(Annie Lane is off this week. The following column was originally published in 2022.)

Dear Annie: My friend and I have been friends for 30 years. We met when we were little kids, and now we are both 37.

She has two beautiful daughters by different men. The father of one of her daughters is her current boyfriend, and they have no plans to get married. The way I see them parenting, it is as if they are playing house.

I asked my friend if she wants him to marry her, and she said yes, but he sees no reason to because, he says, “it is just a piece of paper.”

My biggest concern is that he dotes on the daughter they have together, age 2, and he virtually ignores her other daughter, who is 8. What makes me most upset is that she has started calling him “Daddy.” I told my friend that she should

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