Zoey Chapter 1

Part 1

Zoey squirmed in her booster seat as the car bounced down the beaten up rural highway. Years of neglect mixed with the countless tractors pulling on and off it into the surrounding fields had marred the old road with potholes and cracks that now tested the suspension of the well-used minivan. With every bump sending ripples through Zoey's pudgy body it only added to the anxiety she was already feeling. Each shake and jiggle made the already tight seat feel even tighter as it cut into her wide body.

Zoey hated doctors, and in her mind doctors hated her. It didn't matter that her mother had assured her countless times that this doctor was different, the obese child still didn't trust her. Pouting as she polished off the last of her twenty piece chicken nugget box, Zoey glared out the window into the vast openness of the country landscape.

Mindlessly lifting the last nugget to her lips, she felt a dollop of ranch dressing fall from it to her exposed belly. With a sigh, she scooped up the dressing and licked it off her finger before tossing the last fried, greasy morsel into her mouth. When the ride began she had tried to keep her shirt pulled down over the plush, creamy mass of her midsection, but as the road had gotten bumpier each big dip had sent it right back up again leading her to ultimately give up and leaving it exposed.

Seeing Zoey looking so distraught in the rearview mirror, her mother tried to ease her daughter's nerves. "Was that a good snack baby girl?" Zoey only grunted and grabbed the large milkshake that sat in the cupholder of her booster seat. Unphased, her mother continued sweetly. "If you are a good girl for Momma at the doctor's we will stop at two drive-thrus on the way home. How does that sound sweetie?"

Zoey mumbled a little. "And I can get as much as I want at both?"

Her mother chuckled in agreement. "Of course sweetie, now try and pull your shirt back down, we're almost there." The minivan slowed as it pulled into the middle lane, turning down a freshly paved, narrow side road that looked out of place in contrast to the beaten one they had been traversing. At the end of the road was what appeared to be a renovated old farmhouse, painted with bright primary colors and contrasting white accents. As they drew closer, Zoey noticed that instead of stairs leading up to the door, there was a super wide wooden plank ramp, each plank a different color in a rainbow pattern. Her pout began to soften when she saw it. Her old doctor had three flights of steep stairs just to get inside and it tired her out just thinking about them. "Maybe this doctor wasn't going to be so bad." She thought to herself.

Now parked, her mother hopped out, walked around the van, and began to help her daughter out of her seat. Slowly, Zoey slid from the booster seat to the floor of the van, then with her mother's help was righted onto her feet. Already a little out of breath, Zoey clutched onto her mom's leg for support before starting the arduous waddle into the office. They had only made it a few feet before Zoey needed a breather. Her mother patted her head, wiping some of the sweat from her obese daughter's brow. "Take your time sweetie, no rush."

Before Zoey could even catch her breath in full, a plump nurse wearing Hello Kitty print scrubs had come out to greet them. She was pushing a wide child-sized wheelchair decked out with glitter, streamers, and unicorn stickers and sporting an almost sickeningly sweet smile. "Well hello there, you must be our newest patient Zoey! Would you like to go for a ride?"

Zoey only breathlessly nodded yes while her mother gave a verbal reply. "Oh, she would love to!" It took a bit of work between the two adults to get Zoey in the chair but once seated she was immediately relieved. She had never ridden in a wheelchair before and her old doctor would have scolded her for using one instead of exercising. While she was being pushed up the ramp her attitude softened a bit more. The nurse didn't seem to think she was gross or weird for being so fat, she seemed almost happy about it. The warmth and acceptance filled her with ease as they entered the building.

Zoey squealed with joy as she took in all that she saw now that they had entered the lobby. While the basic trappings were what you would expect from a normal pediatrician's waiting room, there were a few not so subtle changes that excited the young girl. On the far side from the reception desk, a window had been cut into the wall connecting what had been the farmhouse kitchen to the living room, now the waiting room of the doctor's office, converting it into a snack bar. Pictures of pizza, ice cream, corn dogs, all sorts of food her old doctor didn't want her eating framed the opening. Adoring the other walls were decals of cartoon kids, all of which were round and fat, smiling happily with food in hand among chubby zoo animals or fairy tale creatures.

