By FoxFaceStories
An Anonymous Commission
When James, Leo, and Kamal are forced to enroll in their college home economics class to make up for grade deficiencies, they think the whole thing will be easy and mock the class relentlessly. Annoyed, their professor chooses the three of them for a special maternity experiment with a ‘simulated pregnancy’ belly; if they do so, they will automatically pass. Little do they know that she is actually a witch, and their growing bellies and feminising features are all too real . . .
Part 5: Homework
The true work for their experiment began, even as their bellies slowly began to grow and other changes made themselves known. They were subtle, of course, but it was evidently clear that this maternity device was more complex than any of them had imagined, even the tech-proficient Kamal, because their nipples were expanding, darkening, and gaining rather feminine areolas as they crossed the thirteen week threshold into their ‘second trimester.’ It was infuriating to grow, and even more infuriating to ‘feel’ it. Well, there wasn’t even a need to wrap that in apostrophes, because they truly were feeling it. Leo would wake up, having started to sleep on his side or back because his slightly domed stomach was too taut, and one of the first things he would do was to rub said stomach. Perhaps it would be even better to say that he caressed it, filled with a strange wonder.
“It’s like a real pregnancy,” he mused one morning, at the end of the thirteenth week. “Or at least, what I imagine one would be like.”
He even spoke in a slightly higher voice as he said it, something that accidentally happened from time to time now. Certainly, as his belly grew, it was like the rest of him was becoming just a little more slender, less manly. But the belly felt so real. When he touched his expanded skin, it was his expanded skin, just like his nipples were sore and achey.
“This device is incredible,” he told himself.
“This device is fucked!” Kamal complained as a contrast. He hated it. Hated that he now had obvious bloat, and his nipples pushed against his shirt awkwardly. He hated that his hips were sore, and that the hormones or allergies or whatever it was from the device was making him less of a charismatic partygoer and more of a sadsack stuck cleaning his apartment out just to get his needed college credits. He would poke at his belly, trying to jab it hard in revenge, but it was sensitive, and it left him moaning, his voice cracking. He tended towards slim clothing, but it was getting harder to achieve such a modern, tech-bro look with how his belly was starting to stick out. It was still subtle enough to hide . . . but subtlety was fading, and fading fast.
“This device is ruining my abs!” James complained. He was at the gym, still struggling with his tiredness, which had persisted longer than Kamal and Leo’s, who both claimed to be getting a lot more energy back. He was determined to hit the gym again, but it was seriously like his ab muscles were gone. Not just disguised by his maternity device, but actively gone. Situps were more difficult, and his arms and legs had slimmed as well. He attributed much of this to his lack of exercise, increased diet, and the hormonal changes in his body because of the device. It rankled him to his core, especially when a woman passed him, a hot chick named Joanna who had a fit-chick kinda look. She giggled.
“Looks like that experimental pregnancy is coming along well!” she announced. “We heard about your extra-credit program. Best of luck, James!”
She and her friend giggled again, and James was left humiliated. That bitch professor had let that information out. And somehow, he was the most bloated of them all. Hell, he was actually looking pregnant, somehow.
“Damn it. I do need new clothes.”
And so, as weeks fourteen through eighteen passed, the three friends had to deal with two new major experiences: the first being the news about their experiment getting out, much to their abject shame, and the second being their new homework. The former, to all three, was the worst. Leo, who had hoped to get a girlfriend in the class, or at least gain the skills to get one, was now a source of amusement to women. Because he was the most kind-natured of the three, they often called him ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ or ‘totally understanding,’ which was just emasculating. James had former girlfriends messaging and calling him, asking to confirm all the rumours, whereas Kamal simply tried to disguise his body and deny, deny, deny, despite the fact that he was looking more feminine with each passing day. It was all just a weird science experiment, they knew, but it was feeling so damn real, right down to the slight swelling in their respective chests, and their ever-growing stomachs which were getting tight. There were even little, slight flutters that each had started to feel. Certainly, it made Leo smile when he felt it, even if he wasn’t sure why.
“Is it malfunctioning?” he asked the professor.
“Quite the opposite,” she said with a wink.
