There is no mention of the father of the baby, he is not Native American and he does not live in the area. Idk if the mom has registered to make this baby a member of the tribe yet or not. I imagine that she has because someone has to pay the medical bills and she has only ever had a part time job.

I don't believe this particular tribe is as proactive as some I'm familiar with. The Paternal grandmother was Native American, thus Amy's and some of her siblings on her mother's side are also members. Amy's older sister Ally (on mom's side) has had four children, all removed from her care by the state within their first year of life. I was very surprised that the Tribe did not step in at that point and take over care of these children. I do know that Ally had registered the children with the Tribe because of the financial incentives, the eldest of the four was placed with Ally's father (who is not NA and not Amy's father) and he gets the benefits and that child is doing well. The other three have been placed with various family member's of the various fathers.

My husband really does love Amy as if she were his child. I confess that has caused some problems. She was very difficult to live with and I did not like it a bit when he "took her side" for lack of a better term. For example she borrowed one of the twin's laptops (without asking) and left it laying on the floor when we were doing renovations. Hubby nearly stepped on it and scolded the owner of the laptop for being careless. When it was discovered that it was Amy that left it out, he said nothing to her. She did it again the next day, there was a fight between the owner of the computer and Amy. Hubby scolded our son for being selfish. I was absolutely irritated beyond measure. We gave Amy a laptop, she didn't take care of it and it was stepped on and shattered. The owner of the laptop made in my opinion a very valid arguement that he did want her using his things when she didn't take care of them.

I guess that is the foundation of my dislike for Amy. Anything she wanted to use she did and if that resulted in the property being ruined, oh well, it wasn't hers anyway.

Hubby does have a valid point that we have the opportunity here to make a difference in the baby's life. He's absolutely willing to take care of her (baby). He's always been a hands of father and is perfectly capible of doing so. I know it is his hope that I'll fall in love with her. But what if I do and Amy decides just to take off yet again?

I've always been that person "oh you need a free babysitter..." and I don't usually mind. I love kids and usually the people that I've helped are greatful for the help and I get to have these wonderful children in my life.

I did stand up and make an absolute statement that she was not moving back in here when it was hinted when she said she was moving back. You know, daughter's gone, empty room etc.

What REALLY makes me angry is that I feel guilty. Guilty for saying I don't like this young woman and I don't want her back in my life.

The fact that she's out playing business as usual when her newborn is in the NICU confirms, in my opinion, that she just doesn't understand what it means to be a mother. I know she didn't have any responsible role model growing up. I'd hoped that once she held her child for the first time that bond would kick in and the maternal instinct as well. Again, I know I'm being judgemental, but hubby argued "she's young, she doesn't know any better." I reminded him that when we were Amy's age, we had two children.