Seeing her delight the nurse chimed in, "You hungry Zoey?" the little girl nodded. "Well good! Cause new patients get a free ice cream sundae while they wait for their first appointment!"

Zoey couldn't believe what she was hearing, she almost fell out of the wheelchair trying to get up and rush over to the snack bar. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine getting ice cream from her doctor!

Her mother giggled a little and helped right her daughter back in the chair before wheeling her over to redeem her treat while the nurse retrieved the paperwork Zoey's mom would have to fill out. The young woman working was just as kind and sweet as the nurse, holding up a menu board of topping pictures for Zoey to choose from. The little girl was almost drooling as she looked over all the sugary add-ons available, pointing at almost all of them before she was done. Sure, she had just stuffed herself with chicken nuggets on the way here, but she was sure she would have room for a little free sundae loaded with toppings.

While the ice cream was being prepared Zoey and her mother returned to the main seating area and her mother began the paperwork. Shortly after they had settled the snack bar attendant brought out the treat. Little had proved to be a poor choice in describing the sundae. Tucked into the bowl was a large brownie that was barely visible under a massive mound of soft-serve that seemed lost under a thick coating of hot fudge, caramel, marshmallow fluff, and whipped cream, topped off with smatterings of crushed Oreos, gummy bears, M&M's of three different varieties, and yet another brownie wedged into the side of the mound. The whole mess daintily topped with a single maraschino cherry.

Zoey greedily grabbed the bowl and tore into the mound as if she hadn't eaten in days. All the while her mother looked over the forms. Filling out insurance information, family medical history, and the like. It was when she got to the personal information that she began to struggle. It started easy, Name: Zoey Amelia Williams, Age: 5, DOB: 8/23/2015, Height: 40 in. Then came the weight. She paused, looking up at her daughter, barely fitting into the wheelchair, ice cream and toppings smeared all over her wide cheeks and double chin, happily gorging away as her fleshy tummy grew firmer with fullness. She honestly had no clue how much the little girl weighed at this point. It had been almost six months since the last attempt at getting her in to see a doctor and even then the scale Zoey's old pediatrician had topped out at two hundred pounds and Zoey had passed that a few years ago.

She skipped it, for now, coming back to it later in hopes the nurses would have some insight on how to best answer. She knew it wouldn't be a big deal here, after all this practice catered specifically to obese children.

Shortly after the paperwork was complete the Hello Kitty clad nurse returned. "Are we ready to see the doctor now Zoey?" She cooed softly, taking the paperwork laden clipboard from the obese girl's mother. Zoey looked up from her ice cream, barely halfway through it with a slight whimper. With a smile, the nurse assured her she could take it with her into the exam room.

Zoey's mother hesitated a little, "Umm Miss..." she eyed over the nurse's uniform for a name tag. "Uh, Autumn? Is it?"

The nurse turned. "Yes, Mrs. Williams? What's up?"

Zoey's mother stood, pointing at the blank weight line on the top form. "Well, the thing is, Zoey outgrew the scale at her old Pediatrician's office, so umm. I am not really sure what to put here."

Autumn rested a soothing hand on Mrs. Williams' shoulder. "That's okay, most of our first-timers don't know how much their child weighs." She turned to Zoey, who was now face-first into the bowl, lapping the ice cream up straight from the bowl. "Let's get you back to the scale big girl and see how much cute you carry."

Zoey snorted a giggle through the melting ice cream, still gorging as she was wheeled into the back. Mrs. Williams followed close behind, curious as to how they were going to go about weighing Zoey. She seemed cemented into her new rolling throne and getting her out of it seemed like it would be harder than it had been getting her in it.

A few feet into the back found Zoey parked onto a large black rubber pad that was connected to a digital display that hung at adult eye level on the wall behind the rubber pad. Alongside the display was a small keypad where Autumn had begun typing in a few things and explain as she did so. "So many of our patients here prefer to be in wheelchairs so we have tarred our scale to account for the weight of each chair." She paused for a moment, looking to see if she had jotted down the code for the wheelchair Zoey was sitting in. "Mrs. Williams, could you please read me the code on the back of Zoey's chair? I must have forgotten to add it to her paperwork. It should be a letter followed by two digits."

