The Young And The Restless Relationship Timeline: Mariah And Tessa

Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes) had already been living in Genoa City for several years on "The Young and the Restless" when Tessa Porter (Cait Fairbanks) showed up in her car with a guitar in 2017. Naturally, this arrival changed both of their lives for good. Both women had been involved with men during their romantic lives, but none of their relationships ever worked out. Within a year, their friendship blossomed into something more (via Soaps in Depth), and fans fell in love with the same-sex pairing of Mariah and Tessa, known in social media circles as Teriah. 

Noq, Teriah is getting something all star-crossed soap couples who have struggled to be together deserve. As of this writing, their wedding is scheduled for May 13, 2022, and it promises to be a grand but wholly unique affair just like the brides (via Soaps). With their marriage coming up, let's take a look back at how Mariah and Tessa got where they are today.

With that guitar in hand, Tessa Porter sat down outside the trendiest coffee shop in town, Crimson Lights, and started playing. That's when Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) spotted her and hired her to give guitar lessons to her teenage grandson, Reed Hellstrom (Tristan Lake Leabu). When Nikki discovered Tessa had been living out of her car for years, she then gave her a much better job as her personal assistant, and Tessa started to put down roots in Genoa City (via Soaps in Depth).

She also met Mariah Copeland at the club called The Underground when she started working there and the pair became great friends (via Soaps). Eventually, Tessa dated Mariah's brother, Noah Newman (then played by Robert Adamson), and Mariah dated Devon Hamilton (Bryton James), while they all worked for his record company. That's where Mariah and Tessa grew closer and started having feelings for one another, much to both of their surprise.

Mariah Copeland is the one who started realizing she had feelings for Tessa Porter before Tessa could admit she felt the same, as both women had always thought of themselves as heterosexual before. Mariah confessed her feelings to her mother, Sharon Collins (Sharon Case), and Sharon encouraged Mariah to pursue them. So, on a business trip with Devon Hamilton and Noah Newman, Tessa and Mariah shared their first kiss, but Tessa was quickly scared off (via Soaps).

Eventually, Tessa started coming around, and she and Mariah grew closer. However, they had a falling out when Mariah found that Tessa had been reading her journal to become inspired to write song lyrics. Mariah's emotions felt violated. Mariah and Tessa were on the outs for a while, but when Devon sent them to work for another one of his ventures, the gossip show "GC Buzz" with Hilary Curtis, he also had them make peace with one another (via Soaps in Depth).

Mariah Copeland and Tessa Porter became an official Genoa City couple and soon moved in with one another as Tessa's singing career began to take off. This is also when Tessa revealed she had been married to a fellow musician named Tanner Watts before arriving in GC and he wanted her to come on tour with her. She didn't want to leave Mariah, but Mariah insisted that their relationship not hold her career back. So, Tessa left on tour, and the pair tried a long-distance relationship (via Soaps in Depth).

However, when Mariah learned that her mother had breast cancer, she took solace in another woman named Lindsay she met at a bar, and that's when Tessa made a surprise return and found them together. Tessa walked out, but Mariah followed her on tour, got on stage, and professed her love. Tessa still rejected her, but eventually, the two made amends (via Soaps in Depth).

For a while, Mariah Copeland and Tessa Porter seemed to be living a life of bliss, but Abby Newman (Melissa Ordway) had to get in the way of that when she asked Mariah to be a surrogate and carry a baby for her. The baby would be created from Abby's egg and Devon Hamilton's sperm, but would legally belong to Abby and her husband, MIA government agent Chance Chancellor (Conner Floyd) (via Soap Hub). After talking it over with Tessa, Mariah told Abby she'd do it, and the pregnancy seemed to be going great until Mariah was kidnapped and held alone in a remote cabin.

As Mariah feared for her life, she also bonded with the baby inside her, whom she named Bowie. Eventually, Abby, Tessa, and Devon realized Abby's crazed ex-husband, Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan), kidnapped Mariah, and they rushed to her side where they delivered a little boy that Abby named Dominic in classic "The Young and the Restless" style. It took a while for Mariah to break her attachment to the baby, but she eventually did — and it prompted her and Tessa to want to adopt a baby of their own (via Soaps in Depth).

After Noah Newman (now played by Rory Gibson) returned to town, Mariah Copeland and Tessa Porter were both shocked to learn he still had feelings for Noah, but Noah had to accept the reality when Tessa proposed to Mariah (via TV Insider). Then, a few days later, Mariah proposed to Tessa, per Entertainment Weekly. The women were now engaged to be married and started planning a big, blowout wedding unique to their own personalities, setting a date for May 13, 2022 (via Soaps).

Although Mariah's stepfather, Rey Rosales (Jordi Vilasuso), was recently and tragically killed in a car crash while suffering a heart attack behind the wheel (via Soaps), Sharon urged Mariah and Tessa to go ahead with the wedding — and that's just what they plan to do. Will it be happily ever after for the pair known as Teriah, and will Fairbanks and Grimes make more "The Young and the Restless" milestones?