A 10-year-old planned a beautiful surprise for his stepmom on her wedding day – heading to the altar and asking if he could call her “mom” for the first time.
Kristen Schultz, 34, had been in Levi’s life since he was six and had never pushed for the title, but Levi decided it for himself and set the whole thing up behind her back with his dad.
The wedding was on June 27 at Riversedge in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, and Kristen had just finished exchanging vows with Dereck Schultz, 34, when Levi stepped forward and asked to speak.
Expecting a few words, she instead heard him tell her she had “showed up not once but over and over again,” before he went through it beat by beat: the times she had helped him when he was upset, checked on him, cared for him, made him feel safe.
Then he asked her: “I’ve wanted to say, but it’s hard because it means a lot to me, would it be okay if I started calling you Mom?”
Kristen sobbed through the rest of the speech before crossing the altar to pull him into a hug, while beside her Dereck stood wiping his own eyes.
“I was completely speechless,” she tells HappilyNews. “I immediately started crying because I had never expected him to ask me something so meaningful.”
Dereck and Kristen have known each other since they were kids, and were each other’s first love in middle school before life pulled them in different directions.
Both went through previous marriages and had children of their own before finding their way back to each other about four years ago, a reunion that meant blending two households into one.
Kristen brought Kaden, 15, and Aubrey, 9, while Dereck brought Levi and his little sister Sophia, 5, with birthdays, holidays, vacations, school events and sports slowly turning four kids into one family.
Through all of it, Kristen never asked for anything in return.
“I never wanted to force a title or replace anyone,” she says. “I just wanted him to know he was loved.”
The speech was entirely Levi’s idea, and he went to his dad privately before the wedding to ask if he could say something to Kristen during the ceremony.
Dereck knew exactly what it would mean, said yes, and helped keep it quiet, leaving Kristen with no idea it was coming until her stepson was standing in front of her.
She has since called it one of the greatest honors she has ever received, made more meaningful by the fact that Levi chose it himself.
“It wasn’t just a word, it represented years of trust, love, and the relationship we had built together,” she says.
Footage of the moment has travelled far past the guest list, drawing thousands of comments, most of them from strangers with no connection to the family at all.
“So many people have shared that our story brought them to tears or reminded them of the importance of love, family, and showing up for the people in your life,” Kristen says.
She hopes it lands hardest with one particular group of readers.
“If our story encourages even one stepparent to keep loving a child without expecting anything in return, or helps one child feel more comfortable opening their heart to someone who genuinely loves them, then sharing this moment has been worth it.”
Levi, for his part, had already explained his reasoning in the same breath as the question.
“That’s the only word that fits.”