Mrs. Williams scanned the back of the seat, finding "U42" written in glittery pink puffy paint near the bottom left corner. She repeated the code back to Autumn's delight, typing it in and pressing a green button off to the side. Instantly the display lit up, the numbers rapidly climbing higher. The purple bubble font numbers bounced up and down a little until finally blinking and showing a weight of four hundred and thirteen pounds. Autumn quickly filled in the blank on the initial forms and added it to her chart as well.

Mrs. Williams on the other hand was in a bit of shock. She knew Zoey was huge, but seeing it in numbers made it feel so much more real. "Oh uh wow," she stammered. "I guess my not so little Zoey must be one of you bigger patients then huh?" Her nerves on her sleeve through the weak smile.

"For her age bracket," Autumn began, seemingly unphased by the absurd obesity of the little girl. "Yes, she is one of our larger patients, but she is by no means the heaviest we have here." She looked up and started pushing Zoey's chair further down the hall. "I can't really go into details, but depending on how long you two are here today you might meet one of our largest clients on your way out."

As they made their way to the exam room Mrs. Williams did begin to notice a few other patients through the open doors. One a boy maybe a year or two older than Zoey sitting in a superhero-themed wheelchair waiting on the doctor. While her daughter outweighed him, it was still reassuring to see they weren't alone. When they arrived at Zoey's room, the girl had finished her sundae, brownies, and all. Though she tried to hide it, her mother could tell she was uncomfortably full. She moved closer, instinctually going to rub Zoey's full tummy as she so often did when Autumn cut her off and began applying a cream to the distended belly and softly rubbing. "Sorry if this is overstepping, but we've found using a moisturizing lotion when rubbing full tummies helps in the long run." Autumn smiled, adding a little bit more of the lotion as she continued. "Helps to keep the skin elastic which can help relieve the pressure faster, if you want to rub her I understand."

Mrs. Williams nodded and took over, Autumn turned and pulled a small juice box from a mini-fridge by the exam table. "I know you are feeling really full right now Zoey, but I promise if you drink this it will help okay?"

Zoey nodded, taking the juice box after Autumn had placed the straw for her. Placing it to her lips, Zoey suckled the transparent pale blue liquid up through the straw. To her delight, it tasted of cotton candy.

Still massaging the lotion gently, Mrs. Williams interjected. "What's that now?"

"Oh, right haha sorry I am so used to just handing these out now I forgot to explain," Autumn replied. "It's something our doctors developed to help with full little tummies." She smiled pinching Zoey's chubby cheek. "It does for the inside what the lotion does for the outside. Soothes the stomach by making it more elastic as well." Grabbing another one she handed it to Mrs. Williams who looked over the box as she rubbed. "As you can imagine we have a lot of healthy apatites around here, so our team developed this drink to help soothe the strain."

Turning to the door now, Autumn grabbed Zoey's charts from the table. "Don't worry we will send you home with plenty, all patients get consistent supply." She smiled again, stepping through the door. "Doctor Jacobs should be with you shortly."

As the door closed behind Autumn, Zoey released a deep gurgling belch followed by shrill giggles. Mrs. Williams could feel both the burp and the laughter rippling through her daughter's belly fat. She felt a half-smile curl on her lips, usually, it took nearly twenty minutes of rubbing to get Zoey to feel any relief, let alone coax such an expression of gas. She looked down at the juice box, realizing that Autumn made no exaggeration in the potency of this little drink. "You feeling better baby girl?" She cooed.

"Yes, Mommy! My tummy feels soooo much better! Thank you!" Zoey chimed back, now noticing the cartoons that were playing on the wall-mounted tv and zoning out to them. Mrs. Williams finally sat down, scooting the chair closer to Zoey's wheelchair, and started feeling the calm that had already overtaken her daughter. While she had tried to reassure Zoey about the new doctor, she was also trying to put her own mind at ease. She too had no affection for the old doctor, who on more than one occasion threatened to call social services if Zoey didn't start losing weight. But here? Her half-smile bloomed into a full grin. Here, that wasn't going to be a worry. As she had seen so far, not only were they comfortable with obese children here, but they seemed to facilitate it. The indulgent snacks and treats, the attention to overeating aftercare. This was a safe place for them.

