-All Boys-
Mr. Blackbourne waited for everyone to gather around Victor's table before he started the meeting.
"Before I begin, is there anything you feel we need to address tonight?"
"Where is Dr. Green? And I thought we were including Sang in family meetings now." Luke said it, but a few others were thinking it.
"Dr. Green is at the hospital and Miss Sorenson is with him. He is already aware of what I need to discuss tonight and once I begin you will understand why we needed to leave Miss Sorenson out of this particular meeting."
Gabe throws his hands in the air "Oy, way to drum up the fucking suspense Mr. B".
"Thank you Mr. Coleman. A short time ago I met with Mr. Anderson, the leader of a team of 5 – four dogs and one bird. They have been a successful team for over 30 years. I spoke to him, with another one of our brothers to see what we might face if we were to bring Miss Sorenson into the Academy on our team. He confirmed that other all dog groups have attempted to keep one bird, but most have failed. Actually they have all failed except his group."
North and Victor share a quick glance, a little surprised this is happening right now. Neither one has had a chance to speak to Mr. Blackbourne before the meeting was called and all they received was a text from Mr. B that said We are changing the plan. Will update you at the meeting.
Kota glances at Nathan. He is nervous to see how his other brothers will react but he is mostly afraid that Nathan is still not ready to have this conversation with the whole group. He sees it – a slight grimace. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. No, it is the only way. He can still push to keep Sang out of the Academy in an official capacity but he will make sure that she stays with him – his team forever.
Mr. Blackbourne continues exactly as he did with Kota earlier. "I think the best way to explain is to tell you what we saw. He pointed us to look at a grouping of photos. At first glance they looked like normal pictures. Pictures of a group of friends and wedding photos. With closer inspection though, we saw that all of the people in the pictures were the same. Four men, one woman. Four wedding photos – all with the same woman in a white dress, but a different man next to her in each one. Mr. Anderson, the leader of the team we visited, explained that in the case of his group, the only way they could convince the Academy to let them stay a team was to fall in love with their bird, and have her fall in love with them. All of them. It was a love her or lose her scenario. And we believe it is the same scenario we are facing."
Mr. Blackbourne had to raise his voice a little towards the end, but once the guys realized he was still talking and it involved Sang, they quieted down quickly. It seems like every feeling is being displayed at the table now.
North and Victor sigh in relief, that this is finally out in the open and they can, hopefully, begin to move forward.
Luke is smiling as he daydreams about how awesome a wedding with Sang and all of his brothers would be and what kind of food they would have. Can you serve chocolate chip pancakes at a wedding? Or a chocolate chip pancake flavored cake! He would love to smash that in North's face.
Nathan is scowling – mostly at Mr. B. but sweeping his eyes around the table. Mr. B. told him he had some time before everyone in the group would be brought in on the idea.
Silas is unsure, just slowly nodding his head up and down as he takes in the information and decides how he feels about it. He talked to North about something like this but he didn't realize it was something that would actually happen, and definitely not so soon. But what's the difference? If Sang wants this, he will do it.
Gabe looked confused. He felt confused. Did all of his brothers feel the same way as him towards Sang? He didn't stand a chance against the other guys. He was getting closer to Sang but he really didn't believe she would ever choose him over the others, especially Luke. And Mr. B. made it seem like this would include him and Dr. Green too – he definitely didn't stand a chance against them. So maybe this was the way to do it. He could share Sang, he was already prepared to watch one of his brothers have her while he watched from the sidelines. In this scenario he wouldn't have to stand to the side – he could be right up next to her. A smile slowly started to spread across his lips as he was the first to speak. "This is a fan-fucking-tastic idea!"
Nathan whipped his head to his left – now directing the scowl right at Gabe. Nathan slammed his fists on top of the table as he rose up from his chair. Teeth clenched he spat out "You have got to be kidding me Gabe. You can't actually be agreeing to this so easily."
Gabe stood up and squared off with Nathan. "Of course I fucking am Nathan! Think about it from my point of view. Maybe I could get trouble to love just me and maybe I couldn't – but either fucking way I know I would have a fucking hard time getting her to choose me over the rest of you. But now I don't have to risk it. I just need her to love me – she can love you guys too – but now I just need to worry about me, not getting her to love me and fucking making sure she doesn't love anyone else. I am beyond ready to see what we have to do next."
"Well take a breather because we aren't necessarily moving forward with this plan. Peanut is not a possession to be passed around as we see fit. She has had a less than normal life up until now and maybe she doesn't want to throw another abnormal twist to it. Maybe she does want to choose just one of us…did you think of that? And that's what I told her. I told her that I would be waiting for her if that's what she wants, I can give her the normal life." The table exploded but Gabe was standing closest to Nathan.
Gabe slammed his hands into Nathan's shoulders and shoved him back, sending the chair that was behind Nathan flying to the floor. "You son of a mother fucking bitch Nathan!"
