Author: [kjm7997] Growing in Love

[kjm7997]

Here's a new story I'm writing. It will be broken up into chapters, and I'll try to post each one as I finish.

Anyway, this first chapter is a lot of character intro and general plot setup, but I promise it'll get more interesting soon!

Growing in Love
by kjm7997

Chapter One – In Which the Adventure Begins

“We’ll take it!” Mike and Ashley said together excitedly as they stood on the doorstep of their first home purchase as a newlywed couple. Just like that, the long process of looking at seemingly endless real estate listings and open-house tours had finally ended; they felt like they had found the perfect home. It was a fairly simple two-story house, but it had a large kitchen, tall ceilings, and a full-sized unfinished basement. The only catch was that the previous owner had accumulated a decent assortment of old home gym equipment in the basement, which he decided would be too much of a hassle to move and wanted to throw it in with the deal. While Mike and Ashley had mixed feelings with this “package deal,” but they figured at the best case they would have a pretty good home gym already set up and at the worst case they’d just sell it all online if they needed the extra space.

The house was located on a large, remote lot in the foothills, just 30 minutes away from the city, which was close enough to still enjoy what the city had to offer while being far enough away to have some peace and quiet. Ashley, who was what Mike often joked about as “the artsy type,” was working on a writing career and the prospect of all the peace and quiet at the new house sounded like a great environment for her to write her first best-selling novel. The location wasn’t quite as good for Mike, who worked as a structural design engineer at a small firm located on the edge of downtown, but the daily commute didn’t seem like it would be too bad and he really loved the thought of living outside the city. All they had left to do now was to negotiate the offer, sign a few papers, and move in.

“Wonderful! I had a feeling you would love the house. I’m sure you two will be very happy here,” their real estate agent smiled as she locked the front door. “Just give me a few days to negotiate the final offer and write up the paperwork and you’ll be all set. I’ll get back in touch with you soon!” She shook hands with couple, waved goodbye, and drove away, leaving them alone to enjoy the moment together.

The newlyweds stood on the doorstep holding hands and enjoying the view. When they first saw the listing they were a bit concerned that the house would be a little too remote since they were both used to having their favorite restaurants and night spots just a short walk or drive away, but after seeing the spectacular views in person, this house seemed like it would be a great change of pace—a perfect place to start their new life together as man and wife. They were both fairly active and loved the outdoors as well as they loved the city, so the miles of hiking trails that were practically at their front door sounded were an added bonus. On top of that, there was all the extra privacy, which is another thing that newlyweds love to have. They shared one last long, romantic kiss on the doorstep of their new home before heading back to their car so they could drive to their two-bedroom apartment and start packing; or at least they would eventually start packing.

Back at their apartment, Mike almost kicked in the door as they rushed inside. No sooner had the door closed behind them than Ashley jumped up, wrapped her legs around Mike’s waist, and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. “We’re homeowners, baby!” she exclaimed excitedly, her beautiful green eyes aglow with joy.

“I know, hon! It’s so exciting isn’t it?!” Mike beamed back at his beautiful bride. He loved the way her eyes lit up when she smiled like that. He brushed aside a tress of her golden-blonde hair that had fallen over her forehead and kissed her again. With Ashley’s legs still tightly wrapped around his waist, Mike started carrying her toward the bedroom. As they went, she pulled her t-shit up over her head and he deftly undid her bra with his free hands, baring her perky C-cup breasts.

Once in the bedroom, he stood at the foot of their bed and slowly set her down. Ashley gazed up into Mike’s blue eyes like a tiger ready to pounce as they finished undressing each other. Neither of them would consider themselves to be fitness obsessed, but they both had fit athletic bodies after months of preparation for the tropical honeymoon they went on after their wedding. Mike had obviously spent some time in the weight room and Ashley was tight and toned. Mike leaned forward and kissed Ashley on the top of her forehead and she sprang forward into his chest, shoving him backward and tackling him onto the bed. Mike rolled over on top and turned out the light. Packing would have to wait until tomorrow—first, they had better things to do.


The next morning Mike woke up bright and early to surprise Ashley with breakfast before a long day of packing, but the clanging of pans in the small apartment kitchen and the eventual smell of coffee, bacon, eggs, and waffles got her up to join Mike in the kitchen. As Mike stood in front of the stove stirring a skillet of thick-cut bacon, she came up behind him and lovingly wrapped her arms around his waist. Being about 6 inches shorter than her 5’10” husband, Ashley stood up on her tiptoes in order to give him a quick kiss on the nape of his neck.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Mike said lovingly as he turned around and lightly kissed her on the forehead. “I was hoping to surprise you with breakfast, but it’s probably good that you’re already up—we’ve got a looong day of packing ahead.”

“I knew there was a reason I keep you around,” Ashley said will a grin as she took a deep breath through her nose to take in the delicious breakfast aromas.

Mike finished cooking and the couple sat down to enjoy breakfast. “I know it’s a little bit early to starting thinking about,” Ashley said between bites of bacon, “but what do you think we should do with the unfinished basement at the new house?”

“Beats me,” Mike shrugged. “Looks like the last owners had a pretty decent gym down there though. It makes since that they didn’t really want to move all that equipment. I know I really don’t want to mess with carrying all those weights up the stairs!” Mike said with a laugh.

“So you’re saying my big, strong husband wouldn’t move those weights out of the basement even if his beautiful, adoring wife wanted to use it for her writing studio?” Ashley said, fluttering her eyelashes and trying to look adorable.

Mike gave her a playful frown. “We’ll see what happens. I know it’s probably way more than what we need, but you have to admit that it will be nice to ditch our old gym memberships. I bet with a little bit of re-arrangement and creativity we could keep the weights and still set you up with a little writing studio; best of both worlds, right?”

Ashley thought for a second. “Not bad, husband!” she said as she nodded contemplatively. “Like I said, I knew I keep you around for a reason,” she joked as she raised one arm and flexed her small bicep. “I could work out these ‘massive guns’ whenever I get writer’s block,” she said with a wink. Mike gave her shoulder a playful shove and they both laughed.

