(BBW = Big, Beautiful Woman)
Ryan and Raven have lived next door to each other their entire lives and were best friends as children, but when they reached adolescence, their lives went in different directions and they drifted apart. Now in their early 20s, Raven, once a chubby girl and now a BBW (big, beautiful woman), has had her life come crashing down around her, but Ryan's there to see her through it.
Go to Part 4 (strong Christian emphasis)
Mature themes in Part 5 include: brief mention of fetish clothing and gear, sex in the context of marriage.
Part 5 includes the following chapters:
Chapter 17: Product lines and responsibilities
Chapter 18: Together and on their own
Chapter 16: Like oxygen
R&R were engaged to be married at the beginning of Ryan’s senior year at the university. However, as an accounting major, Ryan knew it would be necessary to earn a master’s degree and pass the CPA exam to begin his career. Normally, a master’s required two years of study beyond the four years needed for a bachelor’s degree. The first year was essentially a review of the undergraduate course work, and the second year was mostly preparation for the CPA exam. Because Ryan’s grades were so high, he was exempted from the review year, and would complete his master’s degree in a single year.
By now, it was the middle of Ryan’s senior year, and so he had another year and a half of school. He and Raven had not really worked out their wedding plans yet. Originally, they had more-or-less assumed that they’d wait until Ryan was out of school. But now that they were abstaining from sex until they were married, there was a new urgency to make it official. On the other hand, they weren’t sure they could live on their own just on Raven’s paycheck, and neither of them were keen on being married and living with one or the other sets of parents.
Also, Raven wasn’t sure she wanted to wear a traditional white wedding dress, considering that it once symbolized purity and virginity, and she had given birth to a child already. And without a white wedding dress, maybe she didn’t need a big, blowout wedding, either. And maybe without a big wedding to pay for, her parents would be inclined to help them with living expenses for their first year.
So the two of them sat down and reviewed their combined finances. Raven was paying rent to her parents, and that expense would go away if they got their own place. Shortly after getting her job, she had bought an inexpensive used car and was making payments on it. She also had car insurance and gasoline to pay for, of course. But she had been socking away nearly all of the remainder of her paycheck into a savings account, and after working for over a year, that had really added up. She actually had accumulated enough that she could pay off her car loan and eliminate the monthly payments if she wanted to. Ryan had little in the way of savings or income, but he was planning to work at a paid internship again in the summer.
Next they needed to estimate what their expenses would be if they rented a small apartment. Excluding the costs of Raven’s car, their monthly expenses would mostly be rent, any utilities not included in the rent payment, and groceries. Upfront expenses would include the first and last month’s rent and security deposit, and any security deposits and connection fees required by the utilities. Also whatever furniture, sheets, towels, dishes, pots and pans, etc. that they couldn’t scrounge up for free. Maybe they’d get some of that stuff as wedding gifts. Ryan’s parents were providing him with use of one of their cars and were paying for the car insurance and gas he used commuting to school, and both of their parents were paying for their health insurance and phones. They would ask them to continue covering those costs at least until Ryan had a permanent, full-time job.
After researching the costs of one-bedroom apartments and the estimated utilities, they realized that if they paid off Raven’s car, they’d have just enough to cover the upfront costs and monthly expenses on her salary. Whatever Ryan made at his internship would give them some cushion. There would be no money for a honeymoon.
“So what do you think, my corpulent cutie?” asked Ryan. “Do you think it would be worth it to defer the honeymoon and live on a very tight budget for a year or more in order to get married sooner? Or would you rather wait until I’m finished with school and have a job, so that we have more money to work with?”
“To me it’s a no-brainer,” replied Raven. I’d much rather be married to you and poor. I don’t need a honeymoon or fancy things, but I need you like I need oxygen. We both know we want to spend the rest of our lives together, so why wait? The sooner I can have all of you the better.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Ryan. “But how soon is soon enough? If you’re content with a courthouse wedding, we could get a marriage license today and be married in a few days. If you want an actual wedding ceremony with guests, it’ll take a bit longer to plan.”
“I may need you like oxygen, but I can hold my breath long enough to get a proper wedding, stud,” said Raven. “It’s every girl’s dream to have a beautiful wedding. I’ve already decided I’m not worthy to wear a white gown. Don’t deny me the rest of the dream, too! I want a church wedding with bridesmaids and guests and a reception and the whole nine yards.”
