Last Christmas

I think we're alone now, the beating of our hearts is the only sound.

Recommendation:
Listen to What Once Was by Her's while reading this chapter 💚

The two of them sat quietly in the dark, sipping their drinks and watching the television. It reminded Benny of when the kids were younger and they'd all watch little house on the prairie together, when he and his wife weren't touring the world, of course.

Frida was as beautiful as ever, her blonde hair turned a gorgeous brown and grown out to her shoulders. She was munching on her plain popcorn now, though her head kept dropping onto Benny's shoulder before she'd wake herself up again.
"Sorry." Anni-Frid yawned, slipping further under the covers.
"You're alright, I don't mind." His tone was gentle, trying to urge the woman into an easy sleep.

"Okay. Benny... I'm a little scared, even though it's silly." She squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing his hand unconsciously to distract herself from the terrible weather.
"Hey, hey, it'll be fine, I promise. Just focus on the show and try your best to relax; I'll be here the whole time." Benny soothed, unsure how to comfort his ex wife without giving her the wrong impression. Well, it wasn't an impression, it was the truth, but he would never push the line with Frida. She was finally starting to view him as a friend and he wasn't ready to risk losing her again.

"The whole time?" The woman emphasised, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Unless I need to pop to the bathroom, yes. I'm not going anywhere; you're stuck with me, Lyngstad." He grinned, rubbing his thumb against her warm cheek absentmindedly.
"And I'm glad about that."

"Sleep, Anni-Frid. You look worn out." Benny whispered.
"How charming." She rolled her hazel-green eyes.
"It's the truth, no offence meant; please."
"I'm afraid to, Benny. I keep having odd dreams and thoughts about the past and I hate them!" The woman finally admitted.
"How about you tell me about them then?"

"What?" Frida blinked in surprise.
"Well, I've always found that if you tell people about bad dreams they don't seem so bad. Try it, go on." Benny prompted, heart pounding when Frida unconsciously rested her head about it.

"It all started just before you came, and I had a funny dream about these babies, though that's all I remember, and then when I saw you again and everything came back, you know, about how we... I was. It made me cry, Benny. I was in such a state back then, and it just reminded me of everything." Frid hiccuped, but actually, telling this to the man she loved did help her clear her head.

Benny dutifully listening to her, responding in all the right places, until Frida fell silent once more. She was half asleep, bless her, yet still wouldn't settle properly. It broke Andersson's heart to see her this way, but he would never admit that to her - Frida would only accuse him of treating her like a helpless child; this was only true in part, because she was a intelligent and capable woman, who couldn't seem to understand why he might wish to protect her as best as he could.

Agny loved her granddaughter dearly, Benny could tell, but the woman was raised without much affection from her parents, so she raised her daughters the only way she knew, and when the time came, Anni-Frid too.

Sometimes, if she was in the right mood, Frida would tell of her childhood in greater detail; the loneliness, Agny's tough but tender nature, how she was secretly ashamed of their poverty, and how she used to pray that, even though she knew her father was dead, that he would be found alive in the wild jungle, and how he'd send for her one day - his darling daughter, who he couldn't bare to be apart from any longer -

Frida would travel in a big steamboat all by herself, neat as a pin in a new dress with her plaits pinned to the back of her head and tied with bright red ribbons (because red was her favourite colour, of course) and she'd bring her school books and teach him how to read and write again like the dutiful daughter she was, and he'd teach her how to swing from the trees with the monkeys, and Frid would have a pet tiger called Zappa and they'd live together forever, just the two of them...