Author's Note: This piece is written under the assumption that Mac became President sometime in the Spring of 2015, making her eligible to serve another two terms; and that she and Rod both turned 46 years-old that same year. As the title suggests, this is an account of how they met and the beginnings of their relationship. It's origins lie mostly in the Thanksgiving episode The Mom Who Came to Dinner. But also in The Price You Pay and State of the Unions. When I began writing this story little was known about the Allen family and virtually nothing had been revealed about the Calloway family. As I've been writing, above all I've tried to keep one thing in mind. And that is, what Mackenzie & Rod go on to accomplish together, and who they ultimately become: the President and First Gentleman of the United States. These are not average characters. They are extraordinary.

BEGINNINGS

1. The Encounter

Walking across the Yale campus to the law school, Mackenzie Spencer Allen felt on top of the world. She was twenty-five with a job waiting for her at a top New York law firm; and it was the first day of her last year of school. She took a moment to take in her surroundings. It was a beautiful September morning that felt more like summer than fall. Suddenly a feeling of melancholy, whose source she couldn't quite pinpoint, washed over her. Usually she did not engage in much self-assessment. It was a waste of time and a distraction. But this morning, she allowed herself a little indulgence. Maybe the melancholy stemmed from the thought of again leaving Connecticut–the only place she really considered home. After spending her first six years here at the Essex Naval Base, her father's military career had resulted in several moves over the next several years until she returned to Hartford with her mother for high school.

It seemed that growing up she was constantly learning to fit in. It didn't help that she was usually smarter and always taller than the other kids. While she generally made friends easily, she also couldn't help but feel like an outsider a lot of the time. For her, relationships had been short-term and transient in nature–except for a couple of close friends and her relationship with her mother, Kate, and to a more limited extent her father, Michael. Her mother was the one constant in her world. Regardless of how much she wanted to please her father, it was her mother who gave her independence, confidence, and most of all, security. She was grateful that her parents–regardless of the lengthy separations imposed upon them by her father's career–were devoted to each other and to her. They believed she could accomplish anything.

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Roderic Gabriel Calloway was likewise walking across the campus. He, too, was twenty-five. But even ninety-minutes of early morning basketball could not quell his anxiety. It was his first day at the Yale Law School and he was nervous. He'd just finished a stint in the Army and it had been more than three years since he last attended school. He looked around and breathed in the morning air. School had always come easy and usually with very little effort. Would he, however, be up to this new challenge? He'd better be if he wanted to look his father and grandmother in the eye. More important, his future depended on his success.

Rod's parents were still somewhat upset about his decision to join the Army. And his father remained surprised and unhappy about his decision to go to law school. He understood the family's surprise. Law school had not been in his plans until fairly recently.

He was the oldest son and his father wanted him in the family banking business–a place he had absolutely no interest in being. Trading and investing were fun hobbies but the actual business of making money held no appeal for him. But then, he'd never been poor. Maybe if he'd seen his family struggle he might feel differently. He enjoyed his comfortable existence–was grateful for it–and he recognized that it took a lot of pressure off him. But he wanted his profession–his life's work–to be more than simply adding to the family fortune. Above all, he wanted to find his own place in the world, which is why, after an injury in his junior year ended his pitching career, he joined the Army immediately upon graduation. There was another reason he chose to serve in the military. However, he wasn't ready yet to share that information with anyone. In fact, he scarcely acknowledged it to himself.

Growing up, baseball was his passion. Physically, he'd been born to pitch. He was 6'5" tall and left-handed. And he could throw a fastball 94 miles per hour. Usually Yale could not attract such athletes to its baseball team. However, he was a Calloway. For him, attendance at Yale was mandatory–a family tradition that even he wouldn't have dared break. So he'd spent his undergraduate years in New Haven. He'd enjoyed that time. Years spent playing ball, attending frat parties, studying when necessary, and in general being a popular guy. He sighed. He wasn't the same man today. He'd learned a lot in the Army. And despite his anxiety over this new endeavor, he felt like he'd come home.

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As Rod and Mackenzie reached the law school, neither of them was aware of the other's existence. They each looked at their watch and realized they were late for class. Mac silently berated herself for dallying while Rod seemingly took it more in stride. Both of them, however, began to quicken their pace. Nonetheless, their minds were not entirely on the task at hand. Mac entered the school from the south and Rod from the east. Between the two entrances their paths literally crossed.

Mac hurriedly came around a corner and ran into a mountain–a mountain she'd never seen before. As a result she landed unceremoniously on her butt–books and all.

For Rod, their collision was less painful but no less dramatic as this feisty, beautiful redhead ended up sprawled at his feet muttering something about mountains and jocks who hadn't a clue. He quickly extended a helping hand.

Mac, who was experiencing a host of varying emotions over this encounter, wished the mountain would just go away. However, she reluctantly accepted his help in regaining her feet. But as her dignity was still amiss and her temper alight, she couldn't help but complain to him, "Why don't you watch where you're going..."

She was stunned when the mountain asked in response, "Why, am I trespassing?"

"Yes, if you're expecting to find football practice in this building."

He feigned hurt. "Don't you like football?"

"Not if I'm the tackling dummy," she said haughtily. She studied her tormentor further and for almost the first time, she actually felt small standing next to a man. In spite of her current situation, she liked this feeling.

The mountain laughed and again held out his hand. "I'm Rod," he said with a cocky grin.

Out of habit and somewhat in shock over the dramatic nature of their introduction, she accepted his hand and said, "I'm Mac."

"Well, Mac," Rod exclaimed, "why don't you let me apologize over dinner. I'll meet you here at say 7:00 p.m."

She looked at him incredulously. However, before she could actually voice a response to his suggestion, he walked away leaving her with the thought, "Hey, even law students have to eat…. And I prefer baseball to football."