Growing Soft 2 (Patreon)

Miia was awoken by the pleasant scent of pork being fried over an open flame. Her sensitive nose perked up at the intoxicating aroma, and her tongue flicked out of her mouth. Still groggy with sleep, she let her nose carry her, felt the great weight of her body shifting beneath her, in pursuit of the scent.

Piles of fur blankets toppled from her figure, revealing her simple dark bedtime tee. The design was a long serpentine dragon with amethyst scales reading from a tome, with ‘Book Wyrm’ inscribed upon the cover. She wore no skirt.

Miia was heavy. Being over seven meters long tended to do that to a girl, and Miia was quite proud of her length, though she was tight lipped about being nearly eight hundred pounds. Yet, the newlywed lamia had received such a wonderful surprise to find that her husband had taken special care in selecting their bed. Constructed custom made with titanium reinforcements, and a mattress of 128 x 146 inches, Miia had begun affectionately referring it as ‘the country of Snugglington.’ Yet, over these past few weeks, as the pair had repeatedly woken up entangled over one another, they were extremely amused that they only used a fraction of the bed. 

However, when Darling wasn’t there, emanating heat like the center of her galaxy, Miia spread herself out over the mattress. She lay like that now, struggling to wake up against the cold December air, which blew in full effect. Her reptilian nature made her sluggish, each movement taking a great effort to perform. 

Her eyes still shut, she let the smells dip through her senses and her tongue flickered out once more. She followed the trail and felt her body begin to drape off of the bed.

When Miia’s exposed lower belly flattened against the cold hardwood floors, her eyes flashed open and she emitted a reactionary shriek. 

“Gaaaah!” Instantly aware, Miia snapped forwards, racing across the bedroom floor. Through the door was a small sitting room with a couch that led to the wooden stairs that flowed down to the main floor. Miia went to the sofa and ripped a decorative blanket from its top. She wrapped it around her waist, coiling her tail back and forth over the carpet to warm her scales with friction. “Every time,” she chided herself. 

An open door on the other side showed the interior of the bathroom, peach colored walls with fine pewter utilities, though Miia was still caught upon the intoxicating smell. Her bath could wait. 

“You okay up there?” called a voice from below.

“Yes!” she called back in exasperation. 

The voice persisted. “Did ya go on the wood, again?”

Flames crackled into her reply. “Yes!!”

There was a brief pause. Then, the voice called, “You should really stop doing that!”

“Don’t make me come down there!” Miia shouted, tightening her fingers into a fist.

“You better, or else I’m eating your eggs!”

Miia tore the blanket from her waist and flung it to the couch, vowing to get a portable electric one in the near future. She hesitated for a moment at the top of the stairs before gripping the handrail and slithering forth onto the cool wooden steps. She muttered to herself in irritation while she made her way down before quickly spinning away from the bottom and into the warm, soft carpeted area of the living room. She tugged her tail down faster, and it thudded heavily down the rest of the stairs. 

She swayed her hips from side to side, unable to keep the lopsided grin from passing onto her face as she neared the source of the tempting fragrance. Her tongue lulled forth when she spotted Darling swirling around a large saucepan. She could hear the crackle of the bacon and sausages inside. He slid a mitten over his other hand before picking up another pan and setting it off to the side upon the granite counter.

Miia fought the temptation to slide forth onto the tile floor near the stove and sink, having been made all too aware of the awaiting chill from the last few weeks. Instead she followed the carpet over to a comfortable dining area and sat at the seat she’d taken up next to the head of the table, where her darling would sit. 

The table sat six, though they’d so far only ever set it for two. Miia had taken to wrapping her tail round the far side of the central support, winding it back and around Darlings chair. Her cheeks tinged with pink at the quiet thought of how his hands always found her tail while she ate, sliding up and down her scales with a rhythmic massage that was as intoxicating for her body as his cooking was for her belly.

She leaned an elbow upon the table, watching as the man she loved cooked. He moved like a dancer, practiced and patient, yet each movement prompt and sharp. He flicked off one of the burners, pushing a pan further to the side with another thunking into place. With his now free hand, he scooped up a spatula, spinning it deftly in his fingers before dipping down into the griddle. Miia watched flecks of grease spatter forth and had a brief view of golden fluff as darling flipped one, two, three large slabs of french toast, before replacing them over the fire. 

Miia cooed, causing Darling to look over to her and grin. The blush that colored her cheeks was light and warm. She tilted her chin downwards, but gazed back into her Darlings watching eyes, unable to hide her grin. Her tail flicked around the far side of the table, rising up and falling in a smooth motion. “You use extra egg when you make french toast,” Miia explained. 

“I know,” he winked, and turned back to his cooking. 

Miia laughed, letting the heat from the kitchen fill her girlish giggle. “Jerk, you just want to make me blush,” she leaned into her hand, covering one of her cheeks. 

