Am I Just Being Petty?

I started college in fall of 2016 and I moved out of my parents house, but I'm only about 25 minutes away. While there, my aunt noticed that she had two abandoned kittens living under her house. My aunt didn't have the time to take care of them and my mom wouldn't let her take them to and animal shelter, so we took them in. I don't go back home much due to school, I only ever go back for breaks and occasional weekends. Despite this, I was able to develop quite a bond with those cats. My mom insists that they are my cats, yet she refuses to let me bring them with me when I move into my apartment. But she still refuses to claim them as her own. I still have 3 more years of school and I'll be living in that apartment until I graduate. I feel that after 3 years of barely seeing those cats, they truly won't be mine anymore, so I wouldn't want them then. For me its now or never. My mom doesn't agree with me.
Am I just being petty about this? Or am I really justified in not taking in the cats after 3 years of being apart?