Meal 7


	There was food aplenty as Brian, Jasper, Rex, and Dolly entered the dining room. Taking seats, there was a groan of protest beneath Brian's rear as the chair struggled to hold him up followed by some snickers by the others.

	"It wouldn't be the first time I crushed a chair under my weight," the porky canine admitted purposely pressing more weight down on the chair to cause it to creak more. "Jasper, remember when you got those chairs just to watch me break them with my buns of lard?"

	"Yeah, and I recorded it," added Jasper snickering at the memory. "It's even funnier in slow motion just seeing your fat bounce and jiggly when you plopped onto the ground."

	"Oh, you'll have to show us later," said Rex. "After we eat. Now who wants to be served first?" Immediately, everyone turned to Brian, the decision made without the question even needed.

	"I guess I'm first," replied Brian which prompted the others to make his plate up, stacking a variety of foods over every inch of the plate and on top of other food when there was nowhere else to put more food.  "It's a start.  I can always have seconds once I finish this up."

	Brian began to dig in while the others began to make up their own plates, doing so with his usual gluttonous speed.  Rex and Jasper kept their eyes glued on the gorging dog, admiring his food-swollen maw and his ever filling belly that would soon add on those extra pounds once it was digested.  His chair gave an occasional groan as he shifted in it to grab something else off his plate.  By the time he licked his plate clean, they others had just begun to eat.  They still didn't take their eyes off him as he started to fill his plate again.

	"If you want, you can just eat out of the bowls," approved Rex.

	"Oh, uh, thanks, but what if you guys want more?" asked Brian enjoying being a pig, but not an inconsiderate one.

	"We've got plenty, B," assured Jasper.  "Besides, I get stuffed just watching you eat."

	"I can always whip up more," added Dolly.  "No need to hold back."

	"In that case," grinned Brian lifting up the nearest bowl and pouring the contents into his maw.  Rex and Jasper watched eagerly as he chugged all the food down like the true hog he was and lick it clean of every last morsel of food before moving onto the next food container.

	One massive belch later, Brian polished off the last of the food and Jasper happily gave him belly rubs to sooth the fullness in his distended paunch. "Another great meal devoured by your glorious girth," he praised.

	"Heheh, yeah," giggled Brian feeling especially giddy from the numerous bottles of wine flooding his stomach. "If I keep on eating like this I'll need a forklift to get around."  Wobbling around, Brian finally toppled himself off the chair and dropped to the ground with a violent plop. The ground shook and Jasper and Rex couldn't help but snicker.

	"Oh, B" commented Jasper. "Careful now. Don't want to hurt yourself or the house."

	"Yeah," agreed Rex. "You're so fat falling on your ass is causing an earthquake."

	"Actually," mentioned Dolly. "I don't think the shaking was caused by him. And the ground is still shaking."

	"Then this is a real earthquake?" cried Jasper as the shaking quickly became more intense and the sounds of objects crashing to the floor were heard all over the place.

	"Did I do that?" asked Brian still unaware of what was going on.

	"Don't worry about it," Jasper told him hugging him tightly till the shaking finally stopped and he felt at ease enough to take a breath. "It's over."

	"There could be some aftershocks," warned Rex. "Best to stay put till we're sure it's over."

	They all waited huddled around Brian on the floor, waiting for nearly half an hour before being certain it was safe to get up again.  Rex and Jasper helped heft Brian back to his feet, his head pounding as his buzz faded and a headache settled in.

	"I had no idea this was going to happen," worried Jasper taking a look out the window and saw so many things had fallen over and could only imagine the damage even further from sight.  "I'm going to go take a look around.  Brian, you stay here.  I won't be long."

	"Oh," groaned Brian as his head throbbed painfully.  "It's still too dangerous even if the quake stopped."

	"I promise you I'll be fine," he told his beloved cousin and gave him a hug.  "Just hold on for a little bit and I'll be back before you know it."

