Man has the most tear-jerking reaction as his stepdaughter calls him 'Dad' for the first time

It's usually hard for a stepparent to form a deep and delicate bond with the kids of their partners. They have to take each step with care and utter each word with the thought that it shouldn’t hurt the child who is still trying to adapt to their new reality. However, it is not impossible. It may take some time but things will eventually fall into place and the child’s heart will start gelling up with the stepparent. The same happened with Shane (@SHANELIANAloyal), the stepfather of a daughter who suddenly called him “dad” one day. Tears rolled down his eyes as soon as he heard the three-letter word he had been waiting to hear for so long.

Shane and his wife Liana are young entrepreneurs located in New York City. They have two beautiful daughters. The oldest goes by the name London and the youngest, Scarlett. On their YouTube channel, they mostly post vlogs about challenges, motivation, pranks, and cooking, but in August 2020, they decided to share a more intimate moment of their life with the world. In the video that has since then amassed nearly 20 million views, Liana wrote, “My 8-year-old daughter called my husband ‘dad’ for the first time!”

The 19-minute video shows the “Loyal family” sitting inside a car with Shane in the driver’s seat, Liana alongside him, and 8-year-old London at the back. In a casual conversation, London suddenly mumbles, “Hi Dad, how was your day?” With the steering wheel still in his hands, Shane looks back, nearly shocked. After a little pause, he says, “Did you call me ‘dad’?” He gazes through the side window, looking choked with emotion.

“My heart doesn’t know she called me dad,” he says, his voice trembling. London tells him she has been wanting to call him dad for a long time. Shane folds his arms across his chest, holds his head, clasps his jaw, and looks almost at the edge of tears. Then he turns back, and tells London, “You just made my day the happiest day ever.”

He continues by telling London how much he loves her. “I love you,” he says, to which London replies with a chirp, “I love you more.” Shane extends his arms and tells London to hug him. She unbuckles her seat belt and jumps forward to embrace her stepdad. “Don’t worry about anything, okay,” he tells her, “I know your daddy was not around.” He says he feels blessed, and reassures London that nobody will force her to call him dad. But he feels surprised to hear that word from her. “I am your dad,” he asserts lovingly. The video transitioned into a montage of snapshots and small clips of Shane and his daughter sharing some beautiful dad-daughter moments.

Revealing the backstory, London says in the video that she deliberately planned to surprise Shane by calling him “dad” and Liana knew about the plan already. They wanted to capture Shane’s reaction. She described that she has a complex story. She met her stepdad when she was 2 years old while she met her biological dad when she was five. This is because her biological father was in jail for the first five years of her life. Before she could get to know him, he disappeared from the family again.

The heartwarming clip made over 33,000 people in the comment section to weep happy tears and share some amazing insights on the father-daughter relationship. @aehudg commented, “I think this child is being raised right and by good people.” @roselyrics560 shared their own experience, “The first time I called my stepdad ‘dad’ he started crying and that was the happiest day of my life.”

Many people praised Shane for parenting a child, so lovingly, a child who is not his own. @jayforrester2163 said, “Only a real man can be a dad to another man’s child. Much respect for this guy. This is what a grown man looks like. He is the man.”