The ride home was made in unexpected silence punctuated periodically by Anna's muffled sobs. There was no more that Bjorn could say to comfort her, even his words had failed him this time. His comfort came in the fact that Anna still had her hand on his thigh as he drove. He just wanted to get her back to Ekero but what they did after that he had no idea and he hoped that his presence was enough for now.
They pulled into Ekero and Anna shot out of the truck and disappeared round the side of the house and Bjorn spied her heading to the stables he sighed as he got out of the truck and caught Linda gently as she went to run after her Mama "let her be for a while sweetheart, she'll be back. She just needs some time in her own head. She needs to adjust to the unexpected" he smiled at her gently "but Papa..." Linda protested "trust me Linda, trust Papa OK?" Christian pulled Linda in for a hug, he'd followed at a slower pace and then he pulled Bjorn in too "it doesn't matter" he whispered "we always said we were up against it, we were warned. The doctor said there was more to be done, let's give her time to get her head round it then she can tell us and then we can plan for the next bit" Linda nodded and wiped her nose on her Papa's shirt "I wonder where you got that habit from" Bjorn said rolling his eyes "Your Mama does that to me all the time" he smiled "Why don't you two ever have a hanky?" he fished a hanky out of his pocket and wiped Linda's face like she was four again and Linda couldn't help but giggle at her Papa's ability to make her feel better "We're going to get through this aren't we?" "Always baby girl" Bjorn rested his chin on the top of her head as she took the comfort she needed and he watched Benny and Frida come out onto the veranda. He could see from this distance that Frida had been crying and Benny looked crushed but was hiding it well. He met Benny's eyes and their 50 year old brotherhood came to the rescue as Benny read him and his eyes sparked with an indefinable emotion but he whispered in Frida's ear and she slumped against him sniffling. Bjorn shepherded the kids in, grateful that the smallest members of the family were at school or asleep "What's going on Papa?" Christian asked finally aware that there were undercurrents swirling "Let's wait for Mama hmm?" she won't be long" Bjorn said. Frida busied herself making tea and Benny went to see if he could see Anna at all, he could as it happened and she was making her slow roundabout way to the house, he sighed in relief and left her to it.
Anna was faced with the 5 people that defined her universe when she wandered back into the house and she smiled as she joined them round the kitchen table "Waiting for me?" she enquired "Mama!!" Linda complained impatiently "Did you tell them?" she asked Bjorn "Nope, this is all yours Baby" Bjorn told her gently, she sat down in her seat and took a sip of tea from the cup that had been placed on the table in front of her seat then rested her chin on her hand as she surveyed them all "Do you know how much I love you all?" she asked quietly "and it all boils down to this right here and now" "I won't let you give up" Linda burst out emotionally and Anna smiled gently "Glad to hear it" "We love you Mama" Christian said reassuringly "Oh I know and I love you too, all of you very much. But here's the thing. Without one person none of this would ever have happened. I never would have met Frida, never had Benny in my life and most certainly would never have you two. Nor would there have been an ABBA, imagine such a tragedy" Frida grinned as she realised where Anna was going with this while the others were looking forgivably confused "if this man will still have me, we have a wedding to plan and he's going to have to get used to the idea that I'm here for the long haul. I'm looking for a minimum of 30 years with an option of eternity. Will he do me a deal?" Frida and Benny burst into joyous laughter and Bjorn grinned and sat forward." He'll deal at 35 with an option of forever included." he said firmly "or no deal" Anna sat forward and fixed him with a glare "Throw in a couple of new grandchildren and a great grandchild and I'll deal" she threw back. "He wagers 3 new grandchildren and at least 4 great grandchildren in that time. Is she brave enough to take his deal?" he countered, "Will she hold up her end of the deal and know them all?" he demanded" She lifted her eyes to his "She will, she will know every single one of them, they will know her and she WILL live until she's very old and she will sing, ABBA will be her epitaph but not for a very long time" "I accept your deal Mr Ulvaeus. You drive a hard bargain" she countered and stuck out her hand "Miss Faltskog, its exhilarating dealing with you. I look forward to the next negotiation. There's no backing out now" he shook her hand firmly and then kissed the back of it. There was a silence as Linda and Christian assimilated what had been said "I don't...." started Linda "Fucking hell!!" Christian interjected "What a way to tell us!!!" he was quick like his Papa and Linda was clouded with emotion and pregnancy hormones "Linda darling, they're playing, they mean Mama is going to live, meet your baby, meet all the others that will come, they will marry for at least 30 years and whatever does take her from us it won't be this and it won't be now" Christian explained gently
There was an uncharacteristic silence from Linda as she struggled to take it all on board and then she squealed with total happiness and relief and threw herself at her mother and sobbed and Christian after a minute joined them, in the history of healing hugs there was no way that this one could ever be beaten. "What did they say exactly?" demanded Linda but Anna couldn't answer her through her happy tears so just held on "they said that there was no current sign of cancer anywhere in Mama's body, they can see scar tissue in each breast but that it will settle down as time goes on. Her blood tests came back clear of any cancer markers and in fact show that her immune system is repairing at an above average rate" Bjorn took over for her. Mama will be on tablets for the rest of her life to keep on top of it and she'll need regular blood tests and check up's for a while just to pick up anything untoward early but the doctor says that he sees no reason why Mama shouldn't live to a ripe old age. With me" he added for good measure.
"Mama, why did you run off like that if it was good news? Why were you upset?" "Oh Linda baby, I don't know how to make you understand. I cried all the way home too, because I thought I would die, I had resigned myself to die, I'd planned all my goodbyes and made my peace as much as I could but suddenly my life path changed to something I could only dream of and I had a hard time believing it was all real. I've screamed at Papa on the way home telling him he doesn't have to marry me he may not have wanted me for... "." 35 years plus the forever option" Bjorn reminded her chuckling "but he does and I want you all too so I'm going to stick around if you don't mind. I just needed to get my head around the world at my feet, ground myself if you will because suddenly I can plan stuff again, I can go places sometimes, I can help with the babies. Oh a million things but first we will plan a wedding. I want us to be respectable grandparents" and her beaming smile of pure happiness melted everyone's heart.
"Shall we leave writing my epitaph for another few decades and just live?" she asked, she winked at Benny " We have a supergroup to drag into the 21st century, music to make with the people I love most in the world other than you kids, when you face death it puts your other fears into perspective. I think that perhaps silence will not be my final gift after all"
