Page 34 of The Ground Beneath Our Feet
Good, intense feelings like this, I could handle. But I needed food to deal with the other ones. When the bad ones came, I knew how to cope. While it was just processed sugar and flour in a throwaway wrapper, if I needed to escape, I could. If I needed to stuff my face so I didn’t feel my feelings, I could.
He beamed at me, and I rode the joy from his embrace. “Can we do that again tomorrow?” I asked.
“Yeah, baby, we can.”
The next day after work, I walked with Amelia to the bar to meet Marie and Lucy. After I plopped down in my chair and ordered a sparkling water, Marie smiled and gave me a huge hug.
Lucy reached over and kissed my cheek, then felt her pregnant belly. She smiled apologetically. “I’m having contractions.”
“Are you okay?” Amelia asked, a concerned look on her face.
“Yeah. I’m worried about making my class this weekend, though.”
“Lucy’s a nude portrait model at an art class at the college,” Marie told me.
My eyes bugged out. “You pose nude? Even while pregnant?”
The pain from the contraction faded, her face returned to her normal, sweet smile. “Totally. I love my body, and I love my curves. I’m just a little extra curvy now.” And she patted her belly with her Jake baby inside.
I couldn’t believe it. She was a model? Lucy stood about five foot nothing, with short legs, round everywhere.
But now that I thought about it, she’d be a glorious model, with her long hair and hourglass body. She carried her baby’s weight high and in the front, so she looked like she wasn’t pregnant from the back.
“You should totally substitute for her,” said Marie, and she clapped her hands together. “That would be so awesome! You’re so hot, they’d love to sketch you.”
“No way. Absolutely not.”
Amelia raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. She took a sip of her Cosmopolitan, then looked at Marie. “I think we need to show Jessica just how absolutely gorgeous she is.”
Marie almost leapt from the table. “Ohmigod, yes. Yes!”
“Wait,” I said. “What are we doing?”
“We’re taking you over to Paseo Nuevo after this.” That was an outdoor shopping mall across the street. “No objections.”
“Oh, okay,” I stuttered.
A half hour later, the four of us walked into Macy’s, and headed straight for the plus size section. “When’s the last time you bought new clothes?” asked Amelia.
“It’s been a while,” I admitted.
“Well, this is on me. Or actually, it will be on Ryan.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “My fiancé is a bazillionaire, and he’s always telling me to treat myself and my friends. So I’m going to treat you!”
I shook my head. “I can’t accept this.”
“Sure you can. You have no choice. Or I’ll make it a condition of your employment.”
With a tug, she pulled me into the racks of clothes, and she and Marie started pulling dresses, skirts, sweaters, pants, workout clothes. Laden down with fabric and tags, they pushed me into the dressing room.
I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want them to see what I looked like when I squeezed into clothes that didn’t fit.
But I had no choice.
With a sigh, I took a navy blue wrap dress off the hanger and slipped it on.
Then I looked in the mirror and gasped.
The dress fit me in all the right places. It lifted and separated my breasts, gave me a waist I hadn’t had before, and flared out from my hips.
