The Bachelorette star Charity Lawson eliminated Aaron Bryant and then questioned if she had made a big mistake following the men's hometown dates, which ended with Charity realizing she was "falling in love" with four men during the Season 20 episode that aired Monday night on ABC.
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"I saw so much in her, and I just knew that I wanted to make her my wife. I was ready to get down on one knee, and I just don't know what I did wrong," Aaron cried following his ouster.
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The Bachelorette broadcast began in Houston, TX, with four men still in the running for Charity's heart: Aaron B.; Dotun Olubeko, a 30-year-old integrative medicine specialist from Brooklyn, NY; Joseph "Joey" Graziadei, a 27-year-old tennis pro from Koloa, HI; and Xavier Bonner, a 27-year-old biomedical scientist from Carrboro, NC.
Aaron welcomed Charity to Houston. They had started the process "on top of the world," according to Charity, but then other connections grew. She was therefore optimistic they could get back to where they were at the beginning of the show.
It had been 10 years since Aaron last brought a woman home, so this was a big deal to him. Aaron was hoping his hometown was going to allow them to take a leap into falling in love with each other.
"It's scary because me and Aaron are probably the furthest behind, but the connection is visibly there. And so I'm hopeful, and meeting family could totally change my outlook and perspective on things," Charity told the cameras.
Charity met Aaron's parents -- his mother Ethel and father Eddie -- his older brother Edward, his little brother Erick, and his sister-in-law Aubrie. Aaron predicted that his mother was going to be the toughest on Charity.
The Bachelorette star felt warm, positive energy from Aaron's family right off the bat, and his mother had cooked Charity a feast, including fried lobster and frog legs.
Erick thought Charity was a really nice girl, and he said he could tell that Aaron really liked and cared about her. Erick told Aaron that he had his support, 100 percent, but he wasn't sure their parents were going to be as quick to believe this was the real deal.
Ethel thought Charity was compassionate, purposeful, warm, sweet, and grounded. She was clearly very pleased.
"What is Aaron proposed to you today? What would you say? Would you be ready?" Ethel asked.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"I will say probably not, but my answer would not be a reflection of who Aaron is or where I stand with him. I value what a proposal means... and doing it only one time. And so, for me, I want to be in a place that when I say ‘yes' to my percent, I am 100 percent certain with where I'm at," Charity explained.
With the amount of time Charity had with Aaron, she wasn't sure if she could get to the point of wanting to choose him and get engaged to him.
Charity told Aaron's father that she felt good and right with them, and Edward teased how they had a lot of great holidays to come. Eddie could tell that his son was smitten with The Bachelorette star, whom he called a smart, beautiful and articulate lady.
Aaron's parents expressed how they were so proud of him, and the visit brought him to tears.
"This is a family that I want to be in," Charity said, adding, "This is a home that makes sense. That feeling of love, when it just feels right, that's what I felt in Aaron's home today."
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That night, Aaron gifted Charity a letterman jacket, and he surprised her with a picnic on a football field.
"I can't deny how I feel. The leap was taken today, and I really feel like I'm falling in love with you," Aaron told The Bachelorette star.
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Charity could tell that Aaron loved her, and she shared in a confessional, "If it's me and him in the end, I will not have a worry in this world... We are back on track and we're moving in full force!"
The next day, Joey welcomed Charity to Collegeville, PA, for his hometown date. Joey had already told Charity that he was falling in love with her, and Charity admitted in a confessional that she was falling in love with him as well. Joey just didn't know it yet.
The date kicked off with Joey giving Charity a tennis lesson, and he surprised The Bachelorette star with a purple workout outfit. Joey put Charity at ease, and she loved how he's calm and patient. Charity thought Joey looked "the cutest," and she said he made her giddy and happy.
Joey's Uncle Joe then shocked the couple by making an appearance at the tennis court. Joey called him "the most special person" in his life and said Uncle Joe knew him better than anybody else.
Uncle Joe told the cameras that he really liked Charity but he was getting a strange feeling from Joey. He wondered if Joey was thinking things through.
This marked the first time Charity would be meeting a man's family from a different race, and so she was pretty nervous about the gathering. Joey, however, assured her that it was going to be great and he'd be by her side through it all.
The Bachelorette star met Joey's mom Cathy, dad Nick, Uncle Joe, sister Carly, sister Ellie, and brother-in-law Zach.
Joey apparently had his heart broken before, but his dad Nick hoped that Charity was going to be the girl for him.
Charity told Joey's sister Carly that Joey brought out the good in her and she felt so comfortable around him.