As their breakfast continued, the rest of their conversation was much the same. They planned, they joked, they laughed, and they flirted, but most importantly, they were both excited to find out what the future held. To them it felt like nothing could hold them back—let the adventure begin.

[kjm7997]

What a great start! I really like your writing style. You write in detail and don't rush things. This leaves room for a long story with depth. If you let the protagonist grow slowly, there will be something for everyone, no matter how big she gets.  I am very curious to see what else will come. Thank you!

Good initial flow and style...............can't wait to see where it goes........lots of writer's block or does it become a sort of muse that lets her write........

Thanks for all the positive feedback! Here's a new chapter:


Chapter Two – Moving Day

It seemed like an eternity, but moving day finally arrived. The apartment had been packed up fairly quickly however, especially since the young couple was eager to get settled in at their new house. Rather than go through the extra expense of hiring a moving company, Mike and Ashley had decided just to rent a moving truck and move everything themselves. It was mostly Mike’s idea, but Ashley had agreed as long as they would use some of the money they saved to go out for a nice dinner.
 
With everything in their two-bedroom apartment boxed up and ready to load, the couple stood in their living room to survey the situation. “It’s definitely going to be a lot of work,” Mike said as he looked around at the stacks of moving boxes, “but I think we can manage,” he added after a brief pause.

“I didn’t realize we had so much stuff!” Ashley laughed. “I guess we’d better get to work,” she added as she rolled up her sleeves.

The two began carrying load after load of moving boxes onto the rental truck. Ashley tried to keep pace with her husband, but after a little while, the boxes really started to feel heavy to her. Ashley was in pretty decent shape from all the dance cardio classes she took before the wedding, but she didn’t have a lot of muscle. She was a little embarrassed at her lack of strength, so to avoid looking like a weakling to her husband, Ashley tried to pick the lighter boxes. At least that way she could keep up with him.

With most of the boxes loaded, it was time to load up the furniture. First up was their living room sofa. Mike and Ashley lined up on opposite ends of the couch and got ready to lift. “Uh, oh,” Ashley thought to herself. “I can’t fake my way out of this one.” Mike counted to three and they each picked up their end, except Ashley could only lift her side a couple feet off the floor before she had to set to back down. “I don’t think I can lift it, hun,” Ashley said with a sigh. “It’s too heavy for me.”

“Come on, Ash, it’s not that heavy,” Mike said encouragingly. “Just grit your teeth and give it another try.”

“Mike, it’s too heavy for me. I can’t do it. Sorry.” Ashley said, annoyed.

“You don’t have to get mad about it,” Mike said defensively. “I just thought maybe you didn’t have a good enough grip on it the first time.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just tired and I didn’t want you to think you were married to some kind of weakling, that’s all,” Ashley replied. “I guess I’m pretty useless when it comes to moving heavy stuff,” she added as she sat down on the couch.

“Don’t worry about it hon,” Mike said as he sat down on the couch next to Ashley and put his arm around her. “You’re not useless, you’re just not very strong!” he joked as he kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll call up Brian and see if he can swing by and help move the big stuff.”

It probably bothered Ashley more than it should have, but she hated feeling inadequate. She looked over at her husband with a pout. “Well, I’m definitely not strong enough to lift that couch. As long as you don’t think you’ve got a useless wife, I guess you’d better call Brian.”

While Mike called for “backup” Ashley kept busy moving the rest of the small items into the truck. At least she was able to do that much, she thought. Eventually, Mike’s friend Brian came to the rescue and the two men finished loading. At the new house, Mike and Brian unloaded the large items while Ashley started unpacking boxes and putting things into place.

Walking into their new kitchen, Ashley scoped out the exact place where everything would go. Without having to worry about any heavy lifting, she was starting to feel a bit better. Organization was more her forte anyway. She opened up all the kitchen cabinets in order to get a feel for the layout. As she stepped back, she noticed that while the 9 foot ceilings in the house made for a spacious effect, it meant that the cabinet shelves were higher than normal as well. “Great, I’m going to have to get a step stool in here to reach anything higher than the second shelf,” she mumbled to herself. Earlier that day Ashley had felt like a weakling, and now she was feeling like a shorty. Today just wasn’t her day.

Leaving the kitchen, Ashley decided to go down to the basement and where she could put her writing studio. She turned on the basement light and started to walk around. The basement was just one large room with a concrete floor. On one side of the room there was a treadmill, a stretching area with padded floor mats, and a dumbbell rack with weights going all the way from 5 pounds to 100 pounds. On the other side of the room there was a large power rack and olympic weightlifting bar. Next to the power rack there was a weight tree with what had to have been close to 1,000 pounds of weight. “No wonder the previous owners didn’t want to move all this out of the basement,” Ashley thought. “Talk about heavy lifting!” She couldn’t even imagine using even a third of the stuff down there, and it was probably way more than Mike would ever use as well. 

“I guess we’ll be cancelling our gym memberships,” Ashley said as she shrugged and picked up a 5 pound dumbbell. “Now where can I set up my writing desk?” Ashley asked herself as the scanned the room. There was plenty of empty space on the other half of the basement, opposite the gym equipment, so Ashley walked over to check it out. “Let’s see… All I really need down here is my desk, comfy chair, maybe some carpet or a rug, definitely some decor on the bare walls.”

As she continued planning, Ashley noticed that she was casually pumping the dumbbell up and down in a bicep curl. She had never been big into weight lifting before, but something about this just felt right. It was putting her mind at ease and helping her think. “Maybe this really will be the perfect place for my writing studio,” Ashley said to herself. “I was kind of joking about being able to workout if I got writer’s block, but this really might help! I do feel a bit better, and besides, maybe I won’t be such a weakling anymore if I hit the weights every now and then.”

With her mood lifted, Ashley put away the dumbbell, turned off the basement light, and went upstairs to see how Mike and Brian were coming along with the rest of the moving.

[uno987]

get writers block..get writers block..get writers block...

[dreamer75]

get writers block..get writers block..get writers block...

