The Day Before You Came

Chapter Fifty-Three

When Benny came back home forty minutes later to find everything completely silent and dark. He sighed and left his jacket on the sofa, he was tired, physically and emotionally. It was one in the morning, he left Greta quietly at his house next door, after talking for a while she decided to go to sleep and Benny left her alone. But coming here to his house, under the same roof as his family turned out  worse. He couldn't believe the attitude Frida took, it was out of context. He was aware of how jealous she got when it came to Greta, but tonight she crossed the line, and Benny was extremely angry about it. She mistrusted him, doubted his fidelity, and claimed him nonsense. He would never cheat on her, she knew, but she was blinded by jealousy. He could go fix it right now, but he was too upset, they'd probably end up arguing again.

Benny went into his son's room for a blanket, little Colin was sleeping peacefully oblivious to everything. His heart broke; he couldn't imagine doing something as horrendous to Frida as cheating on her, ending their beautiful family that way, it was inconceivable, and even so she doubted him. Without making a sound, Benny left the room but not before kissing the head of his son. He passed through the main room, there was no light from under the door and no noise either. A part of him longed to go in and figure it out, so he turned the doorknob but it was locked. "Fuck this," he muttered. She wanted this? Okay. He went to the sofa, got rid of his clothes and lay down covering himself with the blanket. Closed his eyes and concentrated on sleeping, but he couldn't. His mind was spinning, repeating the events of the last few hours, especially the fight with his wife. This was ugly, very ugly. He stayed there waiting for sleep to take him, not knowing that his wife inside their bedroom was in exactly the same situation as him, suffering.

In the morning, Frida prepared a natural mint tea for nausea. The lack of sleep was evident on her face, not even the mask she put on earlier in the morning helped to erase the marks of lack of sleep and crying. She was exhausted, but she had to work. The headache was unbearable, she would call the doctor to ask what she could take since, due to the pregnancy, she could not self-medicate. Frida sat down in the dining room and dialed the gynecologist's number, just as Benny walked into the house. She ignored him.

Benny didn't say a single word, just walked to the main room, he needed a bath to freshen up and relax his muscles. He listened as Frida had a conversation with the doctor and couldn't help but be alarmed, he heard something about a migraine and Benny cursed. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel bad because that meant putting both her and the baby in danger. In the previous pregnancy she developed preeclampsia and this time the doctor was clear in warning them that the situation could repeat itself. Nothing could go wrong, until this situation arose. He took his concern and stepped into the shower, not ready to talk to her either way.

Frida received instructions from her doctor, she would have to go to the city for a special medicine. She entered the bedroom for a coat and her bag, she heard the water fall from the shower, indicating that Benny was bathing. They were both distant, clearly angry with each other. Midnight was horrible, she couldn't sleep, she blamed herself and blamed him, too. It was total chaos. She left the room and ran into Marianne, the maid, with Colin freshly bathed in her arms.

"Mommy!" Colin happily called out to her. At least he lifted her spirits.

"My love," Frida nuzzled her nose against his cheek. "Mm, you smell delicious."

"May helped me." May is what Colin called Marianne because her full name was difficult for him.

"Perfect, thanks May," Frida winked at the lady, Marianne worked with Benny from the beginning and once they got married she started working for both of them. She sometimes took care of Colin, like today.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Andersson," Marianne replied. "You feel better?"

"No. But I already called the doctor," Frida explained. "I'm actually going to buy some medicine. Could you stay with Colin?"