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October 15, 2025

Man proposes with the help of newborn's onesie

WATCH: New dad proposes in hospital with help from newborn’s special onesie

It was a marriage proposal written in the stars… or at least on a onesie.

Shortly after Challis Bell gave birth on Oct. 10 to her baby boy Ace at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois, her partner Denzel Kimbrough took the opportunity to ask a big question, with Ace helping to share the message.

In footage of the proposal, after nurses dress Ace in his first outfit, Kimbrough walks to Bell's bedside and kneels down on one knee, as a nurse presents Ace to his mother.

Printed on Ace's onesie is the question, "Mommy, will you marry Daddy?"

Bell appears confused at first as she reads Ace's onesie, then looks at the camera before noticing Kimbrough knelt beside her, holding a ring.

"Oh my god, yes," she says after Kimbrough proposes and slips the ring on her finger, a nurse placing Ace in her arms moments later.

Kimbrough, 30, told Advocate Christ Medical Center -- which shared the couple's story with ABC News -- that he had known for a while he wanted to propose, after he and Bell, 28, reconnected three years ago.

Kimbrough and Bell first met while they were students in high school in the Chicago area. They lost touch after Kimbrough and his family moved away, but they met up again after mutual friends reintroduced them, and they soon became a couple.

"Since she came back into my life, I knew I wanted to marry her," Kimbrough said.

Kimbrough said he enlisted the help of nurses at the hospital to successfully pull off the surprise proposal.

"I looked over and he was on one knee," Bell told Advocate Christ Medical Center afterward. "I was shocked."

The couple is now happily home in Beverly, Illinois, with baby Ace officially making them a family of three.

The couple added that they are thankful for the hospital's care and going above and beyond for their engagement.