“You’ve been blushing since you got down here,” he said.

Miia’s long tongue slithered forth before vibrating in a petulant raspberry. She rubbed her hands over both of her cheeks, felt the blood rushing through them and the ache of her grin. It only made the heat grow quicker, and her smile grow wider.

The man had been grown quite brilliant with his cooking. Back when there had been nearly ten people in the house, it had been a necessity. Food had become a way for the girls to bond, and Darling had always been so adamant of providing for them. But, Miia noticed, Darling’s cooking hadn’t lessened one step from their transition. The quantity of food hadn’t changed, only what was cooked.

Steamed vegetables had become broiled meats. Grilled beef, sautéed pork, deep-fried chicken, the man was becoming an artist of meat.  Every night, Miia felt like a beautiful princess, served a veritable feast by her darling prince… no, she remembered, her king.

Miia’s blush redoubled and she let out a happy sigh. Her tail danced through the air while her finger coasted over her ring. Miia, a queen. She had trouble believing it even now.

Yet, Miia had also grown aware of something that was… different, and yet something that was the same. Her mind danced around it, not acknowledging that she’d already acknowledged it, but a more colorful part of her stood up and declared ‘so what?!’

Darling was cooking as much as he ever had. Cerea, Mero, Rachnera, Papi, Suu, Lala, all of the girls were gone… Only Miia remained. Yet somehow, despite being engulfed in the cold snows of winter, despite her absence from work for the next few months, despite the fact that she hadn’t even left the house for the last three weeks, they had yet to have a single tub of leftovers.

The tip of Miia’s tail flowed into her lap. Her eyes directed outside, looking over the fresh and falling winter snow. It’s not her fault! Well, it was, since she was the one who ate it all, but not being able to leave wasn’t! It’s winter outside, freezing cold! She deserved to have a day or a week or a month off, it was in her biology! And so was food, she reminded herself. Munching, nibbling, eating, it had quickly become apparent just how much she’d been holding back. Her mind turned back to her and Darling at their wedding, their reminiscing about feeding her…

She was startled from her thoughts by the sound of tinkering glass. She turned to see Darling loading five plates with the food, before scooping up an empty pair and making his way to the table. He set the short stack in front of Miia, with knives and forks sitting on top. “Would you mind?” he asked.

She grinned and nodded, humming happily as she sat up and set his place before setting her own. He brought each loaded plate to the table, each with food steaming through their light paper covers. Miia hovered above one of the plates, the one which smelled most heavily of bacon. She drank in the scent over and over, let it flow into her and over her. She felt Darling’s eyes upon her, let her chest throb with each inhalation. She straightened herself before making another pleasant groan and letting herself slump forth. When she turned to him, she caught his eyes gracing her body, but they seemed to flick upwards a bit too rapidly. He hadn’t been looking at her chest, she realized, and gave him a questioning grin. “Yes?”

“Nothing,” he lied. 

Miia’s tail found him, and slowly rose up his leg. The tip of her tail grazed over his inner thigh, and Miia felt her lips perk alluringly as she was overcome with his obvious enjoyment.

“H-hey, I was wondering,” he said, his hand falling to the larger area of Miia’s tail. His touch was warm and familiar, and Miia sighed when his grip began to tighten and release over her soft underside. “Do lamias ever pray?”

Miia opened her amber eyes, turning to look into his. She hadn’t expected the question and put a finger to her chin. “Well, yes, naturally.”

There was a pause before Miia realized she was being invited to continue.

“Oh! You mean like do we have different religions?” she asked.

Darling nodded his head. He removed his hand from Miia’s body and lifted the paper towel from one of the plates. Beneath it, more than two dozen sausage links rolled about while he lifted the plate and began to scoop them onto Miia’s empty plate. Six links thunked into place, while Darling stabbed and procured three for himself.

“We have a few different ones,” Miia explained, lifting one of the sausages from her plate with her bare thumb and forefinger. Grease splotched from the sausage when she squeezed it before happily tossing the link wholly into her mouth. The flavor rolled back over her tongue. It was still piping hot, but it was so yummy! She chomped it before hurriedly swallowing and picking up another. “There’s polygamist and monotheistic religions.”

Darling paused with the bacon plate, rising an eyebrow before sending strips thundering onto Miia’s platter. “Do you mean polytheist?” he asked.

“Oh, that too!” Miia said, taking a piece of bacon on her free hand. Her next sausage, she bit in half, allowing the grease to squish and pop inside of her mouth before sliding down into her tummy. Then, she took a bite of the bacon. It was lightly cooked, fresh and just a bit chewy with fat. Miia’s fangs seemed to grow sharper and her belly hungrily rumbled at this fresh and welcome development.

