Bringing Up Bates"The Best is Yet to Come"
- Tori, Carlin, and Josie are getting ready for a triple date with their guys. “It takes Tori, Carlin, and Josie about, probably two years to get ready,” says Callie.
- When Bobby, Evan, and Kelton arrive, they present their ladies with flowers, and then the three couples head into downtown Knoxville. “Kelton has lived here in Knoxville for quite some time, so he kind of knows all the cool places around here, and we’ve not really gotten around as much,” says Josie.
- Do the three couples have a chaperone? Gil and Kelly say they are chaperoning themselves and that they trust them to do the right thing. “Our goal is to help them be safe and happy in the long run, but really it’s got to be in their heart to want it as well, and I really do think it is,” says Kelly.
- “If I didn’t trust that they all had the right heart motive about it, they probably wouldn’t be going on a triple date at all, or any date,” says Gil.
- The guys, who are all 22 years old, take the girls to Blue Coast Grill and Bar for a meal.
- Throughout the day, Evan and Kelton are jokingly asking when Bobby plans to propose. He laughs it off, but in all seriousness, he actually does have the ring with him. He shows it to Kelton and explains that he told the Bates to be ready in case he decides to get down on one knee during the triple date.
- After the meal, the couples walk around the shops at Market Square, and then photographer and family-friend Taryn Yager pops out of nowhere to do a mini photoshoot. “I see Taryn, and I’m thinking, ‘Who in the world would invite a photographer unless something big was about to happen?’” says Tori.
- Bobby ends up deciding that the setting isn’t intimate enough for a proposal.
- Later, Bobby holds a meeting with Gil and Kelly to discuss the big day. Bobby and Kelly are ready for it to happen, while Gil jokingly says that he’s in no hurry and would be completely fine if Bobby waited another year.
- To clear his mind, Bobby hits up the disc golf course with Kelton after the conversation.
- Back at the house, Tori, Carlin, and Josie sit down to study, but the topic quickly turns to engagement. Carlin says she thinks Josie and Kelton could easily get married before she and Evan do. “No,” says Josie. “We’re going to take it slow. I’m so young.”
- In an interview, Lawson, Whitney, and Zach discuss the increasing complexity of Bates proposals and the fact that the bar is always being set higher. “Some of the proposals are more proposing to the family,” says Zach. “They’re coming anyways. You’re not going to shake them free. Evan a bad proposal isn’t going to run this family off.”
- On the day of the proposal, Bobby shows up at Crown College with his parents to surprise Tori. The surprise is successful, and Erin and Carlin pull Tori into a room to do her hair and makeup.
- Tori, Bobby, and Bobby’s parents jump into a convertible and head across the state line into North Carolina. Meanwhile, Gil and Kelly are picking up food at Louise’s Kitchen in Black Mountain. They set up a picnic at beautiful Linville Falls and wait for everyone else to arrive.
- After lunch, Gil and Kelly go on ahead to Wiseman’s View, where they set up rose pedals, candles, and flowers. Tori, Bobby, and Bobby’s parents arrive, and Bobby’s mom sneaks ahead to place the ring next to the flowers.
- Tori starts seeing the rose pedals on the ground, as she and Bobby walk down the steps to the overlook. “Every step down that trail, we’re getting closer and closer, and my heart’s beating faster and faster,” says Bobby.
- They make it to the spot of the proposal, but it takes Bobby a few moments to locate the ring. When he does, he grabs Tori’s hands and tells her how much he loves her. “Life is really short, and it goes by so fast, but I know I want to spend mine with you. Life is going to fly by, and we have so much to look forward to afterwards, but as long as we’re here on this earth, as long as God allows, I want you to be my wife. I want you to be the woman that I spend my entire life with. Tori Layne, will you marry me?”
- “It’s so pretty,” whispers Tori when she sees the ring. “I mean, yes of course! Oh my goodness, I love you.” The two hug, and the parents cheer from a distance before coming over to congratulate the couple.
- Tori exclaims how weird she looks with a ring, so Gil jokes that he's going to take it off and let her wait a few more years.
- “It was an absolute perfect day, and I could not have asked for anything better,” says Tori.