Mom Surprises Her Three Kids with Engagement News — and Their Reactions Go Viral (Exclusive)

Cassandra Rodriguez tells PEOPLE that her three kids welcomed her fiancé into the family with open arms

• Cassandra Rodriguez shared a now-viral TikTok of her kids' sweet reactions to her engagement news

• In the video, which has over 369,000 likes on the app, all three of her kids excitedly smile and hug both Rodriguez and her fiancé

• In the comments, many single parents shared their appreciation for Rodriguez's happy ending with her blended family

Cassandra Rodriguez's kids can't wait to watch their mom get her happy ending.

The Texan mom flaunted her ring for her family after her now-fiancé Patrick popped the question in April. Rodriguez filmed her three kids' first reactions to their engagement and compiled a series of heartwarming clips that caught the attention of 1.8 million viewers on TikTok.

"Looking back at their reactions just makes me tear up. This is all they've ever talked about & wanted for us," Rodriguez captioned her video.

"Before I met Patrick, I was scared that I would never find someone who would love my kids as their own."

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The TikTok begins with Rodriguez and Patrick sharing their good news with her daughter Maci, 8, and younger son Mason, 9. Realization instantly dawned on Maci, who jumped to hug her mom then wrapped her arms around Patrick. Mason grinned and followed his little sister to embrace their soon-to-be stepdad, who kissed both kids on the head.

“It’s so nice!” Maci explained after she and Mason took a second look at Rodriguez's new bling.

Her 13-year-old son Alexander had similar sweet words for the newly engaged couple.

“No way! Congratulations!" the teen said with a smile. Coincidentally, Alexander swore that he was recently thinking about his mom getting engaged. "That’s actually crazy," he said before hugging Patrick.

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Several TikTik comments nodded to Maci's excited words spoken off camera at the end of the video: “We can call him Dad now!” she said.

"I genuinely teared up at the end," one emotional comment read. Another person shared appreciation for Patrick, writing, "You know he's a good man when the teenager is excited!"

Rodriguez tells PEOPLE that her kids have welcomed Patrick into their family since the couple started dating four years ago.

"It's crazy because it's not only me that he's marrying, but it's also the kids that he had to win over as well, which it didn't take him a lot to do," the TikTok creator explains. "They have a really, really close relationship."

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Patrick is also dad to a 13-year-old daughter, who heard the news over FaceTime. Rodriguez says they celebrated with all four kids at a dinner the following week.

As she looks ahead toward her blended family's bright future together — the fiancés are planning to marry in April 2025 — Rodriguez wants her video to be a beacon of hope for other single parents watching on TikTok.

"I saw hundreds of single moms comment on there, 'I wish this happened for me,'" she tells PEOPLE. "I think this story tells what kind of hardships I have gone through as a single mother before that, so it's very important ... I was really broken down."

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Rodriguez continues, "I just hope the single mom on the other side of the screen ... [knows] they don't have to listen to whoever says, 'Oh, you have kids. Nobody's going to want you,' because that's what happened with me."

In fact, the proud mom says her eldest child, Alexander, was especially emotional in the video because he watched his mom experience the ups and downs of single motherhood.

"I don't want to say he saw me go through so many heartbreaks, but he grew up with me," Rodriguez shares. "This is just something that we had all been waiting for. We're a blended family."

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