Rachel & Mike
Rachel (Age 25)
michael (Age 37)
bridgeport, connecticut
DATING / together 2 years
occupation: rachel - business development, michael - retail
DIVORCED BUT STILL MADLY IN LOVE
Rachel and Mike live in their own little world, obsessed with one another. The couple met in May of 2021 while swiping on dating apps. The first date started with dinner and ended at 6am in Rachel’s home listening to music and musing on life and growing up. No sex. Just music and conversation. From there they started seeing each other so much that Rachel’s landlord became upset with the frequency of visits and she was forced to move out.
Prior to Rachel, Michael was married once before but that relationship didn’t work out. Michael, at age 37, was nearly 600lbs when he met Rachel. He has since lost a substantial amount of weight. Michael was a late bloomer who struggled to launch in life. His dad was a doting dad who, according to Michael’s mom, spoiled Michael. Michael was always dependent on mom and especially dad because dad would do everything for Michael. However, after meeting Rachel, Mike felt he had met someone who loved and saw him for who he was and inspired him to be a better person. Rachel felt the wave of love in the same way. So much so that Rachel was the one to propose to him…six months into their relationship.
Their nuptials were not met with enthusiasm by friends and family. Rachel didn’t invite or tell her mother that she was getting married which caused animosity on her side of the family. Rachel’s mother lives next door to Rachel and the two have an enmeshed and tumultuous relationship. Rachel’s mother was a loving mother but volleyed between guilt-tripping and nurturing her children, creating insecurity in Rachel. So, when mom wasn’t invited to the wedding it created a painful rift in their relationship. Michael’s parents were not happy about the marriage. They thought that it was impulsive, not well thought out and too soon.
It didn’t help that married life was a struggle for Rachel and Michael. Michael struggled to get and keep a job and Rachel would get irritated with Michael. She could see him reverting back to the immature, failure to launch child, even though he was a grown man in his mid 30’s. Rachel and Michael would then argue quite a bit. Michael was and is very close with his father, so he would report back to mom and dad that Rachel was causing issues. They were unaware that Michael was just as guilty and were not getting the full picture. Therefore, mom and dad were the ones that told Michael that he had to divorce Rachel. Michael asked for a divorce (per his parent’s wishes) and Rachel was heartbroken. Despite Rachel fighting for their relationship, the divorce went through and they went on their separate ways.
Although they were divorced the couple was only actually separated for one month before they got back together. They couldn’t be apart, they missed each other so much that they got back together and are together to this day. They currently live together and are more in love now than when they were married. They are completely inseparable and in a much healthier and happier place. Michael has lost weight and has found full-time employment. According to the couple, many of the issues that plagued their marriage have been worked through: they have gotten to know one another, deepened their communication, and have stable work/life balance. The two couldn’t be happier and more in love!
Like iron sharpening iron, this couples believes that they have made each other better. Rachel helped to draw out the confidence and potential that was lacking in Michael and Michael has been able to make Rachel feel loved, nurtured and appreciated like no other man has been able to do in past relationships. Their bond today is next-level: the couple will kiss and look into each other’s eyes for long periods of time, oblivious to their surroundings.
Another strange way that they create a “safe space” is by speaking in baby voices. Whether at home or in public they talk to each other in soothing, saccharine and high-pitched voices that make outsiders cringe but each other smile. They kiss, call each other, “daddy” and “baby” and will even take the baby/adult dynamic to the next level by Michael being cuddled and coddled in Rachel’s bosom. They’ll wear onesie’s in front of each other, harkening back to the comfort and safety of children’s pajamas. Michael will even wear Rachel’s sweat pants on occasion. To them, the baby voice is about speaking to the inner child in one another, establishing that unconditional bond that parents create for their children.
Rachel and Michael are very much on a health kick. Michael was in the mid 500’s and is currently around 450lbs. Rachel has also lost quite a bit of weight. The couple goes to the gym and works out together, and they do their best to eat healthy food. Michael attributes most of his weight gain to his previous job as a long-haul truck driver. Now Michael and Rachel encourage each other to be the healthiest versions of themselves. They both feel and look better, and want to be healthy so that they can one day have children of their own.
For the first time in this plus size couple’s lives they are excited and unashamed about sex. They have sex without any clothing (Rachel used to have to wear a shirt hiding her tummy with other partners.) They are so comfortable with each other that they make their own sex tapes. They like to record themselves having sex and play it back, explaining that watching themselves turns them on. One time, Rachel even dressed like a lady bug on one of their sex tapes. They are SO completely comfortable and in love: They call her private area, “Front Bottom” and her back area “Back Bottom.” When they are on the toilet and the other is using the bathroom, they will crash their bellies into one another and exclaim, “AIR BAG!” They’ve even gone as far as to taste one another’s blood. They poked one another’s finger tips with a needle and made a love pact after being inspired by a similar moment in the move Practical Magic. Rachel is Jewish and Michael is Christian. He is even planning to convert to Judaism for Rachel. Love knows no bounds.
Both Michael and Rachel had tough upbringings and formidable life challenges. For Michael, it was being a late bloomer and all-around screw-up and for Rachel it was being bullied growing up and a toxic relationship with her mom. Now that that they have found safety and unconditional love in one another they refuse to give it up. Rachel still feels like Michael’s family doesn’t like her, and with her own mother’s health issues and on-again off-again support, their romantic future continues to face obstacles. Now, instead of running to dad when things get hard, Michael will turn to Rachel. It’s habit and pattern he is trying to change. Rachel has been doing her best to create a close relationship with Michael’s mother. She’s bought her gifts, calls her often and is trying extremely hard to be friends. To Michael’s mom, the gifts and calls are too much too soon, and she’s had to tell Rachel it’s too much. She thinks that Rachel is trying to overcompensate for the lack of maternal relationship she has with her own mother.
Despite criticism and judgement, Michael is obsessed with the idea of re-marrying Rachel. He is 100% in. They feel like their divorce was a temporary, accidental anomaly in what will be a long and happy love life. They want to get engaged again and have a real ceremony. Michael is absolutely ready and wants to do a big, surprise proposal for Rachel. He feels confident in his job and in his life and he’s ready to make it happen. Rachel on the other hand, as much as she loves Michael, has some doubts and concerns. Because of everything that happened the first time, there is an outstanding trust issue. Does Michael REALLY want to marry her? Will the same problems come up again? She loves him so much she doesn’t want to have her heart broken another time.
Potential Storylines:
Michael and Rachel getting re-engaged to each other and planning a wedding
Michael and Rachel’s mothers meeting for the first time over lunch
Rachel and Michael’s evolving relationship with Rachel’s toxic and jealous mother