FSE

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It took a lot of hard work, or, well, a lot of eating, but I did it! I hit my goal weight for the wedding, two weeks in advance. It was becoming increasingly difficult to read the scale past my growing gut, I had to lean over to see the good news: 300lbs. I could barely contain my excitement.

“Kelsey! Kelsey! Come see how fat I am!”

“One of my favourite things to do!” Kelsy called back. Within seconds he was there, purring in delight as he saw the news for himself. “Oh my god, babe, I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you, love.”

Kelsey had been gaining too. First just by proximity–feeding me meant there was always tasty food around–but since getting engaged it had been on purpose. He started lower and gained slower than me, but he was coming up on 230 which, funnily enough, is about where I started. He had a muffintop and a rounded belly now, which I found a beautiful sight even if, compared to mine, it was small.

“You’re gonna look amazing at the wedding,” he said.

“We are, babe.”

I meant it, but I was nervous. Kelsey could tell. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, they could barely close around me at this point. Being held like that perked me up, but it was too late for my prior mood to slip notice.

“Anxious about tonight?”

“A little.” I swiveled around in his arms, then kissed my snep’s muzzle, nose and lips. “Mom’s always bugged me about my weight.”

Kelsey took a half-step back, just so he could more comfortably take my paw in his. “I’ll be right there with you.”

“I know, I know. But now I’m bigger than ever–which I love!–but she’ll make a thing of it and you… Well, you’re catching up to me.”

“Hardly, you’re way ahead!”

I giggled. “Okay, but you know what I mean.”

“Yeah. I do.”

Kelsey tried to assure me things would be okay, but the rest of the day leading up to the visit was a blur of low anxiety anyway. The next thing I really knew was knocking on my parents’ door, feeling out of place in a slightly ill-fitting XXL shirt. Dad, not a particularly slim otter himself, welcomed us in without a thought, but mom kept eyeing up the two of us and frowning as dad went back to cooking, leaving the rest of us in the dining room together. I knew the comments were inbound long before they made impact.

“You’ve put on a lot of weight lately, son.” She mimed my expansion by putting her paws together then pulling them apart as she spoke. She wasn’t one for subtlety. “Don’t you want to slim down for the wedding?”

Kelsey grabbed my paw beneath the dining table and squeezed. His touch centred me. Without him I probably would have said something to appease her, or resorted to meaningless noise.

“Not particularly, mom, to be honest with you.” It felt good to stand my ground, even so gently. Scary, but good.

Mom’s face screwed into an expression between confusion and disgust. “What? Really? Don’t you want to look good for your future husband?” She gestured toward Kelsey with an exaggerated flick of the paw, words alone never enough for her.

“I think your son is very pretty actually,” Kelsey said with probably a touch too much sternness, but I couldn’t blame him. It was sweet actually, seeing him get protective like that.

“Well, of course. You’re in love after all. And that’s very kind of you to say Kelsey, but, really, I know my son can be a glutton at times, and that’s not fair on you either, I mean…” She cleared her throat. “You were so slim when he started dating you. I used to joke about you being a supermodel.

For a moment I didn’t know whether to be pissed off or proud that my mom had basically just called my fiance fat. I decided the answer was both: I knew he looked more amazing every day with every pound he packed on, but it’s not like mom was trying to compliment him.

“Mom, seriously. Please stop. We’re both very happy.”

“Kelsey can speak for himself.”

“Your son is right, Mrs Williams. The truth is-”

“Truth is we’re happy. And that’s that.” I cut off Kelsey without even thinking, and grimaced as soon as I did it. I didn’t want our fetish made public and panicked. It was silly though, liking fat folk isn’t a fetish unless liking thin people is, and I don’t think anyone would try to argue that in court, it was merely a preference. Okay, maybe the feeding part was kind of kinky, but I doubt Kelsey was about to go into detail about feeding each other large quantities of food by paw while naked and rubbing one another’s bellies…

“You’re speaking for your fiance again. It sounded to me like he had more to say. Kelsey, dear, what were you saying?”

