Voyage 2002

"Do you want me to touch you?" he interrupted her. May 2002 / Björn

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS EXPLICIT SEXUAL MATERIAL. IF IT'S NOT FOR YOU, PLEASE DON'T READ IT. ME & I.

In the kitchen of his suite he was slicing a cucumber. It was almost nine o'clock and he was craving something to eat. Not a cucumber, of course, but something with calories, salt and fat instead. Since he always had that, he had stocked up on cucumbers here too.

He thought back to that morning. They had been interviewed about their memories of their first record; Ring Ring.

Since all four of them liked to be questioned in Swedish, they had flown in Skavlan. He was a man slightly younger than they were, who was very popular in Norway. He had a sense of humor and dared to ask deeper questions.

Most of the production was in the hands of Industrial Music and Video, but because of the fact that the ladies also wanted to be able to express themselves well, they had chosen someone who spoke their own language.

Each day they would discuss one record and pick clips they wanted to show.

Benny had told of Nina, Pretty Ballerina.

"Another masterpiece from our early days," Björn chuckled.

"No, not directly, but I remember very well when we were mixing," Benny said. "All of a sudden Stig came in. There was a phone call for Björn and Görel would put it through to the studio, he came to tell us. It was Agnetha and it was urgent."

Björn suddenly knew what he was going to say and he looked to his right where Agnetha was sitting. She looked back with a big smile.

"At that moment the phone actually rang and Björn grabbed it," Benny recalled. "He didn't have time to say 'hello', because Agnetha screamed out loud."

"I AM PREGNANT!" Agnetha took over, chuckling.

Frida and Benny laughed along and he found himself looking at her radiantly. For a moment - in front of all the cameras - he put his hand on hers.

The four of them had decided not to yet utter a word about the special status their quartet was in, but this had to be allowed. After all, to the outside world, they were good friends, and they were reminiscing about their daughter.

"Of course Björn went straight home, but only after he had urged Micke and me to keep our mouths shut," Benny continued. "And we did."

It was fun to recall those times. So many great moments. Vallentuna. Agnetha and he had sex as if their lives depended on it. That was more or less the case. Well, their daughter's life, that was... They wanted a child and Agnetha's ovaries were about to explode. She had always preferred being a mother to being a singer and they spent a fortune on pregnancy tests. Even before their wedding she had thrown the pill in the trash bin, but nothing happened.

Agnetha became more frustrated by the month. Out of sheer misery she had once kicked a chair to pieces. Kicking, kicking, kicking and then crying out loud. A month later he hit the bulls eye and she called to the studio. Screaming. In Australia they heard her too.

Months later, she gave birth to his firstborn, struggling and fighting. Suddenly she turned into a Viking, a true warrior. He wondered if he would ever be able to play the guitar again after she had crushed his hand completely, but she was fighting the fight of her life and he had decided to stand beside her. The midwives had tried to get him to wait in the hallway. Nowadays, they wouldn't even ask and he was glad he hadn't listened to them! It was the most extraordinary experience of his life.

After that, he had experienced it three more times. Those moments, too, had been special. Except for Christian's birth, that had been a drama. And the other two were from another mother. Agnetha was simply the first woman to bring a child into the world before his eyes and it had crushed him completely.