Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a interview from Rachel Lindsay.
Two reality TV series, 24 episodes and 32 men — that's how much it took for The Bachelorette's Rachel Lindsay to find love. But Monday night, after too many tears to count, the Dallas-raised lawyer finally got a ring on it.
The lucky man: Bryan Abasolo, the 37-year-old chiropractor from Miami, who also wins the award for "Most Tongue Time" this season.
"I am the best version of myself when I'm with you. You are so easy and effortless to love and I want to love you for the rest of my life," Bryan said.
"Rachel Lindsay, will you be my reina?"
"I gave you my first rose and I'm here giving you my last rose," Rachel said after many a "yes" and "te amo."
Rachel's decision came after an emotional episode during which the bachelorette whittled down her last three suitors — Eric Bigger, Peter Kraus and Abasolo — to two and then one.
The season finale picked up where viewers left off two freaking weeks ago: with Rachel and Peter mid-conversation on a tense date in Rioja, Spain. Recap: He's may or may not be ready to propose. And that is "devastating," in the words of Rachel Lindsay.
Despite his shortcomings — perhaps except those in the fantasy suite — Peter squeaked into the top two. Rachel ended up sending Eric packing because she didn't believe he was ready for marriage. But not without a possible moment of regret.
"I thought, 'Am I making a mistake?'" Rachel told host Chris Harrison during a live interview on ABC as the episode was airing. "My biggest fear was sending someone home prematurely."
So, what ultimately separated the winner from the loser? Commitment.
Rachel had one final date each with both Bryan and Peter in Spain, flying in hot air balloons and attending Catholic church and what not. But Peter just couldn't give himself to the process.
"It's almost like I keep wishing for something that's not there with Peter," Rachel said during the episode.
"I am in love with you, that became very clear to me today, but these feelings are so recent," Peter told her. "I don't feel that I'm ready to ask you to marry me."
Add in the fact that their discussion ended tears after Peter told Rachel to "go find someone to have a mediocre life with" — the whole situation was tragic. Same goes for when the two met on stage during the live interview.
"There's no denying that I didn't love Peter," Rachel said. "It's just a frustrating and confusing moment ... there was so much back and forth and I needed something that was definitive."
Ready, set, proposal
Bryan was confident going into the final stretch. And though the wind blew strongly atop the Spanish mountains, Bryan made his proposal clear.
"I'm going to make you the happiest wife in the world," he told Rachel in Spanish.
The two aren't settled on where they may live — both have the flexibility with their careers to move practically anywhere — but they're intent on "bringing our lives together, wherever that may be" said Rachel during the post-show interview.
One place the couple is definitely hitting this fall: the State Fair of Texas.
