Oct | 02 | 2026

March was coming to a close, and that meant one thing: softball season was approaching. With opening day on the horizon, Bye Week was planning their first practice. After receiving the coveted invitation to join the tight-knit team, Chris was eager to make a good impression. In the days leading up to it, he had been working his charm the best he could with frequent jokes in the team group chat. Meredith was not impressed. It was her fourth season on Bye Week (and even longer if you count her seasons on the proto-team that preceded it). 𝑊ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑔𝑢𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑢𝑠? When the dust finally settled from the struggle of finding a single time that worked for over a dozen New Yorkers, it was decided that we would meet on Wednesday after work. 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑡!, Chris thought. Wednesday nights were band practice. He would have to leave early. Practice began and Chris’s nerves were showing. After flubbing an easy grounder and dropping a line drive, he was eager to leave this practice for the next. Fortunately, the minute hand on the clock dealt him his mercy. It was time to go. He had just finished packing up his things as Meredith arrived, coming late from work. Mustering the last shreds of confidence that remained after his poor display, he put on a smile, reached out his hand, and introduced himself. After Chris both explained and proceeded with his departure, Meredith thought 𝐻𝑒’𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑒… As Chris hopped on a citibike, he thought 𝐼’𝑚 𝑠𝑜 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑑 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝐵𝐸𝐹𝑂𝑅𝐸 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝…

Over the next two seasons, Chris began to find his place on the team, and that place happened to be next to Meredith at all the post-game drinks. After bonding over their shared interest in (/obsession with?) Mothman, the two became fast friends, secretly crushing over each other. Meredith sent the first text, telling Chris the words every man wants to hear: 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 😂 Soon they were texting each other daily, neither ever really sure if the other was interested like that. Next it was Chris’s turn to make a move: Do you wanna do food Friday? Or drinks? And though it took a a few days before they decided on a place, it was a resounding yes. Tacos and drinks at La Lupe. But was it a date? Neither were quite sure. But if it was a date, it was a good one. The conversation flowed, only interrupted by deep belly laughs. As they both started the last of their two-drink maximums, Chris interrupted– 𝑊𝑒 𝐻𝐴𝑉𝐸 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑! Two tostadas and the best flautas on this side of Bushwick later, the dinner was coming to a close, but neither wanted the night to end. 𝑊𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑔, Chris offered, feeling 𝑠𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑡ℎ. Meredith didn’t really like dogs, but she liked him. As they walked and talked, Chris thought, 𝐼 𝐻𝐴𝑉𝐸 𝐺𝑂𝑇 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒. 𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡, 𝐼’𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎 ℎ𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 “𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢?”. But it was Meredith’s turn to make a move. And without ever making eye contact, she turned and kissed him.

It wasn’t long before they were spending all their free time together. Cooper and Louis, Meredith’s cats, guardians, and protectors welcomed Chris into the fold. Even Honey-dog started warming up to Meredith (after a rough and… snappy start). Neither could believe how easy life was together, and both fit right in with the other’s family. Starting with a softball team (go Rats! Squeak squeak!) and eventually adopting their first cat as a couple (welcome to your new family, Birdie!), they were building a life together. By the time they signed their first lease, they knew they couldn’t imagine their life without the other. Last thing to do was seal the deal. And now it was once again Chris’s turn to make a move. They had always talked about how nice it would be to have a big softball game with their friends and family, so Chris was determined to make it happen.

It was a Tuesday afternoon in late July when they gathered at the softball field. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 softball field. Right where they met a little over two years before. With an overly complicated plan that almost failed for several different reasons, Chris was able to gather friends, family and, most importantly, Meredith for a pickup softball game— and a scheme. But Chris was nervous. It was this very same field Chris embarrassed himself on during that first practice. Would he once again drop the ball (a metaphorical ball, this time)? So far, it was all going according to plan. Chris was giving each player an introduction, saving Meredith for last. When it was her turn, he would talk a little bit about how they met ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑. He would talk about the team they grew and the relationship they grew with it. And then he would pop the question: 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑡, 𝑤𝑒’𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝐼 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚. 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟? That’s what he 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 to say. But halfway through the words he had spent so long agonizing over, he was interrupted. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜 𝑊𝐸𝐼𝑅𝐷?! Meredith couldn’t take it anymore. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑢𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑤𝑘𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑! she thought. She was so uncomfortable she had to stop him. Chris had no idea what to do. After he managed to pick his jaw up from the floor, he decided to start the line over and act like that didn’t happen. And as he got on one knee, ring in hand, Meredith realized what was happening. 𝑂ℎ… After a tearful 𝑦𝑒𝑠!, and a loving embrace, she was ambushed by the friends and family who were hiding by the side to surprise her. After some photos, everyone took to the field for a celebratory game of softball.