Brittany stumbled out of bed. An ache settled in her stomach like she had been kicked. Rushing into the bathroom, she barely had the time to crouch down in front of the toilet bowl before she vomited. Her eyes watered, her throat felt like it had been set on fire, but at least her stomach felt a little less angry with her. She couldn't recall eating anything that seemed peculiar or suspicious, so she figured she must have caught some sort of stomach bug. Heaving out a pained groan, the Chipette stretched out her arm and pulled down the lever, flushing away the evidence that this had ever happened.
She got back up onto her feet, and walked toward the skin, glancing up into the mirror. Her hair was left down instead of in her signature ponytail, and it looked like it had been combed by the wind one too many times. Her fur was ruffled from sleep, and her eyes were heavy with exhaustion. She snatched up her hot pink toothbrush into her hand and used to wash away the foul taste from her mouth.
It was a few minutes later that she made it to the very last steps of the stairs. Loquacious voices sounded from around the corner, and she knew she must have slept in if the rest of her family was already awake. Peering around the sharp corner, she found that her suspicions were confirmed.
Jeanette was already finished with her breakfast, and she ate no faster than a tortoise. Her hands were rubbing over her belly, which was becoming more prominent each day. Her hair was up in the messy ponytail she adored, and clothed herself with a stripped shirt and a mauve skirt.
Eleanor was still putting cheese and whipped cream onto her toaster waffles, whilst Alvin, Simon and Dave all gawked at her with repulsed grimaces. Theodore on the other hand appeared intrigued.
"I-is that good?" The youngest chipmunk asked tentatively. Eleanor turned her head to face him, and from what Brittany could see, her lips turned up into a small and adoring smile.
"I think so." The honey haired female replied, cutting off a slice of the smothered, soaking waffle. It had canned cheese, whipped cream and syrup absolutely poured onto it with no hesitation or remorse. Theodore became less hopeful. Even the food addict seemed to find this disturbing. He slowly took the bite, and immediately spat it back up.
"Gross!" He practically sobbed, running to the kitchen to find himself something to drink.
Finally appearing from her hiding place from around the corner, she hopped onto the empty seat where her food lay. It was cold, and beside it was some of the usual morning coffee. However, the scent of it brought a sharp tug to her stomach. Not again.
She covered her mouth, biting her tongue to stifle her moan.
"Britt?" Alvin spoke up first, adjusting the baseball cap that was on top of his head. "Are you um…okay?"
Brittany shook her head profusely. "No!" She pointed at the cup of coffee as if it had caused her physical pain, and scooted back to the outskirts of her seat. "Take it away, please!"
With a curious tilt to his head, Alvin hesitated before he drew the coffee back. His hazel eyes were swimming with nothing more than sweet concern for the pink clad chipette, whom of which still had yet to get dressed or put on her makeup, or even do her hair.
"Are you ill?" Dave pressed a hand to her forehead. "You don't seem hot."
Brittany raised her hands in assurance. "I'm alright. That coffee just smelled like a kick to the gut."
"No, it just smells like coffee." Alvin retorted.
"I always thought coffee smelled like ice cream!" Theodore piped up, and everyone turned to stare at the youngest. "What?"
"On a less crazy side of things," Alvin sipped at the coffee himself. "I'm off to football practice. I'll see you all later!" And with one last sip to the Carmel colored liquid, he jumped off the seat and headed straight out the door, with his football back clasped tightly in his hand. Brittany certainly didn't watch him with longing eyes.
"Mphm!" Jeanette cried out, as she attempted to change into her violet skirt. She and Simon apparently had a date and she wanted to look stunning, but she couldn't fit into any of her skirts. The mauve one was too snug, the navy one wouldn't even slip on, and it seemed like this one wouldn't budge past her slightly larger belly. "It's no use," She finally panted, a sullen look held in the purple tint of her eyes. "I have nothing to wear that even fits me!" A wall of tears built up in her eyes, and her lip began to tremble. Eleanor frowned, spring green eyes fading to an emerald, when she perked up again.