I squeezed my snep’s paw and turned to him. He had a soft smile and nodded so subtly as to make the motion almost imperceptible. I nodded back. This time mom was right, I should have let him speak.

“Well, Mrs Williams, the truth is I think your son looks great with the extra weight. And I think I do too.” He held my mom’s stare like a champ. I was in awe. “There’s nothing wrong with being fat.”

My mom stammered for a moment, this was not how she thought the conversation was going to go. “But what about the health drawbacks?”

Here we go, I thought. Here comes the same back and forth as ever, my stubborn mom unable to see my happiness and accept it. But I was wrong. Kelsey was far from done.

“Well, drawbacks certainly exist, but they’re overstated. To me, though, that’s not the point.” He chuckled. “There’s health risks with all sorts of things that never get this kind of grief. Sure, smokers might get lectured, but nobody treats them like they’re crazy for enjoying it. Vaping too. Then there’s alcohol, drinking is far more damaging to your health than eating a lot. There’s any other major drug, obviously, but even caffeine has its risks! There’s all kinds of potential side-effects for any medication you can think of and, apart from things you put into your body, far more dangerous choices you can make in your life that nobody seems to get upset at. Whether it be rock-climbing or, come to think of it, playing football! How many people have lifelong sports injuries? Yet you never hear parents preaching to their children to stop playing football, or basketball, or whatever because something might go wrong and they could get a concussion or break a leg and never be the same again. And, obviously, you shouldn’t! If sport makes someone happy, let them play. So, that’s what I’m getting at: if I enjoy eating delicious food and seeing my belly grow, let me. I’m allowed to make that choice for my own happiness, and so is your son. Everything has its risks, its upsides and its downsides. Everything. Risk alone is not a reason not to do something.”

I’d never seen my mom stunned into silence like that. I could practically see the cogs turning in her head until Dad entered with our dinner, not noticing that anything had happened between us and beaming. Mom didn’t bring it up again and Kelsey and I played things cool. What proceeded was a surprisingly civil and pleasant dinner. But, despite the risk of provoking my mother, I couldn’t stop myself from asking for seconds. Something about Kelsey’s speech must have emboldened me.

When I did, mom lifted a finger and opened her muzzle, but to my surprise she stopped herself. Instead she shook her head, smiled and turned to her husband. “Go on, get our boy some more of that mac and cheese. You really outdid yourself today.” She cleared her throat. “And while you’re there, get some for Kelsey. Can’t you see he’s practically wasting away?”

“Mrs Williams, you read my mind!” Kelsey said.

Dad laughed a hearty laugh, patted his beer belly and went and did as he was asked.

I looked into my mom’s eyes and smiled. She smiled right back. It might be silly, but I almost burst into tears. I never thought she would accept me gaining like this.

“Are you… happy with your weight, son?”

I nodded. “I am.”

“Then I can be too.” She reached a paw out to squeeze mine. “I love you.”

“Well,” said Kelsey, poking my flabby sides. “You could do with a few more pounds.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. What I didn’t expect was for my mom to join in.

She smiled at the two of us as dad returned. “We’re excited to be able to count you as our son-in-law, Kelsey. You’re perfect for him.”

I left my parents’ house aglow. Kelsey kept kissing me as we bundled into my car.

“See, it went great,” he said.

“Thanks to you!”

“And you. You stuck up for yourself.”

“You’re the best, Kelsey.”

“So that’s why we’re getting married in two weeks?”

“Exactly.”

He laughed. I pulled out of the drive.

“Hey babe,” he said.

“Yes?”

“Are you still hungry?” He rubbed his stuffed belly. “My tummy’s rumbling. I could really go for some dessert.”

The thought alone brought a tightness to my pants. “I was worried you’d never ask!”