Carly didn't want her brother to get hurt, because she'd have to pick up the pieces of his broken heart, but Charity revealed that she wanted "forever" with Joey and was most certainly falling in love with him.
Joey's mom told her son that as long as he was being his real and true self, she'd easily fall in love with him. Joey said he didn't have any doubts about Charity and he wouldn't have brought her home if he felt otherwise. Cathy broke down into tears about her son possibly having found his match.
But then Uncle Joe asked Joey, "Are you portraying yourself or are you portraying someone that she wants? Okay, right? We've been down this road [before]. How confident are you that you've been your most genuine self?"
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But Uncle Joe told the cameras that Joey could be "a pleaser" and so he wanted to see his nephew in a relationship where he could be 100 percent his true, authentic self.
Joey said none of Uncle Joe's thoughts surprised him because he felt confident in what he had with The Bachelorette star.
"Next time I see you, I might be engaged to this gorgeous woman," Joey told his uncle.
But Uncle Joe wasn't convinced this romance was real and deep after such a short courtship. As a result, he sat down with Charity for a chat.
Charity asked Uncle Joe if he thought Joey was sincerely ready to get engaged, and his uncle said that Joey is going to be an amazing husband and dad -- but he wasn't sure if Joey was ready right now.
"How confident are you that you have the real Joey, the genuine Joey?" Uncle Joe asked Charity.
"I feel fairly confident in that... I have not sensed anything other than just genuineness from him," Charity responded.
The Bachelorette star thought Joey was showing his true colors all the time, and so she found this question to be confusing, "concerning and alarming." She wondered if she was missing something from Joey, and that made her feel a bit worried.
Charity planned to tell Joey that she was falling in love with him as long as everything went perfectly, but clearly the night didn't end on a perfect note.
While sitting on a bench outside of the family gathering, Charity told Joey at the end of their date that she felt accepted and loved by his family.
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Charity intended to take Uncle Joe's concerns into consideration but also to trust what she and Joey had built.
Charity started to cry when she said goodbye to Joey. She told the bachelor that she was just going to miss him, but Joey didn't know if those were truly happy tears. Joey suddenly lost confidence in their connection, and he began to fear that Charity's emotions were a sign she was going to break up with him.
The next hometown date belonged to Xavier in Cleveland, OH. The Bachelorette star said Xavier reminded her of some of her past relationships, when she wasn't a priority, but she hoped Xavier would put her fears to rest.
For the day portion of their date, Xavier took Charity to a yarn store, where they took a knitting class together. Xavier said knitting served as a stress reliever for him after leaving the lab.
Charity giggled and thought the idea was so cute, and she saw a different side of Xavier that was patient and communicative. Xavier could also picture himself doing artistic things with Charity for a lifetime.
"He continues to show me so much more about him," Charity said, suggesting that the bachelor was proving her doubts about him wrong.
Charity expressed her fear of not feeling chosen to Xavier, but he promised to be a better man for her. Charity said she needed to be more trusting, and she hoped to understand Xavier better that evening by meeting his loved ones.
Charity worried that she was going to fall in love with Xavier and he wouldn't be able to get there.
Xavier, meanwhile, was questioning if The Bachelorette star was definitely the woman for him. He then introduced Charity to his father Clarence, his beloved mother Tracey -- who suffers from multiple sclerosis -- and sister Chelsea.
Tracey immediately picked up on Xavier and Charity's body language and romantic chemistry, but Charity told Chelsea that she wasn't falling in love yet. Charity admitted there were hesitations about Xavier in the beginning because she wasn't sure if he'd be ready to propose marriage by the end of the process.
Chelsea assured Charity that Xavier was looking for his person and he was very committed and giving in his past relationships. Charity noted she and Xavier had many similarities, such as how they extended themselves to others.
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Tracey thought the fear was just coming from a fast-paced and rushed dating process, and his father also didn't want Xavier caught up in a "frivolous" romance. Clarence told Xavier to find an unconditional love, and he could tell that his son was "feeling something."
Tracey told Xavier that his connection with The Bachelorette star was obvious and she had never seen him so taken with a woman before. She advised her son not to hold back his feelings, and she fully supported the relationship.
At the end of the date, Chelsea said she loved Charity and thought she was "phenomenal," which shocked Xavier given his sister can be very protective of him and real with him about the women he dates.
Xavier then told Charity, "Honestly, I am falling in love with you."
Charity said she really wanted to hear that from Xavier and so her feelings for him had "intensified times 100." Her strong feelings made her conflicted about what to do about the other guys.
