It's just your typical cute-softball-girl-catches-the-eye-of-local-Chiropractor story.

After moving to the Coast in 2017, Steve was spending most weekends going back and forth to New Orleans, not leaving him with much time to make friends in the coastal Mississippi community that he lived in. At the start of 2018, he knew that something needed to change. He began playing softball in the local league, meeting many new friends (including groomsmen Ryan C. and Andy) in the process. After dazzling his teammates with his quick glove, quick bat, and equally quick wit, he became a hot commodity, being asked to play the next season on a trimmed and refined roster.

Within a few months, he was a familiar face at the softball fields, always eager to play and meet new people. One night, when his team didn't have enough girls to field a complete coed team, Krista volunteered to pick up with them, holding down her rightfield position with the grace and skill one might expect from one of Tom Brady's offspring. Despite her exceptional play on the field, Steve came away only remembering one thing--that smile of hers.

It would be easy to say that he dropped to a knee right then and proposed to her, and that she said yes, and this whole wedding thing came together shortly after. But that would also be a lie.

Nothing came from their chance meeting. No follow-up conversations, no phone number exchanges, not even a formal introduction at the time, if we're being honest.

But months passed, as did multiple softball seasons, and Steve entered the year 2019 with his eye on the dating scene. He's not too proud to admit that he was on multiple dating apps, getting an idea of what (and who) was out there. One day while scrolling through the Bumble app, he came across Krista, that star rightfielder that had impressed him so many months before. He had never "swiped right" so quickly in his life. It actually left him with a sprained index finger that he is still recovering from.

Days passed. Weeks passed. Months passed. His painstaking right swipe was never reciprocated on the app, and so on one fateful April Thursday night, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Knowing that he had the next day off and having consumed a few pints of the nectar of the gods (Coors Light) in the comfort and safety of his own apartment, he decided to reach out to Krista via Facebook Messenger and let his feelings be known.

"Krista, Krista. I came across you on bumble and was surprised you were there, you've got a smile that can make a grown man reconsider his priorities. Hope I see you during this new coed season, but if I don't, I'd love to take you out sometime"

Things were never the same. He awoke the next morning to a response from Krista and they continued messaging back and forth over the course of the next week. However, that next Friday brought some interesting news. Steve had been told by his boss that she would be letting him go in four weeks.

This put a slight damper on Steve's plans. While he knew he still wanted to meet up with Krista, he figured their time together would be short. After all, the job was the only thing keeping him down on the Coast, and his first instinct upon receiving the news was that he would be heading back to New England to continue on with his life, leaving the Mississippi chapter behind him.

On the very same day that he had received news that he would be let go came the very last first date of his life. Krista and Steve met up that night at Gil's Fish Camp Bayou Bar in Ocean Springs, a bar previously awarded the title of Best Dive Bar in Mississippi (which is saying something).

And wouldn't you know it, they hit it off like Forrest and Jenny.

They stayed at the bar later than even the bartenders, eventually moving out to the picnic tables overlooking the bayou to continue talking and laughing before calling an end to their magical night. And what a bittersweet night it was, as the conversation flowed so easily, yet he was aware their time was limited.

Nevertheless, they hung out again. And again. And again. And as the weeks went by, their bond grew stronger.

But something else happened over those few weeks.

Steve's boss slowly but surely came around, stating that after thinking about it, she had made an emotional decision, and the wrong one at that. She wanted Steve to stick around.

'Ugh, this means I'll probably have to keep dating Krista now,' he thought.

Just kidding. He was ecstatic.

So ecstatic, in fact, that he shared the news with Krista that night at her nephew's baseball game. So now instead of just one person being ecstatic, there were two.

The dates continued. The laughs became more frequent. Hell, Steve even poached Krista and her sister from their regular softball team to play on his, helping them compete their way into becoming a perennial top-3 team league-wide.

It was obvious that Steve had found the one he wanted to spend his life with. He bought a ring on April 20th, 2021, knowing that it would eventually be on her finger. And what better time to pop the question than the morning after his brother Ryan's wedding reception?

At Ryan's July 4th wedding, Steve's extended family was finally able to meet "the girl from the pictures." She was a hit among the aunts and uncles and cousins, and Steve is pretty sure that by the end of the night, everyone at the wedding knew he was proposing the next morning except for Krista. Fun was had by all that night.

The next morning, Steve and Krista made their way to Newton Rock in Narragansett, a massive natural rock formation overlooking the Atlantic. He had instructed his family members to get there a tad earlier so that they could be hidden and take pictures as his plan took shape.

Turns out his family isn't very good at hiding among massive rock formations.

Once settled on a rocky perch, Krista took in the beautiful sights of the crashing waves, the puffy clouds, the Portuguese fishermen, and Steve's mother trying to lift her leg up onto a ledge behind them.

"Hi...?!?!" Krista said, before turning to Steve. "Is...is that your mom?!"

"No. No it's not."

Krista looked back to Steve's mom, and then back to Steve.

"Krista, can you please, um, stand up please?"

It was the most beautiful sight in the world to see Krista's face as everything clicked into place in her head.

And there was that smile.

-Totally written completely and wholly by Krista. Steve had no say in this.