Joy-Anna Duggar’s wedding has finally arrived on Counting On! We know … the courtship and engagement felt like an absolute eternity.
At last, the wait is over. After weeks of courting, regularly breaking courtship rules and maybe getting pregnant out of wedlock, it’s official!
We kid … probably. But when Counting On Season 5 Episode 6 got underway, it was hard not to see it through the lens of those rumors.
In one scene, we actually saw Joy-Anna Duggar and Austin Forsyth break courtship rules … or at least longstanding wedding tradition.
By choosing to see one another earlier on their wedding day before she walked down the aisle, Austin and Joy did this thing their way.
Which has to make you wonder:
Is it possible that Forsyth seeing Duggar in her wedding dress before the ceremony indicates that they did other things their way, too?
Given that they (allegedly) moved their wedding from October to May, then announced a pregnancy 12 weeks later … we’re just saying.
In the scene in question, Forsyth stood at the altar a few hours before the wedding, as Joy walks in and asks if he’s going to look at her.
He replied that he didn’t know if he could … but then he did just that, smiling at his 19-year-old bride as the two exchanged “I love yous.”
“So beautiful. You smell so good, too,” he says.
“You’re the most prettiest bride ever.”
Absolutely cringe-worthy.
Shotgun wedding or not, the two appear certainly appeared happy and in love as they prepared to exchange vows and make it official.
He then presented her with a box filled with flowers he had given her throughout their relationship along with a handwritten love letter.
“Getting to spend time with you is my favorite thing. You are fun, enthusiastic, adventurous and always willing to try new things,” he wrote.
“I love you with all my heart and can’t wait to grow deeper in love with you,” the 23-year-old told his future wife and lifelong friend.
Of course, after their wedding at Cross Church in Rogers, Arkansas, and a honeymoon in Geneva, Switzerland, came the big news:
Joy-Anna is expecting their first child!
Speculation that Joy got pregnant before marriage has swirled ever since, with many observers saying she “looks” 24-26 weeks pregnant.
Obviously, the ultra-conservative Duggar family made a name for itself in large part because of its views on courtship, dating and marriage.
What might be semantics to most couples would not be in this case, as premarital sex is beyond forbidden by her family – and by his.
Suffice it to say, eyes will continue to be on the couple as they get closer to their delivery date, which may provide the answer we all seek.
If she gives birth 38, 39, 40 weeks after her wedding, well, discussing these rumors will look pretty silly at the end of the day.
But if it’s significantly sooner?