Zoey continued to belch here and there as they waited, at one point even asking if her mother had any snacks in her purse. Already the obese girl was back to feeling well enough to eat even more. Happily obliging, Mrs. Williams dug around her large canvas purse, pulling out a couple of candy bars, a snack pack of cookies, and a lunch box bag of cheese puffs. "Will this be enough sweetie?" she inquired, laying the treats on Zoey's still exposed upper belly.

The girl shrugged in acceptance, not tearing her gaze away from the cartoons and began to once again snack away.

Zoey had made short work of offering and only the last candy bar remained when Doctor Jacobs entered. Even though her painful fullness had returned, she forced herself to finish the last few bites as the doctor took a seat on a rolling stool across from them. He chuckled a little, seeing how Zoey winced after each swallow. "Uh oh... looks like someone is still getting used to the tummy juice huh?" He patted the curve of her lower belly fold as he scooted closer. "Happens all the time. Remember Zoey, just because the juice makes your tummy feel better, you are still really full okay?"

Zoey's eyes almost crossed as she groaned, ending with a slight hiccup. Looking down at her chart Doctor Jacobs continued. "We can give her another juice box to help for now, but we still need to be careful. Once you've been on it for a while you can push yourself like this but it will take a few months okay?" His tone was firm but understanding, not scolding her for overeating, more for not handling the situation.

Doctor Jacobs scooted back, closer to Zoey's mother. "Now before I start my exam I have a few questions for you Mrs. Williams."

"Miss Williams actually, err I mean you can call me Becca." She replied, handing off the other juice box Autumn had left them with to Zoey.
"Sure thing Becca, just relax. If it helps, you can call me Sam." He paused, a handsome smile across his face as he looked down at the clipboard. "I just need to know a little bit more about Zoey before I can decide how best to care for her." Becca nodded.

"Okay so, first of all, when did Zoey start gaining weight?"

Becca thought for a moment. "Well, I first started noticing she was getting fatter than most kids her age around two. She had always been a heavy baby, almost twelve pounds at birth. And well, she just umm really liked to eat so you know..." Becca trailed off, gauging the doctor's face before she continued. He only nodded, as unphased as Autumn had been when they weighed Zoey.

"So like I said," she continued "Zoey was noticeably fatter by age two. I think she was around a hundred and seventy pounds then well she just kept ballooning. I mean I had tried getting her to di...

Doctor Jacobs cut her off. "Ah ah ah, we don't say that word around here. You don't need to defend yourself. I can see Zoey is a happy little girl in spite of her weight and that's all that matters to me. My treatment plans will be centered solely around ensuring she stays happy and as healthy as possible as she continues her journey."

Becca raised an eyebrow. "Journey? What do you mean?"

Doctor Jacobs looked up from the clipboard. "Her weight gain journey of course. I assume you have a goal weight in mind for her, yes?"

Taken back by the pure bluntness stammered a little. "Wei... weight goal? No, I mean... Wait do you think I am fattening her up on purpose?"

Doctor Jacobs set the clipboard on his lap calmly, "Well, the parents of many of our patients around Zoey's age do tend to, shall we say, encourage their kids to keep gaining yes. While some of our older patients have set goals for themselves." His face softened a bit, placing a firm hand on Becca's thigh. "I am sorry if I upset you, I just assumed since Zoey is so obese that you were more than just enabling her."

Becca tried to calm back down, but it wasn't easy. The thought of purposely fattening up Zoey had never crossed her mind. What made her so uncomfortable with the statement though wasn't the concept, but it was that in the deepest corners of her mind, it felt right. Her mind wandered into the awkward silence, trying to decide how to answer him. Her gaze shifted to Zoey.

Even with the emotionally charged conversation happening mere inches from her Zoey herself was still utterly consumed by the TV, subconsciously pawing at her folds and making them jiggle happily. As Becca looked over the adipose inflated form of her massive child, she found herself imagining what her little girl would look like even fatter than she currently was.

"So umm let's say... I wanted to set a goal. You know, hypothetically speaking. How um.. How would we go about doing that?" she muttered.

