Nathan Osborn was born and raised in Denver. He was the fourth child to his parents, and the second son. All of his father's high hopes would rest on his two sons for the next eight years after Nate was born, until his younger sister and later a younger brother came along, bringing the Osborn siblings total to six.
Their father was heir to and groomed to head the family mining business at a young age, a birthright passed down from his father and his father before him, four generations strong. Naturally this unspoken responsibility eventually settled on the shoulders of his brother Thomas and Nathan himself.
Growing up, he and his siblings knew that they lived a life different than those of other children, but it wasn't marked with stunning opulence and luxury. They lived in a nice, large home, with enough bedrooms for them all, but the youngest three often wound up gravitating to one another. They attended private schools in Denver, then boarding school in California upon reaching the age of 13, the same schools that their parents had once attended, and enjoyed a fairly normal, happy life. None of them received cars on their 16th birthdays, or outrageous monetary allowances or gifts, but they were well cared for by their mother and hired help.
In fact, Nate didn't actually become aware of his family's immense wealth and financial holdings until much later into his teens, when he could finally understand why it was so important for Thomas to work with their father, and why they never struggled for money or lost homes and cars (and eventually their places at school) like some children they attended school with. It wasn't until he was allowed to travel and study abroad the first time in high school that he was introduced to other cultures and ways of life, and understood their privilege and wealth and how sheltered he was to the world. A fact that he's still somewhat ashamed of and prefers not to talk about in depth.
It was during middle school that Nate first took an interest in sports, starting with his JV basketball team. He was still rather scrawny at the time, having shed several pounds the summer before 7th grade after being teased by his sisters and classmates for being "chubby", but he began to love team sports. This continued in high school where he took an interest in and excelled at soccer, playing center forward. By the time he graduated, the team had moved up into a national ranking, and Nathan was offered a scholarship to play for one of his favorite college teams, Stanford.
He enjoyed his time in college and flourished with the freedom and independence from his family, at long last. A lot of firsts were experienced during his time there, including meeting and falling for his first love.
While he enjoyed playing soccer more than almost anything, the pressure from his father to get into business was too great to ignore, and Nathan shelved whatever dreams he may have had about traveling the world as an athlete and kept his nose in his books. He made the most of his time there, knowing that it might be the only time he'd get to play soccer again before he had to face his obligations and familial responsibilities. By the time he graduated the men's soccer team was ranked 3rd nationwide for their division, Nathan was prepped for a start in business, and he and his first love were engaged and planning a quick summer wedding.
Though everything seemed idyllic and all the parts seemed to be exactly where they should, Nathan was only playing at happiness, and going along with what he knew was supposed to be "enough" for him. Married, and moved into their first home, bought with a modest chunk of his inheritance, he was suiting up daily and shadowing his brother, his uncles, and all the men that seemed to be born to do what they did. He, however, soon realized after a dark period of depression and drinking, that he was not cut from the same cloth.
The turning point came with the news that Essie was carrying their first child. Nathan cleaned up his act and he and his wife started their first round of counseling. The end result was a much happier man who knew how to deal with his depression better and a new beginning of sorts for their developing family. It was during this time that they both made the decision for Nathan to transtion out of the family business that was bringing him nothing but grief, and head back to education and his true passion for culture, anthropolgy and language.
He and his wife enjoyed several more years of smooth sailing, raising their daughter while he completed his masters and began teaching at a private school in the area. While they wanted more children, Nathan had also began his Docterate, wanting to become a professor, and they both decided that it would be unwise to have more children until they both had finished their studies and solidified their careers. But despite agreeing, slip-ups do happen, and 4 years after their daughter, they had a son. During this time, they also moved back to Colorado to be closer to Nate's family and job offers Essie recieved.
Unfortunately, the two hit another rough spot that turned into several and weren't able to reconcile with countless sessions of counseling. Nate and Essie decided to sperate, then divorced a year later, sharing custody of thier children. Now, five years, Nathan is in his 9th year at The University of Denver and focused on co-parenting as effectively as possible.