“Ahh, huh,” Darling shook his head, which Miia missed in her glee. “So, who is the lamia… uhhh, God?”

Miia chuckled, covering her loaded mouth with her hand. “Why are you so interested?” she asked.

Darling shrugged, loading Miia’s plate further with two slabs of french toast. “I dunno, why do you still wanna be a shrine maiden?”

“Cause I look cute as heck in the outfit,” she retorted.

Darling laughed, shaking his head. “There’s more to it than that.”

Miia winked an eye at him before leaning out over her plate and lifting a jug placed upon the table. She was surprised to find that the jug was freezing to her touch and let out a small gasp of surprise, releasing it.

Darling chuckled, reaching the jug and taking a glass from the center of the table. “Since we’re living alone, I was able to put in a little bit extra for milk instead of just plain old water,” he told her, filling her glass. 

Miia rolled her eyes before taking the cup from him. She drank deeply. The coolness flooded her mouth was refreshing, though she was instantly aware of the high amount of fat the milk contained. It was obviously premium product. Miia sighed, refreshed, before finally scooping up her fork and knife and beginning to cut her toast. “Well, the central Goddess,” she inflexed the word, “of the lamia religion is named Alice,” she told him.

“Alice?” he asked. “The name seems so… human.”

Miia shook her head. “Nope, it’s lamia. Alice, Burner of Fate.”

Darling reached over while she finished slicing her slabs of toast and began to deposit the golden nectar of syrup upon her plate. “Tell me when,” he said.

“Don’t make me responsible, you’ll use the whole bottle,” she joked. “No, yeah, Alice is the goddess of lamia culture. She’s a bit more snake-like than we are, but she’s from ancient history. There was a painting in one of the churches that depicted her once. Blue skin, with evil looking tattoos.” He finished pouring and Miia scooped a now syrup soaked sausage into her mouth, ignoring the stickiness it gave her fingers. Through her chewing, she continued. “Scripture tells that she was the first lamia to ever interact with a human… Well, the first that tried to positively interact with one.”

“Positively?” Darling asked. He unearthed the contents of the last plate, and Miia felt her heart flutter. Golden, soft, scrambled eggs. She could kiss him. In fact.

Miia stretched her tail out, lifting Darling’s chin with her sensitive tip. His eyes looked up from her plate and were suddenly warmed and held in her amber embrace. She leaned forwards and kissed her husband upon his warm and opulent lips and ignored the slight trail of sticky syrup she left upon him. Thankfully, from his grin, she saw he did too.

“Hey, you’re distracting me,” he said, his hand returning to her lower body.

She leaned to the side, enjoying his touch. “Hmmm,” she trailed off. “What was I saying?”

“About Alice?” he prompted.

Miia opened her eyes. “Oh, yeah!” She scooped up a bite of egg, and an involuntary moan escaped her lips when she placed the delicious fluff upon her tongue. Her body throbbed and she was surprised to find after a moment that Darling’s hands were now both massaging her tail. She leaned into it, relishing in in the exuberance. “Well, Alice is the reason that lamias are what we are, according to the priestesses. She’s got tons of stories,” she paused to taking another bite of egg, before tilting her head and continuing with a full mouth. “Lemme think. The priestesses made a big deal about the exchange program because of her…” she swallowed and reached for her drink. “They were really excited that our cultures might coexist, ‘cause that was one of their pillars of commitment.”

Darling poured his own drink. “Really? To humans?”

Miia nodded, “Yes. Remember, lamias are exclusively females. So, we need human males in order to breed. She wanted lamias to live with humans though, but that wasn’t possible until the exchange program happened. We’re the first couple ever officially married.” Her smile to Darling was brief before she looked down to her plate. 

Something nagged at her mind. A few words from the head priestess, and a glass painting that hung from her wall.

“No… wait. I think I remember something about Alice getting married?” She shook her head before turning to Darling and continuing. “Anyway, she has a lot of older tales too. She was strong as a python,” Miia raised her arm into a flex, giving a cheeky grin while her soft flesh concealed any attempt at showing her actual muscle, “and could move faster than a mamba!”

The girl’s hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of meat from her plate. Three strips of bacon and four sausages vanished into her widespread mouth before she enthusiastically snapped shut. She perked her lips and eyebrows in a puffed expression, eliciting a chortle from her lover and winning a flutter in her heart. She merrily chewed over the mouthful before sending it down to plop into her tummy. The happy girl was blissfully unaware of her stomach’s softening nature, or just how easily she’d gotten used to eating so much over the last few weeks. 

“My favorite story,” she continued, “was when she defeated the Red Queen Cobra. She was just a little lamia then, but most of the main stories are about her focus on wanting to have better relationships with humans, and how we need one another to survive.”

“It sounds like you guys depend on humans a lot,” Darling said. With his own plate finally full, he paused from rubbing Miia’s body. 