Doctor Jacobs relaxed, picking up the clipboard and flipping to a new form towards the back of the stack. Clearing his throat he began a speech that seemed too polished not to have been rehearsed. "Well first of all we would need to plan monthly appointments to track her gains, establish a meal plan that would include both essential nutrition and the calories needed to achieve that goal. We usually work in six-month blocks for gaining goals, but we can do yearly goals if you prefer. Which would you like?"

"Umm, let's try six months?" Becca replied, still a bit sheepish about the idea.

"Great!" Doctor Jacobs returned, "And how heavy would we like Zoey to be by next February?"

Numbers rolled in Becca's mind. She didn't want to say too much but also didn't want to underestimate her daughters natural affinity for weight gain. Sensing her distress Doctor Jacobs chimed in. "Based on Zoey's current gaining rate, I would say another fifty pounds would be a good start. What do you think?"

Becca nodded before speaking up. "Umm... could we maybe... try for a, umm, bigger goal? Hypo... hypothetically, of course..."

Doctor Jacobs smirked, "Of course. To be honest, based on what you've told me, Zoey would probably gain that much in six months without you actively helping her along. How does a goal weight of five hundred and twenty pounds sound? Just a little over a hundred pounds gained."

Becca blushed. Was she really going to agree to this? Zoey was already so immense and purposefully having her grow even bigger. It was hard to comprehend. Just how fat could Zoey actually end up if they went through with this? Questions raced in her mind so fast she almost felt dizzy.

"Tell you what Becca, you think it over while I do Zoey's exam okay? You don't even have to give me an answer today, and you can say no. I don't want you to feel pressured into it okay?" His voice rang in a soothing baritone, putting her at a little bit more ease as she thought it through.

He rolled his stool over to Zoey. "I'm sorry big girl, but we need to turn the cartoons off for now okay?"

Zoey pouted but didn't raise much of a fit. Doctor Jacob's tone seemed to quell any resistance she may have attempted. "I have a few questions for you too, missy." His face lit up as he began unhooking the armrests from Zoey's wheelchair. Checking her legs for signs of bedsores and bruising as he started in with his questioning.

"Tell me, Zoey, does it ever hurt a lot anywhere?"
Zoey nodded, her thick double chin engulfing her real chin as her head tilted down.
"Can you tell me when and where?" he prodded gently. Still focused on the folds of her legs, observing only slight bruising and sweat rashes.

Zoey looked to her mother who nodded as if to say it was okay.

"My knees hurt when I walk or stand too much and my bottom hurts when I sit in the same spot too long..."

Doctor Jacobs paused his exam and made a quick note. "When your bottom hurts do you stand up and move around?"

Zoey shook her head no. "No, I lay on my side or on my tummy mostly, but sometimes Momma helps me up and I sit somewhere else."

Doctor Jacobs hummed, now checking the under of her belly. "And does your Momma have to help you up a lot?"

Zoey nodded again. "Yes, sometimes I can do it all by myself. But Momma helps me most of the time."

"Oh, I see," Doctor Jacobs added. " Does anywhere else hurt?"

Zoey shook her head no.

"Not even for a short time? Maybe your arms or chest?"

Again she shook her head no.

"Well, that's good!" He rolled back to the table, grabbing a small device and a needle.

"This might hurt a little bit Zoey, but I need to get a little bit of blood to make sure you are as healthy as you are cute okay?"

Zoey recoiled a little, whining as the doctor rolled back over with the needle.

Leaning in he tried to reassure her. "If you are a brave girl for me I will tell the snack girl to give you pizza when we are done. How does that sound?"

Zoey relaxed a little, extending her arm out but still scrunching up her face and closing her eyes.

It was all over before she even noticed, only the slightest little pinch and her blood was being drawn.

"Wow!" Doctor Jacobs explained, in a singsongy cadence. "You were so brave that I am going to tell her to give you extra cheese!"

Zoey giggled uncontrollably but stopped short as she started to pant and wheeze.

"It's okay Zoey, does that happen a lot?"

Trying to catch her breath Zoey nodded once more.

"I know it might be hard to talk right now so show me with your hands." Doctor Jacobs held up his own hands close together. "This much for not that often," he spread his hands wider "Or this much if its a lot."