I think you meant for Ashley to get writers block not kjm7997

[kjm7997]

Chapter Three – A New Routine

It didn’t take very long for Ashley and Mike to turn their new house into a home. The young couple had all of the boxes unpacked, the rooms organized, and most of their pictures and art on the wall in less than a week. Mike even had time to move some furniture down to the basement for Ashley to use in her writing studio. It was really helpful that Mike had taken a few days off of work so that they could get all their unpacking done, but the time passed quickly and before they knew it, it was Monday morning already and Mike had to return to the office and his usual 8 to 5.

Mike didn’t want to be late for his first day back at work after the move, so he was already dressed for work and halfway through breakfast when Ashley groggily came down the stairs into the kitchen, still dressed in her pajamas. “Why didn’t you wake me up, hon?” she said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “I was going to help you make breakfast ,” she added with a small pout.

“I’m sorry, Ash,” Mike said as he finished a bite of scrambled eggs and slid a plate her way. “I didn’t know for sure how much time the morning traffic would add to my commute, so I wanted to get an early start,” He explained. “Besides, you always look so pretty when you’re sleeping and I didn’t want to wake you up just yet,” he added with a wink.

“Oh, so I’m not pretty when I’m awake?” Ashley giggled and gave him a playful nudge. She poured herself a cup of coffee and joined her husband at the kitchen table.

“You’re always beautiful, my love,” Mike charmed, returning the nudge. “So what’s on your to-do list today, Sleeping Beauty?”

Ashley gave her husband another playful pout and took a sip of her coffee. “Well, Mr. Prince Charming, I have a few freelance articles I’d like to get done and then I’ll probably proofread a couple of manuscripts. I know it’s not a lot, but it does help pay the bills.”

“Sounds like… fun?” Mike said jokingly.

“Actually, yes,” Ashley replied matter-of-factly. “Especially since I don’t even have to change out of my comfy PJs to do it. You might be a smart engineer, babe, but I’m smart enough to have a career I do from home,” she added as she stuck out her tongue and they both laughed. Still smiling, Ashley looked down into her coffee mug and daydreamed for a second before looking back up into her husband’s deep blue eyes. “Someday my writing will pay off and you won’t have to worry about how long the morning commute will take.” She said with a whimsical smile. “Then you can spend all day at home in your PJs with your lovely wife!” she added with a wink and a giggle.

“Oh, well that does sound like fun,” Mike laughed. “But until that day comes,” he took one final sip of his coffee and stood up from the table, “I guess I’m stuck with the commute.” He bent down to give Ashley a goodbye kiss before heading toward the door. “See you after work!” he called over his shoulder.

Ashley sat at the kitchen table for a few more minutes finishing her coffee before she decided to head down to the basement and get a start on her workday as well. Her writing studio had actually turned out better than she had originally expected. Mike had to take everything apart so he could get it down there, but once everything was re-built and placed exactly where Ashley wanted it, “her” half of the basement was transformed into a comfortable little office space. She placed her laptop down on the desk, got settled into her comfy office chair, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath to clear her mind.

First on her list was a proofreading job that she’d picked up for a local publishing company. The reading was fairly interesting and well done, but Ashley was having a hard time really getting “into” the document. She tried again and again to focus, but as soon as she would finish a paragraph, her mind would start to drift… somewhere.

“Ok, this isn’t working,” Ashley finally said to herself, admitting defeat. She looked across the basement at the rack of dumbbells arranged on the opposite wall. “Maybe a little workout will help me focus,” she said as she stood from her desk and walked over to pick up the two 5-pounders. Ashley began performing a set of alternating bicep curls while she watched herself in the mirror.

After completing a set of 15 reps on each side, she put the dumbbells down on the floor and shook out her arms. After a brief rest, she was back at it with 15 more reps, and before long she had completed a full 4 sets. “Ya know, that didn’t feel half bad!” she smiled and nodded at her reflection in the mirror. “I’m pretty sure I can get back to work now that my head is settled.” A small bead of sweat dripped down the side of her eyebrow and landed on the floor. “But maybe I should change out of my PJs first!”

Ashley headed upstairs to the master bedroom and dug out a pair of yoga pants and a sports top. Lounging all day in her PJs had originally sounded nice to Ashley, but she felt so good after her short “workout break” that she figured she should be prepared to hit the weights again the next time she needed a little motivation boost. After all, she didn’t want to get her comfy pajamas all sweaty, besides the fact that she looked pretty strange doing bicep curls in her pink flannel bottoms and matching flannel top.

Upon returning to the basement, Ashley finished a section of proofreading in half the time that she normally would. “Not bad!” she said looking up at the clock hanging on the wall. “I guess my little workout break helped me focus enough so I could finish waaay faster than I normally would.” Ashley looked back at her laptop screen. “ I guess I could work ahead a little bit since I’ve got some extra time…” Then she looked over to the weight set across the room. “Or… I could do another quick workout since I’m already dressed in my workout clothes...”

Opting for the latter, Ashley walked back over to the dumbbell rack. “Let’s see,” she began as she stared at the line of weights against the basement wall. “I did biceps on the last round, so this round should be… triceps? I think that’s what I saw Mike do when we would go to the gym together” she said, a little unsure of which exercises would make up a good workout routine. “I think I can go a little heavier this time,” she said, grabbing a set of 10 pounders.
Ashley brought the weights over to the weight bench and set one down on each side. With her left knee on the bench, she started doing a set of 15 dumbbell kickbacks with her right arm before switching over to the other side so she could do 15 with her left. By the fourth set, Ashley was feeling the burn on the tenth rep, but gritted her teeth and powered through to complete the full 15.

“Whew, that’s quite a burn!” Ashley exclaimed, massaging her triceps. “I think that’s how it’s supposed to feel though... and I think I kinda like it.” she added. As she stood there in thought, rubbing her arms, it occurred to her that she should probably look for a beginner workout routine online since she didn’t really  know what constituted a “good” weightlifting workout. She just knew what felt good-- and she wanted more!

Ashley finished another quick section of proofreading work and then spent the next hour browsing several different fitness websites, blogs, and videos learning as much as she could about different novice programs before she settled on one she thought would be both simple and effective. The best part was that the lifts were organized in such a way that she could break them up into small, independent sections that followed similarly to the little “workout breaks” she had already started doing. Now she had guidance.

