Linda answered her phone rapidly when she saw that it was her mother, she had let she and Frida be in the hope that Frida would be able to work her magic and give Mama some much needed joy and love. From what she had seen, it had worked but now she was worried she had left it too long, she fretted that something had happened. "Hi Mama, how are you? Is everything ok?" "Yes darling, I'm so happy to hear your voice. Are you free for breakfast? I have a lot to share with you" "Ok, can I bring the kids over to say good morning then I'll take them to school. I could come for a late breakfast. Would that be ok?" asked Linda. She was beyond delighted to hear her Mama sound so happy. "That would be lovely. Frida and I have had a lovely time. I want to hear all that's been going on the last few days. All the gossip" "Mama, that will take ages" Linda giggled. "Then so be it" came the answer. "Well we'll be together all of next week, don't forget the kids are off school. We could have a longer meet then." Linda suggested. "Oh, I won't feel up for it then, you know I won't. Besides I don't know how long Frida will stay" "You are well today Mama?" Linda questioned gently. "I am darling, I was sick this morning but not so bad as it has been. I'm feeling really well today." Linda smiled, pleased with progress. "Ok Mama, we will be over in a while.
Thirty minutes later there was a lot of noise and chatter approaching Agnetha's house and she watched them all fondly from her seat on the veranda. They all clambered on top of her and Frida, even the older ones. They were excited to see Frida as it had been some time and Frida had to promise that she would be there when they got home from school. Agnetha smiled gently as Linda shepherded them away after a little while, they would be late for school otherwise and promised her mother that she would come straight back.
While they were waiting Frida and Agnetha put together a beautiful little brunch and decided to take it outside. They both loved the fresh air. When Linda came back she was delighted to see smoked salmon and poached eggs and some warm rolls. She hugged and kissed her aunt Frida and whispered for her ears only. "Thank you for coming, we didn't know how much we needed you. I love you" Frida's eyes filled and she worked hard not to shed the tears. Agnetha looked at her curiously and smiled.
Linda poured them her and Frida coffee and Agnetha had her tea. That was currently a great loss to Agnetha at this moment, drinking coffee made her stomach churn so she tended to steer away from it but she did miss it and managed it occasionally but not today.
Linda started the conversation. "You two, when I came in looking for you the other day Mama, curled up snoring in each others arms with two empty bottles of wine downstairs!!! I saw you. You two are so busted! Linda giggled. Both Frida and Agnetha had the grace to blush then they laughed. "Needs must" remarked Agnetha."I haven't slept so well in years" "Its not like its the first time" added Frida laughing. "No, I know, that's what Papa said when I told him" said Linda still laughing "he said you and Mama used to run him and Uncle Benny ragged and he was damn glad you two were still at it" Agnetha was horrified! "I can't believe you told Papa! My God, he will think I'm awful" "Oh Mama no, he laughed like I haven't seen him laugh in decades, he's always so grim now but I watched him smile, then he grinned, then he out right roared his head off. He even had to wipe his eyes! It was so good to hear him laugh again Mama, I'd tell him a million stories to see him like that again."Frida was laughing as well."Good for you Linda, that man needs a break" They both rolled their eyes at each other. "Wait a minute, what am I missing here? Papa was always laughing, why does he not laugh anymore? Is he sick?" "No Mama" Linda hastened to reassure her. "He just doesn't have much to laugh about anymore. He works too hard" "Your Papa has always worked too hard, its nothing new" "This is different Mama, he works because it keeps him busy and gives him no time to think, he's always onto the next thing. Its not right for me to say it out loud Mama, I feel like I'm being disloyal to him" Agnetha opened her mouth to say something and she was interrupted by Frida who said "Maybe you can't Linda darling but I will. Bjorn is sad all the time. His joy are his children and grandchildren. Lena makes life so difficult when Linda and Christian go over there with the children that they have to meet away from the home. She is not good to him Anna." "It is true Mama, when we met up by accident she was on the phone telling him to come home and not to see me. He refused and she was screaming at him down the phone but he would not back down. He said he loved us all equally and she couldn't tell him where and when he could see his children. Then he spent the whole day with Christian and I. He ate cake Mama, he hasn't been allowed to eat cake for years, she says he's fat" "Bjorn has never been fat in his entire life, he's always been beautiful" said Agnetha indignantly then clapped her hands over her mouth as she realised what she had said in front of Linda. Linda laughed and patted Agnetha's hand. "Its ok Mama, your secret is safe with us" Frida laughed. "Oh Anna, that's exactly why you won't see him, you worry you can't hide it from him" Agnetha frowned and said "its part of it I suppose, I'm a pathetic old woman" "No Mama, you're brave as hell and you're a one man woman, there's no shame in that" Agnetha was furious, absolutely furious. How dare that woman make Bjorn feel less than he was? How dare she make her children and grandchildren unwelcome? If she had been well, her legendary temper would've come forward and probably ripped every hair out of Lena's head for this. Agnetha was thoroughly insulted on Bjorn's behalf. Linda and Frida's eyes met and they shared a smile. Frida nodded imperceptibly.
