lots more of laying around at home and plenty plenty more extra helpings—it’s like her mama said, she deserved it after everything that she’d been through!
By the time the two West women had cleared the table, Haley had never felt more full. Pounds of poultry, fields of corn, and more potatoes than Ireland could have handled had been pushed into the awaiting mouth of Haley West, who was officially almost halfway not a freshman anymore. With the help of her always doting mother, Haley hoisted herself to a standing position as her stomach swelled out in front of her. Arching her back and cradling the dome of her gut with her free hand, Haley toddled as far as her sluggish self could make it—the living room couch. Once there, she plopped herself down belly up and began to groan.
“Looks like I’m crashing here tonight.” Haley chuckled dimly as she smacked her stuffed stomach, “Oof… pass me the remote? I think I’ve earned that too…”
“Sure.” Mrs. West grunted as she bent over to fetch the remote from its place on the coffee table, “Think you’ve also earned some dessert? Maybe some ice cream…?”
“Ooh…” Haley pressed on her stomach with five outstretched fingers, “Don’t tempt me… I’m already gonna explode…”
“Come ooooon.” Mrs. West cooed, “Live a little—you’re in college!”
“Alright, alright.” Haley caved, “Just one bowl though.”
Mrs. West returned with an entire carton of Mint Chocolate Chip and a serving spoon in hand, and passed it to her daughter.
“Just put back what you don’t eat.” Mrs. West said, fetching a blanket for her poor overfed daughter, “Wouldn’t want it to melt.”
“Ugh… I don’t think I’ll be getting up any time soon…” Haley burped, already working on her first spoonful, “Seriously, dinner was great—thanks again for cooking.”
“It’s no big deal.” Mrs. West replied with a little peck on her daughter’s forehead, “Now you just rest up and take it easy now that you’re out of classes—call me if you need anything, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Anything, I mean it.”
“Okay.” Haley snorted, “Anything, got it.”
“Good.” Mrs. West trailed down the hallway, “Because your sister’s going to be here in a couple of days and I wanted to make sure we got to celebrate you getting through your finals.”
“That’s nice.” Haley blinked sleepily… “Wait, what?”
