Growing up means coming to terms with some cold, hard facts about life: People aren't always nice, adulting is hard, and no, you can't marry your own dad. That last one came as quite a shock to 3-year-old Bella Atkinson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who pretty much had her heart set on it. But in a viral video that's recently resurfaced, the little girl is stunned when her mom breaks the news to her.
The video first popped up back in 2020
Bella's mom, Jenna Atkinson, shared a clip of it on Twitter and Instagram, where it quickly went viral.
In it, Bella cries to her mom about there only being one "Daddy Matt," as she lovingly calls her dad. But the real problem with that, she says, is that he's already off the market and was apparently snatched up by her own mom!
In an interview with 'Good Morning America,' Jenna explained how it all started
During the height of the pandemic, the Atkinsons weren't able to see much of their extended family, so little Bella started looking at photos of them hanging on the wall around the house. One of those photos, however, showed Daddy Matt all dressed up in a suit, standing next to a bride. And to her shock, that bride was her own mother.
"She said, 'You and Dad are married?'" Jenna Atkinson recalled to GMA. "I told her, 'Yes, do you think you will get married one day too?' Then, after she thought about that for a while, she got a sad look on her face and realized her dream man, Daddy Matt, was already taken and the conversation in the video is what ensued."
@GSBrownABC If your audience could use a quick smile- you should share this video of our daughter Bella realizing she won’t be able to marry daddy matt! pic.twitter.com/VkM6QdWfCx
— Jenna Atkinson (@JennaAtkinsonP5) August 26, 2020
The video shows Bella experiencing a wave of emotions
When she realizes her future husband is off the market, Bella looks stunned and then begins to cry big, hard tears.
"Who are you going to marry then?" her mother asks. Bella shouts "NOBODY!" through painful cries.
On Instagram, the video received thousands of views and hundreds of comments from people who found the whole thing adorably heartwarming.
"This is the cutest thing ever!" one person wrote.
"Her cry literally makes me cry!" someone else said. "It's so sad."
Others couldn't stop laughing over the whole thing.
"The betrayal!" one person declared.
"Momma needs to sleep with one eye open," another person joked.
Needless to say, Bella and her dad have a super-tight bond
In fact, according to Jenna, the two are pretty inseparaable.
"He teaches her about the outdoors and how to be strong and fearless, but is also always just as happy to be her favorite customer at the 'beauty parlor' to get his nails painted or give her extra kisses in a 'cuddle nest' of blankets and pillows on the couch," she told GMA. "She runs to the door every time she hears him pull in from work, and I'm not sure which one of them is more excited when he opens the door."
But as for being his one and only … well, apparently those dreams were shattered for poor little Bella.
Hopefully by now, she's come to terms with it all
At the time the clip went viral, Jenna Atkinson said her daughter might be devastated right now, but as she gets older, "it'll be an easier transition to accept she needs to find someone else to potentially marry."
That said, she thinks her husband has definitely set the bar high for any future boyfriends that may come around. But hey, that's how it should be!
