Months ago on The Bachelor, Arie Luyendyk Jr. asked Lauren Burnham to accept his final rose. (Well, sort of.)
Now, Arie Luyendyk Jr. has asked Lauren Burnham to accept something else:
His DNA! In the form of a life growing inside of Burnham’s womb!
That’s right, folks, Arie and Lauren are expecting a child together!
The reality stars confirmed this blessed piece of news themselves to Us Weekly, with Lauren telling the tabloid for its latest issue:
“I kind of had a feeling that I might be pregnant. So my friend insisted on bringing a pregnancy test over.
“Arie came out with the test in his hand and tears in his eyes. He was like, ‘You’re pregnant!’”
This is both very exciting for Arie and Lauren and also very surprising: few couples that meet and fall in love on The Bachelor remain together, let alone procreate together.
But perhaps drama is somehow the key to happiness.
Jason Mesnick and Molly Mesnick had a baby and are very happily married to this day… after the latter dumped the woman he chose on his season’s finale and asked Molly out on the After the Rose special.
Similarly, Luyendyk Jr. and Burnham were at the center of a controversial story line on Season 20.
After Arie proposed to Becca Kufrin on his finale, he visited her several weeks later and – in front of an ABC cameraman – broke up with her in favor of Burnham.
The pair got engaged on the After the Final Rose special in March of 2016 and are set to exchange vows in January of 2019 in Hawaii.
“I’ve made some bad decisions but the best decision was running back to you,” Arie told Lauren during the proposal, adding:
“I can’t imagine a life without you. … I truly believe you are my soulmate. I’m ready to face this life with you and all that comes with it. The good, and the bad. I love you so much.”
Very sweet words, no doubt.
They were just clouded a bit at the time by the fact that Arie had only recently proposed to Becca before doing the same with Lauren.
(Becca, of course, went on to become The Bachelorette and is currently engaged herself, waiting to have a baby. So everyone has ended up happy here!)
Said Burnham ths summer during a visit to The View, in regard to an eventual marriage:
“We’re just really happy with each other, and we vibe well together. We’re best friends, so we’re just ready for that next step.”
Speaking to Us Weekly, meanwhile, Arie confirmed that he and Lauren weren’t really thinking of starting a family just yet. But these things happen sometimes.
“We weren’t trying, but we are so excited. It’s going to be a whole new chapter in our lives,” he said.
And the guy is clearly in love.
This is what he wrote on Instagram last week, as a caption to a photo of himself and Lauren:
I can’t sleep… the house is quiet, you’re next to me. I can hear your soft breath and I wonder what you’re dreaming about.
I closed my eyes tonight and our future played like a beautiful romance with flashes of our wedding, travels, our children and a house full of friends, family and love.
I woke up and you were wrapped in my arms, our pups on the floor next to us.
Now I lay awake wanting to fast forward our lives but in the same breath push pause and not let these eyes close for too long because this is what true love feels like.