Chapter 88

Jean walked up the stairs in a dazed state. She was so zoned out that she did not notice she had entered Mr Dodds' office while he was having a meeting with Iniko about the waiters that would be serving in the event with the Principal's guests.

"Jean." Mr. Dodds called out. He was a bit irritated, but he was not going to scold her in front of another person. Jean still didn't react and just went to sit on his lap as she always did whenever she was overwhelmed.

Mr. Dodds quickly gave Iniko a sign with his eyes. Not one to see the intimacy between his boss and the boss lady, Iniko was gone before Mr. Dodds finished his sign. 

"Is something wrong?" Mr. Dodds asked his Wife as he embraced her body. She shook her head. "Then, what happened?" He softly pressed.

"I met Isabelle at the workshop today." Jean said. Mr. Dodds had a hunch that whatever his Wife was about to say would involve him, no matter if directly or indirectly. 

"Isn't she preparing for her wedding?" Ethan had already asked for his day off to get married. Mr. Dodds was not a tyrant and allowed him to get a couple days off. Either way, there was a contract between them; if Ethan reneged on it, the gendarmes would search and lock him up.

Ethan, it seemed, had his own conscience and asked for just the one day. Mr. Dodds liked and pitied hardworking people like Ethan. 

He liked them because they put more than 100% of effort in whatever they did, plus they never complained if work got hard. On the other hand, he pitied them because those same people just dedicated themselves to work; no resting, no love, no family.

Mr. Dodds would like to think Ethan did not reach those stages. And, he would have a good talk with Ethan if the latter paid no attention to his family. Mr. Dodds didn't do that for all his workers, but in view of his Wife's friendship with Isabelle, he was going to do the effort.

Jean looked up to him and he found her eyes were shining almost the same as the day they got married. "She asked me to help her." Mr. Dodds eyebrow twitched.

"Help her how?" He still inquired.

"To comb her hair! To draw her make-up! To dress her up!" As Jean listed the things Isabelle asked help for, she got more and more excited. "She left the dress in our house… It was beautiful." She breathtakingly said, remembering the vibrant red and shiny white.

"She left what?" Mr. Dodds repeated dumbfounded.

Jean quickly stood from his lap and walked around the office, trying to burn her excitement but getting more excited instead. "Oh, you should see it, Ossy! I don't complain about my wedding dress, but I really would have loved for Isabelle to make it at that time!" 

Mr. Dodds name was Oshara; however, he never liked it and often refrained from saying it to others. With Jean, he could not hide it. Jean always tried to call him other things but his name: dear, darling, love, husband… 

Yet, she always thought it was too impersonal, too generic. So, she came up with a nickname that would not bother him. At first, he didn't accept anything that came from his name. Later, he learned to accept it and even like it.

Of course, only his Wife could call him like that.

He helplessly looked at his thrilled Wife and decided he had to see that dress. If it was as good as Jean claimed, then he was going to ask Isabelle to make her a dress she could also flaunt. That way, she could accompany him to those boring parties the Mayor or the Commissioner tended to throw.

In fact, a nice dress for the Commissioner's daughter's wedding did not sound bad. 

A smile escape his mouth. It had been a while his Jean had been that happy. Ah, he definitely had to give both Ethan and Isabelle a nice wedding gift.

…

"Do you think they will accept this?" Corey worriedly pondered as she looked down at the wedding gift she had prepared for Isabelle and her partners.

Although shocked to know she was going to marry four men, it was not that strange. Corey had met all four and they all seemed nice guys who cared for Isabelle. When the youngest, Felix, had told Corey they were marrying soon and wanted to invite the couple to the wedding, Corey was surprised.

She had only considered herself the person who sold things to them. At most, they had an amicable relationship. Corey did not think they were friendly enough to be invited to the wedding.

"You've helped us a lot!" The teen had retorted. "We're not making a big party, but I hope you can come to our home to eat after we do the marriage process."

Corey had hesitated, yet accepted at the end. And, from that day, she had been wondering what to give them. David had easily chosen the best flowers in his stall. An expensive type of rose. 

It seemed Isabelle had asked for it the second time they visited his stall, but regretfully looked away after hearing the price.

Compared to his gift, Corey thought a bottle of lavender oil and two empty jar-like containers was too poor. The jars were the last two she had from the pack of thirty she bought. Two small ones at that.

"They seem to be doing better now. But, these things always come in handy. They will accept it." David reassured her. "We can also bake cookies, if you like. We're bringing the kids, too, anyway." He chuckled.

"Yeah! We can do that!" Corey agreed. After all, according to that teen, the fact they had invited people was a secret to Isabelle. All she knew was that they were making food for themselves. 

