No, as it turns out, they had not had ham already.
"More please, — URP – Mama"
Mrs. West rose to slide a few more slices of ham onto Haley's not-yet-empty plate. These were followed up with a large scoop of scalloped potatoes, rich applesauce, and two more golden brown dinner rolls. Mrs. West scraped the pan of sweet potatoes clean, depositing the large serving spoonful onto the overloaded mound on her younger daughter's plate. She then stood from the table to take the empty casserole pan into the kitchen and start on the dishes and cleanup.
For her part, Haley was fully focussed on her caloric onslaught. Her bloated middle which had started dinner still somewhat filled from lunch was now filling her lap. Her gut had gone beyond merely hanging over her waistband, the formerly small portion of underbelly now pressed down and out so hard it squeezed at its owner and almost made her pause to consider whether to add another mouthful of food to her suffering... almost.
When Mrs. West returned from the kitchen to check on her daughter, she brought in the rest of the dinner rolls, and saw that she could see almost half the bare surface of Haley's plate again.
"More, sweetheart?"
Haley had just stuffed a large slice of ham into her maw, and could only nod. Again her plate was mounded high with ham, potatoes, and applesauce, with two more fresh hot dinner rolls.
Was this her third plate or her fourth? Neither woman knew.
Mrs. West busied herself in the kitchen. She made two entire trays of peach cobbler, mixing and rolling the crust from scratch, periodically checking on Haley to refill her daughter's plate. She also started a slow cooker of broth, in case Tara wanted soup later in the night.
Bite after bite of dinner disappeared into Haley's greedy mouth, it was like her finals celebration dinner all over again, and she was loving it. Just before the scalloped potatoes ran out, she unbuttoned her pants with some considerable effort, letting her engorged belly expand to its full size and finding a second wind.
After putting the cobbler pans into the oven, Mrs. West slid the last six slices of ham onto Haley's plate, along with two more dinner rolls. As long as Haley was still eating, her mother figured she still had room for more.
When the cobbler came out of the oven, Mrs. West dumped the last of the large applesauce bowl onto her plate, with the last three dinner rolls.
"Desert just needs to cool a little bit baby, if you've still got room?" Mrs. West looked at her daughter with mild skepticism.
Haley had a dinner roll in one hand and was taking large bites, while running her other hand over the curve of her swollen middle. Nonetheless her eyes lit up at the word "dessert" and she nodded at her mother enthusiastically.
Mrs. West was starting to realize her fears about her meal and her plans for leftovers had been completely unfounded. Haley was just wiping the her plate clean with the last dinner roll when the first cobbler was brought in. She didn't wait for a plate but reached for the entire tray eagerly, licking her lips.
Sitting in her grandma's old chair, the formerly stressed undergrad scooped spoonfuls of gooey, sugary peach cobbler into her mouth eagerly. One would have thought she had just started eating, rather than wrapping up a nearly three hour binge session. Well, if one couldn't see her bloated stomach, that is.
Mrs. West heard the clang of the empty aluminum baking tray hit the table, followed by a near window-rattling "Buuurrrrpp!"
"Haley! You'll wake your sister!"
"*urp* Sorry mama..."
Haley rested both hands on her stomach, fingers drumming against its taut surface. She couldn't decide if this was more than she'd eaten after finals or not. Once again she could feel heat radiating off of it. She looked like a woman in her third trimester, but instead of a baby kicking, her tummy gurgled and churned as it worked on processing enough food to feed a large family.
Mrs. West reentered the room tentatively, carrying the last of the food, the second pan of cobbler.
"You all done baby, or–"
Haley's stomach concerns were forgotten when she saw another pan of deliciousness. She reached for it wordlessly with both hands.
"Heh, okay okay, hungry girl..."
Mrs. West sat the pan down in front of her growing daughter with a smile, giving her a pat on a fleshy shoulder.
"I guess I've been underestimating your appetite lately." Mrs. West reached down to pat Haley's engorged belly, taking no notice of how nearly rock-hard it was.
Her words fell on the deaf ears of her bottomless pit of a daughter. Haley was once again tucking into her latest treat with abandon. Her shirt was drawn so tightly over her stomach that its seams were audibly creaking, to say nothing of the antique chair struggling valiantly to hold up Haley's considerable and ever-increasing bulk. Neither of these sounds could be heard, however, over the lip-smacking and appreciative vocal gulping of peach cobbler.
"I'll have to work even harder to make sure my stressed-out college student doesn't ever leave the table hungry, huh?"
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