‘The Bachelorette’ Season 13, Episode 9 Recap: The Boys Meet Rachel’s Family

The thirteenth season of The Bachelorette has seen many firsts – the first black bachelorette, the first bachelorette to reveal that she is engaged to be married before the first episode even aired, and the first, and hopefully last, Whaboom Guy. Monday night’s episode provided Bachelorette Nation with yet another first: three of Rachel Lindsay‘s suitors went to her home to meet her family instead of the usual two.

Peter Kraus, the salt-and-pepper haired fan favorite, went to visit Rachel’s family in Dallas first. As Rachel discovered when she visited his family in Wisconsin, Peter’s best quality is how well he gets along with children. The couple heads to a baby store to buy Rachel’s sister gifts for her baby on the way and her three year old son.

At the house, Rachel’s family – minus her father, who, as a federal judge, refuses to be on reality TV – meets and gushes over Peter. He tells Rachel’s mother that he won’t necessarily be asking for Rachel’s hand in marriage if he wins because he wants to take more time to get to know her. Although this has been Rachel’s only gripe with Peter thus far, Rachel’s mother gets a big smile on her face and tells Peter that his hesitation is a good thing.

At the end of the lunch, Peter sits on the floor with Rachel’s sister’s son and asks if he knows his name. The baby looks at him and says “Peter,” causing everyone in the room – and everyone at home – to melt. Rachel’s aunt interrupts and clarifies that Peter’s real name is “Winner.”

Eric Bigger is the next contestant to meet Rachel’s family. The bachelorette’s biggest hold up with Eric is that he hasn’t ever really been in a serious relationship. Rachel’s pregnant sister gets down to brass tax when she speaks with him one-on-one, telling Eric that she fears he isn’t emotionally ready to get engaged in a few weeks. By the end of the conversation, Eric convinces the sister that he is ready and totally in love with Rachel.

Later in the afternoon, Eric sits down with Rachel’s mother to ask for her permission to ask for Rachel’s hand in marriage. While Rachel’s mother is obviously weary of the whole Bachelorette process, she tells Eric that she trusts her daughter and that if Rachel wants to get married to Eric, as a mother, she will support it.

Finally, the charmer from Miami, Bryan Abasolo, goes to meet with Rachel’s family. Rachel has been smitten with Bryan from the first time they met and he has since been the clear favorite. Unlike the other two contestants, Bryan first gets to meet Rachel’s friends – the same friends that signed her up for The Bachelor last year.

He immediately charms the two friends and tells them right away that he is falling in love with Rachel and wants to marry her. While they are skeptical of his charm at first – the same way Rachel was – they trust him after a few drinks. When Rachel and Bryan leave, one her friends appears to check Bryan out from top to bottom.

Rachel’s family is far more skeptical of Bryan’s charm than her friends were. And this time, his long, scripted answers to their tough questions don’t seem to be quelling anyone’s fears. One of their biggest concerns is that Bryan has thrown around the ‘L’ word several times and they are unsure how he could possibly feel that way after such a sort amount of time. He defends himself valiantly and appears to really mean it. He too asks for permission to marry Rachel and gets the same answer Eric got.

After three successful hometowns, Rachel heads to Spain for the fantasy suite stage of the game. Eric gets the first date and takes the time to clarify his feelings for Rachel. She asks him why he is all of a sudden ready to get down on one knee after barely having a relationship past. He replies, “If there wasn’t no Rachel, there wouldn’t be this.” It’s the perfect answer and for it, Eric gets invited to the fantasy suite for a no-camera sleepover.

In the final fantasy suite segment of the week – Bryan’s will air in a later episode – Peter and Rachel finally get down to the question that has been haunting them since their last one-on-one.

Peter maintains that he isn’t ready to get down on one knee but Rachel makes an excellent point, saying, she didn’t go through this entire Bachelor/Bachelorette process to come out on the other end with a boyfriend. She wants marriage and kids and Peter does too, he only wants more time. Neither budge and the episode ends.

The conversation won’t be continued until August 8. Next Monday, The Bachelorette: Men Tell All episode will air at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.