“I wasn’t trying to deny you anything, I promise!” said Ryan. “I was just asking. When were you thinking of having it?”
“I need to find out what my parents’ budget is and start talking to caterers and whatnot and see when they’re available. But right now I’m thinking in May, right after you graduate.”
Raven talked to her parents about how much they were prepared to spend, and started researching and making inquiries to florists, banquet halls, caterers, DJs, bakers, photographers, and so on, to find out the various offerings, and pricing, and availability in May. She still wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted regarding a banquet or reception; she had a much clearer idea about the wedding ceremony. It had to be in the church that the Andersens, and now she as well, were members of, and it had to be officiated by that church’s senior pastor, the man who had only recently baptized her. Both the church and the pastor were available throughout May.
It didn’t take long for Raven to realize that hiring a wedding planner was money well spent, rather than trying to do all the planning herself. The wedding planner could help her figure out what she wanted and could afford, and had all the connections to make it happen.
Chapter 17: Product lines and responsibilities
At work one day, Raven had a question for Mrs. Schmidt. “Have you ever considered expanding into additional product lines?” she asked. “Yes, of course,” replied the owner, “but I have all I can handle just selling plus-sized lingerie. Why, what do you have in mind?”
“Well, there are a few categories of products that customers ask for regularly that we don’t carry, and they can’t seem to find elsewhere, either. One such category is plus-sized sexy clothing, like miniskirts, Daisy Duke shorts, halter tops, little black dresses, that sort of thing. Heck, I wish I could find clothes like that, not to go out in public with, but to wear for Ryan. Another is plus-sized fetish wear, like leather dominatrix outfits and French maid costumes. A third category, less frequently mentioned than the others, is bondage gear designed for plus-sized people. Anyway, it seems like we’re missing out on business that’s ripe for the picking.”
“Yes, I’ve heard those requests, too, said Mrs. Schmidt. “Like I said, it’s all I can do to keep up with the lingerie. But I have an assistant manager now, so maybe I need to make better use of her. Let me think about it some more, and we’ll talk next week, okay?”
The following week, Mrs. Schmidt sat down with Raven. “I’ve been thinking about your suggestions, as I said I would,” she said. “They may seem like new, creative ideas to grow the business to you, and I do appreciate hearing them, but I’ve thought about them repeatedly over the years. I even did the research and identified manufacturers who could supply those products, so a lot of the ground work has already been done. But it always came back to either not having the money, or the time, or both, to invest in expanding the business. I couldn’t jeopardize the existing business by taking my eye off the ball while I pursued new things.
“Money isn’t a major constraint right now; the business is doing well and is generating a profit. But my time continues to be a restraint to growth. I don’t have time to do more than I’m already doing. So, last year I saw the potential in you and promoted you to the new position of assistant manager. I haven’t regretted that decision for a minute; you’ve done everything I’ve asked or expected and then some. But I have you still mostly working as a sales clerk. You’re great at that, too, and so it’s been easy – no, it’s been lazy on my part – to leave you in that role. But by keeping you tethered to the sales floor, I’m not tapping your full potential, and I’m holding back this business from its full potential.
“So what I would like to do, if you’re willing, is to hire someone to replace you on the sales floor. You would train and manage that person and the entire retail store. That will take some of the pressure off of me, but not much, because I haven’t had to concern myself much with the store since you’ve been here. But managing the store isn’t a full time job. I would also like to develop you to manage the online sales fulfillment operation as well – the back room where we fill online orders and ship them out. That’s where the bulk of our business takes place. Managing both the store and online sales fulfillment would be a full time job. You would spend your day managing, not selling.
“With you running the ongoing operations of both parts of the business, I would then be freed up to focus on developing relations with both our existing suppliers and new ones, including suppliers for new product lines.
“Now, I’ve done all the talking. I want hear what you think about all that I’ve laid out, and I want you to be completely honest with me. I want you to ask any questions you may have, and I’ll do my best to answer them. Okay?”
Raven was completely surprised by all of this. “Well, first of all, I want to say I’m honored that you’re so pleased with my performance and have such confidence in me,” she said in response. “Second, I want to be clear that I wasn’t fishing for any of this when I made my suggestions last week. I was just trying to help the business.”
Mrs. Schmidt replied, “Those kinds of suggestions show me that you’re a great employee and will make a great manager. I want people who are thinking about how to improve the business. Most employees I’ve had don’t think that way. They just do their jobs and go home.”