“Who cares!?” Kamal snapped. “Why do other people know about this? You’ve embarrassed us!”
“I never said the experiment would be secret. It’s not published or being put in the news, but other students in the class will know. It’s part of their own interest to know, to understand the gender dichotomies at stake.”
“Well, you should have told us,” James said. “Especially since my maternity belly is malfunctioning. It’s almost twice as big as Leo’s and Kamal’s! I seriously look like I’m in my second trimester here! It sticks out and everyone can see it.”
But Eliza just smirked. “Oh, that’s because of a randomised feature in the device. I’m surprised it ended up with you, James, but there was always a chance of this. Your belly is simulating a twin pregnancy. A double congratulations are in order, you’re eating for three, Mr Hallen.”
James was so struck by this that he didn’t even know what to say until he was outside with his friends.
“Fucking twins! Seriously!? This just gets worse and worse!”
The second part they had to get used to - the homework - was, at least, something they could take agency over. Leo took to the homework with greater zeal. He was feeling just a little more comfortable owning that fact now, though he didn’t admit it too much to his friends. But Professor Eliza Shanks had taught him much about housekeeping, and so he set about tidying, cleaning, and sorting his messy apartment, removing unwanted wastes, stains, growing mould, and so on until he was shocked at how much space he truly had. He even got a Japanese peace lily, something she had suggested personally to him.
Begrudgingly, Kamal did the same. His family were neat freaks, so that part wasn’t particularly hard, nor was budgeting for the theoretical coming ‘baby.’ He did have to stock his kitchen, however, small it was. He wasn't used to cooking for himself, and yet this was part of the experiment, and one he detested. And so the calls began.
“Hey Mom. Yes, I’m fine. Yes, I’m doing well. Straight A’s, in fact. No, I’m not engaged. Gods, Mom, I haven’t got a girlfriend! Yes, I still speak Hindi when I can! Look, I just need your help with something, okay? I need some recipes . . . I’m trying to learn how to cook.”
To hear his mother actually excited enough to stop nagging at him was almost worth it in the end.
James’ apartment had always been clean. He knew how to hold onto a girlfriend when he wanted one, and so he kept things stocked, spick and span. He was also a halfway decent cook. He was not, however, one for knowing how to diet outside of his protein-based workout style. It took a lot of adjusting, and he hated how his bulging ‘twin’ stomach craved sugary snacks at times, and salty things at others. Already his muscles were wasting away, his entire body thinning apart from his bumpy chest and domed belly, but this was just the pits. Now he needed to plan a healthy diet, instead of a muscle-gaining one.
“I swear, once this is all over, I’m gonna bulk up so fucking hard,” he groaned. Annoyingly, his voice cracked as he said it, as if to undermine him.
And yet still, the biggest homework challenge remained. And it wasn’t the sewing part. Their shirts were stiff and strained, even their jackets and hoodies couldn’t close properly, and instead stretched around their bellies, making them look ridiculous. Each of them were experiencing growth in their chests as well, and while none of them had actually dared to share this out loud, it was starting to look like the device was giving them breasts. Small ones, but enough that they were hiding them with compression bandages, especially when they were at work. At least none of their coworkers really said anything or treated them too differently, but it was awful nonetheless.
“Fine! Freakin’ fine!” James finally snapped one afternoon after Leo had brought up the topic again. “We’ll buy some goddamn maternity clothes. But I swear, if you even suggest a dress-”
“Dude, I’m not crazy. We just need better shirts and stuff for our bumps. Maybe some comfortable maternity pants to help with the bellies. You know, since they’re getting tight.” They really were, especially James’. Those little flurried movements were continuing, getting stronger, and it was only emphasising the growth of their stomachs.
The next day after James gave in, the three of them travelled to the local mall and visited a maternity store. With their softer faces and more slender figures (sans bellies), the storewoman actually assumed them to be women; perhaps butch preggos or something, Kamal reasoned.
“Welcome and congratulations! Here to look for anything in particular? We have some lovely maternity dresses for those entering their second trimester!”
Kamal frowned. “Just some bigger shirts. That’s all. Nothing else.”
“Maybe some maternity pants,” Leo suggested again.