The girl looked over to him and was taken with the sight of him making the sign of the cross. It surprised her, as it wasn’t something she had seen often preformed, but she knew its significance. Miia felt the need to join him and let her cutlery fall to her plate before clamping her hands together.

Darling opened his eyes at the sounds. Miia and him regarded one another for a brief moment. He wore a confused expression. Miia smiled in turn and bowed her head.

After a moment, Darling returned the bow and closed his eyes. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name…”

******************************************************************************

When Miia finished her third plate of eggs, she leaned back in her chair and rest her hand upon her tummy. She felt warm and concentrated on the feeling as it flowed out from her center. It had become normal for her to eat three plates of breakfast in the morning, with more than one being fully dedicated to filling her with fluffy eggs, which is why she narrowed her eyes when she heard the scraping of dishes ahead of her.

Darling, ever diligent, was turning and sliding the final bits of bacon and eggs from their holders onto Miia’s plate. The egg thunked bit by bit, flooding the plate and topping her off with a full fourth. After, Darling leaned back in his chair, adjusted Miia’s tail in his lap, and wordlessly returned to rubbing it.

Unable to temper her smile, she slyly asked him, “What are you doing?”

He took his milk and lifted it to his lips. 

Miia waited a beat before sighing. “You just don’t want to wrap up leftovers, do you?”

Darling paused for a beat, lowered his glass. “Do you?”

She grunted and he returned to his drink. Scooping up her fork, Miia took bits of egg into her already stuffed tummy. After a few bites, she narrowed her eyes at Darling, noticing that the milk in his glass didn’t seem to be going. Her tail suddenly went taught, wrapping rapidly around her husbands middle and fastening him to the chair. His eyes went wide. Miia kept her voice level. “How’s your milk, Sweetheart?”

His eyes went wider. A trickle of sweat spilled down from his brow, noticing the foreign false endearment. Miia kept herself from darkly chuckling while he lowered his glass. “Um… It’s great.”

“Then why aren’t you drinking it?” she asked. Miia twirled her fork in her finger, using her other hand to take a slab of bacon. She chewed it over tersely but could hardly manage to stifle the satisfaction of her taste buds. The bacon was soft, still plump with fat, and it pleasantly twisted inside of her mouth. Her fang tore through its center, shredding it, before she swallowed and sent it tumbling into her tummy.

The very act of swallowing caused Miia some discomfort. She noticed that her stomach felt rather tight. It wasn’t often that she stuffed herself. She was a lamia, capable of eating more than a few portions at any meal, but her blatant inactivity throughout the month on top of her indulgent breakfast today was leading her to feeling more than simply comfortably full. An unconscious hand fell to her middle while she took in another bite of the bacon, finishing the piece and adding it to her waist.

She turned her attention away from her food back to Darling. She’d intended on keeping her cool façade on, to question him in what was sure to be some fun game, but his face… Darling was staring at her. She noticed, first, the pulse on his neck. Blood throbbed through him, and before she knew it, a worry overtook her and she began loosening him. But then she saw his eyes. His brown wooden eyes had become liquid amber, shining brightly in the light of day. His nostrils flared, and his mouth hung slightly open. 

He was intent upon Miia, and within a single heartbeat she became intent upon him.

Before she had fully released him, he was already pressing forwards, trying to stand and his mouth was moving to speak. Miia shut him up by launching herself from her chair straight onto him, rapidly unraveling and sliding over the kitchen table. Glasses and plates clattered about when she smacked into his chest, riding him and his chair to the floor. 

He twirled as they hit the carpet, rolling over and onto Miia. Her fingers grabbed at his shirt while his locked behind her hair, and they began kissing with feverish need. His hand traveled up her side, twisting beneath her shirt, and clutched to her waist. Miia’s tail awkwardly flailed through the air, pulling herself free of the table and sliding herself around him.

The bulk of Miia’s weight wrapped over him, Darling began pulsing up from Miia and returning down to her rhythmically, sliding up and down against her scales. She felt his temperature rising, felt her own rapidly increasing while their tongues met in wettened kisses. Miia’s fingernails suddenly dug into his back when his hand pinched her waist. She let out an airy breath, a pleasurable moan from the unexpected sensation.

His eyes were sharp over her face, and she felt her cheeks go scarlet, wanted to cover her face from the indecent expression of pleasure, but she was caught by the sudden movement as he ducked down to her neck and clamped his mouth around it. She breathed heavily as he began to kiss and knead her flesh in his mouth while his searching hand pinched her side once more before flattening beneath him and sliding over her belly.