Raven continued. “As much as I enjoy selling, I do know I’m capable of more, and that’s why I asked to learn other aspects of the business last year. But I’ll be honest; I don’t know the first thing about how to be a manager.”
“You sell yourself short,” said Mrs. Schmidt. “You’re doing a lot of it now already. You answer other employee’s questions and help them when there’s a problem, and you make sure they’re staying busy. You’re in charge when I’m away. The rest of it will come pretty naturally, I think, or I’ll teach you what to do. I’m not going anywhere, so you’ll always have me to come to if you need help with something.”
“Three other things you should know,” said Mrs. Schmidt. “First, I’ll be changing your job title from assistant manager to operations manager. I think that’s important to give you the credibility that corresponds to your responsibilities. You won’t be anyone’s assistant in this new role; you’ll be a full manager. Second, you’ll get a pay raise to go along with the additional responsibilities. Third, I want you to stop calling me Mrs. Schmidt and call me Suzanne instead. That privilege is also appropriate for a manager and will also give you credibility. So what do you say?”
“I accept!” said Raven enthusiastically.
Later, Raven thought about her good fortune. It occurred to her that God was continuing to bless her, just like he had done consistently for the past two years. At her low point only two years earlier, she was pregnant and in the hospital, badly beaten by the baby’s father, and forced to drop out of college. Now she just got her second promotion after only working here, what, 16 or so months now. She was a manager! The raise she’d be getting would make things a little less tight when she and Ryan were married and in their own place. She couldn’t wait to tell him.
So before long, Raven hired a new sales clerk to replace her in the retail store, a plus-sized woman named Cassidy about ten years her senior. Once Raven trained Cassidy, she turned her attention to learning everything she needed to know about managing the fulfillment operation from Suzanne.
For the most part, managing the fulfillment operation involved managing people, making sure that they were following procedures and staying busy. Raven also needed to monitor the incoming orders and adjust staffing based on the volume. However, it occurred to her that she had no control over the inventory coming in. If they didn’t have sufficient inventory, they couldn’t fulfill orders. She had some familiarity with the process to place and track orders, but it wasn’t part of her new responsibilities. She decided she needed to ask Suzanne about it.
“Inventory is where our respective responsibilities intersect,” said Suzanne. “Maybe even overlap a bit. I can track what we have in stock, what our customers have ordered online or bought in the store, and what we’ve ordered from our suppliers and is on its way to us. I try to make sure we have a lot of our best-selling stuff on hand, and less of our slow-selling stuff.
“However, it’s possible that I could overlook something, or not notice a trend. If something that used to be slow-selling suddenly becomes popular, for example. So I need you to be aware of our inventory situation, too. If you see that we’re getting low on something, or we’re getting overstocked on something, please bring it to my attention. If we’re getting low, it may be that more product is already on its way and will be here any day, or maybe I forgot to place an order. Or maybe the order is already late and I need to find out where it is and when we’ll get it.”
“Couldn’t you have the computer automatically place orders for you when we’re running low on something?” asked Raven.
“That’s a very good question, Raven,” said Suzanne. “Yes, I could do that, but I would feel like I didn’t have control. Often, I’ll place orders based on my knowledge of the business, or just intuition. For example, over the years, I’ve noticed that darker colors sell better in the fall and winter and lighter colors in the spring and summer. So I’ll adjust the orders accordingly, and not just replace what’s sold one-for-one. Or if I’m having to reorder something only very infrequently, I might decide to place a smaller order so I don’t have as much inventory that’s just sitting there, or I might discontinue carrying that item entirely.”
“I guess there’s more to running this business than meets the eye, isn’t there?” replied Raven. “I can see I still have a lot to learn.”
“All in good time. There’s no substitute for experience,” said Suzanne.
Chapter 18: Together and on their own
As May drew near, Raven was busy working out the last details of the wedding, while Ryan took responsibility for finding them a place to live. Raven ending up deciding to have a modest wedding and banquet, in terms of size and cost. As proud as she was to be marrying Ryan, she didn’t feel the need to try to impress anyone by spending lots of her parents’ money. She would much rather have the people she cared about be impressed with how she had gotten her life together and with what a wonderful man she was marrying. Neither she nor Ryan had a wide circle of friends to invite anyway.