Zoey held her hands up weakly, spreading them as wide as she could. As Becca chimed in. "To be honest anytime she moves around at all she gets out of breath, it's started happening even when sitting still recently too."

He turned, acknowledging the addition. "I figured as much, a girl her size really should be on oxygen most of the time. I will have Autumn check if we have a portable concentrator we can send you home with until you can get a full-sized unit."

He stood slowly and stepped out for a minute. Still regaining her breath, Zoey reached out and tugged her mother's sleeve. "Am I doing ~huff~ good like you ~huff~ asked Momma?" she panted, forcing the words between labored breaths.

Becca's face felt warm as she smiled on her daughter. "Yes baby girl, you are being amazing for Doctor Jacobs." She could feel the words hanging on her tongue, wanting to put the thoughts that had been rattling around in her head this entire time out in the open. "Zoey sweetie. Do... do you like being this fat?"

Zoey looked confused. To her, it was like asking if she liked that the sky was blue. It was just how things were. Seeing her daughter's puzzled look Becca changed the question. "What I mean is sweetie... How would you like it if Momma gave you more treats and bigger meals?"

Zoey's eyes glistened with excitement. "You really mean it, Momma?"

That was all Becca needed to hear. "Yes, baby girl. I mean it." A slight sigh of relief pausing her mid-thought. "From now on Momma is going to feed you whatever you want and as much as you want okay?"

Becca slid back in her chair, relaxed with Zoey jiggling with excitement as Doctor Jacobs and Autumn returned. The nurse made a beeline for Zoey, fitting her with a cannula and attaching the portable concentrator to the back of the wheelchair. Meanwhile, Doctor Jacobs returned to his stool and scooted over to Becca.

"Someone looks excited." He joked, casually flipping back to the weight goal page of Zoey's charts. "Is there something I need to know about?" his coy tone showing he already knew the answer.

"Yes," Becca stated calmly. "My answer is yes."

Doctor Jacobs scribbled a few things on the page. "And which goal are we shooting for?"

Becca took a deep breath, trying to be at peace with the decision. "The second one. Zoey's goal will be to weigh at least five hundred and twenty pounds by next February." She still couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. She was really doing this.

"Fantastic." Doctor Jacobs added lowly while adding a few more notes to the page. He tore off the page and handed it to Autumn who was still playing with Zoey and getting her used to the oxygen line. She seemed even more excited than the doctor at this revelation.
"I'm so excited for you Zoey!" Autumn chirped. "Looks like we are going to be seeing a lot more of you around here!" With a slight giggle at her own joke, she made her way to the door. "I will start working on her meal plan right away!"

Doctor Jacobs clicked the TV back on for Zoey, shifting his tone slightly as he started in on another speech. "Don't worry Becca, Zoey is going to be just fine. Again, we are here to help her stay as healthy as possible, no matter how fat she ends up okay?"

Becca was still in silent shock to what she had just agreed to. She barely made eye contact as the doctor continued.

"Now with how limited Zoey's mobility is, there is a strong chance she will lose what she has left fairly quickly with this goal. We should start making plans for accommodating her inevitable immobility as soon as possible." He paused, gliding the chair over to retrieve a small magazine from the cabinet on the far side of the exam room. "Everything you need you will find in here, they even have child-sized bariatric beds that come in all sorts of custom colors and themes. Something tells me out little Zoey will love the Princess Castle one." He flipped back to the charts making sure everything was in order. "Don't worry about cost, we have a way to make sure it's all covered by your insurance so just get what you need okay?"

Becca nodded slowly, her shock shifting from a place of disbelief at her own actions now to how easy this was all going to be. Doctor Jacobs turned to Zoey with a smile. "You be good for your Momma. Eat up Zoey and I will see you in a month okay? I have to go now. I am meeting with another pretty girl like you and it sounds like she's on her way back."

As he stood and opened the door a loud hum of an overworked electric motor spilled in from the hallway. Becca's curiosity got the better of her, slowly poking her head out to see what was creating such a noise. She could barely comprehend what she saw.