Ashley hit “print” on her laptop, grabbed the lifting program sheet off her printer, and bounced over to the workout area to hang it up. She took a step back to take it all in and looked over to the clock. “Looks like I’ve got time to squeeze in another set before lunch!” she said with a smile. And then Ashley got to work.

[sgsg69]

Another great chapter.........and down the rabbit hole she goes!!!

[kjm7997]

Chapter Four – The First Results

Ashley had been working diligently at her new lifting program, and she was feeling great! The first several days had left her pretty sore, but most of that was gone by week two. It was safe to say that lifting weights had become Ashley’s new favorite hobby. In her spare time when she wasn’t lifting or writing, she would read workout and fitness blogs. One of the blogs she started following was written by a supplement and sports performance research company based in their city called Maximum Potential. While she knew that the main reason for any company to keep a blog was as a marketing scheme to sell their products, Ashley also thought that the majority of the articles contained good, solid advice on a variety of topics from different workout programs to nutritional requirements. In fact, the lifting program she had been following was one she had found on the Maximum Potential blog.

Of course, one of the nutrition articles she read had recommended that she start including MP protein powder supplements in her post-workout routine in order to get the most out of her workouts and to speed up recovery. Despite the obvious marketing ploy, Ashley gave in and ended up purchasing a large tub of MP’s “Super Strawberry” flavor protein powder. According to the description in the article, it was specially formulated to significantly cut down recovery time and allow athletes to work out longer and more often while building lean muscle mass, which fit perfectly with her new schedule. Since she was doing a combination of both compound lifts and working individual muscle groups throughout the day in between her freelance writing jobs, having a protein shake a couple times per day post-workout allowed her to keep up the routing of hitting the weights daily without much problem with recovery. The effects had been obvious.

Ashley was slender and fit to begin with, but she never had much muscle. After about a month of weight training, Ashley was by no means huge, but her muscles had begun to take on a much firmer, larger, and more defined appearance than before. Individual muscle groups were starting to stand out and she could actually see a noticeable difference whenever she flexed.

Mike, on the other hand, had been pretty busy at work trying to catch up after the move, so he had been working fairly-long hours at the office, even on the weekends, so the newlyweds hadn’t been able to spend much time together besides quick morning breakfasts and late evening meals. Ashley had been keeping Mike updated about her new workout and diet regimens, but he had been too tired to pay too much attention besides a few robotic comments such as, “Hey that’s great, Ash!” and “I’m glad you’re so excited.”

 On the first Saturday morning that Mike finally felt caught up with work enough to stay home and sleep in, Ashley snuck out of bed a little early so she could squeeze a good workout in before surprising her husband with breakfast. She had been on her workout program for the last six weeks, and she never wanted to miss a workout. It was her routine now. She squeezed on her yoga pants, which were starting to become a little snug due to her slightly larger butt and thighs and looked in the mirror that was hanging on the closet door. She was definitely starting to see some noticeable results. Her quads looked fuller and more developed and her hamstrings were starting to become more pronounced. With the added muscle on her legs, Ashley’s old yoga pants seemed to almost stretch to the limit. Her butt was becoming round and muscular as well, which served as a contrast to her slender waist. Her waist was still the same circumference as before-- only firmer. Ashley smiled as her eyes moved up to look at her abs. Her once merely toned midsection had begun to sprout the beginnings of a six-pack, with the top two sets of ab muscles already clearly visible to form a “four-pack”. It was only a matter of time before the rest would show through.

Although her C-cup breasts had started to dwindle, they were being replaced by firm pecs that were adding some extra perkiness and lift so that she could go braless if she wanted to. In fact, Mike probably wouldn’t care at all if she just went topless, she thought with a smirk. But maybe another time, she concluded as she put on her sports bra and top, which were also starting to strain a little against Ashley’s widening back and shoulders. Ashley’s deltoids were starting to fill out and push against the sleeves of her top, making the already short sleeves just a tiny bit shorter, and her lemon-sized biceps were starting to look round and firm. She gave herself a quick double-bicep flex in the mirror and watched them pump up just a little more before quietly tiptoeing out of their bedroom and down to the gym. Mike was still snoring away.

In the six weeks since she started, Ashley’s workouts had also progressed significantly. She had started at a point of practically no weightlifting experience but was now performing several different compound and muscle group isolation lifts with excellent form. She always was good at paying attention to details, so picking up on proper lifting form and technique was right up her alley. After a quick stretch, she walked over to the power rack and set up the bar for one of her new favorite lifts: squats. She went though a couple warm-up sets and then loaded the bar with 125 lbs. She knew this wasn’t really all that heavy compared to a lot of people, but compared to herself from six weeks ago she had come a loooong way, adding about 50 lbs to her work sets. Ashley completed every rep with perfect form and just a slight strain on the last couple reps of her final set. She knew she could probably lift a little heavier weight, but that gave her something to look forward to-- next time she would lift more. Every time she lifted, she got just a little stronger.

The squats had given her legs a good pump, which stretched her leggings even tighter than before. Ashley took a look in the mirror. “These things are getting pretty tight!” she said with a smirk. “I guess I’ll have to do some shopping soon.” Ashley alternately flexed her quads and smiled as she watched her muscles swell and the fabric stretch and strain. She imagined what it would be like to watch her muscular legs burst right out of the fabric with one big flex… Snapping back to reality, Ashley knew she still had a long way to go before she could do that-- maybe someday, she resolved.

Her next lift was bench press. Ashley never really had much upper body strength, but she was slowly working on it. Similar to her progress on squats, Ashley’s current work sets of 95 lbs weren’t terribly impressive, but it was far better than what she could do a month and a half ago. Ashley felt the muscles in her chest tighten and pump up as she worked through each set. Once again, after she finished Ashley gave herself a quick check in the mirror. There was no doubt that her breasts had gotten a bit smaller, which Ashley wasn’t thrilled about, but her pumped up pecs had more than replaced the lost volume so that her breasts actually looked a little bigger. “At least my pec muscles are filling in where my boobs are going away, but I really hope they don’t get much smaller!” Ashley said as she attempted to flex her chest.

