Woman joins forces with husband's ex to reunite him with his 10-year-old daughter who had moved away

Receiving acceptance and love from a stepparent can mean the world to both the child and the parent. People express love in unique ways, and one dad was overjoyed when his wife planned a special Thanksgiving surprise involving his daughter. The thoughtful gesture, made with the help of the girl’s mother, left him stunned and thrilled. Stepmom Nikki Rollins, known as @nikki3886 on TikTok, shared the heartwarming moment online.

"I need you to get something out of the front seat," Rollins told her husband as he approached the car. When he opened the door, he was stunned to find his daughter inside. "What the..." he exclaimed, followed by "Oh my god!" as he lifted her into his arms and hugged her tightly. He held her for a long time as his wife called out, "Surprise!" from behind. The heartwarming video, which received over 381k views and more than 63k likes, was captioned: "When you get the chance to surprise your husband with his daughter, you make it happen. My stepdaughter lives in North Carolina and we live in Florida."

"This was a last-minute thing for her to come down for Thanksgiving and her mom and I worked together and made it happen," the caption concluded. "My stepdaughter Aleeah moved to North Carolina a few years ago from Florida," the woman told Newsweek. "It was the best thing to do for her mom and her family at the time and even though it's not ideal and it's very difficult to be away, we understood the reasons and we always said that we would make it work." She continued, "We have always made it a priority that we do visits throughout the year, either with her coming down here or us going up there. My husband Andrew is an amazing father and has always felt like he has done what is best for his daughter and we have a wonderful relationship with her mom and when we visit, we normally stay with her and the rest of her family."

People flooded the comments section of the video, expressing their awe and admiration over the heartwarming surprise. @crash wrote, "My favorite part is the fact that you and her Mom worked together on the surprise. Dammit, that’s the way it’s supposed to work!" @workinwithpurpose commented, "How he just reached out to pick her little big self up and she hopped right in her daddy’s arms. So Precious. Happy Holidays."

@brickhouseman23 remarked, "When your husband says 'There's a dog in there' and you say no... a dog barks... somewhere in your area as if to say, 'No, I'm right here' and to me, that's the funniest part." @princessjade7777 shared, "We are going to assume you have surprised him with a dog before because why is that the first thing he said, this is beautiful." @shortstach30612 expressed, "I love how he went right in to pick her up like his little girl again while being mindful of his hand placement because she's not a little girl anymore. I'd kill to be able to hug my dad, so precious."

You can follow Nikki Rollins (@nikki3886) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.