Miia’s eyes lost focus while Darling’s teeth grazed her, her attention caught upon the feeling of her stomach as he rolled his hand round and round over her fullness. She had eaten so much, what was he doing, rubbing her tummy? She was packed, stuffed! But it felt so good, spikes of pain mixed with her lust, and her mouth opened in another gasp. Beads of sweat began to tumble from her brow while he massaged her, and she found herself pushing outwards and into his touch, letting his hand into her soft, round-

*Ding Dong*

Darling gave a frightened yelp as Miia’s tail suddenly tore him free and launched him into the air. He slammed into the carpet at her side while the girls powerful tail smacked against the leg of the table, and multiple dishes and cutlery tumbled free. Miia was instantly over him making pitiful cries. “Ahhh! Darling! Are you okay?? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to!!”

On the floor, Darling grimaced, rubbing at his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m fine, ouch.” He rubbed at his shoulder. “I sure am glad we have a nice carpet.”

*Ding Dong*

The couple looked up from their spot, frozen in stares past the living room and towards the front door. Through half-closed blinds, Miia could scarcely make out several colorful bits of clothing, as well as a festive green and red blanket covering a long equine backside standing near their front door.

“Oh, no! They’re early!” Darling said. He rolled over and stood up before turning back and seeing the disaster of their dining room. He hurriedly began to clean the dishes from the floor.

It took Miia an extra moment to connect who ‘they’ were, and then another to realize what their arrival meant. The increasingly lazy lamia had put off leaving home for so long that she’d lost all sense of time, and in-turn was overcome by the cold realization like winter blizzard. “Wait a second, it’s Christmas?!?!” 

Darling looked up from the ground. “Y-yeah? They’re here for the Christmas Eve party, I told you last night. It’s why I made extra breakfast.”

Miia slithered rapidly to-and-fro, hands at her sides. “That’s not fair!” she shrieked. “We had mousse with dinner, and it was so cold I could barely think!” 

“Why do you think I was asking about religion?” he asked.

She ignored him and raced from the room, whipping past the front door, and slithering up the frozen steps. She was caught off guard by a loud knocking, spun, and thumped back down to the entrance. She twisted the lock, threw open the door, and bowed to her guests. 

“I’m sorry, I’ll be right down, I haven’t wrapped any of your gifts yet and I forgot today was Christmas and I’m sorry!!” she wailed.

“Heavens above, what are you doing answering the door?”

Miia was caught off guard by the sudden immense sensation of being scooped out of her bow and let out a strangled shout as she was carried back off of the wooden floor and into the living room. “Ahh! Cerea! Put me down, you’re covered in snow!!”

The horsewoman gently laid Miia down upon the couch. Miia had begun to shiver intently, and her tail was rapidly constricting. The whine of Mero’s electric wheelchair approached, and she came around Cerea’s back. “Awe, you’re hardly even dressed. Did we surprise you?” she asked, pulling a nearby blanket from the couch and offering it to Miia.

Miia snatched the blanket and covered her lightly dressed body. She was cold, of course, but now her cheeks were exuding precious heat while she focused upon how beautifully dressed the other girls were. Each of them wore dark coats, with an arrangement of scarves and mittens, but Miia could already see the sparkles of jewelry, and glimmer of glitter while Lala and Suu followed the others into her living room. 

“You know, there’s a blizzard outside.” Cerea said, stepping away towards the door. She removed her coat, revealing a green and white dress that coasted down her womanly figure, meshing well with her festive blanket that she wore over her rear. Upon her back, she wore a pair of deep pocketed saddlebags. She brushed the snow off of her backside. “Suu, let me fix you up,” she ordered. 

The slime-girl traipsed over to her, the only one of the group not wearing a dress. They’d even managed to squeeze her into some frost protective clothing with a large red bow tied around her waist.

“Where’s Master?” she asked Miia, pulling Suu’s hair free of her clothing, and removing the piled-up snow. “He shouldn’t let you answer the door when it’s like this.”

Miia grumbled from beneath her blanket. “I-I can answer the door just fine, it’s not like I was going outside.”

Lala sat down on the couch beside her, catching her eye. The Dullahan’s black eyes looked blankly into Miia’s. “It is currently negative twenty degrees Celsius outside. The optimal climate for a lamia’s heartrate and body temperature is over forty degrees higher than this.”

Miia gave her a flat look. “Answering the door isn’t going outside.”

Mero spoke up from nearby, removing her own coat and blanket to reveal a salmon colored sweater and exposing mermaid tail beneath. “You are still shivering.”

Miia leaned back into her couch and looked up to the ceiling. “Uggghhhhh,” she whined.

“Oh, don’t fuss,” Mero said. With a heft of her arms, she lifted herself from her wheelchair and deftly transferred to the couch. Miia looked at her as she lifted her sweater over her head, revealing red and green swimwear beneath. 

“W-what the heck are you doing?” Miia asked through chattering teeth.

Mero scooched herself closer and lifted the blanket. “Sharing heat,” she explained, closing the gap between them. “There we are.”

