They unlocked the apartment door, the familiar click echoing in the silence. Exhaustion clung to them like a second skin after a particularly brutal shift at the bakery. All they wanted was to collapse on the couch and forget the world existed.

The scent of microwave popcorn wafted from the kitchen, a beacon in their weary mind. As they rounded the corner, they stopped dead in their tracks. Shae, their girlfriend, was standing near the sink, clad in fuzzy pink pajamas. Nothing seemed out of place at first but then they noticed the garden hose snaking from the faucet… directly into the back of Shae's pajama pants.

Shae's belly was enormous, a taut, round globe straining against the fabric. It was so big it looked unreal. As Shae saw them, a wide, mischievous grin spread across her face. With a loud smack, she hit her inflated stomach, the sound echoing in the small kitchen.

"Hey, babe!" Shae chirped, pulling up her pajama top to give them a better view of her inflated figure. "Surprise! I thought I needed a little… help relaxing after you left for work. Whatcha think?" Her eyes sparkled with playful defiance, and the sheer audacity of the inflated spectacle made a genuine laugh bubble up from their chest, chasing away some of the day's stress. Maybe collapsing on the couch could wait.