Middletown Teens Ask Stepmom To Adopt Them In Viral Video

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Rebecca Ruvolo, 37, of Middletown had no idea what her stepdaughters were going to ask her on Mother's Day.

Nine years ago, Becky married the girls' father, Pete Ruvolo. He was divorced and had twin daughters, Gabriella and Julianna, who were eight years old when the couple started dating, and 12 when they married.

Becky has always thought of herself as the girls' mother; in fact, the blended family never even used the term "stepmom" or "stepdaughters."

"They've just always been my daughters and I've always been their Mom. They called me Mom right from the start; it happened very naturally," said Becky.

Still, she was stunned when, this past Mother's Day, the twin girls, now 20, presented her with a beautiful photo album filled with pictures of the three of them over the past 12 years. On the last page, there was a question:

"They wrote a letter to me and it said, 'We have one last question to ask you: 'Mom, will you adopt us?' shared Becky.

Becky burst into tears and of course, said yes. One of the girls uploaded a video of the moment to TikTok, where it's been viewed an incredible 5.2 million times. The video was then shared to Instagram, where it was viewed 7.9 million additional times. The family has since been interviewed on "Good Morning, America," and featured in USA Today and People magazine.

Watch the video:

The heartwarming moment was captured by Dad Pete, whose daughters had told him beforehand they planned to ask Becky to formally adopt them.

"I'm just so proud of my girls," said Pete. Both his daughters recently graduated from Middletown High School North.

"Like we said, she's always been their mom, but it was just so important to them that she legally be their mother."

Becky and Pete met when she was 26 and he was 38. He was a single divorced dad who had custody of two little girls, twins, then 8 years old. At the time, Pete owned now-closed Ruvolo's Pizza in Atlantic Highlands and Becky, then going by her maiden name Becky Cannon, was the Coca-Cola sales rep assigned to his store.

Pete and Becky started talking, one thing led to another and soon she was meeting his two young daughters.

"I was so nervous about that first meeting," shared Pete. "As any parent, you just want it to go perfectly; you really want them all to get along. And they did, right from the start. It just happened so naturally."

Becky acknowledged that not all 26-year-old women would embrace a man with two young children.

"I was definitely a little intimidated," she recalled. "I didn't know what to expect; I thought Oh, maybe he has them Wednesday nights and every other weekend or something. But here was the man I was falling in love with, doing the job of both full-time Dad and full-time Mom."

"It helps that I've always loved children and I've always been an old soul," she said. "It was like, right from the start, I had an instant family. It was wonderful."

The couple purchased their Middletown home in 2011; Becky and Pete had two more children, boys Carmine, 7, and Salvatore, 3.

Pete and Becky both said the best part is seeing how their story is helping people.

"I've gotten so many private messages, including from one woman in Colorado who wrote to me and said I'm a stepmom, I'm married to a man with kids, I need your advice, please help," said Becky. "I just talked to her for half an hour Friday on FaceTime. She offered to pay me for my advice! I told her, no I'm just a real human being like you. Parenting is hard and I wish I had magic formula that could solve everything."

"What's really been the best in all this is seeing how we can help people," agreed Pete. "The comments on the video are like, you guys are an inspiration, thank you for sharing. There are so many divorced families out there. I am happy we can show people that blended families really can happen, and love really does exist."

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