Their return from Viggso was bittersweet, in all of their hearts they had wanted to stay but circumstances were forcing them back to their every day lives. There were matters that needed sorting, Mona had come out of hiding and released her story to the newspapers Benny had discovered when he had hopped out at the shop leaving the girls well hidden in the back of the truck to get a newspaper. He read it as Bjorn continued the drive back to Ekero. The story had chronicled his years of alcoholism and his impotence. It didn't bother him as much as he thought it would though, he was at a point in his life that he thought that the people who were genuinely his friends would know the truth and he was experienced enough to know that the furore would die down eventually. He read the article in the truck and saw some untruths in there though that he was not prepared to accept. He would deal with those the minute he got back to Ekero. Frida was fuming as she insisted on reading the article "I wonder how much she got paid for this gutter press" she grumbled "Doesn't matter Frida, as long as I have you I'll weather the storm. I am impotent when it comes to her and I am a drunk. That part is true. She has played into my hands though, the proceeds of the divorce that she will get are directly affected by any press involvement instigated by her. It was a codicil when we got married. I wasn't as stupid then as I've become. She's obviously forgotten that" "Benny, you aren't stupid" Frida soothed "Did we have a codicil when we got married? I don't remember" Benny scowled furiously "NO!!! NO we certainly didn't. We didn't need it and we still bloody don't. I trust you and I hope you trust me. I love you" Benny was thoroughly outraged at the thought "and I loved you then, it never even crossed my bloody mind" Frida grinned suddenly very secure but decided to poke the bear a little more, Benny needed to be firing on all cylinders to deal with this "Why did you have a codicil when you married her then?" she asked carefully "Because I didn't love her I loved you and I didn't trust her I trusted you but I wanted my son. I had to have him so I could live with myself and I couldn't tell you all this at the time" he sighed heavily "besides if you had slaughtered me in the press, it would be no less than I deserved. I waited for you to do it for years but you never did and I never understood why until you were yelling at me in Anna's beach house" Frida smiled gently "and why didn't I Benny?" He met her eyes in the rearview mirror "because you love me" She grinned at him and said "Exactly right you handsome old devil"
Bjorn and Anna's eyes met and they smiled."If Mona is on the march baby it means Lena will come for me tooth and nail. Are you ready for it?" he waited nervously for her answer, they had discussed this before but this was real now. Anna took her seatbelt off and sat forward and linked her arms gently round his neck from behind and she said "Yes baby. I do not fear her, she should fear me. I won't back down. I won't get upset. What did we say the other day? It'll always be tomorrow's chip paper baby. We've been through worse and I've certainly been through worse on my own and I'm still here." She squeezed him gently and managed to kiss his cheek "The kids are ready, this is a price I am more than willing to pay. We will bunker down at Ekero through my chemo all of us. I think Benny and Frida should stay until theirs blows over a bit and Benny has talked to his solicitor. We are safe at Ekero and I can beef up security more. I may ask that Christian and Isabelle to come back if it gets too bad. Then when my chemo is done and I'm feeling stronger you two should release a statement about the new song and that will deflect attention from Lena and Mona. It will dis-empower them" Bjorn looked at Benny "Jesus Anna that's fucking clever. You've got press savvy baby" She winked at him in the mirror "No choice, you have to play the bastards at their own game baby" Benny laughed admiringly "and when did you cook this plan up darling?" "Frida and I had a long chat after that phone call when you were travelling from Slottsholmen and we thrashed it all out. We love you both and we know what that entails. We will not leave your sides, you've both made your choices and so have we. We knew there would be consequences but for both of us you are worth it and there is going to be no further debate. Both of us will cope with whatever comes" Anna gave Bjorn a final squeeze and sat back with an air of finality and put her seatbelt back on.
"Jesus Anna, you're dangerous" Benny told her laughing "I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of you" "Lena's already on the wrong side of me" grumbled Anna "and so is Mona" she frowned. "Let's get back to Ekero safely and you can cook us something amazing to settle you" soothed Frida carefully. Anna brightened "Yes, good idea and I'll wander round the garden and see the horses" Bjorn smiled gently at his new world as he drove on home.
