(BBW = Big, Beautiful Woman)
This is a sequel to the story “The BBW Next Door: A Love Story”. Ryan is now married to his childhood sweetheart and next-door neighbor Raven, who was once a chubby girl and is now a BBW (big, beautiful woman). 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.
Part 5 includes the following chapters:
Chapter 19: Return to normalcy
Chapter 18: Bundle of joy
As Fat Raven’s due date approached, her ob/gyn started talking more and more about wanting to induce labor. With the weight Fat Raven had put on, he was concerned that the baby would also be quite a bit larger than average, which would make for a more difficult delivery. He still wasn’t able to get a clear ultrasound due to Fat Raven’s belly fat, so he couldn’t accurately estimate the baby’s weight or even determine its sex. Anyway, if she went past her due date, the baby would only continue to grow, increasing the chance of problems. Ultimately, he decided he would induce a week before her due date if she hadn’t already gone into labor, and he scheduled the delivery room and told Fat Raven when to arrive. Since it was a high-risk pregnancy, she wouldn’t be using one of the more low-key birthing rooms.
On the appointed day, Fat Raven had not shown any signs of going into labor naturally, so early in the morning she and Ryan headed for the hospital for her to be induced. She had to admit, it was a lot more convenient to schedule when she would give birth. Once the contractions began, it took quite a bit longer than last time since they hadn’t started naturally. It wasn’t until late afternoon that she gave birth to a healthy 9 pound, 9 ounce baby girl.
Raven was a sweaty, exhausted mess, but so filled with emotion and love for her new baby daughter, she couldn’t stop crying as they let her hold her. “She’s so beautiful, Ryan!” she said. “She’s so perfect! I can’t believe how much I love her already! My beautiful baby bird!” Ryan was pretty emotional as well. “She is, Raven, she is!” he said in complete agreement. “But you know what? We never settled on a middle name for baby Robin.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” replied Raven. “I just hadn’t had a chance to discuss it with you. I know what I want her middle name to be: Branwen. It’s a Welsh name that means ‘white raven’. Is that okay with you?” “I love it!” said Ryan. “It’s beautiful, and I love the meaning. Robin Branwen Andersen it is!”
“Did you hear that?” Raven said to her newborn daughter. “Your name is Robin Branwen Andersen, and you are so incredibly loved!”
A couple of days later, Ryan was bursting with pride as he brought mother and baby home from the hospital. It wasn’t just Ryan and Fat Raven any more. They were now responsible for this tiny, helpless human being. They were a real family.
Fat Raven’s mother Rachel was waiting for them at their apartment. Even though they only lived across town from each other, Rachel was going to stay with them around the clock for at least a few days to make sure they know how to care for a newborn. She had done the same after her older daughter had had her babies. Ryan went back to work the next day. As much as he wanted to be with his baby daughter, there was no point in using his paternal leave when he’d just be in the way anyway.
Fat Raven, employed by a small business, was not legally entitled to any maternity leave, paid or unpaid. However, she was far being from the first employee to have a baby at her place of work, which was entirely staffed by women. Suzanne, the business owner, had a longstanding policy of giving four weeks of paid maternity leave to employees with at least a year’s tenure, and additional unpaid time off on a case-by-case basis. Fat Raven also had two weeks of paid vacation coming to her, so she planned to take at least six weeks off.
Ryan’s company offered six weeks of paid paternity leave, and he also had three weeks of vacation and up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave if he needed. The plan was for Ryan to take his paternity leave once Fat Raven went back to work.
Fat Raven loved little Robin more than she thought was humanly possible for one person to love another. On the few occasions where she left Robin in someone else’s care while she went out, she was very anxious the entire time, even though she completely trusted whoever that person was – her mother, Ryan; it didn’t matter. She didn’t like Robin being out of her sight, and she especially didn’t like being out of earshot.
As her six weeks of maternity leave and vacation were coming to an end, Fat Raven was becoming more and more apprehensive about returning to work. Ryan would be starting his paternity leave and taking over for her. She knew in her head that Ryan was just as capable of caring for baby Robin as she was, and that he loved her as much as she did. But in her heart she felt extremely guilty for abandoning her helpless baby and had this sense of dread that something terrible would happen to baby Robin if she weren’t there to protect her, especially if she were away from her the entire day.
