The week before Labor Day proved to be quite the climax for the fivesome from McLaren's, and no sight proved to be more monumental than the infamous corner of East 161st and River Avenue, the home of Yankees Stadium in the and Marshall were there taking in a game a few days before Ted went back to school for the fall semester, while a pregnant Lily, dutiful Robin and bored Barney took in a sample sale at Bloomingdale's. They had all agreed to meet outside the park once the afternoon game was out for dinner at Johnny's Famous Reef Restaurant to celebrate the end of another great summer together.

"So I am thinking about putting a few skylights in the office on the top floor," Ted told Marshall as they discussed his final design plans for his beloved dream home he was still working on. It had been a project already two years in the making with at least a few more to go, but Marshall hadn't seen his best friend so passionate about anything since meeting Robin almost seven years ago. "I don't know. I'm just really excited."

Marshall thought about the tiny details of planning the nursery and how happy that made him. In fact, that was part of why he agreed to let Lily go shopping. Besides the fact that she was going to need maternity clothes pretty soon, she was also trying to find bedding to match her imagined theme for the baby's room. "I can understand that," he told his friend. "I just hope that Lily comes back in one piece. I remember the riot that nearly happened last year when they brought out the shoe racks. Hopefully the baby section will be a little calmer. She is really set on finding everything for the baby's bed today."

The two of them chatted idly through four innings and two beers each before heading to the bathroom for a break. Marshall checked in with Lily while Ted scanned his emails. Their conversation turned to birthing plans and midwives on their way back to their seats, two subjects that the eighteen-year-old version of Ted could have neverimagned having with a thirtysomething Marshall. He was glad that he was still best friends with the tall Minnesotan after all these years. Without a child of his own, he was very much looking forward to being a godfather and honorary uncle to Marshall and Lily's firstborn.

And despite all the progress that his four closest friends were making, Ted wasn't feeling an impending paranoia about the slow route his love life had taken over the summer. Ever since parting ways with Zoe, he had taken a hiatus from dating to focus on his career. The Arcadia project had kept him busy the past three months, and every other free moment had been spent with either his friends or working on the house. He had barely had enough time to even get to the barber for a haircut or back to Ohio for a weekend to visit his parents.

By the time the seventh inning stretch came around, Ted and Marshall were both a few more sheets to the wind and were enjoying a guys' afternoon out. They quit talking about babies and work, preferring instead to take in the local scenery (women), drink a few more beers than they should have and bonding over sports. Alcohol was their savior, letting them forget about all the pressures and stresses that came with getting older. For this one rare afternoon, for a few precious hours, they could just be two guys enjoying being men.

It was right around the ninth inning when the rain set in. Ted pulled his old faithful yellow umbrella, a relic from a party past, from beneath his seat and held it over their heads as Nick Swisher stepped up to the plate. A few minutes later, the entire stadium was on their feet celebrating as the outfielder rounded the bases after hitting a game-winning homerun.

"Man, that was an amazing game!" Ted told Marshall as they filed out of the stadium to meet their friends. There were New Yorkers everywhere, walking in the same chaotic patterns that dominated Manhattan. He spotted a few old men sitting on stools at Mohegan's. The elite bar hosted the cream of the crop at the stadium, and Ted knew it wouldn't be too long before he sat side by side with his best friend downing beers. "Where are we supposed to meet them again?"

"On the corner of 161st and River Ave," Marshall answered as they stepped back out into the harsh sunlight of the Sunday afternoon. It was a hot and humid day, but the alcohol now sweating out of their pores made it that much more unbareable. "Lily just texted me. They are on their way in a cab now."

"Perfect," Ted said as he turned around, only to run right into Cindy. A pretty petite girl accompanied Ted's former fling and immediately drew the architect's attention. He smiled at her shyly before Marshall elbowed him sharply in the ribs. Leaning forward, Ted hugged Cindy awkwardly. "Hey, Cindy! How are you?"

The brunette talked bubbily for a few minutes but Ted could only focus on her friend. She was gorgeous, and he was immediately drawn to her. Every time he looked for an opening to introduce himself to her, Cindy would pipe up with yet another tidbit from her life that Ted could really care less about. Finally, Cindy checked her watch and smacked her forehead. "We're going to be late," she announced, looking over at her friend. She leaned over and hugged Ted again, making him awkwardly shift the yellow umbrella away from his body as to not poke Marshall in the eye. "It was great running into you, Ted. We'll have to get a drink or something."

"Yeah or something," he agreed before looking over at her friend again.

"I used to have an umbrella like that," Cindy's friend announced, her eyes meeting Ted's. Just as she was about to say something else, Cindy pulled her by the wrist and the two of them disappeared back into the crowd.

"She was pretty," Marshall commented absently as he tapped out a text to his wife.

"Beautiful," Ted agreed, trying to look through the crowd to spot them. It was useless and before long, he was being yanked himself in the opposite direction of the masses so that they could meet their friends.

Some months later, Ted would find out that was the first moment he ever remembered seeing his future wife. That girl, Cindy's roommate, the bearer of the yellow school bus and the future mother of his children, was also the owner of the yellow umbrella he used that day, the same girl who was at that St. Patrick's Day party and present in the economics class whereTed mistakenly tried to teach his first architecture lesson. He would remember it long after he remembered the Yankees game or meeting his friends on the corner outside the stadium or the dinner they had afterward. In fact, it was the one thing that really stuck out from the summer of 2011. It was when who he had been collided with who he would be for the rest of his life.

That summer was critical in the paths their lives would take. It was the summer where Robin and Barney found their way back together, getting over a giant hurdle and cementing their own version of a real summer. It was the summer when Marshall realized that not only was he going to be a father but he might just actually be good at it. It was the summer when Robin and Lily became sisters instead of just best friends, giving them both a sense of family they'd never really had before. It was the summer when Ted finally met the mother of his children. It was the summer where everything changed, the summer that changed their lives. And all of those things began with an intersection, just a random street corner in the best city in the world.

Fin.