"Why am I just hearing about this? What else don't I know about?" Agnetha asked firmly. "I want to know all of it" "Mama, you've only wanted to know the basics for years and Christian and I don't bother you with the stuff that we know will upset you. You wouldn't even talk about him other than in the Papa sense. Not until recently. We understand why, we've always known you love him. You always talked about him fairly when we were children, you wouldn't hear us bad mouthing him ever, even when he went to England you made it good for us, you made sure that we knew he loved us even though you didn't know what was going on during that time. You were never like the divorced couples that we saw at school. Those ones who shouted and screamed. Papa was always asking us how you were, if you were happy and you the same. You wouldn't have done that for us if you didn't love him" Linda protested.
"You are older now Linda, I can't deny the things that you have said, they are all true, certainly the last few months have made me less guarded in what I say but the fact remains that Papa and I are divorced and he is married to her. He must love her or he would not stay. I do want to know the things you have been hiding from me with regard to you two and the children though and I do want to know about him. Give me this. I've said I'll sing Linda so I need to know. "Wait!! Mama? You're going to sing the new song? With Papa? Uncle Benny and Frida?" Both Agnetha and Frida winced as Linda's voice reached an excitable fever pitch. "Linda! Will you stop screeching?" Agnetha said laughing. "Papa says he won't release it if I sound anything less than I was. I trust him. I spoke to Benny too. Linda said " I haven't seen Uncle Benny in ages, the last time I saw him he was so quiet and I didn't have time to chat with him. It'll be nice to see him and catch up.
"Tell us about Papa Linda, I want to know what's going on before I go in for the next round of treatment" ordered Agnetha gently "and after that I want to know what's wrong with Benny" Frida chimed in. Secretly Linda was thrilled with all this interest. She knew what she wanted to happen and she would do everything in her power to make it so without meddling too much, given Christian's comments.
Linda sighed, "Where do you want me to start Mama? " Agnetha scowled fiercely "With how that woman treats my children and grandchildren, then you can go on to why Papa isn't allowed to see them, then you can carry on with how he is. Agnetha was thoroughly ruffled at the thought.
"When we used to go and visit him before we had the kids Lena just made for a bad atmosphere, she would always make out we'd come at an inconvenient time, she would make snide remarks about you, she might have said that Emma and Anna had things that Bjorn needed to do with them rather than us. Papa was always good about it, he never let her win, he always spent time with us but then it got more and more awkward and we could hear them rowing about us and Papa would say stuff like they are my children and I love them, they are part of me. I don't know all of it Mama. We would hear him defending you when she said bad things about you that had been in the paper. In the end Papa decided it was no good for us and he bought the house back in Vallentuna. It happened to come onto the market many years ago and he bought it back. He told me he always regretted selling it." she paused for a sip of her coffee while Agnetha was digesting what she had been told so far. She looked at Frida "Did you know any of this?" she asked. "I knew that Bjorn was having issues with Lena about the kids, I know he still does, its just continued with the grandchildren but I didn't know about the house in Vallentuna" "He asked Christian and I not to tell anyone in case Lena found out. Its a place we go often so he can see all of us without being stressed. We haven't been recently I think Lena has been much more difficult and he tries to stay out of the house as much as possible." Agnetha sat back in her chair. "Why would he buy Vallentuna, any house would have done?" Frida chuckled. "I think it was a great idea of his, Anna don't be dense. He bought it back because it has good memories of a time when he, we all were happy. He bought it for the children and the grandchildren and I bet he uses it as a bolthole when he needs a break. I'm right aren't I Linda?" Linda pondered for a while "You know I've never really thought of it, you know Papa doesn't discuss his feelings much and he certainly doesn't feel the need to explain his actions but you might be right there, he still owns Viggso with Benny as well. They have been offered so much money for it but neither of them will part with it. I know Uncle Benny uses it a lot" Agnetha and Frida smiled. " I'm glad, we were so happy there. Maybe they would let us go one day" mused Frida. Agnetha too felt a yearning to see Viggso but it was impossible. If she were honest, she wanted to go to Vallentuna too. She found it hard to understand what was going on with Bjorn. He had never been one to be told what to do. Or one to be bullied. She wondered what had changed.
