This man has been a constant presence in his goddaughter’s life since the day she was born—and even more so after her father passed away.

Over the years, she’s become part of his family, traveling with them, bonding with his children, and being treated like a bonus daughter.

So when Christmas came around and her old phone barely worked, he replaced it without hesitation.
What he didn’t expect was backlash from her new stepfather.

AITAH for buying my goddaughter an iPhone for Christmas?

My best friend died a few years ago, he had one daughter whose now 16 years old, I’ve always been close with her especially since I have 3 boys and no daughters and I’ve always wanted a daughter, so she’s always been a bonus daughter to me.

I was there when she was born in the hospital and she’s my goddaughter. After my best friend died 4 years ago I stepped up a lot for her and we grew closer.

I’ve taken her with her mother’s permission on multiple vacations with me and my family and she’s really become a part of us, my wife loves her and my boys see her as their older sister.

How sweet.

Earlier this year her mom got remarried and they moved in with her new husband. Now I’ve always got her birthday and Christmas presents even before my friend died and he did the same for my boys.

His wife didn’t get them anything after his death but I didn’t stop getting her stuff. She’s my goddaughter and I didn’t wanna punish her for it.

So this year was her first Christmas living with her step siblings, and I got her a brand new iPhone 17, hers was old and broken and her mother kept telling her to wait till she has enough so I just got her one.

What a gift!

I went on a family vacation with the kids and I’m returning on January 4th but her stepdad got angry and upset that I only got her a present and not his kids.

I literally don’t even know their names let alone have a relationship with any of them, and he’s saying I shouldn’t get her anything again.

Her mother was never really a confrontational person and so she’s not really standing up for me but my goddaughter did and they had a huge fight about it and she told him our relationship was none of his business.

BOOM.

I talked with the guy and told him to pound sand and we had a whole fight about it, I told him she’s my daughter I don’t care if she’s not biologically but she is my daughter and told him this was none of his business and that I don’t care about his kids and whether they get gifts or not.

My wife loves her and she never had a problem with me getting her gifts, we’re both fortunate enough to have great paying jobs, and we both inherited a good sum of money from our late parents…

But she thinks I was in the wrong.

Oh man.

She says that now she’s not living alone and has younger step siblings that would be very jealous of her and that it’d cause problems, again I said his kids are not my problem.

She dropped it and I feel like I’m gonna have a long talk with the new guy once I get home.

But was I in the wrong here?

With the girl caught in the middle, her mother staying quiet, and tensions rising fast, even his wife now wonders if the gesture caused more harm than good.

So he’s turning to Reddit to ask whether showing up for his goddaughter crossed a boundary…or if the real issue is someone else’s insecurity.

This person says the loyalty is all that matters.

How nice it is that this girl has a backup dad.

This person suggests maybe cutting ties with speaking with the stepfather.

Moral of the story?

A man honoring a promise to a child doesn’t owe equal gifts to strangers.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.