To her surprise, Ashley’s entire chest lifted as she tensed her muscles. Ashley gasped. “No way!!” she exclaimed as she flexed again and again and watched in disbelief as her chest lifted up down with each flex. With a little concentration, Ashley found that she was also able to slowly flex one pec at a time. “I’ll have to work on this a little more later,” Ashley giggled. “I’m sure Mike won’t mind a little lost boobage once he sees my new trick!” She flexed a couple times more for good measure before moving on to her next lift.

Ashley walked over to the rack of dumbbells against the wall and picked up a set of 25s. She smiled as she started a set of alternating bicep curls, remembering that had been using the 5 pounders when she first started out. Rather than put the dumbbells down on the floor after her set was complete, Ashley held them to her sides for a quick rest before hefting them up to her shoulders to begin a set of dumbbell shoulder press. She repeated the superset two more times before setting the dumbbells on the floor and coming back up for a double bicep flex. With a good arm and shoulder pump, Ashley’s shirt sleeves crept up just a little more to showcase the delts that were starting to form underneath. Her biceps also received a good pump and were starting to look round and full. “I’ll have to get a measuring tape on these babies sometime. I’m sure they’re at least 13 inches now,” Ashley said as she reached over to give her right bicep a good squeeze.

Looking at the clock, Ashley realized she needed to finish up if she wanted to get started on breakfast before Mike woke up. She went over to the pull-up bar in order to finish up with some hanging leg raises. Ashley had pretty good core strength before, but she felt like these were going to take her abs to the next level. She hopped up on the bar and performed 5 perfect straight leg raises before coming down for a rest. After a quick breather, she did a set of 5 alternating side hanging knee tucks to engage her obliques. At the end of her third set, Ashley’s entire core was burning with fatigue, but completely rock hard. She dropped down off the pull-up bar and lifted up her shirt to reveal that, in addition to some better lighting than the master bedroom closet, she had just enough of a pump in her midsection to show a full six-pack. “Boom!” she exclaimed as she gave her abs a light punch. “Six-pack is officially in the books! Now, to get these babies to really stand out.” Just then, her stomach growled, as if in agreement. “I guess it’s time to eat,” Ashley laughed as she grabbed her towel, did a quick wipe down, and went up the stairs to the kitchen.

Mike hadn’t come downstairs yet, so Ashley quietly mixed up a post-workout shake and started cooking breakfast. She had been dying to try out a new recipe for protein pancakes that she found on the MP blog, so she was excited that she and Mike finally had time for a good, big breakfast together. To go with the pancakes, Ashley cooked up some scrambled eggs and sausage links. She felt like she was absolutely starving after her workout, so she made plenty of each.

    Mike must have smelled the cooking, because he came downstairs right as the last pancake came off the griddle. “Good timing, babe!” Ashley smiled as she poured her husband a cup of coffee.

    “What’s all this?” Mike asked with a happy smile.

    “Duh, it’s breakfast!” Ashley laughed and handed him the coffee. “You’ve been working so hard lately, I thought I’d let you sleep in and surprise you with pancakes!”

    Mike took a sip of his coffee and smiled lovingly at Ashley, “I knew I keep you around for a reason,” he said with a wink. “Have I told you lately that I love you?” Mike set down his coffee and pulled his wife in for a passionate kiss. Ashley flipped off the stove with her free hand and wrapped her arms around her husband as they continued their long kiss.

    “No,” Ashley responded with a smile in between kisses, “but I think we can make up for the lost time.”

“Oh, I’m sure we can,” Mike chuckled as he reached down and gave her butt a playful squeeze. “Geez, Ash, you’re getting kinda buff!” he exclaimed as he gave her another long squeeze. Ashley gave him a quick booty flex flashed her eyebrows with a sly smile.

Mike took a step back and looked his wife up and down. While he did remember Ashley giving him updates on her new workout program over the past several weeks, he felt a little bad for not noticing until just now how much her daily workouts had been paying off. He always thought her body was super attractive before, but he had been curious from time to time what she would look like with some added muscle. Now he knew-- and he liked it! Now all he was thinking was what Ashley would look like if she kept this up, and an erection started to raise a tent in his pajamas.

Ashley did a cute turn to the left and then to the right with a couple added flexes in order to give her husband a full view of her hard-earned muscle. “Like what you see?” she asked seductively as she looked down at the tent in his pants and then back up to meet his eyes.

“Ahem,” Mike bashfully cleared his throat as he snapped back to reality. “I mean, yeah! I didn’t think you could get much sexier, but…,” he looked her up and down once again. “Wow, Ash, you look amazing!” he gushed.

“Well,” Ashley started as she reached up and playfully tapped a finger on his nose, “if I had known you liked me so much with a little muscle, I would have started lifting earlier. I know I’m pretty pumped about the new me,” she giggled and flexed her bicep. “You’d better get used to having a sexy, muscular wife!” she said as she pulled Mike toward her for another long kiss.

“I definitely can get use to it,” Mike said as he smiled down into her beautiful green eyes.

Ashley jumped up and wrapped her legs around Mike’s waist, a little tighter than she used to, and pulled him in for a kiss. “Good,” she said with a sly smile. Breakfast would have to wait until later.

[bertmacklinsbrother]

Great story!  I'm loving how her muscle addiction is slowly forming and it's great that Mike is on board immediately.  I'm also enjoying the development of her pecs!  Can't wait to read more!

[kjm7997]

Chapter Five – A BIG Surprise

    Ashley loved seeing her progress; knowing that Mike seemed to be on board with it as well made her love it even more. Given her increased motivation, Ashley’s new schedule consisted of an early-morning cardio session before having a small breakfast with Mike.  Then, after Mike left for work, she would hit some serious lifting before eating a second breakfast of protein pancakes, her new favorite. While her breakfast settled, Ashley worked on her freelance writing and editing jobs, typically getting the majority of her workload finished in one morning session. She would do a few isolation exercises to hit some specific muscle groups before it was time for a quick shower and then lunch. In the afternoon, Ashley would either finish up her freelance work, or take some time to relax or nap before it was time for another lifting session. Mike usually got home around 6pm, which left Ashley plenty of time for a long afternoon workout followed by a large protein shake that she would slowly drink while soaking in their large bathtub in the master bathroom.