"What happened when you saw him at the café?" asked Frida. " That was genuinely a surprise for both of us, it was so lovely. I can't remember the last time I saw Papa and it was just him and me. Normally I have the kids or Lena is with him and hurrying him up or glaring at me. He just drove by the café I was sat outside of and he saw me and stopped. He only stopped to say hello but I managed to persuade him to stay and he went and got coffee and cake. Lena doesn't let him drink coffee either" Agnetha rolled her eyes. "Jesus" she muttered under her breath. "Oh Mama, he looked so tired, so sad and then I told him the story about you and Frida and he lit up. He asked about you again and I told him why you wouldn't talk to him or see him" "Oh Linda, what have you done?" "Relax Mama, I told him that you knew very well that Lena made his life hell when you were in touch with him and you knew it was still the case. I didn't tell him that you were ill. I told him that you didn't want to make his life harder and that was the reason why he didn't see you anymore and Mama?" Agnetha caught a tone in her daughter's voice that made her look at her closely "What?" "Mama, he had tears in his eyes, I've never once seen him cry. They didn't fall but he worked hard to hold them back" Agnetha's heart fell. "Then what happened?" "He questioned me about Lena, about that phonecall before they went to England, he wanted to know why Frida had flown in so quickly. I didn't lie Mama but I didn't tell him everything. I said Frida was here because you two wanted to talk Abba" she sighed "then he said "this a day for revelations isn't it, then he had that horrendous row with Lena on the phone and I wanted to leave but he wouldn't let me. We walked on the beach for a while talking about the kids. We talked about your stalker and he got very upset. We went to see Christian and the baby and Papa fed her. He grilled Christian about your security here until he was satisfied you were safe and then they discussed security at the studio if you would say yes. Then I think someone might have called him to say Yes while I went to get the kids." she winked at Agnetha and she blushed ."I took them back to Christian's so Papa could see them without stress and it was wonderful. He had all of them pinning him down on the sofa and he loved it. He ate with us and then he had to go but I dread to think what she was like when he got home" Agnetha just did not know what to do with all this information, she was sure there was more that she didn't know but she was determined to find out. While Agnetha was lost in her thoughts Frida asked Linda about Benny. "Aunty Frida, I don't know what to tell you. Mama talks to him on the phone sometimes but I think it has been a long time since that happened. I can't remember the last time I saw Mona. Uncle Benny seems to spend a lot of time alone when he's not with Papa or working with the Orkester. Mama said once she thought he might be drinking again" Now it was Frida's turn to worry. She knew he had given up drinking 20 odd years ago because it had become too much of an issue. She knew it had been a massive contributing factor to their break up and Frida resolved to see him as soon as possible, she would persuade Anna to let him come here if necessary. They sat in a companionable silence for a bit then Frida remembered the other reason for the conversation. "Anna, we need to talk to Linda about next week" she said gently for Anna was still miles away " What? Sorry. Yes. Linda darling, I want to take advantage of Frida being here and the kids being off next week. You've looked after me non stop through these treatment cycles for a year and after this one I have one more to do. I want you to have a break with the kids and Jens. I'm not going to be alone before you say anything. Frida says she will stay for the week and the one after. I want you to live outside these gates for a while. Spend time with the kids, look after your relationship with Jens. Please. Don't make the mistakes I did. You need a break darling and Frida has seen me at my worst. I've told her what I'm like" Linda protested "But Mama..." "But Mama nothing darling. We can take this chance while Frida is here. We will be fine. If anything happens Frida or I will call you. We can keep in touch. Linda couldn't deny that the thought of such a break was amazing but she felt guilty. "Don't Linda, this is my choice darling. You need time with your family too. Don't ever feel guilty. You've done more than anyone else could have. Go home to Jens and see where you will go" Linda argued no more. Perhaps it would do them both good to have a break. Maybe Mama would cope with the chemo differently with Frida. At least Frida knew what to expect. Her mind made up, Linda got up and kissed Agnetha and Frida and said "thank you. We'll sort out details tomorrow once we have decided where we will go.