Miia melted against Mero’s warm body, ignoring the slightly damp feel of her thin waist. “Ngaahh” she mumbled.

Miia felt Mero’s arm wrap around her back, and her hand come round her front. She began to rub near the lamia’s hips before her hand went up her light tee-shirt and bumped against Miia’s packed belly.

The lamia was unable to keep the groan from emanating from her lips and sank further into Mero’s embrace, ignoring the girl’s bemused laugh.

Darling came from the kitchen. “You guys came earlier than we’d expected,” he addressed. “Good afternoon. You guys said there was a blizzard outside?”

“Have you not been watching the news?” Cerea asked.

While the group went on in their conversation, Miia was making ready to pull away from the warming embrace when Mero placed her face into Miia’s hair, pressing her lips against her scalp. “How have you been?” she whispered.

Miia glanced upwards, looking into Mero’s large blue eyes. She breathed comfortably. “Good. Really good.”

Mero’s eyes pinched at the corners, and her hand drummed upon Miia’s stomach. 

“Oof, careful.” Miia grunted, sitting upwards. She separated from Mero before stretching herself outwards and dropping the blanket from her body. When she looked back to thank the mermaid, she became quite alarmed by the wide-eyed gape and heavy blush on Mero’s face. “W-what?” she asked.

Mero’s eyes went from Miia’s, then down to Miia’s stomach, then back to Miia’s eyes. 

Miia squinted at her. Then, with realization, shot up. “I am not!!” she shouted.

Silence overtook the room. Miia looked round to see that everyone was now openly ogling her, and her hands wrapped protectively around her middle. “N-not what?” Darling asked.

Miia’s eyes turned to him, then back to Mero. “Err, well, uhh…” she stammered.

Mero cleared her throat. “Apologies, dear Sir,” she bowed her head to him. “I’d asked Miia if she and you were thinking about becoming parents. My question was out of line.”

“Oh…” Darling said. He glanced back to Miia. “Well, it’s okay. We talked about that, and decided we wanted to wait a few years first.”

“She is not yet with child,” Lala said coldly from her spot on the couch.

Miia went rigid before giving the dullahan a death glare. “Thank you, I know that,” she hissed. “Can we not talk about me getting pregnant within a month of our wedding, please?” she asked.

There was silence for a few moments before a loud clap broke through. Cerea stood alert, looking about the house. “Master,” she spoke, “do you not have a chimney?”

“Uh… no, we don’t.” Darling answered her.

Cerea sighed in relief. “Good. Then Papi won’t be able to boobytrap it.”

“B-boobytrap it?” he asked, bewildered.

Cerea nodded, her expression stern. “I’ve found her thrice in the last week alone attempting to lay a trap for Santa. She seems to have gotten the idea that if she were to fatally maim him, then she would become the new Santa Clause.”

Lala shifted in her seat.

******************************************************************************

The group had brought with them several dishes and desserts, all carried in the pair of saddlebags Cerea had worn around her back. Miia had left the group to finish getting ready, and Darling had gotten help from the other girls to get a long table from the basement of the house and to set it up in the living room. 

He placed upon it the cheese, crackers, shrimp, a bag of potato and some dip, and various other appetizers, along with a small stereo tuned to a Christmas station. 

Shortly after, Rachnera and Papi both arrived, bringing with them several bottles of wine, cookies, brownies, and a plate of chocolate fudge. Others had stopped by as well. Ms. Smith had been quick to invite herself for a few drinks, before being found by Tio and Zombina, come to drag her back to holiday work. 

The girls were each quick to make themselves cozy, and the house was filled with the comfort of the holiday with sounds of laughter and singing. Kimihito was filled with an easy warmth.

He had now returned to the kitchen to continue preparing dinner and took stock of the situation. The hams had been left to thaw throughout the night, the bread was ready to be baked and only just needed to be inserted, he’d still needed to cook most of the vegetables though, and the fish had to be grilled carefully. He’d picked up carrots for Cerea and the fish were for Papi and Mero. Rachnera and Suu would eat almost anything and could likely be content by the food out on the appetizer table, but Kimihito had a natural sense of enjoyment from being praised as chief.

But something had changed in him, something he knew he needed to acknowledge. Cerea’s appreciation for carrots didn’t justify him purchasing five pounds of them, nor would Papi or Mero be capable of eating the eight fillets he’d acquired. This was all on top of all of the potatoes, meats, breads, and cranberries he’d procured. He knew he had enough for at least two of each girl there, yet in his mind, he couldn’t stop picturing Miia.

The girl’s appetite had expanded so far, it was already wearing a size eighteen dress. He’d known from the past that she was a foodie but had never pegged himself as an indulger. Yet the way that the girl got when she was fed. Before, she’d get sluggish and lazy, but since their wedding, she was a monster. His mind wandered back to this morning, to her being so overfed that she was rubbing her belly, and how he watched it slosh upwards and down, lethargic and heavy. 

