The Honest Affair

61

It had only taken an hour for Björn and Agnetha to gather the things for the children. Björn packed Emma's and his items, and then took over for Anna so that Agnetha may help the other two kids in the choosing of what they should take. They were set, and lively as they all headed towards the door and were all wished farewell by the mother and daughter who were left in charge of the home.

Greta closed the door when they had left and instantly leaned against the door, releasing the strongest yes of her life. It had emerged in front of her mother with a hand gesture that emphasized her excitement.

"Greta," her mother sighed.

"Finally we are getting somewhere. Ma, don't you see it? He and Agnetha are going together and leaving Lena behind. Did you hear what he said?!" she exclaimed. "She's pregnant and needs to take care of her baby... not our baby."

"God help you," Silja sighed, looking up as if she were praying. Her daughter approached her and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"Your daughter has entered heaven."

Lena had awoken not long after Claes had left and she pulled herself up. She groaned irritably realizing the discharge was not yet prepared. The few moments that passed showed no nurses entering the room either and she hurriedly decided she couldn't sit. She moved towards the chair for the bag that held her belongings. She felt that so much time passed and she had yet to know the hour.

It was not as difficult to play it casually. She made herself appear as the visitor and left the building in a rush. When she entered her home, she was welcomed warmly by Silja, but Lena had not bothered for anything— only to call out for those she sought.

"Björn!" She walked from one room into the other and towards the stairs. "Emma!"

"They are not home."

"He took them," Lena sighed disbelievingly. "Where are they?"

"He did not say where he will be. You are pale, Miss, you should get some rest. I've prepared soup for you."

"I don't want anything," Lena breathed. She backed away from her staff and climbed up the stairs for her bedroom.

She had sat alone for hours. Her heart felt a mess and emotions unable to be held together. It had been like an eternity since she last felt this feeble. She was left alone in the end, and had seen that all she had done had only caused Björn to drift further from her but what was a heavier toll was that he took the two children. She never thought she'd lose Emma, and on top of it she longed for the peace that Anna brought to her. It was incomparable. She couldn't fathom the feelings she had boiled inside of her, and her tears overflowed.

She had lifted the phone and dialed his number. Her pride had always been the best of her, and even in times of uncertainty he gave her a stable ground. His voice had done enough.

The telephone rang a home where a man was sitting alone, a drink in his hand and a photograph before him. How could she have hid it from him and for so long? Would she ever have told him? Had Björn known? If he did, then he would understand someone else is in her life. That there told him that Björn would learn it all, sooner or later.

"Hello?" he answered. He straightened to the understanding it was one of those calls again. He waited for a while and felt her there. "Don't hang up," he stopped her. "Don't go." He thought very quickly. "The hill, in a half an hour. I'll be there. Okay?" He still hadn't heard the response but he knew it wouldn't come anyway. He listened to the phone close. Lena had wiped her face and her nose, and she carefully got up for a change of clothes.

The spirit in the car which drove out of Ekerö was loud. The children certainly didn't expect it, and though they were all crammed inside the car tightly, they wouldn't have had it any other way. Linda sat beside her father, and laughed at Christian, because he was not allowed to. Agnetha sat beside the right door with Emma in her lap, and the other side of Christian there was the carseat. Questions were endless for a half an hour until the car stopped at a very distant home on top of a field.