High school hockey player Levi Johnston, the boy who got famous overnight by leaving Sarah Palin’s daughter pregnant, is going to join the Palin family at the Republican National Convention, his mother said.

Sherry Johnston informed the Associated Press that her son left Alaska on Tuesday to fly to St. Paul, Minnesota, and join the Palins at the convention where Sen. John McCain will officially receive the Republican nomination for president.

The boy’s mother also said that no pressure had been put on Levi to marry 17-year-old Bristol Palin. Moreover, the two teens had apparently planned to get married before it was known that Bristol was pregnant.

“This is just a bonus,” Johnston added, as quoted by The Associated Press.

On Monday, Sarah Palin and her husband announced that their daughter Bristol was pregnant and she would wed an 18-year-old young man named Levi, whom she had been dating for two years. They asked the media to respect the couple’s privacy.

Sherry Johnston also said she was worried about her son getting so much attention. She said that it was difficult for him, like for any other teenager, to deal with a pregnancy, but the fact that his situation was public made things worse.

Levi Johnston was raised in Wasilla, Alaska, where he was a star forward for his high school’s hockey team. He was considered a hero for playing in the final game in February despite a bad leg injury.

As it happens in these cases, Johnston’s closest friends declared they were convinced that the 18-year-old was happy to be a daddy and also ready for parenthood.