Aiden Rodriguez has seen the Shamu show at Sea World a handful of times, but the most recent far surpassed the rest.
The 6-year-old boy's mom, Tech. Sgt. Aixa Rodriguez, returned from serving her first term in Afghanistan earlier than expected and had 5,000 people there to welcome her home.
"I thought I was picking her up from the airport on Monday, but she tricked me!" Aiden told icFlorida.
Sgt. Rodriguez was feeling nervous backstage, but after they announced her name and she started to walk toward her son, all of the nerves escaped her and she focused on giving Aiden the hug he's been waiting for.
As the tears streamed, the crowd went wild while watching the touching moment.
"We come here all the time so I know they do the military salute," Sgt. Rodriguez told the outlet. "I told my mom the plan and she said she'd make some calls. It happened and I'm so happy it did."