One evening during the week before she was supposed to return to work, Fat Raven said to her husband, “Ryan, I don’t think I’m going to be able to do it – leave Baby Bird with you and go back to work. I just can’t bear even the thought of being apart from her. I feel this incredible, crushing guilt for even thinking of going back to work, and this overwhelming sense of dread that something terrible will happen to her if I do. Please don’t take it personally! I’m not saying you’re not up to the task of caring for her without me – I know in my head that you are – but I just can’t shake these feelings.”
Ryan replied, “If those feelings are as strong as you say, I don’t think you can just ignore them and hope they’ll go away. But I don’t think quitting your job is the answer, either. If you had evaluated all of the options and decided that staying home was the best choice, I’d be all for it. But you didn’t – you decided to go back to work. I mean no offense, but you’re not thinking rationally now, and I don’t think it’s the time to make or change important decisions. Even if you did stay home, sooner or later you’d have to cope with being apart from her, and you’d be in the same boat you’re in now.
“I think it’s best to acknowledge what you’re feeling is real and debilitating and deal with it now. I think you probably need to talk to a therapist, and the sooner the better. Why don’t you call Tessa – she’s a therapist, right? – and see if she can help you? You should also probably call Suzanne and give her a heads up. Don’t tell her you’re quitting; tell her you’re dealing with some strong feelings of anxiety and you might need more time off, or you might need to gradually ease into working full-time again. If you’ve already called Tessa first, you can say that you’re working on the issue, which will reassure her you’re not going to leave her high and dry.”
“I think maybe you’re right, Ryan. I probably do need therapy do deal with this. I know that new mothers leave their babies and go back to work all the time. My head knows I shouldn’t feel this anxious about doing it, so even I realize this isn’t normal. I’ll text Tessa right now.”
Fat Raven texted Tessa and told her she was very anxious about going back to work and asked if she could call. Tessa said she could, and so the two of them discussed her issues. Tessa told her, “You do have the symptoms of maternal separation anxiety, and I think you would definitely benefit from therapy. I don’t think I’m the best person to help you, though. First, it’s outside of my area of expertise. Second, we’re friends and it’s never a good idea to mix friendship and therapy; your therapist should be someone impartial. Third, I’m still on maternity leave myself. But here’s what I can do. There’s another therapist in my practice who’s more of a generalist and has handled similar cases in the past. We’re good friends, and I can ask her to work you in as a personal favor. Her name is Amanda Davis. Would it be okay if I give her your name and number and give her a synopsis of what’s troubling you? I’m sure she’ll be in touch with you very soon to schedule a session with you.”
“Yes, that’s fine,” replied Fat Raven. “I understand, and I appreciate you helping me. I’ll look forward to Amanda’s call.”
To Fat Raven’s surprise, Amanda called her a half hour later. They talked briefly, going over what Fat Raven had already discussed with Tessa. Amanda was fully booked for weeks, as she and the other therapists in the practice were all covering for Tessa while she was out. However, she was willing to meet with Fat Raven in the evening as a favor to Tessa. They discussed their options and agreed to meet via video conference the following evening.
The next evening, Fat Raven spent nearly an hour talking to Amanda. Fat Raven could tell that it helped talking it out with a therapist. Amanda had a theory that Fat Raven was so anxious about being away from Robin because she had given her son from her teenaged pregnancy up for adoption. Amanda told Fat Raven, “We’re not going to be able to fix this in an hour, or even in several hours. But you’re supposed to be back at your job full-time in just a few days. Let’s talk about your options. Tell me what those are.”
Fat Raven replied, “Well, I could just quit, but I’d feel terrible about doing that to Suzanne after she gave me all this time off with pay. Besides, Ryan doesn’t think I should do that, not because he’s insisting that I work, but because I had already decided that the best plan was to go back to work.
“Suzanne did tell me I could ask for more time off without pay if I thought I needed it. But again, I don’t want to leave her in a bind, and I don’t know how much time she’d be willing to give me or whether it would be enough.
