Entertainment TV Reality TV Charity Lawson Gets Engaged in 'The Bachelorette' Season 20: 'A Man That I Can Love Forever' Charity Lawson entered the last leg of her journey with Dotun and Joey — and needed to decide whether she should welcome back Aaron By Dana Rose Falcone Dana Rose Falcone Dana Rose Falcone is a Staff Writer covering TV at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE for seven years. Dana Rose's work has previously appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Men's Fitness and Us Weekly. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 21, 2023 10:57PM EDT Charity Lawson. Photo: Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Warning: This post contains spoilers from Monday's finale of The Bachelorette. A grand finale in Fiji! Monday’s Bachelorette finale opened with Charity Lawson having to decide whether to accept Aaron back after being eliminated following hometowns. “I did not want to say goodbye to this man,” Charity, 27, admitted in an on-camera interview. “It was the hardest thing I ever had to do.” Bachelorette Charity Lawson Tells 1 Ex She Gave Him 'A Lot More Grace' Than She Should Have During 'Men Tell All' Charity asked Aaron, 29, what he wanted out of returning. “I can’t say enough how much I see in you and our future,” Aaron said to Charity. “I still see you as my wife, I still see you as the mother of my children." Aaron also said to Charity that he had “a lot more that I’ve been wanting to show you.” Aaron on 'The Bachelorette' season 20. Ricky Middlesworth/ABC Charity felt compelled to keep Aaron around. “My gut is telling me that I owe it to this man to give him time, give himself time, to not give up right now on what we actually have built,” she told the cameras. Charity then delivered the news to Aaron. “I would absolutely love it if you would stay,” she said to the software salesman before suggesting they get dinner and hang out in her room. At the beginning of their date, Charity proposed a toast to “a hard reset.” They chatted and kissed, and by the end of the night, Charity found herself “reconsidering everything." “I knew how much I regretted my decision last time,” Charity added in an on-camera interview. ROSE CEREMONY At the rose ceremony, Aaron convened with Joey and Dotun, to their surprise. “What’s going on?” Joey, 27, asked the cameras. “Aaron’s here, Xavier’s not…” Charity explained to them that inviting Aaron to stay after he surprised her in Fiji “was difficult but it was necessary.” She proceeded to give Joey the first rose, but pulled Aaron aside. “I know I expressed having regrets with last week and I am so grateful for this time that we had this week to just I guess get more clarity,” Charity said to Aaron. “As like, unfortunate as it is, it’s just time wasn't on our side and where we needed it to be.” So Charity bid farewell to Aaron again. “Charity, I’m always in your corner,” Aaron said before leaving. Charity said in an on-camera interview that Aaron’s connection fell behind where she stood with Dotun and Joey. “It just truly, honestly wasn't going to be enough to proceed or surpass where I stood with Joey and Dotun,” she said. Charity went back in to see Joey and Dotun and informed them that she’d be moving forward with the two of them. In the studio with Jesse Palmer, Aaron said he couldn’t not fight for Charity. “I knew in this confided environment that you have to put your best foot forward,” Aaron said. “And yeah, I was not going to give up.” Jesse, 44, announced that Aaron will be looking for love again on Bachelor in Paradise season 9 when it premieres next month. JOEY MEETS CHARITY’S FAMILY Before Joey met Charity’s parents and sister, the Bachelorette told the cameras she needed her family’s help to make the tough decision between him and Dotun. “I can’t decide which direction I’m going to move forward in,” Charity said. “I’m going to need help.” Joey worried about messing up with Charity’s family. Joey meets Charity Lawson's family on the season 20 finale of 'The Bachelorette.'. Craig Sjodin/abc “Joey has his unique ability to just truly make me feel so seen, so validated and truly has swept me off my feet,” Charity said to her family. Joey gushed about Charity to her sister Mia. “There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m in love with your sister and that I’ll be able to protect her and love her and make her feel special every day,” he said. Joey asked Mia what she thought about Charity being in an interracial relationship. “It’s not a point of race," Mia said. "For us, it’s about love.” Mia left the conversation feeling confident about Joey. “I feel very confident in his love for Charity,” she told the cameras. Then Joey spoke with Charity’s mom Vickie. She later told Charity, “I think Joey could be the one.” DOTUN MEETS CHARITY’S FAMILY Dotun opened up with Charity’s family by describing his relationship with her as “so strong.” “I definitely never felt like this in my life with anybody,” Dotun continued. Vickie saw Dotun as a “very genuine” and “very honest" person. Dotun from 'The Bachelorette' season 20. Ricky Middlesworth/ABC “I feel that Dotun checks the boxes,” Vickie said, adding that she thought Dotun seemed to be Charity’s typical type. Mia asked Dotun if he would be willing to make sacrifices for Charity if they ended up together. “I look at her as a once-in-a-lifetime kind of person, I really do,” Dotun said. “And so, you know, not getting to the end of this would be devastating to me. I put it in that regard. I don’t know if I’ll ever find a type of love like this and so that makes any sacrifice worth it.” While Vickie told Charity she thought her sister and Dotun “have a certain chemistry,” Vickie thought Joey had his pluses too. “Joey makes you glow,” Vickie said. “He does. Like, I could see I you have more PDA with him.” Charity hoped to leave the day with more clarity. “The day that my family had with Dotun did not go as planned,” she said in an on-camera interview. “The reality is, I’m not where I should be at in my decision making and I still don’t have the clarity that I personally want to have. I’m really not okay.” After Dotun left, Charity urged her family to help her make a decision. “Both Joey and Dotun are amazing individuals,” Mia said to Charity. “I think with Joey, I like the fact that he’s not afraid to address