"Mr. Coleman! I trust I will not have to ask you again to calm down. And I understand that you feel the need to swear incessantly, but let's tone it down a little shall we?"
"No, we shall not Mr. B. Did you know he said that to her? What did she say?"
"Of course I am aware Mr. Coleman. All of you should keep in mind that I am more aware of what you have been saying and doing with Miss Sorenson than you probably feel comfortable with." Everyone's eyes shoot to North at this statement. "I spoke to Miss Sorenson and Mr. Griffin, separately, about what Mr. Griffin told Miss Sorenson. Miss Sorenson is not ready to choose just one of us and when I briefly mentioned dating more than one of us she actually seemed open, albeit confused, about the idea. And Mr. Griffin…"
"I can speak for myself." Nathan grabbed his chair and swung it back to the table before collapsing into it. He took a deep breath before he spoke again. "I don't fully believe that Sang doesn't want a normal life, with one boyfriend, but I told Mr. B. that I was willing to hear everyone out when the time came. I also want to hear it directly from Sang that this is what she wants. If she wants a normal life than I will do anything to give it to her, even if it means losing the rest of my family."
"Are you that cocky Nathan that you think Sang Baby would choose you?" North couldn't sit silent anymore. He was somewhat prepared for Nathan's outburst, but he still couldn't believe that Nathan could be that selfish.
"You are the cockiest of the group North. You probably think she would choose you, don't you?"
"No, and that's why I agreed with Mr. B. that this is what we should do. I was the one that went with him to see Anderson." That caught everyone's attention. "I saw the pictures of the bird with the rest of the team. I saw that they were happy and I asked him if it was true, if he regretted any of it. He said it was the best thing he ever did. And I believed him. I can't be sure that Sang will choose me – I see her with all of you, and how you all respond to her. If all of you paid attention to how she interacts with the rest of us you would see it too. Nobody at this table could 100% say she would choose them and only them."
Anyone that was about to give their opinion was silenced. If North was on board, if he was so willing to do this, then maybe it was something to actually consider. It was how Victor was won over after all.
"That's how I agreed to the plan. After hearing North explain it like that, I couldn't imagine my life without Sang especially knowing that I could have at least tried this plan to prevent losing her. What if she did choose me? Would we leave the team, my true family? Or what if she chose one of you – could our team still be our team if one of us was missing?"
Mr. Blackbourne sliced his hands through the air, cutting off any other comments. "I believe it is time to see where we stand. If we all agree to this plan we will approach Miss Sorenson and let her know we are all interested in dating her. If she agrees than we will take it from there. If we cannot agree or if Miss Sorenson does not agree than we will need to rethink our closed adoption of Miss Sorenson. Mr. Lee you may begin. Are you willing to share Sang, as a girlfriend, with your brothers?"
Kota keeps his head up and his eyes on Mr. Blackbourne. He wants everyone to know he is fully on board, to show his support of this plan. He needed to sound more confident than he currently felt. "I am willing and I will obey."
Everyone around the table chimes in with their own "I am willing and I will obey" except Nathan. This time he is the one to say that he is still unwilling, but he will obey. "I just need to hear it from Sang before I am fully committed to this plan."
"Do you think we will continue with our plan if Miss Sorenson is not agreeable to it? Do you have such little faith in your brothers that we would put our needs and wants above Miss Sorenson?"
"No of course not! Don't put words in my mouth! I just want to make sure everyone knows where I stand."
"Consider it noted Mr. Griffin."
"Ok, now when do we go ask Princess on a date? Dates? How will this work exactly?"
"Patience, please Mr. Morgan. I think to make sure Miss Sorenson does not feel overwhelmed would be for me to talk to her about our discussion tonight. I will see if she is available tomorrow. Once I get her reaction and opinion I will update everyone and hopefully, we can make a plan on how to court her from there."
"Fuck Mr. Blackbourne. Court her? Really? Have you been reading trashy romance novels? People don't court anymore."
Silas throw a crumbled up piece of paper at Gabe. "Shut up Gabe. You better believe we are going to court Agelle Mou. It is what she deserves and you can't tell me that you aren't going to try to out romance the rest of us." It is the first that Silas spoke other than to say he was willing and would obey. Everyone quickly agreed that that was the best word to describe what they would do with Sang if she agreed to their crazy plan. She deserved some old fashioned courting.
"Fuck off Silas, of course I am going to out romance all of you, I don't even have to try. What if we draw straws to see who gets to ask her out first? We can do it now, that way we are ready if she says yes."
"Seriously Gabe? Drawing straws for a date with baby?"
"Yeah North, unless you have a better idea. What was your plan – to have all of us pounce on her and ask her all at once to go out with us?"
"I would like to pounce on her." Silas mumbled it from across the table, but everyone heard. North chopped him on the back of the head before anyone else had a chance to agree.
"I'll get the straws!" Luke jumped up and started rummaging through the drawers of the kitchenette.