One morning, a couple weeks after she had started her latest increased workout schedule, Ashley was down in the basement finishing up her morning cardio. As she dried herself off with a towel, she looked in the mirror and was stunned by the woman looking back at her. Every muscle group was hard and defined; her pumpkin-shaped delts, her split peak biceps, her cobblestone abs, her broad, teardrop-shaped quads, and her heart-shaped calves. Her body fat percentage looked to be in the low teens. or possibly even a little lower lower. Ashley flexed her abs and giggled as she watched a bead of sweat navigate the ridges of her six-pack, which was looking like it was getting pretty close to eight-pack territory. Looking up from her abs, Ashley decided to check out her pecs next. She absolutely loved the way the muscles in her chest danced with just the slightest effort. Ashley was now able to pump her pecs up and down in whatever rhythm she wanted.

As she watched her pecs dance up and down, Ashley noticed that her chest was now more pec muscles than boobs. In the back of her mind, Ashley had been kind of afraid this would happen, but knowing it was coming didn’t make it any easier for her. “I guess that’s just the cost of building so much muscle,” she sighed. She wasn’t the sort of girl who would ever go for implants, so, like it or not, the choice was either boobs or muscle.

Suddenly, she remembered something. Several weeks ago, while searching through the supplements on the Maximum Potential online store, Ashley had come across a new product mysteriously called “Project MP.” While she had dismissed it at the time, the supplement was supposed to be a game-changer in the female bodybuilding industry. Essentially, it was designed to cause any new body fat storage to be localized in the breast tissue instead of being distributed throughout the body. In theory, with this product a woman could start from a low body fat percentage, or essentially “show condition,” and then take Project MP during her normal bulking cycle. Any calories that were not used for building muscle would still be stored as fat, but only in the breast tissue. With a properly-calibrated weight lifting and diet program, only lean muscle mass would be added with some additional breast growth. This product was intended only for serious bodybuilder types, and there were so many disclaimers in the product description that Ashley had only read them all for fun: 

“Project MP is only recommend for use by women who already have achieved a low body fat percentage and are following a carefully-calibrated weight lifting and diet program in which the majority of calories consumed are dedicated toward building muscle. Unintentional, excessive breast growth may result given a high calorie surplus. Women with breast implants should not use Project MP. Due to changes in hormone levels, additional side effects may mimic body changes and hormone balances seen during puberty or late-term pregnancy. It is not recommended that men take Project MP”-- Ashley had laughed pretty hard at that one.

    Looking at herself in the mirror, Ashley starting thinking that, despite the long disclaimer, “Project MP” might actually be an option. Wanting to do some more more research, Ashley went over to her laptop and pulled up the Project MP page.  After a bit more reading Ashley found that the product was actually still in the experimental stages, but had been opened to the public on a temporary basis for “market group testing.” From what she read, laboratory trials had all been very successful, but the MP labs weren’t ready for a full release yet. Ashley would have to sign a waiver and agree to report any results after three months of taking the product.

Ashley closed her eyes to think. If the stuff actually worked, she could keep the low body fat percentage she had worked so hard for while actually adding more muscle. To top it off, she might even get her boobs back! The only real downside she could think of was what Mike would think if he knew she was taking a product that was so… experimental. “Well, I guess he’ll definitely like it if the stuff works,” Ashley said biting her lip. “It’s not like I’m taking steroids or anything… but maybe I’ll just keep this my little secret for awhile,” she concluded. Ashley clicked ‘Add to Cart,’ entered her information, and e-signed the waiver. 

The package arrived on the doorstep the next afternoon. “Well that was fast!” Ashley remarked as she placed the box on the kitchen counter and opened it up. Inside, she found a three-month supply of Project MP daily capsules and a booklet containing very specific instructions on how to properly calibrate her caloric intake and needs while taking the product. At the bottom of the box, she also found a full-size bottle of MP UltraPump pre-workout that had been included with her order for free. Not sure about what to do with the pre-workout, Ashley set that aside for the time being and turned back to the box of Project MP.  She carefully read through all the information multiple times before opening the bottle and taking the first capsule. “Here we go!” Ashley said as she swallowed. “Actually… here we GROW!” she giggled.

--------------------------

    Time went on and Mike and Ashley settled into their daily routines. Mike was busy again at work, but he still made sure he set aside plenty of time to spend with his wife. Ever since Ashley surprised him with breakfast, Mike had make a point to pay attention to her workout progress. Mostly, he loved seeing her so happy. There was an extra spark in her that he hadn’t seen for a while, and she seemed to be standing up a little taller as a result, as if the world itself wasn’t so heavy anymore; or maybe the workouts were correcting years of bad posture from sitting in front of her laptop, Mike wasn’t quite sure. But the thing Mike noticed most was how Ashley was continuing to add more muscle to her already knockout physique. He also noticed that her boobs were starting to look a tad bigger as well, which he thought seemed a bit odd, but wasn’t going to complain. All-in-all, he had never realized before now how sexy a woman with muscle could be, but now he couldn’t get enough!

Sometimes he caught himself daydreaming at work, imagining Ashley working out as her muscles pumped up and wishing he was there to watch. The thought had occurred to him that he might want to start a lifting program of his own before his wife’s muscles eclipse his own, but he didn’t really have time at the moment. Besides, she still had a long way before she outgrew him.

Two weeks passed after Ashley started taking the Project MP supplements, and she still hadn’t found a way to tell her husband about it. Mike was in the kitchen fixing breakfast when Ashley came up from the basement after her morning cardio. She quietly walked up behind her husband and leaned up slightly to give him a kiss on the nape of his neck.

“Good morning, my little workout bunny,” Mike said with a wink as he turned around and lightly kissed her on the nose. “New workout shoes?” he asked as he leaned to the side to check out her feet.

“No,” Ashley said puzzled. “Why?”

“You just look like you’re… taller,” he replied, still looking at her shoes.