Ryan had found them a one bedroom apartment in an older part of town that they could take possession of on May 1. That gave them some time to get their stuff moved in and set up before the wedding. Neither of them actually had much stuff to move in. But Ryan had been watching online postings for free and very inexpensive used furniture and housewares, and had been accumulating it and storing it in his parents’ garage. His parents were buying them a new mattress and box spring, along with sheets, blankets, and pillows as a wedding gift. So, at least they wouldn’t have to sleep or sit on the floor, nor would they have to use someone’s nasty discarded mattress. At least until Ryan got a job once he was finished with school, they would be poor but comfortable. Neither of them minded that a bit. The most important thing was that they would finally be together as husband and wife. Everything else was temporary.
Raven chose a cream-colored, knee length bodycon (body conforming) dress with short sleeves and a V-neck low enough to show some, but not too much cleavage. This style of dress accentuated her curves, which is just what she wanted. After all, she was a proud fat girl. Rather than renting a tuxedo, Ryan bought a suit that he could also later use for job interviews. They had their bridesmaids and groomsmen wear their own dresses and suits rather than have to spend money to buy or rent matching outfits. Although this wasn’t their intention, keeping their attendants’ costs low motivated them to spend more on wedding gifts for the couple.
Other than the wedding party all wearing street clothes, the ceremony was pretty standard, as was the reception. But when it came time to make speeches, the bride and groom started out; normally, the bride and groom just listen while the maid of honor and best man and parents do the talking. But no one knew their story better than they did themselves, and they wanted to share it.
Raven started out. “Thank you everyone, for coming out and helping Ryan and I celebrate our first day of together forever. Most of you know at least parts of our story but I doubt many know all of it, so I want to share it with you.
“Ryan and I have been next door neighbors ever since I was born and he was about six weeks old. We were playmates and best friends from the very beginning. But when I reached adolescence and became interested in boys, Ryan was the last boy I wanted to be with. He was like a brother to me, and a boring, clean-cut, goody two-shoes brother at that. I wanted to be with the boys who were exciting – the jocks, the bad boys, the boys who got into trouble and didn’t care. The boys who had fast cars and knew how to get liquor and drugs. And those were the ones I hung out with and the ones I got involved with, throughout middle school, high school, and college. Needless to say, that gave me a reputation as a bad girl, which I relished. Well, I just bounced from one bad relationship to another, and it never went well for me. Yet I kept going for the same kind of guys, over and over again.
“Then, during my sophomore year of college, my life came crashing down around me. I got pregnant by my then-boyfriend. I was afraid to tell him, because he was abusive to me. When he found out, he went into a rage and severely beat me. I was in the hospital for over a week from my injuries, and it took many more months to recover physically, all while I was pregnant, too. I was determined to let this innocent baby live, and I did. Ryan’s mom connected me with a couple she knew, and they adopted my baby boy. And he’s living his best life in a stable home with parents who love him dearly.
“But back to Ryan. The first three people who saw me in the hospital after my beating were my parents and Ryan. Goody-goody Ryan literally dropped everything and drove the two hours to be by my side when I needed a trusted friend more than anything. He made the trip several more times that week, and once I was home recuperating, he visited me frequently. No one else did that, and there was no reason for him to feel obligated to do it, either; I had barely given him the time of day for the better part of the past decade. I didn’t deserve anything from Ryan. But that’s the kind of person he is. I began to realize that he did this because he loved me unconditionally. It wasn’t even romantic love at that point; he just loved me as a friend even though I had been a terrible friend to him.
“Ladies, if a man loves you unconditionally and he’s not a perv or a creep, you’ve got something priceless, and you’d be a fool to let him go. I realized that pretty quickly, and I fell in hopelessly in love with this kind, gentle man who had been right under my nose all these years. He was completely different than any man I’d ever been involved with, but I mean that in the best way possible. Ryan was the man I needed all along; I was just too blind to see it until then. I’ve come to love him unconditionally as well, and I hope he knows that. And now I get to spend the rest of my life loving Ryan and being loved by Ryan. My life couldn’t be more perfect! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!” The entire hall gave Raven and Ryan an enthusiastic standing ovation.
Ryan went next. “I want to add my thanks to everyone who’s come to celebrate with us.” Looking at his new bride, he said, “That was a tough speech to have to follow, but allow me to give you my perspective. I’ve been in love with this beautiful girl next door ever since I knew what love was. When we were little kids, we would play house and pretend that we were married. But even then, I wanted to marry Raven in real life more than anything. I knew I was going to marry her someday. But when we drifted apart in our teenaged years, and she and I became so different from each other, I thought that was just a childish dream that would never really happen. I had no interest in getting romantically involved with bad girl Raven. I realized she was not someone I could live happily ever after with. But I never stopped loving Raven and wishing the best for her.