Much later when they were settled back at Ekero and Anna had spoken to everyone and promised to see them tomorrow and they had eaten a gorgeous lamb moussaka Benny said "Are you sure that you want us to stay Anna? We might bring more crazies to your door" Anna frowned at him from her spot on the floor in front of the fire "Thank you for your concern darling, I admit the timing could have been better because next week you'll all hate me but where else can you go that's safe? I need you both here where I know you're safe. I haven't spent 40 years holding this all together for it all to fail now. I love you both and this is the only place where you're truly safe. I need to know that next week when I lose my mind. You'd be doing it for me Benny so please stay. Bjorn may need you too" Frida frowned gently at Benny and shook her head "Thank you Anna, we will stay" "You can have the beach house if I get unbearable, maybe you should move your things before I start chemo on Monday "No, Anna. Stop it. We might go down there in the day but no way are we moving our stuff down there. There's no need to fret" came Frida's response. Anna subsided but Bjorn could still see the militant gleam in her eye "Baby, please. You've taken us on with all our baggage, I need to be here with you and Benny and Frida wanted to be here, now they have to be. We are so lucky that we have you to keep us all safe here, we are all lucky that we can come here baby" Anna was mollified but still said "Its not that bit I'm worrying about. Its the timing, my chemo is so humiliating, its messy, horrific and I hate it" "I went through the last cycle with you Darling and I'm still here, you're ill when you do chemo Anna, there's no hiding from it. Its just you being ill and we would never ever leave you. It passes doesn't it?" Frida told her bracingly. "Anna darling when I drank myself into a coma after Russo died and my liver nearly gave up my humiliation was total. I ended up in hospital literally half dead, I didn't want to live anymore and Bjorn apparently sat with me non-stop until I came round. Mona didn't come for me, she left me there to die" Benny paused to wipe his eyes "You don't have to do this Benny" Bjorn reassured him " I do Bjorn, she needs to understand that I've been where she is, for different reasons and I want to stay with her, we want too. It isn't because we feel sorry for her or because we feel like we should. It's because we love her" Anna opened her mouth to say something and Benny interrupted her " No little one, this time you will listen to me. I refused to stay in the hospital with everyone staring at me wondering where my wife was, looking at the great ABBA Benny pissing himself in the bed and high on morphine. I pleaded with Bjorn to get me out and let me die in peace. He did get me discharged but had to sign away half his life to do so, taking full responsibility for my drunken fat arse and he managed to get me to Viggso without the press descending on us. I still don't know how you did that by the way" Benny remarked "He fought tooth and nail with Lena and Mona and stayed with me at Viggso while I got better, he never left me and he hauled my arse outside and made me walk, he forced me to take my medication, he cleared up endless accidents and vomit and never once did he judge me. He dealt with Mamma Mia alone for all that time as well. My jaundice was dreadful and I couldn't go out in public for weeks. Viggso was the best place, he hid the car keys and I couldn't get my hands on alcohol and he rode out my detox with me. I punched him twice I think and yelled at him endlessly" "It was three times actually" said Bjorn ruefully " I still have a bump in my nose from that last punch" "The point of this Anna is, that's what true friends do. We don't bugger off when the going gets tough, we stick together and so no we won't be moving to the beach house, no we won't be leaving. Yes we will do our very best to help you, yes we will ignore your temper and yes we will stay until you feel better. There will be no need to be humiliated with any of us, especially not Bjorn I understand how you feel and when you are done with chemo and you feel human again we are all going to go and stay at Vallentuna for a few days and we are going to have a celebration meal at that Italian we all used to go to and that is all I have to say" he sat back on the sofa leaving a silence as everyone assimilated what had been said "I would have come for you if I'd have known" Frida said sadly " I didn't realise it was that bad Benny, why didn't you tell me. I'd have been with you on the next flight" Benny pulled her into his arms "Because I was too bloody proud to let you see what a monstrous state I'd got myself into and I thought you'd had enough grief that year without an alcoholic ex husband in detox as well. I loved you too much" Frida sighed as she admitted that at the time Benny had her best interests at heart. She got up out of her seat and went to hug Bjorn tightly "Thank you for keeping him alive Bjorn." she whispered. Bjorn hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head "Anytime Frida"
Anna sat on the floor considering all that had been said and decided that she wasn't going to be difficult. It seemed that they all did want to be here with her and that Benny had some insight into how she was feeling. She couldn't help but wonder if she had been less stubborn in the early days of her fight and maybe even before, would her cancer journey have been easier? She didn't know for sure but what she did know was that the last weeks with these three around her had had nothing but a positive effect on her and she was grateful. More grateful than she could ever express so she clambered up off the floor and went to cuddle into Benny " I'm sorry I'm so stubborn and I'm sorry that you went through that and I didn't know. It's brave of you to tell us and it has made me think. I do want you all here, I've given you all enough chances to bugger off as you call it and I do need you both to be safe. If I'm worrying about what's happening with you two I won't deal with chemo as well as I can. Please stay" Benny grinned " Leaving wasn't an option Anna but thank you little one for your blessing" "Will we really go to Vallentuna?" Anna asked quietly "It has security now Anna so yes, the new trucks will be here long before then so we will be sorted and then we will stuff our faces with pasta like we used to" Anna rested her head on Benny's shoulder " something for me to really look forward to and I have Viggso to remember, maybe next week won't be so bad" "and you have Bjorn coming with you" Frida reminded her. Anna smiled and said " Yes that's also true, it might be a good thing that we are already divorced" she joked gently " I swear I'll surprise you yet baby" was his response.