"We're making sense of each other and now we're just elevating. I am walking away tonight feeling so good. He could be my husband!" Charity said in a confessional.
Charity's final hometown date took place in Fresno, CA, where she reunited with Dotun. The Bachelorette star was wondering if their relationship was "too good to be true," and she wasn't really prepared for anything to negatively affect or hinder their romance.
Dotun explained to Charity that his parents go to Nigeria for four to six weeks every year and so they weren't going to be around to meet her, which really bummed him out. He wished that he could hear his mother's opinion, but he believed his siblings were going to do just fine.
Charity was then introduced to Dotun's sisters, brothers, and grandmother Temitayo. It was a warm welcoming, but Charity was disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to meet her potential future in-laws.
Suddenly, Dotun's parents arrived and surprised their son. They had sacrificed so much -- including their time in Nigeria -- to meet Charity and be there for their son. Dotun acknowledged how his mother Adenike was going to be very opinionated and critical of Charity, but he was still very excited to see them.
Dotun told his mother that he was "definitely" falling in love with Charity but he needed just a little more time to find out if it was true love. Adenike didn't want to see her son get hurt, but the whole family was very kind to The Bachelorette star.
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Charity then told Adenike that Dotun was "super special" to her, and Adenike boasted about how she'd give Charity and Dotun a spectacular wedding in Nigeria. Charity thought the gathering went so well, and she felt embraced by everyone in Dotun's family.
Dotun wrapped up the date by surprising Charity with a white convertible ride to a drive-in movie theater. Charity's parents used to have dates at the drive-in, and she said things just felt "right" with Dotun.
The pair then watched a slideshow of their baby pictures and home videos. Dotun felt closer to Charity than ever, and the movie brought the couple to tears. In fact, Charity was pretty much bawling.
"An engagement has never felt more real than it does right now. I'm ready for this movie to have a happy ending," Dotun said, adding how their connection was stronger than ever.
The cast then returned to Los Angeles, CA, for the next Rose Ceremony. Charity told The Bachelorette host Jesse Palmer that it was "not a good feeling" she'd have to say goodbye to somebody because all four relationships got stronger.
Charity said it was "insane" because she was falling in love with Aaron, and she mentioned how Xavier kept her on her toes and she could see a life with him.
Charity shared how Dotun made her feel so special, like she's the only woman in the world when they're together. But Charity pointed out how Joey may have been portraying the man she wants rather than the man he actually is.
"It sounds like you may be falling in love with four men, at the same time," Jesse probed.
"Mhmm, yeah, it's weird," Charity replied. "I'm still trying to make sense of it, because two people are going to be heartbroken tonight -- and I'm one of those people."
Charity got emotional during her talk with Jesse and confessed she had never been so conflicted in her life. Charity couldn't picture saying goodbye to any of the men, and she said the eliminee was never going to see it coming.
Charity was afraid to send her "person" home, and right before the Rose Ceremony -- which took place at an airport hangar -- she didn't know "what the hell" she was going to do.
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Charity was about to break up with a man she had pictured as her future husband.
At the Rose Ceremony, Charity announced to the men how it was the "hardest day of [her] life" and how needing to say goodbye to one man "absolutely destroys" her.
Charity then handed out roses to Dotun, Xavier, and Joey.
Aaron immediately closed his eyes and looked devastated. Charity, who said she had followed her gut and her heart, was also trying to hold back her tears at the conclusion of the Rose Ceremony.
"I have connections with other people, and they are stronger. I probably do feel that if I had more time, then I would've probably got there with Aaron," Charity admitted to the cameras.
The Bachelorette star walked Aaron out and explained how this was an extremely difficult decision to make -- and she didn't even know if she was "making the right one," which she acknowledged probably wouldn't make him feel any better.
"I wish I could tell you there's a reason why. It just is what it is," Charity told the suitor.
"I hate that it wasn't me because I really thought [it was]," Aaron told Charity in reply. "I can truly say I felt feelings that I never felt before. I just thank God for you."
Charity told the bachelor that she could go on and on with all the great things about him and how he had helped her grow as a person.
"You deserve the absolute best and I know you're going to find it, and I'm sorry it wasn't me," Charity lamented.
Aaron thanked The Bachelorette star for her kind words, and then the pair hugged a couple of times before his exit.
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"The more I think about it, it's actually the most absurd sh-t I've ever done. I mean, what if I just made the absolute wrong decision?"
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Click here to read spoilers about Charity's The Bachelorette season and who Charity picked as her winner.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
