Together Forever

Chapter 9: Moods, Minor Injuries, Mackerel And Mamma's

Frida thought young Ludvig was very sweet, but the boy would not leave her alone! He needed to be around her constantly and Benny genuinely wondered how she did it.

She managed to spend the whole day with his little boy. The entire day. It drove him crazy, for all he craved was alone time with his ex-wife, talk with her, laugh with her, stare at her alert eyes and glossy lips. Why oh why didn't the universe understand?! She was his sanity, his sweetness, his shining star, his everything. He needed her, in every sense of the word.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly, watching Ludvig play with his toys. Benny snapped out of his thoughts and turned to her, looking into Frida's green orbs. "Nothing! Nothing at all, Frida." He tried giving her a comforting smile, but that only made her look more worried. "I don't believe you. But we're not going to argue in front of your son so I'll save it till later." Frida sighed, bending down to talk with Ludvig. Of course Benny could never tell her, she would despise him and stop any chance of getting close to him again. He couldn't mess this up, he did once, and wasn't going to let it happen again.

He went over to the tv and turned it on, turning until he saw a documentary about the history of the piano and obviously decided to watch. About 1/2 hour later, Ludvig joined him, and by extension, Frida. The blonde boy sat on Frida's lap while Benny moved to the floor. Eventually, she stretched out on the sofa and his son fell asleep on her chest. You'd have thought they were mother and son. Mona was a good mother but rarely had time for small moments like these with their boy, as she was rather busy.  Earlier that year, Benny had been working with Bjorn non-stop as their musical 'Chess!' was premiering in the west end in  May. Meaning they obviously had to rely on nannies, leaving his 4 youngest child feeling rather neglected, particularly the elder 3, who barely saw their father as it was. However now that was over, he was determined to spend time with them before they'd all grown up.

Benny remembered his joy at seeing Frida and their babies at the first  London showing, the children bouncing about and pulling faces at the journalists as Frida howled with laughter and half-heartedly tried to stop them. And all 3 of them started arguing over who got to hug Pappa first, even Leo. Frida giving him a a wide, slightly forced smile. How she giggled like a school girl when Ruzzo whispered something in her ear.

Ruzzo was younger than him, a perfect gentleman, very rich, and was great with his children. It made him feel threatened, though he tried not to show it. Especially with the way he was holding Anni-Frid close.

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"What do you want for dinner?" Frida peered down at the young child in her lap, ruffling his hair. She missed her babies, all of them. She wondered whether she should call Hans and Lotta but decided against it. And her younger kids would be spending a rare evening with their grandparents, so probably would not appreciate mamma interrupting. Plus she'd see them tomorrow anyway. Lotta was still in America but he son was living in Sweden so she might pay him a visit tomorrow, before the children get home. They all adored each other, but Frida needed some time to just focus on her oldest son, without having to chase a 5 year old around, for it meant that she didn't actually chat with him much and it was already dark. So, she'd call him very early tomorrow morning and breakfast at his.

"Can you make me some smoked mackerel with black pepper and beetroot?" Ludvig asked shyly, meeting Frida's eyes. She smiled, stroking his cheek. "A very specific request Mr Andersson," Benny's head jerked up, naturally assuming she was talking to him before realising Frida was talking to his son, so turning back to the tv, tuning everything else out. He didn't see Frida's eye-roll before she carried on. "I don't know if we have all the ingredients, but I'll go and check. Would you like to help me make dinner?" Frida asked, watching as Ludvig's face lit up as he scurried past her, heading for the kitchen. "What an odd, odd little boy you are, Ludvig Andersson." Frida chuckled to herself quietly, going to check the larder.