“Hmmm…” Ashley said as she leaned from side to side so she could size up her husband. “Now that you mention it, I do usually have to stand on my toes to kiss you on the neck like that. Either I’m growing or you’re shrinking, babe” she laughed and stood up on her tiptoes so she could almost look him straight in the eye.

“Ha. Ha. Funny, Ash” Mike said as leaned forward and gave her a peck on the lips before she dropped back down to her normal height. “I’m definitely not shrinking,” he said, “but I think you’ve been looking taller lately. I originally thought you were standing up straighter, but I didn’t really see the difference until just now.”

“Well, it’s not the shoes, but maybe I am just standing straighter?” Ashley laughed as she stood up as straight as she could.

Mike sized her up again. “No,” he said. “Now you’re standing up straight… and I could tell the difference. I think you’ve added at least an inch over the last month, maybe two.”

“Ok, Mr. Crazy,” Ashley said, shaking her head. “I guess there’s only one way to find out!” she said and she walked over to their miscellaneous drawer and pulled out a pencil and tape measure before kicking off here shoes and standing up against the kitchen door frame.

Mike took the pencil and drew a line at the top of her head. Ashley stepped aside while Mike stretched the tape measure from the floor to the mark. “Alright, Mrs. Crazy,” he said with a slight grin when he realized he had been right. “Take a look.”

“5 foot 6 inches?” Ashley read as her husband stood beside and nodded. “I guess it looks like I have grown! By about two inches!”

“Yeah, odd as that sounds...” Mike responded. “At least I’m not crazy though! I knew you were starting to look taller to me lately.”

“No… you’re still crazy, hun,” Ashley joked as she gave her husband a playful shove.

The two sat down at the kitchen table to eat a quick breakfast before Mike had to leave for work. After Mike kissed her goodbye and walked out the door, Ashley walked back over to the door frame where the pencil mark still showed her new 5’6” height. A playful smirk spread across her face before he headed down to the basement for some heavy lifting.

Almost from the time he got to work, Mike spent more time daydreaming about his wife than usual. This time, however, his daydreams of Ashley’s growing muscles included her additional height growth as well. He wondered if she would keep getting taller, he wondered how tall she would eventually get if it continued, he wondered if she would ever be as tall as he was-- he wondered why he liked thinking about it so much. Just like the thought of Ashley’s growing muscles, there was no doubt that Mike was getting turned on by the thought of her continuing to grow taller as well. Mike figured it would probably creep Ashley out if he let her know about his new “fantasy,” so he decided to keep it to himself for the time being.

Back at home, Ashley decided to spend the majority of the day lifting. She had worked ahead on most of her writing projects and could afford to spend the day working out. Deciding that today was finally the day, she took out the package of MP UltraPump pre-workout powder. She added a scoop of the recommended dosage to a glass of water and then chugged it down. Almost immediately, she felt a rush of heat and energy flow through her as her entire body tingled. “Whoa!” she exclaimed, taking a small step back from the kitchen counter. “That’s some powerful stuff!” Hoping that the effects she felt were normal, Ashley headed down to the basement for a long lifting session.

With the help of the MP pre-workout, Ashley was able to power though her lifts like never before. She just felt like she had so much energy! With each rep, her muscles pumped up bigger and harder until she almost felt like her skin was going to burst. Ashley even started to see some vascularity due to the enormous pump. After she finished her first lifting session, Ashley stood in front of the mirror, her mind absolutely blown by her current size. “God, I wish I could look this big all the time,” Ashley said as she flexed.

She took a break for lunch, a protein shake, and to send a “teaser” text to her husband before going back down for another session. Of course, she also took a second scoop of pre-workout. She wanted to be as pumped as possible for when Mike came home.

Mike found it even harder, if not practically impossible, to concentrate on work after he got the text from Ashley early in the afternoon that simply said, ‘I’ve got a BIG surprise for you when you come home, hun ;-)’ “I wonder what that’s supposed to mean,” Mike asked himself as he imagined his wife growing even bigger. After a quick glance down at his pants, he decided it would probably be best if he didn’t stand up to leave his desk anytime soon.

Ashley’s afternoon workout was even more intense than her morning session, which pumped her muscles up even more until they almost ached with the added size. When she was finished, Ashley checked herself out in the mirror again. Although her muscles themselves hadn’t actually grown much bigger, they sure looked a lot bigger from the added blood flow. It seemed like she had added at least a half inch of muscle everywhere due to the pump, and every muscle was rock hard. “I could definitely get used to feeling and looking like this more often,” Ashley said with a smile, admiring the small bit of vascularity on her biceps.  She grabbed a protein shake that she had prepared earlier and looked over to the clock. “Oh! Time to get ready!” she exclaimed and then headed up the stairs.

Mike arrive home around 6pm as usual. The house seemed a little quiet. When he walked into the kitchen, he found a note from Ashley that said, ‘Come upstairs to the bedroom for your BIG surprise ;-)’ “Ooh, can’t wait to see what she’s got planned,” Mike said with excitement as he slipped off his shoes, dropped his work bag, and headed up to the master bedroom. He walked through the bedroom door to find the lights dimmed but Ashley was nowhere to be found.

Hiding behind the door, Ashley watched quietly as Mike entered the room. A wide smile spread across her face as she looked down at her husband, who was standing in the center of the room looking for her. “This is going to be perfect…” she thought to herself as she carefully snuck up behind him. It took all her willpower not to giggle as, for the first time in her life, she was actually looking down at Mike.

“Hey there, Shorty!” Ashley exclaimed causing Mike to quickly turn around and almost bump into his wife, who now stood about two inches taller than him. Ashley stood as straight as she could to make herself as tall as possible and put her hands on her hips to make herself look as wide she could as well. All of her muscles were still engorged from the pump, which made her look even more intimidating given her added height. Ashley was dressed in a sexy pair of lingerie that Mike had gotten for her last Christmas-- and her pumped-up muscles were stretching the lacey garments to the limit. She let out a small giggle as she looked down at Mike, who had an expression of surprise and utter disbelief. “Aren’t you a little cutie!” she said with a laugh.

“Oh… oh, my God, Ashley!” Mike sputtered, looking up at her.

“Don’t you mean, Goddess?” Ashley purred.

