~ Marcus with everyone in the dining room ~<br/><br/>His suggestion to have the men seat the women worked beautifully as he led the way into the gorgeously decorated dining room with Mari hard at his heels.  Though he knew what the room looked like in advance, he still played his gaze around the room, taking in the beautiful wooden table, the large cozy fireplace, and the rich wall paneling.  The surface of the table itself had been elegantly set, each place bearing a name tent card in front of it.  Seeing it made him smile; it was just like Angus to be anal like that.<br/><br/>Stepping off to the side so that Mari could move past him and find his seat, he turned as Bo escorted Nicci in, walking arm in arm.  A smile came over him when he realized that her seat was next to him, with Mari directly across on the other side.  Vince followed next with Mila, placing her at the seat on his left.  The only one left standing now, Marcus quickly took his seat and settled in, enjoying the smell of the food that flowed through the room.<br/><br/>When Bo began to pass around the rolls, Marcus took one but he didn’t eat it, not right away.  The nervousness he had felt earlier had returned a bit and he wanted to wait until his stomach settled down before nibbling.  Instead, he listened to the women speak, each telling a little about themselves, their words revealing a vulnerability that he found very appealing.  These were women he could grow to love, each a beautiful intelligent creature who simply wanted to be loved and respected in return.<br/><br/>As Nicci finished speaking, a silence settled over the table, waiting for the men to fill the void.  When no one spoke immediately, Marcus decided to take the plunge, thinking about what he wanted to say.  He had to be careful here, walking a slippery slope; he couldn’t reveal the complete truth about who he was and what he did but he couldn’t lie either.  Taking a quick sip of his water to ease the dryness in his mouth, he started speaking.  “Thank you, ladies, for starting us off” he said, nodding to each of them before continuing.  “Me, I grew up an only child in a small family in New York.  I never lacked for much in the way of love or possessions but the older I grew the more I realized something was missing.  I got a taste of what that was in college, when I played football with a great group of guys but lost it when I left to start a business.”  Here he looked at the guys, Bo in particular, remembering his brotherhood comment.  “I’ve…had my share of partners, as I’m sure we’ve all had…” he paused to take another sip, wondering how that news would be taken by the others, and then continued “I never found the one though and finally realized a poly family was what I wanted.  The rest is history as they say.”  His long ramble done, Marcus closed his eyes briefly and willed the butterflies in his stomach to stop their gymnastics, hoping that one of the other guys would go next.<br/>