Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters though I do intend to borrow them.

ooo

My Three Older Brothers
by Madam-Joan

ooo

Dear Mr McFadden,

It is never easy to tell such tragic news as bereavement but I feel it obligatory to tell you and your family about the deaths of your three brothers. I am deeply disheartened to tell you this news and hope that you and your family will respect the memories of Gregory, Stewart and Stephen McFadden.

As Jacob scanned the letter with his dark eyes, he began to wonder about his dearest brothers. How could three seemingly healthy men simply die so young? The three of them were the closest of brothers. James could not think of a moment when one of them did not know what the other two were up to.

Jacob was the youngest of the four and had always looked up to his brothers. They were always roguish and usually a pleasure to be with. His parents had never grown to their disobedient behaviour but Jacob couldn't resist but spy on them as a child when they were doing their mischievous deeds.

He thought about the oldest brother, Stephen. He was a tall, slim man who was nearly infamous for his arrogant and charming ways. Then there was the second oldest, Gregory, who was a large chubby man who, above all, loved the sweeter things in life. And Stewart, the only one who ever treated Jacob as anything else than a child, who visibly loved the "outdoors" and its fascinating odours.

Jacob looked down at the letter, he was furiously distressed but he did not shred a tear. He did not want to weep; he could hear the chants of his brothers from his childhood…they would have never wanted him to whimper over them.

As he skimmed through the next part of the letter to see how the disastrous events had happened, three words shone out. He had not hunted to see them but now, he could not hide the words from his mind. They floated gaily in his brain like ghosts. He closed his eyes forcefully and tried to conceal them but there was no point. He opened them again and prepared to read on. He read on, the three words still stinging his psyche.

Infirmity. Disaster. Mistake.