“You’re… you’re HUGE!” Mike exclaimed.

“Yeah, I’d say I had a pretty BIG day, don’t you think?” she said as she flexed her biceps and brought her right arm close to his face so he could see. “How about a kiss, little man?”

Without thinking, Mike started to slowly back away. Ashley giggled. “Where are you going, little husband? Don’t you like your big surprise?” Ashley glanced down to notice a large tent starting to form in her husband’s pants. “Something tells me you do!”

Mike’s head was swimming. He never had to look up at Ashley before, and it was a lot to take in. Even when she would wear her 6-inch heels, it always meant they were the same height before he would put on his shoes. He slowly leaned up and gave Ashley a kiss on her waiting lips as she continued to giggle and look down at him, a playful gleam in her green eyes. For a second, all Mike could do was stare back into her eyes in total disbelief of what he was seeing. It was slightly terrifying, yet strangely... sexy. Finally, he took a step back to get the full picture and sighed with relief as reality came back into focus.

“Your damn heels!” Mike said with relieved laughter as he realized that his wife hadn’t ‘magically’ grown taller than him over the course of one day.

Ashley doubled over with laughter as she reached down and slipped out of her favorite pair of 6-inch platform heels. “You. should. have. seen. your. face!” Ashley almost couldn’t speak she was laughing so hard. “OMG! Attack of the six-foot tall Ashley!!” She joked in between fits of laughter.

“Yeah… you got me,” Mike replied sheepishly as he recovered his wits.

Ashley let out a long, laughing sigh as she regained her ability to speak. “You’ve got to admit, that was pretty funny, right?” she said with a smirk. “At least it was funny for me anyway! And It was kinda fun being taller than you for a change.”

“Oh, I’ll get you back, don’t worry!” her husband said with a laugh. “So, what did you do to make your muscles look so much bigger?” he asked as he stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Actually... that part is real!” Ashley replied with a smile. “Well, sort of,” she added. “I’m just super pumped right now, so I look a lot bigger than I normally would.”

“Yeah, right. I don’t think I’ve seen a pump this big!” he gave her shoulder a squeeze, and his jaw dropped. Ashley’s muscles felt very real and very hard. In silent awe, Mike’s eyes drifted from his wife’s pumped shoulders to her biceps, noting that her arms looked to be less than an inch or so smaller than his; However, her’s looked harder, fuller, and more defined. Looking at her chest, Mike noticed that Ashley’s breasts were were being pushed forward by her powerful-looking pecs. Ashley giggled and flexed her pecs individually up and down in an alternating rhythm, causing her husband’s jaw to drop a second time.

“I’ve been working on that one,” Ashley said sexily.

“I can tell!” Mike said in amazement as his eyes continued down her chest to her abs. Ashley’s six-pack looked hard and defined even without flexing, but she exhaled and gave them a good flex for his benefit, causing her abs to bunch up even harder. “Looks like you’ve got be beat in the abs department for sure,” Mike said as he admired her tight washboard.

“Darn! Just abs? I guess I’ll have to work harder until beat you in every department,” Ashley smirked.

“Pfft, keep dreaming, love,” Mike chuckled.

“You mean keep lifting, right?” Ashley said, sticking out her tongue.

Ashley stuck out one of her legs and flexed, causing her quad muscles to dance and quickly harden into a slab of muscle. “Do my legs have you beat yet?”

Mike reached down to feel her rock hard leg muscles. “Getting there! Not yet though,” Mike said with a wink.

“Just wait until you see what they can do!” Ashley said playfully as she pulled her husband into a passionate kiss. She gracefully guided him backwards to the bed as she unzipped his jeans and then unbuttoned his shirt. After getting her husband fully undressed, Ashley stopped just long enough to mentally note the difference between their bodies. Yes, Mike was still definitely bigger, but she was really starting to catch up. It was only a matter of time before she closed the gap.

[JerusalemTulip]

This is terrific.  The last chapter probably didn't arrive as a "surprise" to us readers, but it was very satisfying to read.  I think you're doing everything well, especially for a first story.  Any interest in growing the writer aspect of Ashley some more in this story?  Perhaps her fiction starts concentrating on female muscle growth?  Its an opportunity to sound off and work your way through things through her.  I had something like that half-written and abandoned because the character to me ended up like a self-serving mouthpiece, but just you know, something to think about.

[kjm7997]

I'm glad many of you are enjoying the story! I'll try to get another chapter out in the *near* future, but it may be a little bit of a wait due to Christmas and New Year celebrations 

This is terrific.  The last chapter probably didn't arrive as a "surprise" to us readers, but it was very satisfying to read.  I think you're doing everything well, especially for a first story.  Any interest in growing the writer aspect of Ashley some more in this story?  Perhaps her fiction starts concentrating on female muscle growth? 

JT, Thanks for the feedback! In regards to your suggestion, stay tuned-- I think you might like how things continue to develop

[phil123]

Great chapter again.
And she will grow the 6 inch by MD and then use again the 6 inch heels to be really tall.

[bertmacklinsbrother]

I liked the entry.  The muscle growth plus height growth is great to me, especially when she has a husband to compare herself to.  I love watching that gap close and can't wait for her to surpass him, and of course, see how he reacts to it all.  While it may be developing into a fantasy of his, I'm sure it can't be easy admitting that your wife is bigger, taller, and stronger than you!

My only disappointment is the breast regrowth.  I was originally excited that your story seemed to focus on her developing pecs while her breasts shrunk, and the magic supplement took things in the other direction. 

But that's just my personal preference; the story is great and I'm excited to keep reading!

[kjm7997]

My only disappointment is the breast regrowth.  I was originally excited that your story seemed to focus on her developing pecs while her breasts shrunk, and the magic supplement took things in the other direction. 

But that's just my personal preference; the story is great and I'm excited to keep reading!

Based on your previous comment, I figured you wouldn't care much for the "Project MP" supplement, but I'm happy to hear you still like the story despite that detail!

[dreamer75]

Great story. Personally I don’t like the height growth but that’s just me.

I don't mind it if its just a few inches, but when they start growing 2 or 3 feet taller its gets a bit much