Because She Loved Him

Nothing But Never Meants.

Anna had been feeling a bit off since the middle of the night, she'd been woken by a rainstorm starting, then she'd wanted to go to the toilet and when she'd got back into bed she couldn't seem to get comfortable, she'd spent hours staring at the ceiling listening to the increasing rain, then the wind came. It woke the children who then needed her attention. She had just got back into bed hoping for an hour's rest if not sleep when the thunder and lightning started, that was the end of her hope for rest then as Linda came running in and Anna got up to get a wailing Christian. None of them liked storms, Anna was terrified of them and even though it should have been close to dawn with light in the sky it actually looked closer to midnight and Anna knew that they were in for one hell of a storm, it had been forecast but she couldn't remember them saying it would be this bad, she shifted onto her side the best she could and hugged Linda till she settled again with Christian snuggled in the middle. They all fell into a fitful sleep for a while until thoughts of breakfast woke the children, Anna kept the curtains closed in a vain attempt to block out the worst of the storm, it did little but it made her feel better and the simple act of making the children their breakfast took her mind off the storm outside. Keeping the children occupied that day tested her patience to the extreme, they weren't good at being cooped up indoors and there was no chance at all of them going outside to let off some steam, far from getting better the storm worsened over the day leaving them all worn out and fractious. On top of everything else her back was aching and she felt a bit sick, nothing to alarm her but it was annoying, she poked up the fire to make the cottage a little warmer and filled the kettle for hot water bottles, it was looking like it would be a chilly evening and she made sure that the kitchen stove was still burning well and was grateful by this point that she didn't need to go outside for anything, she worried about being surrounded by trees and the long track that the cottage was at the end of but knew that there was nothing she could do about it, she certainly couldn't take the children out in this and where would they go? she worried about her little garden that she had worked so hard on but again there was nothing she could do, she would just repair the damage when the storm.was done, there was no rush.  The little house held them safe but the same could not be said for the surrounding forest, Anna could hear the wind howling through the trees and she could hear the creaks and groans of the trees as they fought to stay upright. Some did not succeed, she knew that but there was no direct hit on the house and she was truly grateful. She hid her fear from the children but she prayed endlessly for many hours of the storm and missed Bjorn with a physical pain that hit her with much the strength of the storm outside and she choked back tears of utter despair and grief. The day dragged on and the nerves in the pit of her belly were twanging, she was genuinely terrified and all she wanted was Bjorn, regardless of what he'd done, regardless that he didn't love her, she just wanted him. The weight of her responsibilities and the worry of the impending birth felt overwhelming, magnified by the knowledge that Bjorn was hundreds of miles away in Stockholm making his life with Lena, while here she was huge, tired and not able to see her feet. The day had been long and stressful, the children fractious and challenging. Her patience was at the end of its limits and her grumbling aches and pains threatened to unhinge her, she loved this baby fiercely but she was absolutely fed up of being pregnant and couldn't wait for the day she could hold her new child in her arms.
Bjorn however, was not as far away as she believed, not physically at least, he was facing an issue of his own, the guesthouse was closed due to family illness it said on the door and he'd got absolutely drenched just getting out of the car. He couldn't imagine anyone else being out in this weather and he was pretty sure there were no other places to stay in Verum as it was so small but he had no choice except to drive around anyway and check. As he did so, he caught sight of the church looming up out of the gloom and his shattered heart cracked a little more, the sight of the church where he had married Anna all those years ago. Still the same, unchanged, standing strong against the storms and that's how he and Anna should be, instead there was a chasm between them that never should have been there and even though he knew he was closing in on her he still had no idea where she was.
Without much conscious thought Bjorn found himself parked outside the church and for what good it did him, putting his coat on and heading out into the storm and heading towards the sanctuary of the church. He was not by nature a religious man but here in the church where he had married the love of his life, he hoped at least for comfort, perhaps some clarity. He didn't deserve peace he knew that to be so, his peace would only come when he found Anna and his children but he could at least feel closer to her here. He took it as a sign that the church was open even at this late hour and he let himself in gently.