“The night Raven was attacked, fate would have me arriving home just as her parents were leaving to rush to her side. I was the first person they told what had happened. I could see they were so distraught that they couldn’t drive safely, and so I didn’t hesitate to take them there myself. It never occurred to me to do anything else, because that’s the kind of thing that friends and neighbors should just do for each other.
“I had no ulterior motive to try to win Raven’s affection. That was the furthest thing from my mind. I could see that she badly needed a friend, and I could certainly be that person to her. But something else happened to Raven that night, besides what happened to her physically. She started changing as a person. She was pregnant, badly injured by her baby daddy, and very scared, and she stopped trying to be a bad girl with something to prove. I could see the Raven I knew from childhood trying to break through that hard exterior she had put up around herself. I could tell she really appreciated my coming to visit her, and so I kept it up. And as she softened up, I liked what I saw, and began to fall in love – romantically, I mean – with her. But I never said anything, because I figured that once she recovered, she’d go back to her old ways and wouldn’t want me anymore. Boy, did I get that wrong! She did recover, but the rest of that never happened.
“And so we kept growing closer and closer and more and more in love with each other. We even started saying things like “when we get married” to each other. I realized that it wasn’t a foolish childhood dream after all; it was really happening. And so as soon as I could afford to by her an engagement ring worthy of her, I did, and well, you can figure out the rest of the story. And now I get to live the dream for the rest of our lives! I feel like the luckiest man in the world!” Again, the entire hall gave Raven and Ryan the enthusiastic standing ovation they deserved.
Raven had more to say, however, and stood back up. “Something else that I failed to mention that I want you to know. Laying there in that hospital bed was clearly the lowest point in my life. But ever since then, my life has steadily improved, becoming nothing short of amazing. Certainly because of Ryan, yes, but in lots of other ways, too. I attribute that to all the prayers that were said on my behalf from that day forward, and are still being said today. I’ve come to realize that prayer is powerful, God is very real, and he also loves me unconditionally. Don’t worry, I won’t preach to you; this is not the time for that. But if you want to hear more, please get ahold of me; I’d love to talk to you about it. Thank you.”
Although they chose to defer their honeymoon until they could afford one, Raven’s parents gave them the money to get away for several days, since Raven had kept the wedding costs down. They couldn’t take longer than that because Ryan’s summer internship was about to start. It didn’t really matter where they went, because they both knew they would end up spending most of the trip making up for the months they had abstained from sex.
Raven had acquired quite a few articles of lingerie from the store, especially from when she did the photo shoot and got everything she wore for free. Most of them, Ryan had not seen before, at least in real life. She brought these to wear on their mini-honeymoon, but the only problem was, she never managed to stay in them for very long. If you could call that a problem, that is. Raven certainly didn’t.
Suzanne, the store owner, was in the process of adding sexy plus-sized clothing to their offerings, and Raven made sure to buy a variety of those items even before they were available to the public. She brought those along, too, and did have more of a chance to keep those on, as she wore them when they left their hotel room to eat or do anything else. Raven’s objective was to keep Ryan turned on the entire trip whether they were in public or between the sheets. It worked, too.
Ryan said to her, “I like this new wardrobe you have! Is this the new you?” Raven replied, “I think I’d be too modest to wear this stuff in public back home where people know me. I wouldn’t want someone from church seeing me dressed like this. But it’s fun to wear here where I’ll never see these people again. I can see it’s keeping you focused on me, which was my plan. But I’ve also noticed other people looking at me, too, some in a good way, some in a bad way. Regardless, I’m enjoying the attention I’m getting, I admit. At home, though, I’ll gladly wear these things for you any time behind closed doors.”
“I’d like that,” said Ryan. “You look so hot dressed that way.”
The mini-honeymoon ended much too soon, and Raven returned to work while Ryan began his internship. But now, they returned home every evening to the same place, their place, and “playing house” was no longer a childhood game; they were finally doing it for real. And they lived happily ever after.
THE END
If you enjoyed this story, don't miss the sequel, titled The BBW Wife: More to love, that picks right up where this story leaves off. Ryan and Raven explore intentional weight gain, feederism, and bondage as the story progresses from them being newlyweds to shortly after the birth of their first child several years later.
Continue to The BBW Wife, Part 1