“Dude, no way.”
“Well, I need them.”
“Ugh,” James added. “So do I. We’re not pregnant, by the way. We’re men, and this is just a pregnancy experiment.” The woman raised an eyebrow, looking like a deer in headlights. “O-okay. Sure! Well, let’s get you suited up, ladies.”
It was like the fact had just slipped her by, and instead she toured them through the store, still acting as if they were women, even as they corrected her repeatedly.
“Lady, my name is James, not Jane.”
“And I’m Leo, not Layla.”
“Of course, I’m sorry ladies! It’s been a long workweek. Now come along and look at these gorgeous maternity blouses. Stylish and beautiful. We have some lovely Hindi ones that Kamika here would look so very beautiful and glowing in.”
“Fucking hell, lady,” Kamal said. “Just leave us alone so we can choose our own damn clothes.”
The woman gave many apologies, but still called them ‘ladies’ as Kamal angrily shooed her off.
“That was fucking weird, right?” Kamal said.
“Very,” Leo said.
James exhaled, pinched his nose. “Let’s just buy our clothes and get out of this freakshow place.”
Doing so took more time than they had hoped, except for Leo, who found it oddly . . . freeing. He was a little more daring than the others, choosing to buy some more feminine looking tops, including one that was actually sleeveless, as well as another that was a maternity camisole for relaxing around the home. They did both show off his bump a little, and he found himself posing in the mirror of the stall, holding his eighteen-week bump and cradling it, as if he really were an expectant mother. He frowned a little at the bumps on his chest where the skin was raised, and ended up sneaking away to visit Carol, the storewoman.
“Yes, Layla?”
“Uh, Leo. Look, I was hoping to maybe get . . . a bra?”
“A maternity bra?”
“Um, anything? For comfort? And some for my friends. They claim they won’t want them, but they need them.”
Carol grinned. “That, I can certainly help with!”
“And sorry for my friend. He snaps easily.”
“Don’t worry about it. She’s pregnant! That will test the hormones! Come, let’s get you sized up.”
Which was how Leo learned that they were all A-cups. When they left the store, Kamal and James grumbling over possessing female maternity clothing, Leo shared this tidbit with them, choosing to be the first to breach the topic.
“Look, I’ll come out and say it before we split up. I’m growing boobs. Well, the device is, but they feel real.”
Kamal groaned out loud. “Fuuuuuuck. Dude, we don’t have to talk about this.”
“I mean, we kinda have to. Bras are on our list. We need bras for our boobs.”
“Don’t call them boobs,” James said. “It’s just . . . they’re just pimples right now.”
“But they’re growing. So we need to be prepared. I’m an A-cup. I think you guys are too.”
“How do you know that?” Kamal asked, eyeing his friend up and down as they left the mall and entered the parking lot.
Embarrassed, Leo pulled aside the strap of the maternity top he was wearing, revealing the smaller strap of a bra underneath. James’ jaw fell.
“Leo, what the fuck!?”
“Look, we have to! And my chest is aching, so this is more comfortable, alright.”
“Jesus, what’s next? You’ll be begging to have a pussy?” Kamal chuckled. “No wonder you can’t get laid like we can.”
Leo frowned. “Don’t be an asshole. You’ve been whining this whole time. At least I’m helping. Here, take your fucking bras and wear them. I’ll see you back in class.”
He shocked two bras into Kamal’s chest and two into James’, then stormed off.
Funny, how it took becoming more female-presenting for him to finally feel like a man. He stormed off to his car, leaving the other pair standing there, both holding the underside of their bumps without realising it.
“Fuck,” James said. “I think he’s got a point. We have to wear these, soon.”
“Screw you, as if. When hell freezes over, maybe, and even then - ugh!” He clutched his chest and winced. “By all the Gods . . . it’s aching again. Fuck! I’m still not wearing this thing . . . but I’ll need something to hide them.”
James nodded. That, at least, he could agree with.
“This better not get any worse,” he said, touching his hair, which was now lowering to be level with his chin. “Because it’s already feeling way too real.”
Neither man had any idea just how real it was about to get. Those little flutters in their bellies were going to ramp right up.
To Be Continued . . .