“I could just go to work on Monday and try to tough it out for eight hours, but I honestly don’t think I’ll be up for it. I’ll probably just be a blubbering mess and not be able to get a thing done. I’m supposed to be the manager, and my girls will probably never take me seriously again if I go in there and do that.”
Fat Raven didn’t have any other ideas, so she stopped and waited for Amanda to respond.
Amanda suggested another option. “What if you asked if you can work part-time at first, and ease into increasing your hours up to full-time? Maybe not starting Monday morning, but when you think you’re up to it. A lot of people who’ve had to take an extended time off to recover from surgery or other physical problems do that. If you know you don’t have to stay for eight hours, maybe you can hold it together for at least a while. Even if you can only work an hour or two the first day, it’ll be a victory. And if you can do it again the next day, or maybe even a little bit longer, it’ll be another victory. Don’t think that anything less that working full-time with no issues is a failure. That’s not a healthy way to think.”
“That’s a good idea. I’m going to ask Suzanne about doing that,” Fat Raven replied. “Great,” said Amanda. “So let’s talk about how frequently you and I will meet. I want to see you again before you go back to work, and I want to see you in the evening on the day you do go back to work, whether that’s Monday or some other day. Probably at first we should meet at least twice a week, maybe three times, regardless of whether you go back on Monday or not. Will that work for you, Raven?”
“Yes, I want to get well as quickly as possible. I really appreciate you sacrificing your personal time for me, Amanda. You don’t know how much it means to me.” They worked out the day and time for their next appointment and said good-bye.
Fat Raven talked to Suzanne the next day and floated Amanda’s suggestion. Suzanne was willing to let Fat Raven ease back into her job. Out of gratitude and determination, Fat Raven decided that she would try to go in on Monday morning and work for as long as she could, and she told Suzanne that.
Chapter 19: Return to normalcy
After they had put baby Robin down for the night, Ryan asked, “You know what I think would do you good? A good old-fashioned stuffing session, like we used to do. It might take your mind off your troubles for a while.” Fat Raven recalled that towards the end of her pregnancy, she was very much looking forward to doing that again. Life had been so hectic since baby Robin’s arrival, she’d barely given it a thought since. It would probably be good to do something for herself, not to mention Ryan, whom she realized she’d completely taken for granted. They hadn’t been intimate since Robin was born, even though it was now safe to do so.
“I think that’s a great idea,” said Fat Raven in reply. “I could probably use a distraction. Let’s plan on it tomorrow evening.” “Why don’t we plan on it this evening?” Ryan asked. “I bought all the stuff to make you a milkshake,” he said with a devious smile. “Ohhh-kayyy,” Fat Raven said tentatively. “I’ll need a few minutes to change gears and be ready mentally.” “Take your time,” said Ryan. “Why don’t you go and find something more suitable to wear for the occasion. I’ll start making the milkshake.
Fat Raven went back to their bedroom. Baby Robin was sleeping in bassinet in their room, so she had to leave the light off and be quiet. Hmmm, she thought. They might need to reconsider the sleeping arrangements going forward. She wasn’t sure if she could still fit into any of her lingerie, but that’s not what she wanted anyway. In the closet, she found her leather restraint harness, blindfold, and yoke to restrain her hands. Also, her ball gag and a few other restraints. She knew she’d need the ball gag so as not to wake the baby. As she found these things and put on what she could without help, she felt herself getting into the mood. She couldn’t find the funnel gag; she hoped Ryan already had it.
Ryan did have the funnel gag. When she came back to the kitchen he held it up and smiled. Great minds think alike, Fat Raven thought to herself. She sat in a chair, attached straps to the binds around her lower thighs and the body harness so she couldn’t stand, put on the blindfold, and waited expectantly for Ryan to secure the yoke around her neck and wrists, which he did. Then, to warm her up, he started caressing her and telling her how fat and beautiful she was, and how much more beautiful she’d be once he fattened her up with milkshake. It was a little awkward avoiding her breasts; he knew she didn’t want to start spraying milk all over the place. He then strapped the funnel gag onto her face, and poured some of the milkshake into the funnel. Ryan then resumed caressing her, telling her how beautiful and fat she was and would be, and encouraged her to drink it all down. As the funnel got close to being empty, he filled it back up so that she never ran out.
