<em>~Mila at dinner~</em><br/><br/>Mila listened to Mari talk about herself.  A family with ten children!  She wondered what that would have been like.  She had several older brothers, but no sisters.  Growing up, she had felt very alone at times, like she had love to give but no one who would accept it.<br/><br/>As Mari stopped talking, Mila wondered if she should speak next.  She wanted to wait until Nicci was done, and silently chastised herself.<em>Bold, Mila!  These people will be your family.  No shyness with them.</em><br/>Picking up a piece of warm bread, she broke off a little piece, nervously ripping it into tiny shreds.  Her voice was shaky when she spoke.  "I grew up in Sedona, Arizona.  My mother and four older brothers still live there, but my father died when I was in college.  I was studying art history but had to drop out."<br/><br/>She felt self-conscious talking about her past, but she continued. She wanted them to get to know who she was.  "I haven't talked to my family in a few years.  I had a boyfriend.  I told him I was interested in... opening my heart to include another into our relationship, and he didn't understand it.  He left me and went back to Arizona.  He talked about me wanting to be a swinger, and my family castigated me for it and disowned me."<br/><br/>Normally, she would be saddened when she thought about her family, but here, she drew strength from knowing that these were people who needed what she did. "I'm here because my life is missing something.  I think what it's missing is the five of you."  She had started out nervous, but the last words were said with strength and conviction.