All Four Of Me

Prologue

Nathan grinned to himself as he placed the plastic bag of take-out on the passenger seat of the car. It was cold outside but the second he pulled the car door closed behind him the worst of the bitterness disappeared.

As he began the short drive home the mouthwatering smell of Chinese food mixed with the warm puffs of air circulating the car only made his smile grow wider. The men that Nathan shared a house with didn't usually order take-out, but tonight was a special occasion. 

Pulling into the driveway of their home, Nathan honked the car horn twice notifying his house mates that he was home and that their food was going cold. He had no doubt that the rest of them were already in the kitchen waiting for him to come inside.

To Nathan's surprise he was joined outside the car by William, the oldest of the five men he lived with. The two of them had known each other for several years and had clicked from the first time they had met. Their shared passion for helping others had been the thing that first connected them, but as the years continued to roll together their friendship only strengthened. 

"Do you need a hand Nate?" William asked as he approached the drivers side of the car where Nathan was already closing the door, the bag of take-out gripped in his fingers.

"Sure, can you please take this inside. I have to grab my files out of the back." Nathan nods, passing the plastic bag to the older man with a grateful smile.

"Don't worry, I'll make them wait until you come in." William grins back, sticking his nose in the bag and inhaling the smell of their dinner. He knows that the second those boxes of food leave the plastic bag they will be attacked by the hungry pack of vultures waiting inside and he doesn't want Nathan to miss out.

Only two minutes later, Nathan saunters into the kitchen with a stack of manilla folders in his arms before gently depositing them at the end of the dining table. The other men who were already seated at the table greeted him as usual, but Nathan didn't miss the way their eyes flickered towards the stack of files sitting on the table in excitement. After all, those files were the main reason why they had ordered take-out in the first place.

"We will get to these in a few minutes, but I have spent the last ten minutes in a car with the smell of that wafting up my nostrils and I am starving." Nathan taps his hand against the file resting on top of the pile before pointing at the boxes of Chinese food that had been stretched down the table between them.

"I agree, lets eat some grub." Mitchell, the youngest of the men backs him up while staring longingly at the food on the table. 

Within seconds everyone was serving food onto their plates and sharing the boxes around between them. As usual the sound of laughter and lighthearted conversation can be heard filling the dining room with a warm atmosphere.

Once Nathan had eaten enough food to satisfy his burning hunger he sat back to observe his friends. Eating together at the dining table had always been one of his favourite parts of the day. He thoroughly enjoyed listening to the others share their stories and it made him feel grateful that he had been lucky enough to end up surrounded by such a genuine group of friends, especially when his job often reminded him that there were some people out there who weren't as lucky as he was.

It was at this dinner table that Nathan had first proposed to his house mates the idea of becoming a foster carer. He remembered feeling anxious about their reactions for days before he had found the courage to finally broach the subject, but his worrying had been for nothing when his friends had encouraged the idea.

William had been the first one to jump on board, even going as far as to volunteer to take on the role of foster carer with him. Christopher, Mitchell's older brother and the third oldest of the group had also expressed his support for Nathan's suggestion, stating that he had missed being able to care for someone since Mitchell had legally become an adult.