We finally have an answer to the "Does Ali pick anybody at all?!" question.
During their interview this morning, Ryan Seacrest concluded that Ali Fedotowsky pulled a Brad Womack and chose not to get engaged to either Chris Lambton or Roberto Martinez, despite their many attractive qualities and rippling abs.
But everyone seemed pretty darn in love with each other on tonight's finale of The Bachelorette, so why were we promised an ending that would stand apart from the ones that came before?
How about, because Ali never even made it to the rose ceremony. Hell, she didn't even make it to the second Last Date.
The adorable little blonde who was praised and squawked at right and left for choosing work over Jake (not so dumb now, is she?) went ahead and made her feelings known the second she knew.
"I'm in love with somebody else," she ended up telling Chris before they'd had any fun in the Tahitian sun at all. "I have to let you go here and not wait until tomorrow."
So Ryan was wrong, and everyone who was sure she'd pick Chris was wrong.
"Thank you," whispered the strapping 33-year-old, who touched the Fedotowsky family's collective heart with talk of his late mom and the bond between her and his dad. "I really am going to miss you."
"I did learn to put myself out there, which was nice, because I hadn't done that in awhile. I think you liked what I put out there as a whole...Thank you for being honest."
"Good luck tomorrow," Chris offered. "Go find out if he loves you." And on his way out the door, stopping for one more hug, he told her, "You are absolutely amazing."
To top it all off, Chris saw a rainbow in the sky as he puzzled over what had just happened, and it made him feel better. "I know that's my mom telling me it's going to be OK," he said.
Lordy.
Meanwhile, Roberto and his not-clear-until-the-very-end feelings for Ali got rained on and, instead of taking it as a bad omen, the 26-year-old insurance agent from South Carolina thought it was the most amazing thing ever.
Though she spent the majority of the finale seeming more bonded to Chris and more chemically attracted to Roberto, hearing the hunky Spanish-speaker finally say, "I love you," swung Ali permanently into his camp.
One square-cut Neil Lane ring and a lot of cryptic talk on Roberto's part ("It took a a lot of soul-searching"; "I wanted to be sure I made the right decision for both of us"; "You have to trust your gut," etc.) later, they were engaged.
If people were concerned that Ali Fedotowsky's instincts weren't rock-solid, may their minds be at ease once and for all.
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Ah, l'amour. Even if this wedding never comes about, there are still so many others to look forward to.