I Remember Nothing, But I Have Four Husbands

The following morning, the brothers found out Isabelle had woken up earlier than them and was cooking breakfast. According to her, it was some sort of fish stew with juicy fish meat cooked in broth with herbs, cabbage and sugar. The broth came from the left-over soup they had the previous night. It was not very presentable, but it smelled good.

Actually, it did not look like breakfast at all; except for the pancake that accompanied the stew, and even that was supposed to be dipped in the sauce that remained from the soup. When had the brothers had such a luxurious breakfast?

"Is it me or this breakfast was made for Lucas?" Joseph inquired with a hand rubbing his chin, looking at the nice smelling stew boiling in the stove.

"Of course not, it is for everybody to eat." Isabelle quickly denied.

"Is it? Yesterday, you half-assed breakfast for us, but then ye made somethin' new for Lucas to eat out in the mountains. He's returnin' today and here ye are, cooking somethin' delicious. You playin' favorites, Isabelle?" Joseph continued to tease.

"Think whatever you want." She replied, trying to look dismissive of his words, but the red shade on her face was not from the fire.

As a response, Isabelle was squeezed by Joseph's strong arms; one hand holding one of her breasts and the other pressing in between her legs. She yelped and her red face turned even redder.

"I think… I still need to do better." He squeezed and fondled, trying to elicit another response from her. Seeing her biting her lips to not concede to his wicked whims, he was satisfied and let her go. "Morning, Isabelle." He smooched her lips and walked out of the kitchen.

Looking a bit aggrieved, she received a soft kiss on her neck from Ethan who had waited for Joseph to be done saying his shameless greetings. "Good morning, Belle."

Felix, the original chef in the family, remained in the kitchen, fidgeting in front of the woman who had been attacked by his brothers. "I… Good morning, Belle." He gave her a quick hug before running out of the kitchen with a blushing face. Isabelle chuckled at such an innocent teen.

She was happy to receive so much affection from them so early in the morning despite some being more shameless than others. 

She truly would never regret staying with them. And she truly was not playing favorites. She had actually dreamed of the dish. It was a very simple dish, not even from a luxurious restaurant, but she had enjoyed it together with someone. With a man. She thought that making the dish would jog her memory and let her remember who that man was, yet she got nothing in return.

Just Joseph's misunderstanding and their morning greetings.

She wanted to remain indifferent to her lost memories, yet that dream left her with a bittersweet feeling. She wondered why.

As they ate breakfast, each one of them was lost in their own thoughts.

When Lucas returned from hunting, it was late in the morning. The first thing he saw after entering the backyard was Joseph crouching over some tree trunks, looking as if he was planting on them. Moving closer, Lucas was able to see what his brother was doing. Joseph had hollowed out a dead tree trunk, put soil in the hollowed part, and planted the herb saplings there.

There were four trunks but he had used up three; two types of herbs in each of them, giving them space to grow and produce even more sprouts.

"Was told mint and oregano spreads fast, so I left 'em together to pay attention to their growth. Basil and Rosemary could be used for tea, so together they go. Parsley and cilantro are for seasonin'. I left space between these last four in case we get new ones, and there's still a trunk left for any other herb Isabelle plans to grow. How's it?" Joseph spoke and turned to look at his second brother.

Lucas nodded. "Looks good."

"Isabelle made breakfast for ya, just heat it and eat. Leave the stuff by the well." Joseph relayed before going back to his work.

Earlier, during breakfast, she had been very distracted, looking towards the kitchen from time to time. So, the other three surmised she was waiting for Lucas to give him the food she had painstakingly cooked.

Ethan seemed to not care about it, and continued eating his food – which was very delicious. But what betrayed his upset mood was the fact that he was too focused on his food, letting Joseph know he was thinking too much about the matter.

Felix had looked torn between wanting to strike up a conversation with Isabelle and eagerly waiting for Lucas; and he always eagerly waited for Lucas to bring meat back. The arrival of Isabelle truly changed the dynamics in the family of four brothers.

Joseph was serious when he asked Isabelle if she was playing favorites.