difficult issues. That’s very important. Dotun, he’s super intentional. He definitely has your best interests at heart and he’s willing to sacrifice. We trust that you will make the ultimate decision.” Vickie added, “Either one would be a great, great, great choice.” Charity pushed to find out if anyone had a preference between the two men, but Vickie didn’t want to name names. Charity and Vickie spoke outside, and her mom still wouldn’t cough up a name. “For the first time I think in all this, I’m like truly not okay,” Charity told the cameras. LAST DATE WITH JOEY Joey and Charity kicked off their final date with a champagne toast and recapped how well his meeting with her family went. Charity told Joey her family “cannot stop raving about you,” and Joey said he hoped to show, not tell, her loved ones how much he cared for her. Then Joey gave her a gift, a framed poem, the one they had written in New Orleans. “It’s everything,” Charity said of the gift. Joey said he felt good, and so did Charity. “I got all that I needed,” she said to Joey. Joey felt confident about his future with Charity. “I’m going to propose to charity,” he said in an on-camera interview. “I have no doubts about that. And I’m going to be engaged in a couple of days to a woman that I’m in love with.” LAST DATE WITH DOTUN Charity also started her final date with Dotun with a champagne toast. “Cheers to what has been one of the most rewarding journeys of my life,” Dotun said. “Cheers to the potential that we may have and that we get the fairy-tale ending that we both deserve.” Dotun had a gift for Charity in the form of mementos from different steps of their journey, including s’mores — a reference to their Washington date — and a locket with their baby pictures, as seen on their hometown. “You are my treasure,” Dotun said to Charity. Charity told Dotun she had a hard decision to make because her date with Joey went well, too. “There’s two strong connections, so I’m nervous, very nervous,” Dotun said. “But it’s obviously, the decision’s up to you. But again, I trust whatever decision you make. I really do. I just want you to be happy.” Charity and Dotun. ABC/Ricky Middlesworth PROPOSAL DAY WITH JOEY Charity went into proposal day still in love with two people. But before Joey stepped out of the van, she told the cameras, “He deserves so much, but I have to let him go.” Joey wanted to give the Neil Lane engagement ring he picked out to Charity. “I feel really good about how this is going to be,” Joey said in an on-camera interview. When Joey and Charity came face to face, he talked about how much the New Orleans poem “made us realize how real our feelings were for one another.” “I stand here right now very confident that it hasn’t just been your story, it’s turned into our own beautiful love story that we can look back on and be confident in,” Joey continued. “And I really just can’t wait to see what comes next.” Charity Lawson with Joey on 'The Bachelorette' season 20 finale. Craig Sjodin/abc Charity gushed about her relationship with Joey. “People search their whole lives looking for something like this, and when I look into your eyes, I am reminded of how you’ve always put me first and you’ve been very consistent in the love that you’ve shown and those things, I’ve never experienced before,” Charity said. “I never doubted, never questioned how deep our love is. I know it’s there and I feel it. But...” In that moment, Joey realized Charity didn’t want to spend forever with him. “I found love that’s deeper with someone else,” Charity said to Joey. “And it won’t make sense in this moment and it’s hard. It’s hard to get these words out because the truth is, Joey, that I am in love with you.” Charity apologized but Joey told her not to. After they parted ways, Joey told the cameras how he pictured their lives together and how badly he wanted to find love. “I want love bad,” he said. “I think it’s just showing me how badly I want to be with someone else and get an opportunity to share life with them because that’s all I can think of. I just want to ask the universe, when is it going to happen to me?” Back in the studio, Jesse reunited Charity and Joey for the first time since their breakup. Charity reiterated how dumping Joey was “not an easy decision by any means." “The love will always be there and it’s in my heart and I have that at this point for you,” Charity said to Joey. Joey felt similarly. “You were the reason the why,” he said. “This was your story. As I said that day, I felt lucky to be a part of it.” PROPOSAL DAY WITH DOTUN Dotun began his final moments with Charity on the show by recounting their journey together. “You have been able to make me feel so incredibly special,” Dotun said to Charity. “You have made me feel adored and validated and wanted. And to receive that from a woman of your caliber, Charity, I don’t think you understand what that means to me. But I’m certain that I want to spend the rest of my life showing you.” Charity pointed to their time in Oceanside, California as when she saw their connection really start to bloom. Bachelorette Charity Confronted by Suitor Who Hits 'a Tipping Point' Over Another Group Date (Exclusive) “We shared that incredibly special moment that changed my life truly forever,” she said. “When I looked in your eyes in that moment, I saw the man that respected me, that valued me, that adored me, but a man that I can love forever.” Dotun saw forever, too. “The love that we have is perfect,” he said. “And so, Ms. Charity Lawson, would you do me the honor of turning the fairytale into a reality?” Dotun proceeded to drop to one knee and ask, “Ms. Charity Lawson, will you marry me?” Dotun proposes to Charity Lawson on the season 20 finale of 'The Bachelorette.'. Craig Sjodin/abc She said "yes" and they kissed. Then Charity sealed the deal by giving Dotun her final rose. During After the Final Rose, Charity told Jesse she and Dotun "are feeling over the moon." "Love Is just not enough of a word to describe how I feel about her," Dotun said. Jesse surprised the couple with a trip to Greece, and then Dotun shocked Charity by informing her that her ABC journey will continue when she competes on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars this fall. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The Bachelorette aired live on ABC. Close