How Deployed Soldier Co-stars in Wife's Maternity Photo Despite Distance

Even though they live thousands of miles away, one military couple is staying connected through a powerful photo. 

Veronica and Brandon Phillips are eagerly awaiting the birth of their first child -- a baby boy.  Brandon won't be there for his son's birth because he serves in the Airforce and is deployed thousands of miles away from their Florida home. 

When it came time for her materinity shoot, Phillips wanted to honor her husband in a special way. So, she asked her photographer Jennifer McMahon of Jenniefer Ariel Photography to photoshop her husband into one of the pictures. 

The results are going viral.

"They are so beautiful, I tear up whenever I look at them," Phillips told PEOPLE Magazine. "He loved them too. It was a really nice outcome."

Phillips says it's been hard navigating her pregnancy without her husband. She has to do a lot of things on her own. 

"It definitely gets hard," says Phillips. "As my belly gets bigger — the more I miss him! I just wish he was here."

Phillips doesn't know when she'll see her husband again but she can't wait until that day comes. 

"There's no set return date for him, but hopefully it won't be too soon after the birth," Phillips said. "I can't wait for him to meet his son."