Corey thought it was a nice gesture from them towards their future Wife.

"And, what are you going to wear?" David offhandedly asked.

"Huh?" Corey asked back.

"Well, it's a wedding. We should wear something nice, right?" He rose an eyebrow. She must have thought of that, right?

Her wide eyes and slack mouth told him that no, she didn't think about that. He and the kids watched her worry about her clothes the whole night. 

After all, the wedding was the next day.

…

The woman sighed. The man tried his best not to react. She sighed again, this time even more pointedly. He persisted. He succumbed to her stare.

"Don't look at me like that. He did ask for a cart and a horse. I got the money for it. I just improved the cart a bit." He explained for what seemed the tenth time.

The woman looked at the cart with a roof and the three tall walls. Usual carts, either drawn by oxen or horses, were just the plank of wood with low walls so things or people didn't fall, and the wheels. The cart she was riding on, though, even had a seat!

"We just have two old and rickety carts, why's their first one so nice?" She narrowed her eyes.

He looked up at the dawning sky and asked for patience. His Wife knew two of the brothers, the problematic brothers, so she didn't have a good opinion on them. Despite him talking to her about this other brother who was more silent and decent, her opinion did not change.

She disliked all Edris brothers.

"They want to treat their Wife very well. They are not so bad once they like someone." He explained. He had seen Ethan treat his ladies nicely even if those women never took him seriously. He had also heard about Joseph's story with that girl from their village.

The man even wanted to buy land for her!

Lucas and Felix had had no women before, yet from how they treated Isabelle, it looked as if she was put on a pedestal by them. Monthe was really happy the four finally settled down with a woman who had her feet on the ground, had a good head, and was beautiful to boot. 

Of course, he didn't say that last part to his Wife. His Vieve might look calm, and was calm and passive most of the time; yet when she got angry… Monthe suffered a lot from her mood swings when she was pregnant with their boy.

Talking about the devil…

The chubby bundled in her arms moved and whined. "Ssh… Don't wake up. We're not there, yet." Vieve tried to appease her son. Luckily, the little guy was too tired from having to wake up very early and went back to sleep.

Because of him, Monthe told Lucas and Felix he was going to drop his Wife and son at the brothers' house and then ride the cart to town to pick their Wife up.

The couple and baby entered Yellow Leaf Village and made their way to the very back of the village. The sun had already come out, so men and women ran about the village to head to their patch, to go to the market, or to visit others. Apart from that, there wasn't any liveliness proper of a family about to have a wedding.

It was not only an event for the families involved, but for the whole village, too. 

"Are they really not that liked?" Vieve softly asked her husband. Even she had been congratulated by everybody at their village. Though, that might have been because Monthe was like by everybody there.

Monthe shook his head. "To them, it's best if they are ignored." Vieve pursed her lips at those words. She didn't have a good opinion on the brothers, but she didn't wish for others to be ostracized and picked on like herself.

"Are we there, yet?" She asked, seeing how they passed the cultivated lands. Just how far away were they?

"Almost." Monthe replied. He could see the road going to the right. The brother's house was right before that crossing. "And we're here." He stopped before a low fence that showed the humble house inside. 

He had been in the house before. In the times he was chasing after Vieve and Ethan was going around looking for a woman to settle down. The two were young, were doing temporary jobs and had somehow gotten drunk. 

Or well, Ethan had gotten drunk and Monthe had no choice but to take him home. That's how he met all the brothers and knew where they lived. Monthe then understood why no woman wanted to settle with Ethan. 

"It's nice." Vieve commented, looking at the clean yard and the flowers.

"Wasn't this nice before." Monthe said. Then, from the house came out a well-dress man. The couple blinked and stared as the man strode to open the fence door.

"Thanks for coming! Lucas and Joseph are getting things ready at the plot, and Ethan went to drop Isabelle at her friend's house. Come in!" The man… teen… Felix brightly smiled and gestured at them to get in the house and to get comfortable.

Monthe and Vieve remained perplexed. The nice clothes contrasted a lot with the humble house. Were they in a dream? They pinched each other and confirmed they were not asleep on their bed. 

Who made such nice clothes?!

Vieve wanted to meet that person!

"The food is already prepared. I just want to bother you with making sure it stays warm." Felix put on a troubled expression while looking at Vieve and the baby in her arms.

"Not at all! Leave it to me! Don't dirty the clothes by going to the kitchen." She quickly acquiesced, and even told the teen to sit down. If he dirtied such nice clothes… 

Come to think of it, if they're dressed like this, will their Wife be dressed as nicely? 

Vieve's thought filled her with expectancy. She couldn't wait for the time they returned from town, already married, to come!