	"O-okay," Brian finally gave in.  "Just for a short while."

	"See you in a bit then," Jasper waved goodbye and made his way to the front door.  Brian waved back, but couldn't help feel terrible worry.

	"I'll go see how much damage the earthquake caused," Dolly told Rex.  "It sounded like a lot of stuff broke inside and there's probably a lot of damage outside too."

	"It shouldn't be all that bad," assured Rex.  "This place was built to withstand earthquakes.  Most of the damage should have been mitigated, but just be careful nonetheless.  I'll see that our guest is kept calm and relaxed."

	"How are you going to do that?" asked Brian looking out the window still watching Jasper drive off in his car even though he was long out of sight.


	"I don't think it's working," groaned Brian after having eaten a dozen bags of marshmallows.  "I'm still worried about Jasper."

	"Hmm," pondered Rex.  "I could have sworn that marshmallows could make anything better.  Maybe you still haven't had enough yet.  Luckily, I still have plenty more bags."

	"Why do you even have so many," Brian began to say before being fed a handful more of marshmallows."

	"What was that?" asked Rex snickering a little and giving Brian's belly a rub.

	Trying to eat the marshmallows to clear his throat, Brian then felt his phone vibrate and hastened to choke them down.  "One second," Brian coughed.  "I got a call."  Working his way to phone in his pocket, he wrestled to get it look and answered the call.  "Hello?"

	"Brian," said Lois on the other side of the phone.  "Oh, thank God you're ok.  There was breaking news on the TV just now about a quake around where you and Jasper live."

	"We're both fine, Lois," Brian told her.  "He just went out to take a look at the damage.  He should be coming back shortly."

	"Well I am so relieved," she continued.  "I can't think of anything more tragic than a death right after getting engaged."

	"Yeah that would be terri-" Brian started to say then almost choked on his words and marshmallows.  "Wait, engaged?  Who's engaged?"

	"What?  Didn't Jasper tell you?  He was supposed to-"  Lois's voice began to fade into static.

	"Hello?" cried Brian desperate to hear what she had to say, but what little he managed to hear was nothing but gibberish till finally the phone cut off.  Checking the bars on his phone, he read "No Signal."

	"The phone towers must be out," said Rex seeing Brian desperately try to call her back.  "Is everything okay?"

	"I don't know," he sighed.  "Jasper was supposed to tell me something about being engaged.  Did he want to tell me that he wanted to marry me?"

	"Oh, that's so great!" praised Rex hugging Brian happily.  "That is so great to hear!"

	"But I don't know if that's the truth," continued Brian.  "I can assume that, but what if that wasn't what Lois was trying to tell me?"

	"That's gotta be it," Rex assured him.  "I mean you love him, don't you?"

	"Of course I do," Brian answered.  "I love him more than anything."

	"And he feels the same way about you?" asked Rex.

	"He does," added Brian.  "He was there for me when I was lost and he's helped make me what I am now.  I'm so happy now, because of him."

	"Then why do you sound so nervous now after hearing that?" asked Rex.  "It can't be that you are having doubts."

	"O-of course now," Brian retorted getting more nervous the more they talked.  "I was just surprised.  I knew we would get together at some point, but I never expected to find out like this.  I should just ask Jasper about it when he gets back."

	"But from what I've gathered, you weren't supposed to know about an engagement," he told Brian.  "It might be best not to say anything.  If Jasper wants to tell you at the right moment, you don't want to spoil it for him."

	"I guess that makes sense," sighed Brian sitting down.  "I just hope he says something soon."  Grabbing another bag of marshmallows he started to stuff his face with them.

	"That's it," said Rex pushing more bags of marshmallow over to him.  "Just relax and don't let such thoughts fester in your mind.  I better go see if Dolly needs a hand with anything."  Rex walked away watching Brian shovel more marshmallows into his gullet and grinned with dark contentment.