Dwyane Wade’s kids have a special nickname for their stepmom Gabrielle Union: Nickie.
“Her middle name is Monique,” Wade told Jenna Bush Hager while co-hosting TODAY with Jenna & Friends on March 10. “When she grew up, her grandfather could not say ‘Gabrielle’ and so they started calling her ‘Nickie’ and so the kids call her ‘Nickie.’ At that time, that was the name that we used for her.”
Wade and Union share 6-year-old daughter Kaavia, along with his children from previous relationships: son Xavier, 11, daughter Zaya, 17, and son Zaire, 23. Wade is also the legal guardian of his adult nephew, Dahveon Morris, 21.
Wade told Jenna he was “shaking” during his proposal to Union in December 2013. For the occasion, his children held poster boards that spelled out, “Nickie, will you marry us?”
“I needed them,” said Wade. “Because I barely got the words out.”
The couple got married in 2014 and quickly embraced their blended family. The pair are rock-star parents — and it shows, judging by Kaavia’s cameo on the show.
“Hi Daddy! I love you so much that you’re my favorite friend ever, I ever met,” Kaavia said on a surprise video played on-air. “And I also wanted to thank you … good luck. I love seeing you on TV and I love you so much.”
She then ended her video with a smooch.
Jenna exclaimed, “That’s so sweet!”
“That’s my twin right there,” said Wade. “We ride … she loves me.”
He added, “We’re friends, you know what I mean?”
Wade said he is coaching Kaavia in basketball.
“Her eyes get big when … I get strict … I’m like her coach-trainer,” he said. “We started basketball a little bit and so she gets a different side of me. I’m glad that she thinks we’re friends.”
Wade admitted that as “coach,” he get serious, explaining, “My voice is a little deeper. My eyes squint a little bit.”
Wade’s kids do have one advantage over their athlete dad: They share the special language of teen slang.
“I don’t like it,” Wade told Jenna. “I don’t know what to say. When you’re around your kids, everything you say is cringe-worthy. I said, ‘dope’ the other day and Zaya … she was like, ‘No.’ Can we get a dictionary of what we can and cannot say?”
Jenna has the same problem with her kids Mila, 11, Poppy, 9 and Hal, 5, whom she shares with husband Henry Hager.
“When we say, ‘slay,’ my kids are like, ‘That is so embarrassing!’” said Jenna. “I’m like, ‘But you just said it!’ … So, am I not allowed to talk like you?”
When Jenna suggested getting Wade’s daughter Zaya on the phone to explain slang rules, Wade shot down the idea.
