All Four Of Me

Chapter 3

He is always smiling.

"Which brings me to the most exciting part of the day..." Nathan announces stepping further into the kitchen. I am now in full view of the other men in the room and their attention is focused solely on me. "Everybody meet Mackenzie, the newest addition to our household!"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly shifts to one of excitement as large smiles make their way onto the men's faces. I on the other hand remain neutral. These people are strangers, and while they might be smiling now it doesn't mean that they will feel the same way once the novelty has worn off.

"Hi Mackenzie, it's nice to meet you. We are really excited to have you here with us." The man who had been cooking is the first to speak, placing the saucepan he had been holding onto the benchtop before giving me a small wave. "I'm William, that's Christopher, James and Mitchell." William points to each of the men as he says their names.

"Come in and take a seat. We're just about to have dinner and we will introduce ourselves properly then." Christopher waves me into the room with an encouraging smile.

Not wanting to make anyone upset, I do as I am instructed taking the seat on the side of the table closest to the entrance. From this position my back is facing three other men who are serving dinner at the benchtop, a fact that makes me feel slightly uncomfortable, but at the same time it saves me from being stared at.

I place my backpack down at my feet and am about to kick it under my seat when Nathan saunters over from the side of the room. "I'll take this up to your room for you." He says, lifting the bag from the tiled floor and walking out the room with it before I can say another word.

There is an awkward silence in the room as a stare at the space Nathan had disappeared through, but it is quickly crushed when a plate of steaming hot food is placed in front of me. It smells delicious and from first inspection I can tell that it is some rendition of spaghetti bolognese.

"Thank you." I say, turning towards the person who had placed the plate in front of me.

"You're welcome." The guy who I believe was called James replies casually depositing another plate of food at the spare placement next to me before pulling the chair out and sitting down.

Nathan walks back into the room just as William and Mitchell sit down at the table, but nobody touches their food until he is seated. Within seconds they all begin devouring their food as if they hadn't eaten in days, except Nathan who watches me expectantly as if waiting for my reaction.

"It's ok honey, you can eat." Nathan whispers to me, misinterpreting my hesitation.

I'm hungry and the food smells a hundred times better than anything else that has been cooked for me in months, but I can't seem to get past the weirdness of the whole situation. Most of my other foster families rarely ever ate at the dinner table. They would either plonk themselves in front of the TV, or in some cases they wouldn't even have dinner at all.

Sitting at a table full of people who are happily sharing a meal together is a massive shock to my system and I'm finding it hard to wrap my mind their lifestyle.

"What's wrong, cupcake?" Christopher asks, simultaneously pulling me out of my dazed mind space and confusing me further.

I have been called a lot of things in my life, but "cupcake" isn't one of them. Cupcakes are sweet and pretty and bring happiness to people and I am the complete opposite. Why else would I have been bounced around foster homes like a hot potato?

"I'm sorry... I just um... this is really weird, and I'm confused, and I don't understand why...um..." I trail off once I realise I am rambling, it feels like my brain has been disconnected making it almost impossible to form the words in a way that make sense. Instead I just settle for lamely pointing at the table where everyone is