Fat Raven didn’t realize it at the time, but she wasn’t even thinking about baby Robin at all. She was entirely focused on enjoying the milkshake, swallowing it down, and the attention Ryan was giving her. She could feel her stomach filling up, which was a turn-on. She thought about what he had said. At her follow-up appointment with the ob/gyn, she weighed 378 pounds, 30 more than her pre-pregnancy weight. But he said she was beautiful that way, and he imagined her being even heavier and even more beautiful. Even though she had intended to lose weight and get back down to 350, it occurred to her that it would be a lot more fun to gain until she reached 400. She realized that, though it could be inconvenient at times, she loved being fat and gaining weight for Ryan. She started getting even more aroused, and swallowed down the milkshake even more vigorously. She hoped he had made enough.
When she finally couldn’t swallow another drop, she gave the signal, and Ryan removed the funnel gag and the blindfold. She told him, “That was great, Ryan. I’ve missed doing that. You’ve got me completely stuffed and really horny now. But we’re going to have to be very quiet so we don’t wake Baby Bird. Put the ball gag on me. Oh, and please fondle my boobs. They’re craving attention; I mean attention from you. I don’t care if they leak.”
Ryan ignored her boobs for the moment and went to get things ready in the bedroom. He laid a few towels down on the bed to absorb the milk that was sure to leak from her boobs. He then arranged pillows in two stacks near the head of the bed, one on either side. He then returned to the kitchen for his fat wife. He unhooked the straps holding her thighs at a 90 degree angle to her body so she could stand and walk. He then helped her get up from the chair and guided her to the bed. He then had her get on the bed in a kneeling position facing the head of the bed, and helped her lean forward until the yoke was resting on the two stacks of pillows. Now her boobs were over the towels, so he put the ball gag in and secured it, and began fondling her massive milkers, but he wasn’t done getting her bound the way he wanted her. Next he reattached the straps between her thighs and harness so she couldn’t rise back to a kneeling position, and attached a spreader bar between her thighs to keep them spread wide. Finally, he lubed up her asshole and inserted a butt plug.
Ryan now had Fat Raven completely restrained into a doggy style position just as he wanted. He could now devote his full attention to getting her warmed back up. First he lay on top of her and reached under and fondled her breasts like she had asked. He always enjoyed jiggling her huge funbags, too, and they were much bigger than ever now. He then changed positions so he could keep fondling them with one hand while he pleasured her snatch with the other. He could faintly hear her moaning through the ball gag and she began wiggling her ass. After a short time, he was able to bring her to a rather lengthy and intense orgasm. After she cooled down some, he resumed, but more intensely this time, finding all the right spots. Just as she was on the verge again, he got on his knees behind her, spread her ass cheeks wide, inserted his member into her eager pussy, and began drilling her as he held her hips tight. While she again began exploding in ecstasy he released his load, but stayed in her as she continued to wiggle her ass and orgasm.
Once she came down from that second orgasm, he pulled out, and he removed the ball gag. He said to her, “I love stuffing your fat, jiggly belly and then pounding your fat, jiggly ass!” She replied, “And my fat jiggly belly loves being stuffed, and my fat jiggly ass loves getting pounded, especially when I’m powerless to resist! We make a great team, don’t we? I’m sorry you had to wait so long. I didn’t realize how much I missed this, too!”
The stuffing-and-sex session was very therapeutic, Fat Raven realized later. She had hardly even thought of baby Robin while she was busy with that. If she could put her out of her mind during sex, maybe she could also put her out of her mind when she was at work and she knew the baby was in good hands.
Fat Raven reported this development to Amanda during their next session. Amanda agreed that it was a good sign, and encouraged her to find other ways to distract herself from obsessing about Robin when she knew she was safe and being cared for. Fat Raven began to let Ryan care for the baby without her hovering to make sure he was doing everything right. It was hard for her to do that, but she realized that she needed to get used to trusting him if she were going to be able to work while he was home with her.
