Remember how Nicola seemed certain that his family would reject Meisha?
Meisha was all nerves when it came to meeting them.
On Season 6, Episode 13 of 90 Day Fiance: Before The 90 Days, he finally told them about their relationship.
Their reaction has Meisha questioning how Nicola really feels about her.
Meisha Johnson and Nicola Kanaan
The two are supposed to be doing their big relationship reveal to his immediate family — his mother and two brothers. Instead, Nicola.exe has stopped functioning. Meisha feels deeply uncomfortable. Nicola seems to be as physically distant from her as he can manage on that tiny sofa, and he has frozen up.
Finally, Nicola shares everything
He describes their online relationship, how it turned romantic. Nicola tells his brothers about his hopes to become engaged to Meisha. There’s just one little thing — Nicola says all of this in English. His brothers can understand every word, but his mother cannot.
“Wow”
Both Andy and Mickey react with the same word as their brother shares this news. They clearly had no real inkling of this relationship. “Six years, you didn’t say about it,” Mickey remarks. To Meisha, he admits that he heard about her, but did not imagine the sparks of romance because Nicola said so little.
“He is getting engaged”
Though it’s possible that Mickey shared much more that didn’t make it into the episode, it APPEARS that Mickey just tells mom Nadia that “in 10 days, [Nicola] is getting engaged.” Which is extremely blunt, especially when we compare it to the history that Nicola just shared.
So, how does mom feel?
Though viewers have seen none of this in the very little time that Nadia has been on screen, Nicola seems to think that his mother will disapprove. In fact, his description of her depicts a very disagreeable and judgmental woman who will condemn Meisha for being a divorced mom. He’s essentially spent the whole season “hyping” Meisha up to face rejection from his family.
“Tell her that Mom is happy.”
Nadia’s first response is joy. She asks her sons to tell Meisha that she is happy to hear the news. They might speak different languages, but she can tell how anxious Meisha is to hear her reaction.
Mom looks overjoyed
She cries happily, exchanges smiles with Meisha, and generally seems very happy. Even when Meisha reveals that she and Nicola plan to live together in the United States after they marry, she wishes him “a great life.” Nadia also excitedly announces her plans to visit them in America. Also? Her response to Meisha being a divorced mom is “So what?” She is mostly just really excited that her son is getting married.
His brothers understand Nicola’s hesitation
In their eyes, Nicola felt that his family would see him as less devout of a Catholic — which is his thing, more than theirs — because of this relationship. They also tell Nicola that he should be “more open” with his life.
This is such a happy occasion, but …
To the confessional camera, Meisha points out how hard she had to fight to make this happen. This, she notes, “begs the question” of whether Nicola feels ashamed of her. And, if he doesn’t accept her for who she is, how can they get married?
The next day
Nicola is excited to show Meisha the city of Acre. He seems to be one of those people who has a rosy view of some of history’s atrocities if he views them through the lens of his faith. (This is not exclusive to Catholicism) Anyway, he shows her around, but Meisha still has some lingering concerns. Meeting his family went well, but why did he have her dreading this for so long?
It’s time to talk
Meisha brings it up with Nicola. She has to know if he feels ashamed of her, or judges her for being a divorced mom. His body language, his lack of affection, and more was all giving her the cold shoulder. “It’s not cultural, it’s Nicola,” Meisha suggests.
“You understand it wrong, sweetie pie”
Nicola emphasizes that no part of him feels bothered by her past. “You know how much I love you,” he reminds her. Nicole expects him saying this, instead of showing it, to be enough.