The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself

Little treasures

It was now much later in the morning and the babies were ready to eat once again. They were ready to cry when their papas took them in their arms, slowly waking up their mamas. Frida stirred, sensing her babies' restlessness. She opened her eyes and winced in pain. She was still very sore. She smiled up at Benny happy that he was here, she was sad he missed the birth but was grateful he was here now. He kissed her on the lips passing her their little girl. Frida breastfed their youngest daughter and then gave her to Benny, switching with him to breastfeed their son. She looked down at her youngest one. Though he came as a surprise, she couldn't be happier. Meanwhile, Agnetha breastfed her youngest babies, remembering Christian, hopeful that one day he will join them too. She missed him. Björn couldn't help but smile at his wife, he was so proud of her, he will make sure she never feels unworthy or not enough, he will fix his mistakes, he couldn't even imagine living without her again. He thought to himself, "If we divorced, are we even married now? Well legally we are, but I'll make something up for us, just for us, it doesn't have to be official. She deserves another wedding, and she'll only get the best!".

The men helped the girls upstairs each carefully carrying a new-born. They decided it'd be easier for them to stay in one bedroom for now, so they opted for Frida's as the guest room where Ulvaeus were sleeping was too small.

The girls laid in the bed close to the middle, leaving place for the guys as well as for the kids when they wake up. The boys brought the crib from Agnetha's bedroom and put it at her side of the bed, similarly done as it was on Frida's side. The babies were gently placed in the cribs, looks like they'll have to learn how to share pretty early. The guys went back down to prepare some breakfast for them all and soon returned with trays full of delicious things. Neither woman had much appetite but they tried to eat at least a bit, the cold storm that continued outside always present in their minds. They needed to stay healthy.

It was now almost 9.00 AM and time for the children to wake up. While Benny decided to go wake up his and Frida's kids, Björn did the same with Linda. They explained to the kids that they had new siblings now and they needed to be quiet and gentle. Hans and Peter were both excited and already knew what to expect, while Linda was just excited not really knowing what was happening, she was only a year old after all. On the other hand, Heléne and Lotta were scared. This was new to them. They had siblings, and Heléne was even used to not being the youngest anymore, but they were still used to being their own parents' little ones. What if they won't care about them so much anymore? What if they'll forget about them? Lotta broke down in tears and Heléne wasn't far behind. Benny signed while Björn just looked at him sympathetically. He knew what it was like. Last time around Linda was almost 5 years old when Christian was born and just remembering her tantrums he winced. He was happy she had warmed up to the idea of having a brother and now wasn't really worried.

When they entered the bedroom, both women were breastfeeding the little ones. Benny and Björn simply admired them, while the kids were seeing the first glimpses of their new siblings. Hans and Peter slowly approached Frida and the twins, smiling down, happy to see their baby siblings. Linda clumsily walked to her mother and climbed on the bed the best she could with a bit of Agnetha's help. She was in wonder seeing her baby siblings for the first time. Non the less she smiled at them and at her mother. She snuggled closer to her mama and carefully kissed each of the twins. Heléne and Lotta have stopped crying but were now very shy, still scared of what this change will bring for the future. Heléne was hiding behind Benny, holding onto his leg while Lotta had her little head buried in his neck while he carried her. He walked towards the bed carrying double weight with Heléne still clinging to his leg. Heléne's curiousness won after a couple minutes and she went to join her brothers next to Frida's bedside. Lotta on the other hand began to cry once more. Frida had kind of expected it. Lotta was used to being the youngest and changes scared her. While she was incredibly strong-willed little girl, she still was only a little child. Frida gestured to Benny to put her down on the bed. He made his way closer and tried to get Lotta to sit down on the bed but she wasn't having it. She started kicking her little legs almost hitting the twins at one time but luckily nothing happened. Frida passed the twins to Hans and Heléne and caught Lotta's leg mid-air. She pulled her down and sat her on her lap, hugging her close. Lotta soon calmed down in her mama's arms and within some minutes her tears finally stopped. Mama still seemed to love her. She didn't even seem angry she was throwing a tantrum. She was just like always. She was just her mama. Frida dried her tears and kissed lotta on the cheek and then left kisses all around her little face making Lotta giggle. She could feel her daughter finally beginning to relax a bit. After a bit of cuddling Lotta was herself again and ready to meet her little siblings after all. "Twins?" she asked. Frida nodded, smiling at her hoping this will not be a cause of another tantrum. Lotta smiled wide this time. She was happy knowing she won't lose her mama just content laying there beside her mother while she had to once again feed the little monsters.

"What are their names?" asked Heléne after a little while. All four parents looked at each other. In the chaos of the storm and then on hell of a delivery none of them even thought about it. "They don't have names yet," answered Agnetha. "What do you think their names should be?" asked Frida. "Not that you can actually make that decision Lenni," interrupted Hans. "Yes, they won't hesitate to laugh and chose a boring name they like for some reason," laughed Peter. Frida hugged Heléne close to her making sure she knew her brothers were just messing around. Everyone threw in some names but even at lunchtime it still wasn't clear what the babies were going to be called. The day passed by quickly and a routine with the babies was beginning to form. Luckily all four seemed to feel like siblings rather than cousins and therefor Frida and Agnetha could do things together instead of at different times. In the evening when it was time to put the children to bed, they just wouldn't listen. "Ok, ok!" said Frida. "You'll find out the names of your siblings next morning and the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner the morning will come" After that there was no protest anymore and by 9.00 PM all of the children were calmly sleeping.

"I'm tired and ready for bed," declared Frida. Benny took her hand, helping her stand up so she could go to the bathroom. He knew she wouldn't want to sleep in the day's sweat, especially today. Björn helped Agnetha do the same. The house unfortunately only had one bathroom as it was designed primarily as a summer house. The girls were used to it though, having done it more than once during the tours in Japan, Australia and USA so it really wasn't a problem sharing a bathroom, it was just quicker and more efficient that way and they could help each other, avoiding unneeded pain. Plus, not to forget they have just delivered each other's babies so there wasn't really anything new to see. After they were done, they made their way back into Frida's bedroom where the guys were right in the middle of changing the bedsheets. The girls laughed quietly, they have never seen them doing it, it was always the them who took on the most of house work. "Ladies," said the guys, making the girls giggle as they took their positions on the bed. Today and probably for at least the next couple of days Frida and Agnetha will share this bed with the could be quadruplets at their sides while Björn and Benny will bunk in the other bedroom.

"So," said Björn. "Any idea for the names?" continued Benny. "Maybe..." teased the girls. "Hey, not fair keeping secrets form us," pouted the boys. All chuckled.

"I was thinking ... for our baby girl and ... for our little angel here," Frida said patting their son's cheek, while she stroked their daughter's soft hair. Agnetha and Björn were having similar conversation and soon all four babies finally had names. "Goodnight my love," said Björn, softly kissing Agnetha's lips, the gesture she happily returned, wishing him goodnight as well. "Goodnight Benny," said Frida. "Goodnight darling," he reciprocated. They kissed each other passionately. The guys gave each of their newest additions a kiss on the forehead sad to leave for the other bedroom but they knew that both the babies and their mamas needed peace, so they left at last. "Don't miss us too much," was heard from the bedroom after the door closed. Inside the bedroom the girls chuckled, the boys were sure to have a hard time trying to sleep.