Right out of college if you would’ve asked me if I would date someone with a child I would have told you no. I didn’t want any parts of having to be in any mess or drama that society portrays life to be when dating someone with a child. I was very closed off to even entertaining the idea, to be honest.
My husband and I went to High school and college together. He started at another University and ended up transferring to my school. Having a class together is the start of our real friendship. We went to labs and did work together which eventually led to us exchanging information. At the time we didn’t hang out outside of doing our classwork. Now fast forward to a couple of years or so later and we are both in our first year of teaching. We worked for rival districts so we would see each other in passing and would talk from time to time but nothing major. Our second year of teaching is when things really shifted.

One day he asked me to go to brunch with him and initially I was hesitant. He had a child in college after we had that class together so I wasn’t sure I wanted to even set myself up to like him more than a friend by going on a date. Well despite my reservations I decided to go and it was a great time. After that date, we would talk and hang out for several months before we even brought up seriously dating. Now if you ask him he would tell you I initiated the relationship conversation but that’s false. I have receipts that say otherwise. After being reassured by him that I wasn’t walking into a drama-filled situation I was starting to consider dating. Meeting Bray and creating a bond with him sealed the deal.

Over the years we have created so many memories together and I feel so blessed to have him in my life. From the beginning, integrating Bray into my daily life was a smooth transition. He’s such a smart, loving, and hilarious little boy so it was easy to want him to be apart of my life. The day I met him he was just this chunky little baby hanging on to his daddy jumping around. I was introduced to him as “Ms. Nikki” and we played around for about an hour. After that day; we had a few playdates when I had my nephew and Darius would bring him by to swim at my apartments all the time. I remember the day I knew he remembered who I was. We were at the park and he and Darius walked up and he tried to say my name but it came out all wrong. He combined “Ms” and Nikki” and that eventually became Mickey. That’s been my name ever since. Now that he can read he knows that is not my name but he still calls me it anyways and I don’t mind at all. I love the bond that we share and I am thankful to be apart of his life. I never knew the impact he would play on my life but I’ve learned so much about myself being his stepmom. He showed me that I could be a mother. He showed me that I have more love to give than I ever knew.

I truly believe God places us in positions for a reason. I never thought I would even be in this role but here I am doing it and thriving. I take great pride in being in Bray’s village. He deserves all the love and support he can get. Being a stepmom isn’t for the weak … mentally or emotionally. I knew starting this journey could and probably would be hard from day one but I stepped in anyway. So on good days, rough days, and whatever falls in between I’ll push through. My husband is worth it. My stepson is worth it. My family is worth it. I’m so glad I took a chance on my husband because I got a great 2 for 1 deal. It’s been an interesting journey so far but I look forward to watching what the future holds for us. I’m optimistic that things will continue to grow and develop organically in our family. I almost missed my blessing being closed-minded but God knew better.