Hello everyone, I need an unbiased opinion.

I'm a 34 year old male, and my mother who is 49 female, seems to believe that I should not be taking care of my friend, who is 34, and her daughter who is 5.

For some context, my friend and I met back when we were in high school. She ended up staying with us for a little while, and then ended up having to move back to her parents. Long story, and that's for a different subreddit.

A few years ago we ended up crossing paths once again, and we have been living together ever since. We have tried the dating thing a few times, but it hasn't worked out. But, we still wanted to make a life together, just not in a romantic sense. Her daughter has become the light of my life at this point. She's absolutely goofy, incredibly smart for her age and I just adore her to the highest level.

Her dad isn't around. He only wants to be around his own daughter, but his presence in her life is contingent upon a relationship with her mother. And as you can probably surmise, she does not want that.

From the get-go, my mom was incredibly against this. She was against us being together, because of a few things that she has believed my friend to be. I firmly believe that she still sees her as that promiscuous 15-year-old back in school. My friend is not that way now.

So because the father does not want to be involved in the child's life, I had stepped up. Because I firmly believe that she should not have to grow up without some sort of Father figure in her life. Of course, I'm not without my faults. I do mess up. I'm not going to front about that.

But here's the thing; my mom wants me to completely and totally distance myself from both my friend and her daughter. My friend has no support system. And what little help she receives, is very flaky and has expressed that they do not want to help.

After the time that me and my friend and her daughter have spent together, I just can't see me leaving everything behind because she feels that I should not have to take care of a kid that has not mine.

Personally, I don't care if she isn't mine. She may not be biologically mine, but she might as well be. I love that little girl to death, and will throw myself in front of a bus, a bullet, or even an RPG. And I trust my friend implicitly even with money that I have left with her.

The only reason why I am even speaking to my mom, who I've come to find out is a narcissist, is because she is currently "taking care" of my grandmother. But even that is shaky at best. Personally, I feel that she's just getting close to my grandmother who has Alzheimer's, because once she kicks the bucket, she'll get a bunch of crap out of the will. Once my grandmother passes however, I plan on going no contact. Because I don't want that sort of negativity in my life, nor my friend or her daughter's.

So tell me reddit; am I wrong for just ignoring my mom and continuing to take care of a child that's not even mine?

EDIT: Holy crap, so many comment! Y'all are nuts lmao.

But, allow me to address a couple of concerns.

1. Regardless of how my friend and I end up in the future, in terms of relationships, that honestly really doesn't matter to me. Reason being is because in any relationship that I have been in in the past, I've always tried to make the other happy.

2. I don't really see it as putting my life on hold for a child that isn't mine. Reason being is because I know that I am allowed to make my own way in the world. Currently, I am going to be going to school for my CDL. So that way I can start doing Long haul trucking.

3. Perhaps I'm not giving you guys enough insight as to what my mom exactly does. It's not something that I can really put into words really, there's just a lot of things that I can't really put into words. It's rather complex, and it's one of those things that I guess one has to be there for.

4. My friend has actually assured me that no matter where we go in this life or the next, she knows that the 5-year-old in question will always know that I will always be able to take care of her. Some of the comments have addressed the fact that I may have a desired one kids someday. They aren't that far off. As for wanting my own kids, who's to say what will happen in the future?

5. I'm not really looking into getting into relationship at this point. Chalk it up to past traumas I suppose, with relationships and all that. I still got to work out my own head before I even dip my toe into the wading ​pool of relationships.

I'm not able to go through all of the comments. And I do apologize for that. But damn, when I opened up reddit, I had many a comments in this. You guys are absolutely nuts lol.

I do want to thank you guys for putting your two cents in. I can't guarantee I'll be able to go through all of the comments though, but it's appreciated nonetheless.

I don't really consider myself an angel or a saint like some of the comments have made me out to ​be. I guess it's one of those situations where one has to be in my shoes in order to really understand the so-called nuances of everything going on in my life.

But, once again, I do want to thank everyone that had commented, and those that continuing to comment. Rest assured, despite what everyone May think, and this applies to people in my circle, I feel that I will continue with taking care of my friend's child, and helping out with whatever my friend needs help with. And who knows, maybe my friend and I will end up together again. We truly don't know what life really holds. I'm just the type of guy to take things as they come. But again, thank you all so much for your opinions.