The few families that had one woman shared by several men always suffered conflicts because the Wife would favor one of the Husbands. Joseph did not want that to happen to them. Perhaps it was out of their control if Isabelle liked one of them more than the others, yet he hoped that would not create a rift between the brothers.

"I found a small fresh tree. Come with me to dig it up." Lucas suddenly said, completely unaware of what had transpired. Since it involved Isabelle, he did not save his words like he usually did. It was not that he did not like talking to his brothers or other, it was just…

"Oh! Small ones are good to transplant. Is it too far?" Joseph asked, excited to give something to Isabelle, maybe like that she would realize that everyone was making an effort. Lucas noticed his brother's excitement and paused, letting his mind wander for a short while. But he soon snapped out of it.

The tall and gruff man looked at Joseph for a couple of seconds before shaking his head to reply to his question. At least, it was not far for them with their long strides and quick pace trained by years of traversing the same terrain.

"I brought this." Pulling off a basket, Lucas uncovered it to show a small, about-to-bloom plant.

There was a good chunk of soil in its roots, showing how careful Lucas had been when unrooting it. The big leaves were dropped, as if the plant lacked water, but they were very green. The orange buds were like dots amidst the greenery, which would surely look lovely when they bloomed. Or at least, they thought that was what Isabelle would think.

"This is the tallest it can grow?" Joseph inquired, studying the plant; its leaves, the buds, the soil. Its smell was not pungent. More like, there was barely any smell. So, it would not clash too much with the lavender they already had. In the future, they needed to look for more plants like that one.

He was of the idea that it was better to get more plants and see which one would survive. Though, if they grew in the wild, then that meant it was more resilient. He would only need to battle with pests, the change of soil the plants would experience to thrive and the care he would give them because he would not let them to grow however they liked.

This new plant even needed different soil than the lavender, so he would have to make a separation in the flower bed or plant it in the other one. He would see.

"Around my thigh." Lucas replied. Lucas was a tall man, so a plant around his thigh was a somewhat tall plant. Joseph was satisfied with the height and already got a plan for it.

"I'll plant it with the lavender, at the back, so it doesn't cover it." Joseph decided and started mumbling about what he would do with it, the care and things Lucas was not very familiar with.

So, he left his brother to it and walked to the well. He put the dead pheasants and wild chickens on the flat rock while the small wild pig was put on the ground. He was lucky to get this youngling which had strayed from its group. Although catching it required a bit of skill, it was easier than facing an adult pig.

Wild pig meat tasted really good, and it was delicious done by the fire. Most importantly, he could not wait to taste what Isabelle would cook with it.

Last, he checked on the wild chickens he caught alive: a rooster and two hens. Before, he would only catch a couple of chickens, steal some eggs and eat them all with his brothers. But after their conversation on how to improve their lives, they deemed it necessary to raise animals. So, apart from rabbits, there would be chickens, too.

He had to climb a few trees, taking care not to scare away the chickens to catch them alive. The rooster was a bit harder to catch as it savagely attacked him for invading its territory and touching its hens, but it was worth it.

With luck, they would constantly have a supply of eggs and chicken in the future.

After making sure the rooster and hens were quietly staying put in the basket, he also left them by the well. He would look for a place to release them later. First, he needed to greet the sweet little woman who made him put more effort into his hunting. He found her sitting at the table, leaning over a piece of fabric, moving her hand in a fast and methodical way.

She looked so focused on what she was doing that Lucas did not have the heart to bother her, so he moved towards the kitchen to check on breakfast. He had only drunk water on the way back; so, he was starving!

The fish and cabbage on the pot smelled good. He did not waste more time and heated it together with the leftover pancakes. Once hot, the smell was even more tantalizing that his stomach loudly cried out. He wryly thought that his stomach was becoming more and more spoiled.

Before, even if he skipped meals, as long as he drank water, then his stomach would not let out such embarrassing noises, but now… Now, he demolished the food, not even bothering to use a plate and directly eating from the pot.

With his hunger satiated, he came out of the kitchen, pot in hand to wash it, only to find the woman at the table looking directly at him. She immediately smiled at him, and he felt his face becoming hot; obviously blushing.

Truthfully, he was a shy man. His beard helped him a lot to hide the fact his face reddened like a tomato whenever Isabelle smiled at him or whenever they did naughty things. His whole body suddenly turned hot – reminded of his past experiences with her – and he did not know what to do with himself.

