It's rare to find genuine friendships in showbiz, let alone with someone who is your ex-boyfriend's wife, but actress Jennylyn Mercado and homemaker/blogger Nikka Garcia prove that it is possible.
Back in December 2014, Jennylyn shared their first family photo at her house, which was taken during their little Christmas gathering.
“I just didn’t know my place. I didn’t know how to act."
Nikka recalled their first meeting in a lengthy and heartfelt blog post entitled A Boy After My Heart, the mom of two opened up about her insecurities over her husband Patrick Garcia and Jennylyn's past as well as becoming a stepmom and its accompanying struggles.
“Knowing that he has a son whom he adores with someone he used to love, not to mention, a very good-looking person… brought about the feeling of INSECURITY in me,” admitted Nikka.
"There would be debates in my head (probably the entire trip to her house) whether I should go down or stay in the car," she recalled. “I just didn’t know my place. I didn’t know how to act. I remember clearly the times that Pat and I would meet up after he would visit Jazz. BOY… his smile and his kwentos… he made me forget all my insecurities."
Next page: More on Jennylyn and Nikka's co-parenting journey
"I knew that I was not only going to have to learn how to have a relationship with Jazz, my husband’s son, but I would eventually have to have some kind of relationship my fiance’s former girlfriend, the mother of his child."
Despite the excitement of her engagement and upcoming wedding, something nagged at Nikka, a need she had to fulfill before walking down the aisle.
"I have nothing but respect for Jen because she is the mom of Jazz..."
"As happy as I was, the thought of being a stepmom lingered in my mind. I tried to ignore it as much as I could by wallowing in the excitement of marrying the love of my life," she recalled in her post. "But I knew… this was something I will have to face sooner or later. And so I silently prayed. Every single night I prayed,” Nikka admitted. “No matter how sanay I was with our routine, this was going to be a little bit different now."
“I knew that I was not only going to have to learn how to have a relationship with Jazz, my husband’s son, but I would eventually have to have some kind of relationship my fiance’s former girlfriend, the mother of his child,” continued Nikka.
"I have nothing but respect for Jen because she is the mom of Jazz," wrote Nikka. "I know my place in Jazz’s life. I am and always will be his Tita Nikka who loves and cares for him genuinely."
Patrick, in response to his wife's blog post, took to Instagram to share a photo of them on their wedding day, writing in the caption that she should never have felt insecure.
"I just want to let you know that you are kind, smart, loving, wise, nice, gorgeous, beautiful and sexy inside and out," gushed Patrick in the caption. "Oh my love I'm telling you there was no reason to be insecure in the first place.. You are the best for me! I love you."
Nikka and Patrick exchanged I do's on March 2015. They now have two daughters--Chelsea, 3 and Patrice, 11 months--who pay regular visits to their kuya Jazz.
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