Monday morning, Fat Raven got ready to go back to work for the first time since Robin was born. She wasn’t quite as anxious as she thought she’d be, but was still quite anxious about leaving Robin. Ryan repeatedly assured her that he was up for the task and had everything under control. He encouraged her to check in with him if her anxiety was getting the better of her, and he’d reassure her that everything was fine. Fat Raven forced herself to get in the car and drive to the lingerie store. She sat in the parking lot and had a good cry before collecting her wits and putting on a brave face and going in.
Of course, everyone was very glad to see Fat Raven back at work, and they all welcomed her back, congratulated her, and wanted to see pics of baby Robin. Ironically, all of the attention, including her showing pics of baby Robin and telling everyone about her, distracted Fat Raven from being anxious and worrying.
But after about a half an hour, the fun and games were over and everyone got to work. Fat Raven met with her boss Suzanne, who brought her up to speed on the highlights of the previous six weeks, what was going on presently, and what she wanted her to start working on. Interacting with Suzanne one-on-one also kept Fat Raven distracted for the half hour that they talked. But once she sat down at her desk and started trying to actually work, her mind immediately turned to her precious Baby Bird, and her anxiety started getting the better of her.
Fat Raven knew she was being irrational; she hadn’t been away from home for 90 minutes yet, and Ryan would certainly let her know if anything were wrong. No news was good news. But her anxiety didn’t care about any of that. Fat Raven texted Ryan. Everything ok there?, she wrote. Everything’s fine, Ryan replied. Can u c Robin? R u sure she’s breathing?, Fat Raven asked. From this, Ryan got a glimpse of the depths of Raven’s anxiety. It had to be pretty bad. I’m holding her now, he wrote back. She’s breathing and smiling and happy. Try 2 relax.
Fat Raven took a deep breath. Ok thx, she texted back. You see?, she said to herself. You’re just being paranoid. Now stop it and focus! She halfheartedly tried to actually do what Suzanne had assigned her, but she couldn’t concentrate. Still, she forced herself to continue with the task, all the while repeating to herself what Ryan had written. She’s breathing and smiling and happy; try to relax.
That worked for about a half an hour. Then she couldn’t stand it anymore. She Facetimed Ryan. “What’s up, Fat Raven? We’re doing fine here,” he said. Fat Raven just said tersely, “Where is she? I need to see her.” “She’s right here,” said Ryan as he turned the phone toward her. Baby Robin was lying on her changing table, looking all around and seemingly content. “I just got done changing her wet diaper. She hasn’t cried once since you left. I’m about to put her down for her morning nap.”
“You remember how to do it, right? Do you need me to come home? I can be there in just a few minutes,” Fat Raven asked, one question after another without pausing for answers. “I know what to do. Put her on her back and make sure there’s nothing else in the crib. I have the baby monitor on. I’ll visually check on her every few minutes. We’re both fine. We don’t need you to come home. Now try to get some work done, Blackbird,” said Ryan. “Okay, thanks. I’ll try. ‘Bye,” she said.
Having seen for herself that baby Robin was fine, Fat Raven returned to her computer and was able to focus and be productive for a good hour. Then the anxiety returned. She texted Ryan. Is Robin ok? Ryan replied, She’s fine. She’s been napping almost since we talked last. That wasn’t good enough for paranoid Raven. I need u 2 make sure she’s breathing. Go make sure while I wait. Ryan sighed. I sure hope she can get past this anxiety soon, he thought to himself. He got up from the sofa and looked in on baby Robin. I can see her chest moving up and down. She’s fine, he wrote.
This went on for the rest of the day, except during lunch hour. Fat Raven decided she needed to go home on her lunch break and check on baby Robin herself. But to her credit, she did go back to work and put in a full day, excluding the frequent interruptions to check in with Ryan. She wasn’t terribly productive, but still. Amanda had said, Even if you can only work an hour or two the first day, it’ll be a victory. She managed to work the whole day. Yay, Fat Raven, she thought to herself.
Ryan and Amanda were both very proud of her for having made it through the day. Fat Raven got up and did it again the next day, and it was a little easier. The following day was a little easier still, and so was the one after that. She was still very anxious, but she was learning to be the master of her anxiety rather than vice-versa.
