Jackie Calhoun had a lot on her back.
First off, her mom Janice was one of the original members of the Power Lounge, literally founding it as the only underaged member at the age of 17 while the rest were at the very least of drinking age. By the time her mom was 19 she had given birth to her, and even caring for a kid didn't slow her down as a dependable second in command for the entire organization, only under Jackie's father Radar in terms of hierarchy and influence.
All throughout her life, Jackie was told of all of the incredible feats that her mom had accomplished. Defeating Moss on several major occasions, stopping the zombified legions known as the Rotts led by their Skeleton King, and preventing the destruction of the planet by the tyrannical Zerxez... these stories put a ton of pressure on her back, especially when she was being trained as the sidekick known as the Owlet.
Being Owlet was certainly a challenge, but being the Owl... now that was something she struggled with. It was her 18th birthday when it happened. The Chronomancer had attempted to freeze all of America into a stasis, so that he could sell it for auction to any of the world powers who wanted such a huge country. With only her family unaffected due to having been in Canada seeing the falls, it was up to the Owl and Owlet to stop him.
During the battle, her mom had managed to grab onto the staff that the Chronomancer used and shattered it against a wall. The impact undone everything that the Chronomancer had done to freeze America in time, but the force unleashed was not without sacrifice. Both Janice and the Chronomancer were thencefore frozen in an eternal stasis, unable to move whatsoever even with the help of Amaterasu.
With nobody else skilled enough to take up the mantle, it was up to Jackie to finally take the name of the Owl for herself, even though she didn't view herself as right for it. Picking up right where her mom had left off was an incredibly tough thing for her, as she had inherited all of her mom's nemeses, territories and more, as well as the zoo that her mother ran which had given her the funds to fight crime successfully.
As a only child, there was nobody to help her... and yet, Jackie still managed to somehow struggle onward, finding the will to continue on only when she had found true love even when said love only compounded them. She had her first child only a single day before her 19th birthday, her second exactly a year after and her third three years after that. Three children, all depending on her just as much as the world did every single day...
It really did motivate her in the best of ways, but it also caused her to stress-eat over the worries of if they got hurt. They were her kids, and if any one of them got targeted by one of her many villains she could only imagine the worst happening. Year after year of snacking slowly pudged her up, making her belly bulge out and her breasts boom out in fat, but she had never noticed the issue due to assuming it to be from her own fertility after having given birth to three.
It was only a year ago, during a meeting with Hunt Lingerie over a possible special issue to support preservation of the rainforests that she was truly pointed out as to how big she had gotten.
"I'm going to be honest... I'll absolutely agree to this deal... but with your weight it might not be ideal to have you on the cover. You're just a bit too... soft around the edges if you catch my drift."
"Soft?" Crossing her arms, Owl blushed heavily as she realized what her contact into the company had meant. "Ms. Hunt, surely you don't mean so? I've been fighting criminals for many years, and sure I've got a bit of chunk on the trunk from raising kids but surely you don't mean to say I'm fat... right?"
"I'm not saying that you haven't done a great effort in stopping crimes across the States, but I'm afraid it is true. Hunt Lingerie is looking for more... bombshell women, with thinner figures that still have impressive curves. I wish I could show you on there but... well, we have to maintain an image..."
That statement hit Jackie square in the gut, and when she had actually weighed herself at home she realized that it was true. On the scale, she weighed a good 350 pounds, and while a good 20 pounds of that were from her prominent wings most of it was firmly fat resting on her cheeks. Nobody in the Power League had ever pointed this out to her, but now that she knew she was shocked by how much she had grown in the wrong way since she had started being the Owl.
Almost immediately, she had started a strict training regimen both for herself and her middle child, the third Owlet Carol-Anne. While Carol-Anne was very much already athletic looking and powerful, she had only just graduated Orlando High and still had a heavy sweet tooth. Without the exercise that came from gym, Jackie was worried for her daughter's waistline and thus roped her in on this, in addition to her training as the new Owlet.
It had been a year since this, and nowadays Jackie was doing at least a tiny bit better. She had burned 50 pounds of belly fat off of her body, and her body was now much more agile than it had been before. In addition, she had even felt herself gain quite the bit of vitality during her fights against crime which culminated with her life force being boosted following a near-death fight against the Galdian threat from which the Power Lounge has lost it's brightest mind and she had lost the love of her life, the Techno-Crat.
Losing her husband had been a great pain, but as one last gift he had given her newfound life, slowing her age threefold and extending her lifespan so that she could continue fighting for a long while. Now, she had as long as she needed in order to ensure that her daughter Carol-Anne was absolutely ready for her to inherit the Owl mantle, and although it pained her greatly to lose him... she was able to move on in spite of that.
Speaking of Carol-Anne though, there was always that bit of worry that she had for her. Her eldest son Roger was doing fine even after he had gone solo as the Hawk, and her youngest son Joe never inherited any of her metagenes meaning he was not burdened by the possibility of inheriting her duties as the Owl. But Carol-Anne was always her favorite, and although she had trained with her for over a year she was only just now going through with joining her on the streets as the Owlet.
"Come on, you've seen how strong she is. She's going to kick ass out there!"
"I know Daisy, but a mother still worries about her daughter, no matter how strong she gets..."
It was a crisp Autumn afternoon, and Jackie was talking to fellow Lounger Daisy Mae, otherwise known as Gold Sparkle. The two considered each other honorary sisters, with Jackie welcoming her into the family when her husband repaired her and gave her a human-like body to freely live in. They confided everything to each other, and because of that whenever Jackie had some insecurities she had always come to her to talk them out.
"Sure you're gonna worry... but birds eventually gotta let their chicks fly out of their nest, right?" Taking a sip of coffee, Daisy tried to brighten her sister up and raised her hand out for a waiter. "Excuse me, can you bring us two Sourdough Melts with bacon and cheese? One with the works, the other plain!"
"Daisy, you know I'm still dieting!" Jackie yelled out, knowing what she was trying to do. "It's not healthy for me to eat such a thing!"
"Come on, you've been doing so well with it." Daisy retorted, winking a bit as she handed the waiter her credit card. "Surely you can afford having a cheat day every once in a while, can't you?"
"...Damn you..." Blushing heavily, Jackie turned her chair around and away from Daisy. She really didn't want to accept the sandwich that Daisy was offering her, but it was extremely tempting. In addition, unbeknownst to Daisy she had already cheated two days ago, having had lunch with Roger at a rustic Tex-Mex restaurant with some fried food finishing with a lava cake for dessert, of which she had embarrasingly devoured all but a single slice. It was... not one of her proudest moments.
But... the sandwich...
"Okay, fine!" Turning her chair back around, Jackie slumped down with her head resting on her arms. "But only because you're getting the works for me. And I'm only having the sandwich!"
"That's fine with me, sis."
Just as Daisy thought, Jackie's mood did improve from there and the two eventually moved onto other topics. Still, the thought of her daughter getting hurt still echoed in her mind even as they talked on other things. Daisy was right in that Carol-Anne absolutely going to be able to kick ass as well as she could, but only on actually seeing her in action was she going to find out how well she was going to be as Owlet.
As a loving mother, she could only hope that nothing went wrong.
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