"Girls, I'd like to talk to you all for a minute," Carol announced. All three girls looked at her, curious, and Carol continued, "I was reading the paper earlier today, and apparently, ah... ninety percent of all girls aged three to nine years old don't eat enough, and as a result aren't growing up as big and strong as they could be."
The girls looked alarmed - well, Kalie looked alarmed. Casey looked confused, and Haley looked sceptical.
"But I saw on the news just today that girls nowadays are eating too much," Haley said, frowning, "it even said that lots of girls our age are too heavy."
Carol shook her head.
"Well, it must be mistaken!" she exclaimed, "Girls your age don't eat enough to get all the nutrition they need, so I want you all to make a really big effort to eat more for me, okay? So at meals, even when you feel full, make sure to keep eating to get all the nutrition you can, alright?"
Kalie and Casey nodded, both perfectly happy to eat more food - but Carol could see that Haley was conflicted. On one hand, she knew her oldest loved eating food - but on the other...
"Won't we... like, get chubby if we eat too much?" Haley asked hesitantly, looking down at her chunky belly. The nine year old wasn't anything more than chubby, but the outline of her rounded belly was clearly visible through her tight top.
"No, no, don't worry about that," Carol laughed, "You'll be fine. If anything, you'll grow taller more quickly, so you might even get slimmer overall!"
That seemed to satisfy Haley.
"Well, if you're sure," she shrugged, finishing her ice cream without another protest. Carol was pleased with herself - at this rate, all her girls would be lovely and plump in no time! Smiling widely, she returned to the kitchen.
Over the course of that afternoon, Carol did her best to keep her daughters as full of rich, fattening food as she could. Candy, chips and even doughnuts - all found their homes in the bellies, and hopefully soon the waistlines, of Haley, Kalie and Casey. There was the occasional objection that they felt full, but overall the afternoon went very smoothly, and before they knew it it was dinnertime.
This would be the first real test - when the three young girls attended the call for dinner, they were astonished to see a veritable mountain of food waiting on each of their plates. By comparison, Carol and their father Dave had regular-sized portions on their plates - and they hadn't been snacking all afternoon, either.
They tucked in enthusiastically though, making good headway as their parents watched - Carol with motherly satisfaction, Dave with confusion. After a little while, he turned in confusion to his wife.
"Dear, what's with the huge portions for the kids?" he whispered, thoroughly nonplussed, "They've got more than they'd normally eat in a day on their plates!"
Carol bit her lip.
"Ah, just following a new strategy I found in a magazine," Carol whispered back, "The idea is that you teach moderation by giving them really big servings, so they, uh, learn self control."
"They learn self control by eating a lot?" Dave repeated to himself, not understanding in the slightest, "Are you sure?"
"I'm certain, dear. It's a really big thing at the moment - all the magazines are talking about it," Carol lied, "You know you were saying a couple of weeks ago that you were concerned Haley is getting a little chunky? Well, this should sort that out in no time."
For a moment, Dave looked like he was going to raise further objection. After a moment though, he shrugged.
"Well, if you're sure, darling. The kids are your field of expertise, after all," and with that, he let the matter rest.
As the two whispered to one another, the girls were still eating. They'd each eaten perhaps three quarters of their meals, but the last quarter seemed to be challenging. All three were visibly full, their bellies swollen and aching.
"Come on girls," Carol encouraged them enthusiastically, "just a little more!"
"I'm full..." protested Kalie, one hand pressed to her aching stomach. Her top had ridden up a little, and a wedge of her pudgy belly was visible in the gap.
"You need to get your nutrition, Kal," Carol enthused, "Come on! Just a few more forkfuls. And you, Haley - you look like you have plenty of room left! Go on, get it down!"
At their mom's energetic prompting, the girls managed to finish their meals - albeit with much groaning and complaining. By the time all three plates were clear, all the girls looked like they were about to burst. Kalie's top had ridden up almost past her navel, revealing much of her chunky midsection. Her stomach was so swollen that she almost looked pregnant - a trait shared by Haley. The eldest daughter had a sizeable belly at the best of times, but now with an afternoon of filling snacks plus a huge plate of mac and cheese inside of her, her stomach looked huge. The material of her tank top was stretched tight over it, the thin material straining to conceal a belly that was anything but.
"You all did really well this afternoon," Carol said to them, smiling proudly as she gazed upon her overfed daughters, "So well, in fact, that I think you all deserve a treat. I know I don't normally allow television after dinner, but let's watch a film together tonight!"
The girls all cheered, forgetting their discomfort as they all made their way through to the living room. Carol put on a Disney film, then hurried back into the kitchen. She had a surprise for them...
After the movie had been running for an hour or so, the girls were feeling a little better. Their stomachs were busy at work digesting their immense meal, and though they still felt fairly stuffed they were at least partially recovered. It was at that moment that Carol entered - carrying an enormous tray of twenty chocolate brownies. The girls all stared, licking their lips despite themselves.
"I know you're probably still a little full from dinner, but I thought since you've been so good today, you deserve a real treat," she smiled. She quickly divvied up the brownies - Casey got four, Kalie six, and Haley got ten. "Eat them up while they're still warm!" Carol smiled, "They're good for you."
Somehow hungry again despite their swollen middles, the girls tucked in. The brownies were incredibly rich - Carol had added plenty of extra butter and chocolate - and so delicious that once they had started eating them, they could barely stop. Brownie after brownie was consumed, and by the time the film was over all twenty had disappeared. The only evidence of them existing at all was in the girls' overbloated bellies, and on their chocolate-stained fingers and faces.
Now stuffed, swollen and exhausted, the three girls went straight to bed - and immediately after that, to sleep. As they slept their stomachs churned, struggling with the arduous challenge of digesting the thousands of calories the girls had consumed and converting it all into fat for storage. The thought of that process was what kept Carol awake, even as her husband and daughters slept; she just couldn't stop thinking about how all that food was going to look once it had found its permanent home on her daughters' thighs, on their faces, and best and most of all, on their bellies.