29-year-old expecting single mother demands her childhood acquaintance take on a fatherly role in her baby's life: 'She expected me to MOVE IN with her for the first month after the baby was born'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Aug 25, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

You can only ask so much of your friends. We've all asked our friends for favors, but the commitment of said favor is often based on how close you are. My good friends from college have asked me to cat sit for them, and I've gladly done it. They trust me enough to ensure their cat's well-being, and I care enough about them and their cat to rearrange my schedule to take care of him occasionally. This would be a different story if these were people I barely knew who were constantly asking me to watch their cat in a way that interfered with my day-to-day functioning. My friends know not to ask me for favors that would interfere with my job or other personal commitments, and I appreciate that. There's only so much a friend can do for you if you need the commitment level of a parent or romantic partner: someone who will ride to the ends of the earth for you, even if it derails their life.

Of course, some best friends are willing and able to go out of their way for their friends. The woman in this story is not one of those friends. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10546610432
    via Curated Lifestyle (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • She barely knows her pregnant acquaintance, yet somehow she's convinced herself that she is the solution to all her problems, which include, but are not limited to, not having friends in the city, being a single parent, and not having childcare. She expects the daughter of her mom's work friend to fill all of those voids, or else suffer the consequences. 

  • So I (27F) reconnected with a childhood acquaintance (29F) recently when she moved to my city. My dad and her mom used to work together. We weren't close growing up, but when she moved to my city around 5 months pregnant, she reached
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  • out. I know how lonely it can be to move somewhere new, so I agreed to hang out and tried to help her settle in. When I moved here, I didn't know anyone either. And now I'm the only one she knows.
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  • At first it was fine, I did little things like I drove her to look at apartments (she didn't have a car), helped her run errands, and my dad even built her furniture when she got an apartment. My dad came to visit me for the weekend and we spent it helping her settle in. She has no support
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  • system, the baby's dad is out of the picture, and she's unemployed (not sure how she's funding everything). I genuinely wanted to be kind and supportive. I even introduced her to some of my friends and she was so ride to them and then wouldn't stop talking poorly about them.
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  • But then things escalated. She started demanding I go with her everywhere.. doctor's appointments, grocery shopping, even to do nails. She started jokingly calling the baby "our baby" because I've been around so much. She'll say things like
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  • "our baby is craving fries from McDonalds" and beg me to get them for her. She even offers to pay me. She refuses to use meal delivery apps because she doesn't trust that they won't do something to the food, she says. This has been going on FOR MONTHS.
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  • Brown paper bag on gray concrete floor
    via Jon Tyson

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Fast forward: I'm a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding and flying home (Puerto Rico) for 4 weeks to help with the shower, rehearsal, wedding, and even organizing her closet in her husband's apartment while she's on her honeymoon (they don't live together until after the wedding). When my acquaintance
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  • A man and a woman standing next to each other at their wedding
    via Alexander Mass

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • came over and saw me packing, she lost it. She said I never told her about my trip. She said she was counting on me to be there for the birth (which will definitely happen while I'm away, I leave tomorrow and she's ready to pop any minute), and even expected me to MOVE IN with her for the first month after the baby was born to "help out," since I have
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  • nanny experience. She also told me she was planning on me watching the baby on the days I work from home (2 days of the week).
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  • I told her I wasn't canceling my flight or shortening my trip, and now she's furious, saying I'm abandoning her and the baby. That I'm all they have. She's posting about me on social media saying I betrayed her. Her mom, who lives in our state just 4.5 hours away, is commenting and encouraging her.
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  • I told my mother about this and she also said I was a bad friend to leave her and her baby when they need me, that she agrees moving in is a lot but I should be there during birth, only travel for the wedding, and then come back to help with meals, etc. and told me she won't be picking me up at the airport tomorrow because she knows I'll do the right thing.
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  • Lucky_Volume3819 NTA. I could barely make it through this with how awful she sounds. And this isn't even a friend, it's an acquaintance! I can understand why the baby daddy is out of the picture and she has no other support system to the extent that she's now relying on a childhood acquaintance.
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  • I even introduced her to some of my friends and she was so ride to them and then wouldn't stop talking poorly about them. Yeah not loving that. Trying to trash your friends to convince you to spend more time with her.
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  • She refuses to use meal delivery apps because she doesn't trust that they won't do something to the food, she says. Honestly this whole thing just sounds like she's trying to control you and get you to do sh that's totally unnecessary.
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  • When my acquaintance came over and saw me packing, she lost it. She said I never told her about my trip. This person is insane. expected me to MOVE IN with her She also told me she was planning on me watching the baby on the days I work from home (2 days of the week). she left. run, OP. I would have blocked her as soon as
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  • She's posting about me on social media saying I betrayed her. I try not to throw this word around lightly but this is a narcissist. told me she won't be picking me up at the airport tomorrow because she knows I'll do the right thing. I'm sorry your mom also appears to have lost her mind.
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  • I'm not even joking. I would block this person and never speak to her again. You've already done too much and she obviously doesn't appreciate it. She was instantly ready to publicly smear you when she didn't get her way.
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  • Dopry810 Add to that, you cannot babysit while working from home. A new born will need a lot of attention, attention you need to be focusing on your job. I agree run, this "friend" has far too many red flags attached. And....... Why did she move to your area with no support, and no income??? Why did she not move near her mother or other family?
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  • Just River 7502 The friend doesn't have a job, why does she need a regular babysitter?!
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  • Bubbly_Chicken_9358 What kind of Fatal Attraction gaslighting nonsense is this?? No, you're NTA. You did not agree to be this woman's life partner. You did not agree to be her live in nanny for the first month. You did not agree to share this baby with her. I mean, do you really even consider her a friend? You are under no obligation to do anything
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  • for this woman, and it is absolutely insane that she and your mothers seem to think the fact that you have helped her out in the past somehow makes her entitled to more help from you in the future. This is bizarre, and it's even more bizarre than both your moms are supporting this insanity!! NTA, just to reiterate.
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  • Desperate_Donkey2212 OP Thank you! My mother said, and I quote, “it's easier to just help"
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  • AkiliDaniels Your mother is a pushover lol. NTA leave and use the time away to figure out how to cut this person out of your life forever. Also have a chat with your mom about boundaries and not being a doormat (probably won't go well, but you can try)
    via u/AkiliDaniels

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insane crazy friendship single mother baby pregnancy insane parents acquaintances mother friends pregnant acquaintance mom single mom entitled people
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