I must say, it's been a wild couple of days; now, it's all over. Aria's just gone to sleep. So, I'm writing down the final chapter of the event that has changed my life forever, before I doze off myself.
---
I yawned as I woke from my deep, dreamless slumber and opened my eyes. My bedroom was dark and familiar. What time was it? I glanced at the table, where the alarm clock read 9:30 PM, Friday. Wait Friday!?
I had been asleep for well over 36 hours! I panicked and flipped the switch on my bedside lamp. My eyes adjusted to the warm lighting for just a second, trying to focus. When they did, I screamed.
"AHHHHH!" Pure panic. My heart was racing, the events of the previous days rushing back to me. Before me was a towering mound of flesh, my belly, looking far more than nine months pregnant. I put both my hands on it. It was warm and malleable. It was real.
I dragged myself into an upright position against the headboard of my bed, and checked myself for other changes. Feeling my breasts, they seemed normal, maybe just a bit puffy. I reached a hand nervously down to my underwear.
Whew
. No penises to be found, just my normal lady equipment.
Okay. What should I do. For some reason, I felt as if I needed to go in to the lab. But at the time, I suspected that feeling was just guilt for missing two days at the office, because I hadn't missed a day of work in years. So, I ignored it and reached for my phone. There were several messages. A few emails, two from my lab mates, who were wondering when I would be done using the fume hood. I must have left my materials out after Aria had caused me to drop my experiment. At least it seemed like they hadn't noticed the white liquid I had left in the freezer. There was another email from my advisor, wondering where I was and asking if I was sick. She gets concerned when her students aren't working during the week. I couldn't reply to her now; I had no idea what to say.
As I scrolled through two days of missed notifications, I came to the most recent. It was a series of messages and photographs from Aria, sent within the past few hours.
Trish, I JUST woke up.
Trish call me when u get this.
Look at me. What's going on?
There was a photograph of Aria in her bathroom mirror, wearing just her underwear. Her belly looked about as big as mine, but not quite. She looked frazzled without her hair and makeup done. Clearly, she hadn't been out of her apartment either.
There were a few messages that had been sent less than an hour ago.
I think I'm getting bigger... We should meet up as soon as possible.
I can tell when Aria is worried, and she was clearly stressed out. Without hesitation, I tapped her number and held my phone up to my ear. After one ring, she picked up.
"Trish!"
"Aria! I just woke up!"
"Thank goodness. I've been just sitting here for hours, waiting."
"Yeah, sorry, I think it has something to do with the..."
"Massive pregnancy?" Aria cut me off.
"Yeah. I don't know if I can stand. I'm bigger than you are."
Aria's voice became more serious. "Look, I think we need to meet up and be together. I feel like something is going to happen soon. I don't know why, but when it does I think we should be in your lab. I guess because it's clean or something?"
"That's weird. Aria, I have the same feeling. Like I need to be there right now." Maybe it wasn't a coincidence. Something was drawing both of us back to the scene of Wednesday night's incident.
"Exactly. Do you think we should really go out?"
"I think we should. At least it's dark out, and no one will be on campus to see us."
"Ok." Aria sounded slightly frightened. "You don't think that when we see each other, we'll... do what happened yesterday, do you?"
"No, I think that was a one-time thing for both of us. We should be careful though."
"Alright, I'm leaving in a few minutes. I can't believe this."
"Neither can I. I'll see you there," I said, trying to sound upbeat.
"I... I'll see you," Aria concluded, hanging up.
"Ok. Time to get out of bed," I said to myself. Naturally, I found the process to be quite difficult. I swung my long legs off the bed, and held myself up with my hands. Balancing on the edge of the bed with my feet on the ground, I took a deep breath and got myself ready.
I stood. There was nothing graceful about it. The contents of my pregnant womb shifted as I did so, making me feel both queasy and off-balance at once. I clutched at the foot of the bed, allowing my stomach to settle. After a minute, I felt stable enough to try to walk. When I took my first steps, I found that it was more of a waddle, just like I'd seen from women in their third trimester. I made my way across the room to my bathroom, and leaned my belly against the granite countertop. Dang. My tired face and tangled hair filled the mirror, looking just as bad as Aria's. I gathered my dark curls and tied them back in a loose knot, just to get them under control.
For the next twenty minutes, I went through my morning routine, except that it wasn't morning. I relieved myself, discarded the clothes I wore to bed, and put on some new ones. No time for a shower. I noticed that it was a struggle to fit into my slacks, as if my hips had widened a bit. Perhaps they had. Of course, finding a top that fit was impossible. The only thing I could find that was remotely large enough was an oversized t-shirt that I sometimes wore around the house, especially when unwinding with some late-night Netflix. Even though the shirt was double XL, my belly was still exposed, jiggling with each step. After fixing my makeup and fussing some more with my hair, I found my keys and phone, threw on a jacket (but couldn't button it), and made for the door.
---
I parked my car in the near empty lot at the university, right next to Aria's Fiat. She had beaten me in to work, probably because she was already dressed when I called her. I sent her a text letting her know that I'd be with her in a few minutes.
Ughhh. Getting into my car had been difficult. Getting out was nearly impossible. I scooted my seat back as far as it would go, and I still had trouble. Like an old man, I hooked my hand around the roof of my Honda and pulled myself upright.
"Oof."
Quickly as I could, I climbed the steps up to the STEM Building, careful to take the paths that I knew would be the least inhabited by other students at such a late hour. A few strangers passed on the sidewalks, but the lighting was poor and they were distracted by the colorful displays of their smartphones. No one bothered to look my way. Fortunately, I saw nobody who would recognize me, because I had no plan to explain how I'd become fully knocked-up in a single day.
Inside, I peered around the corners in the hallways, attempting to stay out of sight. There were a few custodial staff around at this hour, and they knew me well. The closer I got to my lab, the more careful I had to be. Soon enough, I found my way to the lonely windowless door behind which I'd spent most of the past four years behind, and knocked loudly.
"Aria, it's Trish! Quick, let me in!"
I waited nervously for a few seconds, until I heard a click and saw the polished handle turn. Aria opened the door a smidge and pushed a sticky note toward me.
"Leave this on the door before you come in!"
I scanned the note quickly. "
Sensitive experiment in progress. Do not enter!
" Smart.
I slapped the paper on the door at eye level, and opened the door wide enough to let myself through. In seconds, I was safely inside.
"Trish, you made it!" Aria paused, looking me over. "Wow, you're huge!"
"Hey," I said, "you aren't so small yourself, lady."
We laughed, and hugged as best we could considering our new body shapes. It was a much-needed moment; holding someone close felt warm and reassuring.