In the past, he tended to think about getting a bit of experience, like Ethan and Joseph, to know what to do with all his pent-up libido; after all, his hand could only do so much to help. However, the thought of a woman doing this and that to him so wantonly, as his brothers liked to put it, made him reticent to get that experience.

He had been worried that his intensity, curiosity and eagerness would scare Isabelle, yet she easily matched him and even surpassed him, finally letting him know what his brothers meant with women being tantalizing when they wanted to.

"Welcome back, Lucas." Isabelle said after a few seconds she spent looking at the man from head to toe to make sure he was not injured. 

"Hm." He nodded, taking that moment to take a quick breath to calm his beating heart. "I'm back." He coolly walked to the well to wash the pot and gut the game he brought. Or he tried. He felt his moves were a bit too unnatural as he was subjected to Isabelle's intense gaze. He was really nervous!

He only spent one day away from her, and she could already mess up with him to that extent. Not even when they first kissed was he that nervous.

Not long after he finished washing the pot, Joseph arrived to wash his hands. That was the excuse of course. The third brother only wanted to have a little conversation with Lucas.

"You were really pitiful back there." He commented, not trying to tease or mock him. Well, maybe a little. Lucas knew the sorry image he had presented, so he was not angry at his brother's words. "Lookin' you act like a colt 'bout to mate, I would've told ya to have yer time with her today. But yesterday, Felix asked for his own time with her, too."

Lucas looked at Joseph; noticing the serene gaze staring back at him, he knew the words were true. "It's fine." He appeased his third brother. He could not hog all of Isabelle's attention as she was not only going to be his Wife, but his brothers' too. There were moments he wanted her all to himself, yes, but he pushed those thoughts aside as it was not only him in need of a spouse.

Due to their conditions, it would be hard for him and his brothers to finds Wives to live with. And truthfully, they seemed to have spent all their luck in this life by finding Isabelle, who was willing to be together with the four.

After their conversation, Lucas went back to his work as Joseph walked out of the house towards their patch of land to help Felix water their crops.

Their house was located in the outskirts of the village, at the very end of the main road, with the river and mountains at their backs. Some villagers also had land around the area, but no one cultivated them because they were the worst patches of land.

Truthfully, the only ones who cultivated in that bad land were the brothers, as it was the only land available for them. The only one they possessed as their family was new to the village and were only allowed to possess that patch of bad land. All the fertile land around the village was already taken by the residents, or was full of tall trees and shrubbery nobody wanted to get due to its layout.

That was always the problem in mountainous lands; if one wanted to get new land to cultivate, they needed to cut down the trees and cut all the shrubbery. It was hard work that the tight economy of most village dwellers could not afford since they had to hire others to help. Even those with a stable income did not bother with the acquisition of new land.

Joseph had always wanted the patch right beside their house because the soil, although loamy, was better for planting than their current patch due to the accumulated mulch from the trees and bushes.

Though, lately he was thinking it would be better for raising animals. Rabbits spread fast, and with the rooster and hens Lucas brought, then they would have a stable output of eggs and chickens. Raising other animals would not be so bad either.

Last year, when he thought he had hit the jackpot with a woman who was willing to be his Wife, he had gone to ask the village Chief for the price of that patch. His plan had been to acquire it and build his house there. He almost cursed out loud in front of the respectable old man when he was told the price for that patch.

60 coins! The patch was 60 coins.

After the shock, Joseph thought it was reasonable. After all, that patch was bigger than the patch they owned. He also believed the trees were being sold. Those trees were a good source of wood. Wood could be sold to make furniture. If it was good wood, no matter the price, it could be sold.

But back then, they had only 16 coins saved in their public account. Even if he had asked his brothers for their personal savings, Joseph was sure it would not have been enough to buy the patch if put together. Though, he did not know how much money the others had saved.

Anyway, the matter crumbled apart not once but twice. First, from the lack of money; and second, because the woman left to marry another man. Joseph was aware that any woman who married him would suffer. He just thought she was different. She had claimed so.

Oh well, better not think about past matters, he thought as he continued on his way to the patch.