Once Ryan exhausted his paternity leave and vacation, things got real. It was time to start leaving baby Robin in the care of strangers. Monday she’d be staying with Fat Raven’s friend Tessa, who also had a baby of her own. That wasn’t too bad, because Fat Raven had brought Robin with her and visited Tessa a few times, and Tessa had brought her baby and visited Fat Raven as well. Baby Robin knew Tessa, and Fat Raven completely trusted her. But Tuesday, baby Robin would start at day care and really be with strangers. Fat Raven was again very anxious about this.
But Ryan went into work late that day so he could go with Fat Raven to drop off baby Robin, both to give her moral support, but also to make sure she actually left her there and went to work. He had a feeling Fat Raven might chicken out, either insisting on staying at the day care center, or taking Robin back home with her. When they dropped Robin off, she was fine until she sensed that her parents were leaving, and then she began to cry. The day care staff assured them that she’d be fine; almost all new babies cried for a short while as their parents left, but were then fine after that. Fat Raven started crying, too, and Ryan had to physically pull and push Raven out the door, which wasn’t easy considering she was more than twice his weight.
He took her back home to get her own car. She cried the entire way home. “I’m going to follow you to work to make sure you don’t go back and get Robin. I want you to promise me you won’t do that after I leave. You are not to go back to the day care unless they call you and tell you to come, but I highly doubt that will happen.” Fat Raven said nothing. “Promise me,” Ryan insisted. She shot daggers at him with her eyes, but still remained silent. “Promise me,” he said again. She looked down and mumbled something. “What was that? I didn’t hear you,” said Ryan. “I said I promise,” said Fat Raven very softly and reluctantly. “You don’t need to follow me. I won’t go back,” she said with great sadness in her voice. “Okay. I’m trusting you, though,” Ryan said in reply.
Fat Raven drove to the store and sat in her car and cried, just like she had on the first day she left Robin at home with Ryan. Once she composed herself, she went straight to her desk without greeting anyone and pretended to work. Suzanne noticed, and went over to her. “Rough morning?” she asked. “Yeah,” said Fat Raven without looking up. “First time leaving Robin at day care.” “That’s hard for every mother doing that for the first time,” Suzanne said, “myself included. But she’ll be fine, and it’ll get easier for you, too.”
“I don’t want Robin to be fine there. I want her to miss me terribly, just like I miss her, and I don’t want it to get any easier,” Fat Raven said with tears in her eyes.
Suzanne sat down and put her hand on Fat Raven’s arm. “You don’t really mean that. That’s just your anxiety talking. Robin isn’t going to love you any less if she adjusts to being in day care. You want her to be happy no matter where she is. And you won’t love her any less if you get used to her being there, either. You’ll see. Besides, it’s just one day. Tomorrow is your day off and you’ll be home with her all day. Now, if you want to go take a lap around the parking lot and get some air, go ahead. But then I want you to be strong, tell yourself you can do this, put a brave face on, and come back in here and start your morning over. I’m giving you a do-over. Okay?”
Fat Raven smiled through her tears and said, “Okay. Thanks, Suzanne.” Then she did what Suzanne had suggested, and somehow managed to get through the rest of the day. Fat Raven and Ryan had worked it out that she would take Robin to day care and he would bring her home. Ryan told her that evening that Robin was perfectly content when he arrived, which made Fat Raven both happy and sad. But, on Thursday morning, when Fat Raven took Robin back to day care, it was a little bit easier. And it kept getting easier each time.
Epilogue: Happily ever after
Ryan and Fat Raven did get that house a few years later, a one-story ranch-style house where Fat Raven wouldn’t have steps to climb. Six months after that, when little Robin was four years old, Ryan and Fat Raven had a son, whom they named Ronan Corbin. Surprise, surprise; Corbin also means ‘raven’. Three years after that, they had a second daughter named Raelyn Ava. Ava means ‘bird’ or ‘birdlike’.