"Maybe you can try on some of our clothes?"
"What do you mean 'our'?" Brittany turned to look at the youngest of her sisters. "Jeanette is thin as a twig, not that I'm not, she just has the thinnest build. She wouldn't possibly fit into my skirts, made for someone with wider hips." Eleanor jutted out her lower lip pleadingly, already bringing out some of Brittany's various clothing choices. She took out a frilly pastel pink dress into her hands, with a white now tied around the waist. She held it up to her darker furred sister, and it almost looked like it could fit, belly and all.
Tossing it to the middle sister, Jeanette caught it in her hands and pulled it on over her head. It fit. The outline of her her belly was still to be seen, but it was still small enough to the point where it fit inside of limitations of the gorgeous dress. Brittany sighed, heading over to smooth it out.
"Am I fat?" The words sliced through the silence in the air like a knife.
"What?"
"Am. I. Fat?"
"Jeanette," The eldest took her younger sister's shoulders gently into her own hands. "You are beautiful. One of the prettiest girls I know, in fact I envy you for your beautiful eyes and lovely smile. Sure you've…gained some weight here in the middle," She lightly touched the round belly. Her speech trailed off a bit when she felt the skin was…firm, rather than squishy and soft. Her eyes slowly trailed up to meet Jeanette's, whom was biting down onto her lip with a nervous glint in her eye.
"What is it?"
Quickly shaking her head, she drew back her hands. "It's nothing." She assured, flashing her a small smile. "Now let's get you ready for your date!"
Simon was tapping his foot, glancing up at the clock on the wall. Jeanette was almost five minutes late. Even though that was only three hundred extra seconds, each one seemed to pile up onto his shoulder, only adding to the queasiness settled in his lower abdomen. She was usually so punctual.
Every possibility ran through his head. She stood him up, she found someone better, her sisters and her decided to do something else, she fell ill-she died, even. His eyes grew to the size of saucers when that last thought slipped into his mind. He had to get upstairs, make sure his precio-
"Simon?" The soft voice cut into his thoughts and shattered them all. There a beautiful gem came waltzing down the staircase. Her eyes reflected the light, making them twinkle like a sapphire. Her fur had been fluffed and groomed. Her dark brown hair was down and cascaded down her shoulders in subtle curls. Her eyes were bare, no glasses to cover them. Instead there she was, wearing contacts, he would naturally assume. The dress was beautiful and the soft colors stood out in contrast to her dark fur, and only added to his light confusion. While it was beautiful, he could tell that it wasn't hers. He didn't question it, only smiled.
"You look…stunning. I love your eyes." Simon took one of her hands into his own. Jeanette felt blood travel up into her cheeks, as she turned her head bashfully.
"Thank you." She breathed. "You look so handsome in your tux."
"Thanks," Simon grinned. "Now how about that date?"
Eleanor was rushing into the bathroom again, making Theodore pause their game of Mario Kart again. To say that it wasn't mildly frustrating would be a lie. Every five minutes her bladder appeared to reach capacity. It must have shrunk over night, she didn't pee this much yesterday when they played Mario 3D World. Clenching his hands tightly around the controller, he took a slow intake of breath to calm himself down. No use in getting angry.
"What are you doing in there?" He groaned.
"Just going to the bathroom. What else does someone do in here?" The golden haired Chipette huffed in frustration.
"Are you okay?" Theodore quizzed. "You've been peeing an awful lot."
"I am fine, Theo." Eleanor once again came hopping back from the bathroom, hands smelling like strawberries and eyes shining like the sun was hidden behind them. "Maybe I should stop drinking the mango smoothies, but they are so good! And the nachos with the extra cheese…"
"Extra cheese? You told them to put the chips back and just give you the cheese."
Eleanor waved him off easily with her hand. "Just start our game already, I'm totally going to kick your butt!"