Remember me

Little Lies

Those next few weeks were some of the hardest Benny had been through for a long while. Frida had returned from hospital but he thought it best to keep away. She bluntly refused to go to work, and to be honest he didn't blame her. Maybe this would be the end of ABBA? After all, they surely couldn't expect the group to continue after 2 separations and already 1 divorce.

He missed her so badly he couldn't see straight. The amount of times he had be close to picking up the bottle again, well, if I told you, you wouldn't believe me anyway. The only reason he kept going was for the kids. They needed him. And maybe a part of him did it for Frida too, though he tried not to think of her too much.

He had to get over her. It wasn't fair on Mona or their upcoming baby. Mona was much bigger than Christina was with Peter or Helene, but he didn't want to bring importance to it in case he upset her. Anyway, all bodies react differently to pregnancy so that might be one of the reasons. This would be the first time he could properly be present in the lives of one of his children. When Peter and Helene were young he would be constantly touring his country with The Hep Stars, which meant he wasn't always around to do the small things like take them out to the park or read them bedtime stories. Now he would finally be able to do that! Benny often wondered why he and Frida didn't have children together of their own, but she always said it would be too chaotic with ABBA, and they would struggle going on tours with young children. She always said she admired Agnetha and Bjorn's strength for being able to do so, but that was also one of the main reasons their relationship crumbled, and both sides of BennyFrid agreed they didn't want that to happen to them. Benny also had a reason to suspect the reason Frida didn't want a child with him was due to her wild parties as well as his alcoholism, though neither of them ever dared to bring up the subject. Benny knew how much Frida valued freedom and spontaneity, as well as her family.

********************************
11 weeks, 11 weeks since she last saw Benny. No contact, no nothing. Frida can't say that part of her wasn't glad about this, for every day she felt her pregnancy was becoming more and more obvious.

The doctor gave her pills for the nausea which helped a great deal, so much she was even beginning to enjoy this pregnancy.

Frida often wondered what it was like to be Mona, she had the job, the baby, the guy, everything. She was aware that Benny would have a son, after finding out from Agnetha. What will our baby look like? Will it be a boy or a girl? She thought to herself, absentmindedly stroking her stomach, which had become a fully-fledged (all be it smaller than average) bump. Thankfully, her love for fashion and Görel's marketing skills meant the press hadn't discovered her secret yet, though she wasn't exactly hiding it. Lotta had been ecstatic, though rather sad she'd be in America when her sibling was a baby. Hans had been ready to kill Benny, as he correctly guessed the child's father on the first attempt. However, once Frida explained Benny wasn't aware of their child, he supported his mother and assured her he'd protect her and the baby at all costs. This  bought back a wave of forgotten nostalgia, for Hans had promised the same thing as a small child after being told he would get a younger sibling. And though they argued, Hans clearly adored his sister and had never broken his word.

As for her step-children, much to Frida's dismay, she hadn't quite figured out how to tell them yet. It was getting harder and harder to visit them these days. Christina understandably wanted her time with them to be just that, her time. And Frida for all that was good and holy would never visit Benny Andersson, for she knew she would never be able to resist him.

16 weeks. Exactly 4 months. Well over 1/3 of the way there! God, how fast this time was going. In 2 weeks she'd be off back to the doctors to find out the gender. She knew she had to let her step-children know about the impending arrival soon, and it was now or never. Picking up the phone, she pressed in the numbers for Christina's, which she had memorised years ago.