作者完全没有料到奥巴马会以这种方式来向她求婚。惊奇之余，她还是觉得这幸福来得太突然了，完全出乎她的意料。下面这一段是求婚的描述。

Barack looked at me playfully. He’d baited me. It had all been a ruse. It took me a second to dismantle my anger and slide into joyful shock.

巴拉克一脸坏笑地看着我。原来这一切都是他早已预谋好的。我心头的怒气转眼间化为惊喜。

He’d riled me up because this was the last time he would invoke his insane argument, ever again, as long as we both should live.

他之所以要设下这个圈套让我生气，是因为这是他最后一次在我们二个有生之年，发表关于婚姻的谬论。

The case was closed and he dropped to one knee then and with an en emotional hutch in his voice asked sincerely if I’d please do him the honor of marrying him.

有关婚姻的辩论终于落幕了。他单膝跪下，含着一丝激动，问我是否愿意嫁给他。

Later, I’d learned that he’d already gone to both my mother and my brother to ask for their approval ahead of time. When I said yes, it seemed that every person in the whole restaurant started to clap.

后来我知道他己经事先到过我们家，请求我母亲和哥哥的首肯让我嫁给他。当我说我愿意的时候，我感觉好像餐厅里的每一个人都为我们鼓掌。