A stepdad couldn’t fight back his tears when his stepdaughter held up a sign asking if he would become her “dad forever” and adopt her at his wedding to her mom.
For Erin and Matt Maples, their wedding day at 4 Points Farm in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, started like any other – but Erin’s daughter Kylie, aged 12, had a special surprise in store for stepfather Matt.
Matt has been the father figure in Kylie’s life in recent years, and the pair grew close over their love of the ocean, creeks and rivers – with Matt always showing up for her basketball games and school events.
A couple of years ago, he mentioned to Erin that he’d love to be Kylie’s dad, and after she spoke with the youngster to ask if she would like that, Kylie, of course, said yes.
Erin knew their wedding would be the most special moment for Kylie to ask Matt to adopt her, so she spoke to their officiant, who told her he would announce the ceremony.
After the new couple kissed, the officiant asked everyone in attendance to hold tight for a big surprise, and Kylie walked up to Matt, who was holding a sign.
As she showed him the sign reading, ‘You didn’t give me life, life gave me you. Thank you for always loving me as your own, but I have a question…’ She flipped it to finally reveal the question, ‘Will you be my dad forever?’
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Matt’s eyes immediately welled up with tears before going in for an emotional hug with Kylie.
Mom Erin said: “Matt made sure to show up for Kylie’s basketball games, school events, birthday and holidays. Matt always shows up, and about two years ago, Matt had mentioned he would love to be Kylie’s dad.
“We talked about Matt adopting Kylie one day, and I talked with her to see if that were something she would be interested in – and of course, she said yes.
“So, we Googled some sweet ideas, and Kylie made her poster asking Matt to be her dad forever.
“I asked Matt’s son Brayden and daughter Adilynne if they would be okay with their dad adopting Kylie, and they both said yes.
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“Our closest family and friends attended the wedding, so I knew then would be the most memorable moment for Kylie, when she would ask Matt to be her forever father and adopt her.
“Our officiant and I had spoken about when to make this special moment happen. So, it was after we kissed that the officiant let everyone know to hold tight for a surprise.
“I already knew Matt would say yes, but my heart melted when tears came from Matt’s face and the shock of this happening at the wedding.
“I honestly feel our story will help encourage other children and even adults to speak up and ask to be their forever parent no matter what age you are.
“Our next step in the adoption process is to save money and get a lawyer as adoptions are not cheap.
“My daughters Karlie and Karoline asked when Father’s Day was and I said how come? Kylie said ‘this year I’ll actually have a father’ which absolutely melted my heart and brought tears to my eyes.”