AITB for not giving my friend her kittens back?
Edit: I used ChatGPT to fix the grammar and shorten this post, but the story and details are my own.
Me and my friend are both 16F, and I'm afraid our friendship will end over this.
About a month ago, an outdoor cat my friend feeds gave birth to a litter of kittens. Recently, the mom started bringing the kittens around, so my friend wanted to keep them somewhere safe until they could be rehomed. She put them in a box on her apartment porch, but someone took the box and returned it a couple of days later.(Idk what was going on in their mind)
A few days ago, my friend called me panicking because a heat wave was coming. Her grandma said she could bring the kittens inside, but when her mom found out, she tried to slap the box out of her hands and threatened to kill them. My mom and I immediately drove over and brought both my friend and the kittens to our house.
She stayed with us for about three days. During that time, I did almost everything for the kittens: feeding them, cleaning up after them, and watching them whenever they were out. Every time I asked for help, it felt like I had to beg, and when she did help, she complained the whole time.
There are three kittens: two orange boys and one black girl. My friend already has an unneutered adult male cat. I have three cats, all spayed/neutered. My mom and I both fell in love with the black kitten and wanted to keep it, but my friend did too. When my mom pointed out that her unneutered cat made another girl kitten a bad idea, my friend said she'd give the black kitten to her neighbor instead because the neighbor had already offered to pay for it.
Later, she texted asking if "her" kittens ok, which honestly frustrated me because I had been doing all of the work. I brought up the black kitten again, and she said her neighbor was still getting it and that I could have one of the orange kittens, even though she planned to keep the other orange one.
When I told my mom, she texted my friend saying she was going to keep the kittens for now because she'd been paying for food and litter for both the kittens and my friend's cat. That's true, her family hasn't been able to afford it recently. She also said she didn't think it was a good idea for my friend to take another cat given her situation.
They argued for a bit before my mom ended the conversation. Personally, I don't think my friend should get another cat because of her financial situation and because she avoided a lot of the work, like cleaning the kittens after they used the bathroom. My mom even offered her $100 for all three kittens because she isn't comfortable sending them back.
She hasn't talked to me since and posted about the situation on her Instagram Note. I know she's upset, and although I don't agree with how she's handled this, she's still my best friend and I love her. I'm scared this is going to end our friendship.
AITB?