She was gaining weight, fast, and he couldn’t be happier about it. Since he slipped that ring on her finger, how much has she eaten? How much has she gained? She was exceptionally large to start with, yet it was still enough where he could feel it when he held her and could see the smooth softness accumulating. His wife’s getting fat, and it’s making him lose his damn mind.

His eyes slowly went to the counter. How much of the ham could Miia eat? Could she eat the entire nine pounds in one sitting? God, what would her stomach look like then? Would she want to lay around all day, complaining about her stuffed belly, or maybe… what if she’d want more?

“Master?”

A touch on his shoulder sent Kimihito bouncing forwards, jumping nearly out of his skin. He turned around to see Cerea had entered the room and come up behind him, inaudible through his languid fantasy. “Oh, Cerea…” he tried to lean backwards on the stove, casually. “What’s up?”

Cerea looked from him to the dishes. “I was hoping I might be of service to…” her blue eyes lit up when she saw the five-pound sack, orange carrots peeking out the top. “… you,” she finished, practically drooling.

Kimihito felt the chuckle come from deep in his gut, went to the bag, and took the top carrot from it. “Well, I was thinking about cooking these up with margarine and brown sugar, and they’re not peeled yet, but I’m not entirely sure if that matters. They’re washed already”

He held the carrot out to her and her hooves clopped closer cautiously, eyes unwavering from the vegetable. She took it in her hand, looked from it, to Kimihito, back to the bag. “W-well… umm, you do have… so many…” she bit her lip.

He patted her on the shoulder. “You can have as many as you like, as long as you peel and chop the others for the dish.”

He’d hardly finished speaking when her teeth clamped down around the carrot, and she was nosily enjoying a generous mouthful. “Mhmm,” she groaned.

Kimihito chuckled. Cerea was cute, but she was certainly no Miia. Miia’d have taken the bite straight from the palm of his hand, unable to contain her baser instinct. But, if she was willing to help, he wouldn’t mind Cerea eating a pound of two of the carrots all to herself. The thought made him say aloud, “Don’t go overboard though, I got a recipe for them specifically to let you try it when they’re cooked, alright?”

Cerea grunted an affirmative, her ears twitching pleasantly while she continued chewing her treat. He passed the peeler over to the bag. She’d start when she was ready.

He turned back to the hams, his head cleared of one his many chains of thought. He needed to get to work, else nobody was going to get fed.

Kimihito placed both of the hams into the oven, set the bread in the breadmaker, and got the fish crackling in the pan. The pleasant smell of cooking drifted out through the house, gracing the senses of each of the girls in the living room, before slowly dancing up the stairs and sliding beneath the door of the upstairs bathroom.

Inside, Miia’s stomach rumbled.

The redhaired woman looked down blew her forked tongue out at this. “Quiet, you,” she said gruffly. “You’ve already gotten me in enough trouble today…”

She turned back to the mirror, trying to contemplate the issue at hand. Namely, her outfit didn’t fit. Rather, it fit too well. The red and white Santa dress hugged her so tightly, it resembled more of an undergarment than a party dress. Though, she was reluctant to admit, it did make her breasts look amazing.

White trim ended the dress just above the smooth mounds of her chest. When she’d worn this outfit in years past, it merely hugged her  body, but now it showed a sharp line of cleavage, which quivered  appealingly like gelatin when she moved. Her shoulders, too, looked  wonderful, though the polyester fabric of the disconnected sleeves kept  bunching up near her elbows. They were so irritatingly tight that she'd  chosen to gone without, tossing them alongside other ill-fitting  clothing near the laundry closet. 

What bothered her most was that the large black and golden belt no longer fit around her waist. She plucked at the white fringe at the dress’s bottom, tugging her outfit down another inch and showing more of her chest. 

Maybe, if everyone was so busy looking at her breasts, they wouldn’t notice that she apparently looked like she’d gotten pregnant… Miia hissed at her reflection in annoyance, before sucking in a gulp of air and pulling the unforgiving fabric of the belt as tight as she could.

Surprisingly, she managed to finally get some grasp of it, and the latch slide through the last of the notches in the belt. “Finally,” Miia grunted, letting out a sigh.

The cheap material tore free when Miia’s waist to returned to normal, slumping out and to the sides before the latch for the belt snapped open. She swiped angrily at the belt while it fluttered pathetically to the ground before putting her face into her hand.

“Stupid polyester garbage. I’m upgrading to cotton next year,” she threatened the tearing costume. Still, there was time for that later. The belt was obviously a lost cause, she’d have to make do without. She looked back at her reflection.

