This week on "The Bachelor," Ben took the remaining six girls to his hometown of Warsaw, Ind., and for the first time since the beginning, we saw Ben genuinely light up. The stress of dating multiple women has finally gotten to him, making him increasingly emotional.

His first line of business was to meet up for lunch with his parents. Ben filled his parents in on all of the girls and the major points of his emotional week. Hopefully he can keep it together for the next few weeks!

The date format switched up a bit this week, with three solo dates and one group date. Lauren B. went on the first solo date with Ben, and she went into it feeling very uneasy. After Leah’s conniving plot to get rid of Lauren, Ben wondered if Lauren was being as genuine as she appeared to be. We saw that his reservations were short-lived, however, once he whisked Lauren away.

They cruised through Warsaw in a red, classic Ford pickup truck, driving around to see his church, high school and even the former movie theater turned hotel where he experienced his first kiss. The way he looked at her as they traveled along gave me the feels, and the "awws" began.

They made their way to the Baker Youth Club, a place that helped Ben become the man he is today. Ben played ball with the boys as Lauren played jump rope with the girls – gosh, they’re so perfect and wholesome! The best part wasn’t even when Indiana Pacers George Hill and Paul George came to visit (a point at which I got a serious case of the googly eyes); it was the moment when Ben comforted a crying little boy. Ben handled him with such compassion and eventually got him to join the group. Awww, he’s going to be such a great dad!

Lauren was also a huge hit with the kids, and they all thought that Ben would choose Lauren and marry her. I don’t know; with the chemistry they’ve had since the beginning, they may very well end up together!

After they left the youth club, Lauren brought up last week’s antics. She expressed her feelings of helplessness in the Leah situation, and Ben helped to ease her worries by letting her know that he absolutely trusts her. Guys, this is big. I don’t know about the rest of you, but fully trusting someone after seven weeks – while entertaining multiple other women – seems like a difficult feat. Ben brought Lauren along to his favorite local dive bar, where she was able to hang with those close to Ben. By the end of the night, Lauren said that she wasn’t in love with Ben the Bachelor, but Ben from Indiana (cue more "awws").

The next solo date arrived, and Jojo was surprised with a wonderful day in my beloved Chicago. I wasn’t sure how this date would go because Jojo said earlier that Lauren’s connection with Ben makes her want to put her guard up. How could you blame her? You’re seriously falling for a guy, yet you have to watch him swooning over another woman; what woman wouldn’t put her guard up?

Luckily, Jojo didn’t let her worries get in the way of their magical date at Wrigley Field. Ben is a HUGE Cubs fan, and I know this because he said it like three times. I hope Jojo isn’t a Sox fan! Either way, Ben says that he is most himself with Jojo than with any of the other women. In my opinion, Ben feeling himself around Jojo is most important. I would personally want to be betrothed to someone who will always accept all the parts of me, no matter how quirky, emotional or whatever else I might be. Thank God this isn’t about me because I couldn’t handle this polyamorous love game.

Amanda, Caila and Becca went on a group date with Ben, and man, was it awkward. Tension is high now that it’s getting down to the wire, and jealousy is growing. He spent some time with each woman and gave them a chance to really prove themselves, for only one of them would get the group date rose. Amanda made the biggest impression on Ben, allowing her to get the rose and leave the other girls behind for a solo date. Ben said that it feels right to be around Amanda, and he’s very confident to meet her kids. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes; not everyone is fit to take on someone else’s kids.

The last solo date went to Emily, and I wasn’t impressed. I don’t see a connection between Emily and Ben. Do they even share anything in common? Apparently the other women share my concerns about Emily because most of them don’t see Emily in a mature relationship with Ben. Caila even went so far as to describe Emily as a "bright-eyed puppy" due to her ripe age of 23.

Emily kind of lived up to the title as she went with Ben to spend the afternoon with his parents. Ben’s mom took Emily for a private talk to gain a sense of who she was, and Emily bombed the conversation. Emily rambled on and on about herself and all that she wants to do, quickly revealing how unprepared she was to get married. This girl has way too much to see, accomplish and learn before she’ll be ready for marriage. There was one point when I thought Ben’s mom was going to cry because she realized how unready Emily was!

Ben’s mom looked slightly horrified the whole time and let Ben know that she thinks Emily is a bit young for Ben right now, and I completely agree. Ben brought her back to the house, sat her down on the deck overlooking the lake and told her that he doesn’t see marriage as a next step for them.

Rose night arrived and Ben was having difficulty figuring out which woman he would send home this week. He ultimately felt like his relationship with one girl didn’t grow like it should’ve. That woman was Becca, and she was blindsided by Ben’s decision. She asked him why he let her go, and he told her that his uncertainty about her didn’t seem fair to her. They both would rather him let her go now rather than later if he was uncertain.

Do you think that he blindsided her? I feel like anytime he lets someone go at this point could feel like being blindsided, but Ben’s gotta do what Ben’s gotta do! We’ll see how it goes when Ben meets the remaining four women’s families – and trust me, it’s going to be juicy!