Just a week ago Levi Johnston was just another teenage small town hockey jock, but today the father-to-be was hugging the man who could be the next US President - in front of the world's media.
The news that 17 year-old Bristol Palin was five months pregnant emerged just days after John McCain picked her mother to be his running mate.
Today the young parents-to-be received a warm welcome by McCain at Minnesota airport ahead of Palin's address at the Republican party convention, where the first time governor from Alaska will be formally sworn in.
McCain twice hugged Bristol, pumped the Levi's hand, and embraced them as a couple.
But locals from their hometown of Wasilla, population around 8,500, say the couple have been dating for just over a year.
"He was a good kid to be around, with lots of friends. He was well-liked," Wasilla Warriors' ice hockey coach Bill Sturdevant told the New York Daily News.
And his friend, Blake Weiland, told the paper Johnston was looking forward to being a dad. "I know him very well, though, and I know he'll be a great father and husband."