Perched atop what Becca could only describe as a bariatric bed with treads on either side was the most immensely fat person she had ever seen. Wires and tubes snaked across the blubbery body to various machines attached to the bed, including a thicker tube that led up to the person's, no, to the girl's mouth. This mountain of flesh must have been the patient Autumn had been alluding to earlier.

Becca stared in awe as the girl drove her bed onto the very same scale pad Zoey had been on earlier. Oh how she wished, pleaded to know what it recorded. Before Becca could even fully for her silent pea, her desires were answered as Autumn exclaimed joyously.

"Way to go Sandra! Coming in at twelve hundred, eighty-eight pounds has you ahead of schedule for your next goal girl! Looks like that new gain shake is paying off huh?" The nurse playfully jiggled a fold Becca assumed was a part of the girl's belly, but the sheer mass and the distance made it hard to tell. Sandra herself looked ecstatic behind her feeding and breathing tubes. Seeing Becca poking her head out in the corner of her eye, Autumn turned. "Oh good! You two are still here! Why don't you go get Zoey, I think she would really like meeting Sandra."

Becca, still speechless, silently turned and wheeled Zoey out into the hallway who let out an unrestrained "Wooooah," as she too saw Sandra's enormity. As they drew closer, Autumn removed Sandra's feeding tube who after a big swallow greeted them. "Hi ~huff~ I'm ~huff~ Sandra. ~huff~ I'm ~huff~ Doctor ~huff~ Jacobs' ~huff~ biggest ~huff~ patient." Her puffy cheeks flushing a deep red as she struggled to speak. What started as a long pause to catch her breath quickly turned into her giving up and motioning for the feeding tube to be replaced as her own mother chimed in to finish the introduction.

"Sandra is hoping to be the first person in history to weigh a full ton. I'm just so proud of my little blubber ball!" Sandra's mother reached into her purse and pulled out a business card, taking a few steps around her massive child to hand it to Becca. "I'm Josie, Josie Brown. Founder and President of the Parents as Feeders Association." She paused for a slight laugh. "It's not as official as it sounds, it's just a group of us parents that bring our kids here that like to encourage our obese offspring if you know what I mean."

Becca scanned the card with a low "Uh-huh..." as Josie continued her spiel.

"We'd love to have you join us, Doctor Jacobs does a great job with medical support, but sometimes you just need to be around like-minded people. Plus we have holiday parties for the kids and it does them good to be around other obese children too!"

Beca's gaze lifted back up to Sandra, who was still breathing heavily as Autumn helped guide her down to the exam room. "And Sandra..?"

Josie leaned closer, "Oh isn't she just amazing? When we started we never imagined she would take charge of her goals like this. To think, my daughter, nearly thirteen hundred pounds and only fourteen." Josie turned to take a quick look at Zoey who was now being handed her promised whole large pizza by another nurse. "And by the looks of your little one, my Sandra might have some competition."

From down the hall, Autumn waved for Josie to follow. "Well I better get going, I hope you join us. See you around!"

The whole ordeal left Becca in a bit of a tizzy. Before she had ever grasped what she had just committed to, here was Sandra and Josie. What could in all possibility be a reflection of what was to come for them? She slid the card into her purse and slowly strode back to push Zoey's wheelchair back out to the lobby. She had checked out of reality, from the hallway out to the van, and even getting Zoey and all their new things loaded into the car was a blur. It wasn't until a few minutes into the drive when Zoey called out for her first promised drive-thru stop that she checked back in. As they waited in line she turned back to her daughter, watching her shove the pizza in her mouth as she awaited even more food and asked Zoey another question that was burning in her mind.

"So what did you think of Sandra sweetie?"

The little girl chewed a little bit and swallowed. "I think she's awesome Momma! She was so big and happy!" Immediately taking another bite after she finished.

"She sure was, wasn't she." Becca cooed softly as if daydreaming. Her dreaming was abruptly broken by the sound of open mouth chewing as Zoey added a question of her own.

"Do you think I would be that happy if I was as big as Sandra?"

Becca locked, that same corner of her mind that felt excited about Doctor Jacobs' proposal spilled out a wicked grin across her face. Turning back to pull the van forward she answered her obese daughter.

"You know what baby girl, why don't we try and find out?"