Husbands: Science Fiction

It was never a good sign when her third husband came home and wound himself around her legs and then hid under her desk, where she could protect him. There had been quite a bit of that in the beginning, when she brought him home, as there usually was between new husband and old husbands. The marriage broker had told her to make a space that would just be the new husband's, and to let him venture out of it when he felt comfortable doing so, and not to freak out when the husbands fought. Of course, she already had two, so she had seen some of how it worked, but the first two had settled relatively quickly. Husband three...had not. He didn't start fights or mark territory, none of the usual ways that husbands caused trouble. No. He would--

Inspiration: Oh, a cat ran under my legs to hide from the Roomba.
Story Potential: High.
Notes: But it's tricky. The gender politics of this could be--troublesome. Would I feel okay if this was about a male and his "wives"? Less so, I judge. Ah, double standard. Perhaps a less charged term than husband and a more gender ambiguous one? Or would that be copping out? Hrm. Pondering. In fact--what happens if a husband gains independence? Would he then get "wives" like that? How would this society react to that?