The Santa dress actually looked a little better, now. The skirt wasn’t constricted by the belt and was allowed to flow lazily in the air shortly beneath Miia’s hips. Now, it mostly featured Miia’s chest. She placed her hands upon her waist, pinching her stomach beneath. The scents from below were teasing it, but she was doing her best to ignore them. It still looked a little tight, but without the belt, at least it wasn’t as noticeable. The dress lacked beltloops as well, so if she was lucky, nobody’d even think about it.

She groaned again. Mero would know, of course. She had been rubbing her stomach, probably felt everything in there from breakfast, and was now giggling to herself that the lamia had accumulated a little bit of wife weight.

The thought of Mero’s hands spun another line of thinking in Miia’s mind. She stabbed at her belly with her forefinger. “How are you already hungry?!” she demanded, with thoughts of breakfast drifting back to her.

The scent of baking ham quickly answered that for her.

“… Damn snake heritage,” she lamented. “It’s lucky Darling didn’t get a farm.”

She twisted her neck, then her waist, then her hips, spinning in a spiral to flex the muscles throughout her body. There were several relieving cracks of tension released throughout. She turned to the presents, sitting comfortably wrapped upon the bathroom counter, then back to the mirror. 

An idea occurred to her, and with a resigned sigh, she tore free her hanging sleeves. She would never get to do any of her makeup, but a girls’ outfit was always more important than her blush. She collected the useless stockings that the outfit had come with, feeling the tension slowly seeping back into her muscles. 

They were probably talking about her, downstairs. She’d been in here for, what, an hour now? At least the wrapping was done, but that was only a small comfort. She pulled open a drawer and withdrew her sewing kit, and quickly set to work.

******************************************************************************

Downstairs, Mero was indeed thinking about Miia, but not in the capacity the lamia would likely have expected. The mermaid has shimmied her way back into her salmon sweater, and was currently sitting on the couch, slowly rotating and feeling the liquid slosh of her glass.

“I think,” she said to Rachnera, “I’ll have another glass of wine.”

Rachnera chuckled. “Four, already?”

Mero nodded. She extended her half-empty glass and Rachnera dutifully filled it. Mero took a deep sip from it, sighed, and leaned back into the couch.

“So, what’s got you so thirsty?” Rachnera asked.

Mero swirled her glass in her hand, eyes flickering to the pleasant smells emanating from the kitchen. “The food, truthfully,” Mero answered.

Rachnera’s ivory eyebrow cocked above her crimson eyes.

“Dear sir,” Mero explained, “had said we’d be served breakfast once we arrived. Most of the others ate at the house, but I neglected to. To my own misfortune it would seem.”

Rachnera sipped upon her own glass of deep red wine. “Huh, that’s right, isn’t it? Papi and I got donuts and coffee. I wonder what happened.”

Mero supposed she knew. She’d felt it sloshing inside of a certain stomach, after all, but kept her silence.

“Here,” Rachnera said. She stood from her squatted position on the floor, legs moving slowly as she stabbed her way across the floor to the appetizer table. She took the plate of shrimp and dip, before bemusedly allowing Papi and Suu room to pass as they danced to “I saw Mommy kidnap Santa Clause,” a harpy Christmastime favorite. 

Rachnera set the dish on the table before Mero, who happily obliged it. “Thank you,” she acknowledged. “I didn’t wish to make a fuss.”

Rachnera waved an ebony claw in the air. She turned and, over her shoulder, called into the kitchen. “Hey, Honey!!”

“Oh, Rachnera, you don’t have to-” Mero began.

She trailed off when Sir’s head came through the threshold. “Yes?” he asked.

“Hey, wasn’t there supposed to be breakfast for all of us?” Rachnera asked, gesturing to the crowd with her glass of wine.

At the mention of this, each girl looked up from what they were doing. Even and Papi and Suu broke off from their prancing. Mero blushed in second-hand embarrassment when she saw the sweat begin dropping from his brow.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said. “There was, yeah.”

“Can Papi have breakfast now? Papi want more do-nuts!” the harpy exclaimed.

“Err, uhh, no… We uh, I mean, there was breakfast, but we… well, uhh,” he stammered. 

“Papi,” Mero dipped shrimp into the cocktail sauce before holding it up to the blue bird. “You can have some shrimp, if you’d like.”

“Yes, please!” Papi hopped over to the spot and chomped the shrimp down whole straight from Mero’s fingers. Mero, meanwhile, caught Sir’s eye. She glanced towards the stairs before returning to his.

The sweat came down faster.

Mero smirked. 

“Umm, anywho, we can all start having dinner in a little bit!” he happily exclaimed, placing a hand on the wall and coming into the room.

“How long is a little bit?” Rachnera asked.

“About… umm, an hour and fifteen minutes,” he mumbled, checking his watch.

Rachnera took a deep breath before reaching forward and refilling her own glass of wine.