Grab A Tissue: Mom-To-Be Honors Late Husband In Heartbreaking Maternity Photos

A mom-to-be honors her late husband after he passed away two months before her due date

Losing the love of your life just two months before you’re expected to deliver your second child is a heartbreaking situation no woman expects to find herself in. Despite the awful circumstances, a Mississippi mother found a way to honor her late husband by including him in a series of stunning maternity photos.

Nicole Bennett had split from husband Deonta in 2015, but the couple had reunited and were working things out. She was pregnant with their second child when Deonta passed away unexpectedly in January. The couple had already talked about the maternity shoot that she ultimately had to do without him. “We discussed the photo shoot prior to his death … our first son was born at 32 weeks. He was early, so we didn’t have that opportunity,” Bennett told KSWO.

Having a photo that included all four members of their family was important to Bennett, who wanted to honor her late husband and preserve memories of him for their children. “I wanted to do something special because he’s been there for my son since day one,” Bennett said. Their son Landen was only 4-years-old when his father passed away and their daughter, London, is expected to arrive in late March. “Memories for the kids, that’s all that matter at the end of the day,” she said. Bennett worked with photographer Sidney Conley, who digitally added Deonta to all of the images using older photos of him. The photos are in color, and the sections of Deonta added to the overall image are black and white, and together they create a moving visual tribute. “Honestly, I just wanted to make Nicole happy, I wanted her to look at the images and drop her jaw,” Conley said.

The results were photographs that impressed thousands of people. The photos were shared on Facebook and quickly amassed more than 100,000 shares from across the world. Bennett said the national attention was completely unexpected and flattering. More importantly, she’s happy she has photos of her late husband that their kids can cherish forever.

Death is tough for young children to understand, but Bennett found a way to help her young son process this painful and sudden change in his life. And the 4-year-old loves the photos. “He was like, ‘Mom, how did you put Daddy in the pictures?’ And I was like, well, he’s an angel now, so we had an angel added to our photos,” Bennett said.