Bjorn went into Anna's study later when the other three were watching a movie and first rang Emma, he caught up on all the news and was disturbed to hear that Lena was putting a lot of pressure on both the girls for them to tell her where he was and that she was taking her anger out on them and the kids, Emma was reassuring though and said that it was no less than they had expected. Apparently Lena had not denied that she had been having an affair for well over a decade and she had had no compunction in telling either of them why. Bjorn closed his eyes in anguish. He didn't care about what Lena threw at him, he did care the girls and the grandchildren. "I'll go and see her" he sighed "Papa you will not" Emma said sternly."The agreement is contact only through solicitors and you cannot be the one to break it" "But she's hurting you all because of me" he was devastated "Papa, she is finally showing her true colours, she isn't hurting us because of you. She's doing it because things didn't go her way. She told both of us she never loved you and you don't deserve that" Emma was outraged for her beloved Papa "You stay where you are Papa, we will hold the fort until Agnetha has had her chemo next week. We won't let you down and we want you safe there where she can't find you" "I want you all here tomorrow for family Sunday" he said firmly "I need to see you all. I'll come and get you" "Papa really?? Are you sure?" "Yes, is Anna at Slottsholmen or is she here?" "She's here Papa, at hers" Emma told him. "I'll text you later with details, I need to talk to Anna" "Which one?" Emma asked amused "Both" Bjorn chuckled.
He strode back into the living room "Anna baby, we have a problem"They all sat up and listened as Bjorn recounted the conversation that he'd had with Emma and he watched as Anna's face steadily got darker and darker with rage "That bloody woman" she spat angrily "Bjorn bring them all home tomorrow, all of them. We can give them a day of peace but tell them it won't be a big dinner I'll do something like bolognaise and spaghetti and garlic bread" Bjorn looked embarrassed "I'm glad baby. I'm so sorry, I was so furious I told Emma I'd go and get her without asking you first" Anna grinned happily "Good, this is your home now if you still want it to be, you should have your kids over whenever you want or need to baby." Bjorn visibly wilted with relief and said "Thank you, I'll call Anna now then, I'll be back"
He came back half an hour later looking grim, Anna is struggling with this more. I need to ease her mind tomorrow" he saw Anna's worried face "No baby not struggling with you, she's struggling with Lena and being the unwanted baby she said" Frida and Benny looked equally upset "That's terrible" Frida said "She said she wished you were her Mama" Bjorn added looking at his Anna "How will I make her understand that I always wanted her? That I love her? I'll always want her even if her mother doesn't" Anna got up and hugged him "You just be you and you tell her and I'll spend as much time with her as she needs and explain you and me the best I can" she kissed him "I'll call Linda and Christian and ask if they want to join us tomorrow. You two staying or taking a break from the madhouse at Vallentuna?" Anna asked looking at Frida and Benny. They looked at each other "Definitely staying thank you. Wouldn't miss it now" Benny chuckled. Frida pondered quietly about paths taken and decisions made so many years ago and how they rippled through time to affect you when you least expected it. So many years had passed and so many bad decisions and yet here they all were. Still holding on.