Fat Raven never did lose that weight after Robin was born. She didn’t actively try to gain; nevertheless, she crept up to about 400 pounds, but that’s where she drew the line. Ronan and Raelyn were both planned, so knowing her propensity to gain weight during her pregnancies, she starved herself and temporarily lost weight ahead of becoming pregnant and ended back at about 400 after she lost her baby weight.
Once Robin learned how to climb out of her crib, Ryan and Fat Raven had to be much more careful about their stuffing and bondage sessions. They absolutely did not want their children walking in on them when Fat Raven was in bondage restraints, nor did they want to have to take the time to get her out the restraints should one of them suddenly need her if they had a nightmare or got sick. So they had to settle for non-bondage feeding and very limited bondage during sex that they could quickly get Raven out of. Otherwise, they reserved the kinky stuff for the rare occasions where the kids all spent the night elsewhere or when Ryan and Fat Raven traveled without them.
They became close friends with their classmates Lucas and Emma, whom they had introduced to each other after their mutual 5 year high school class reunion, and to whom they had also introduced their feeder/feedee lifestyle. Lucas and Emma, now married, had also become feeder and feedee, and, like Fat Raven, Emma had gained a substantial amount of weight. Though the four of them weren’t close in high school, they now had much in common, including children of similar ages.
Fat Raven continued creating her video blogs aimed towards helping other fat girls and fat women live their best lives. As her friend Tori continued in therapy and gained self-esteem and self-confidence, she eventually worked up the nerve to be a guest on several episodes. She was able to bring the perspective of being an obese child who was tormented by her peers that Raven didn’t have. Tori’s newfound self-confidence also helped her become more appealing to men who liked fat women, and she began dating and eventually got into a long-term relationship with a fat admirer.
After receiving quite a few requests from her vlog viewers, Fat Raven began doing one-on-one life coaching and fashion consulting services for fat women, and once she started promoting that in her videos, and with Tori’s enthusiastic endorsement, she had more work that she could handle and had to limit the number of clients she had at once. She was torn about whether to either quit or work less at the lingerie store in order to do more coaching and consulting.
Suzanne was starting to hint about selling the business and retiring, apparently hoping that Fat Raven would buy it. She and Ryan were probably in a position where they could, but the question was whether she wanted to. She had a lot of ideas about how she could grow the business, but she knew she couldn’t do that without at least one trusted, capable, dedicated business partner or employee who could help her do it. Ironically, there wasn’t enough Fat Raven to go around for her to do everything she wanted.
However, Ryan’s youngest sister, Lauren, was a fashion merchandising major at the state university. Fat Raven arranged with Suzanne to have Lauren work as a paid summer intern shadowing the two of them and eventually learning and taking on some of their responsibilities. Lauren interned there for two summers. During Lauren’s senior year, Fat Raven had some serious conversations with both her and Suzanne about the future of the business and what role there might be for Lauren there. Fat Raven thought that Lauren was a great candidate to take over her own job as operations manager. Fat Raven had been doing that job for over a decade now, and was ready for a new challenge. If Suzanne was serious about selling the business, maybe Fat Raven would buy it and assume Suzanne’s role. Otherwise, maybe she’d quit and do the coaching/consulting thing full-time.
So the ball was in Suzanne’s court, but she was conflicted about what she wanted to do. In the end, she decided it wasn’t time for her to retire yet. She was 60 years old, but her own mother had run the business until she was 75. So Fat Raven paved the way for Lauren to replace her, and Suzanne was agreeable to having an overlap period where Fat Raven would train Lauren before she left. Lauren was a quick study, and both Suzanne and Fat Raven felt confident that Lauren would do a great job.
Fat Raven then ramped up her life coaching and fashion consulting gig, which she had already found to be very fulfilling. She truly liked helping people. Between doing that and the revenue stream from the ads on her video blogs, she made pretty good money. More importantly, it gave her the flexibility she had long wanted to do mom things, like take her kids to soccer practice. Ryan had always gone to work early and come home early to do that kind of thing.
Fat Raven and Ryan remained deeply in love and deeply committed to each other and their kids. They both thought their lives were just about perfect, and they both felt extremely fortunate and blessed. And they lived happily ever after.
THE END