"What have we got out there this morning Bjorn?" as Benny came down the stairs doing his shirt buttons up. Bjorn was sipping a cup of tea and checking through the camera screens. Anna was in the kitchen making breakfast and Frida was in the shower. Bjorn looked up and grinned "Look at you Benny, you look like a different man my friend" Benny chuckled and said without a hint of complacency "I know, even I see it in myself, I certainly feel it, I could say the same for you. You look like you've been relieved of the weight of the world and twenty years younger" it was Bjorn's turn to chuckle "That's what it feels like, I just needed her, all this time and she was all I ever needed" "Of course she was, same for me with Frida" "In answer to your question 4 of them today so not too bad" He pointed them out on the screen and Benny peered at them "That one there" he pointed to one particular man in a blue raincoat "he's familiar, where have I seen him before?" he frowned in thought and Bjorn said "Do you know I thought that as well" Bjorn's face suddenly became frighteningly grim as he debated where he had seen him before. Neither he nor Benny could think but it worried him that they both had recognised him. Bjorn took a still frame of him and sent it to his mainframe to print off and resolved to compare it to Mono and the ABBA museum tapes. He also knew that things had changed since the days he had been with Anna first and he realised that she would not thank him for attempting to hide this from her or protect her and so he called for her "Anna baby can you come here for a minute?" he heard her answer but could not make out what she said, he heard the corresponding noise of her clogs on the hardwood floor so he assumed her answer had been yes. As she rounded the corner and caught sight of Benny she smiled and said "Morning Benny, what did you want?" she directed at Bjorn "Take a look at him" he gestured towards the screens and Anna looked at the live feed and the still "Has he been around long? Do you recognise him?"Bjorn asked. "Ugh, yes he's been one of the more persistent ones. He has breached the fences more than once. I'd have to look it up after breakfast but I would imagine he's been around for a decade maybe a little less."she paused in thought "Before I raised the fences higher and put the extra cameras in he got into the stables and hid. When I went to feed the horses that night he frightened me to death. God knows how long he'd been in there" she shuddered at the memory and Bjorn's protective instincts came roaring into life "What happened?" Bjorn asked even though he dreaded the answer "It wasn't as bad as it could have been, I managed to keep Sanderson between us, luckily he's my biggest horse and all that man kept saying was he wanted to smell me. There are some strange people about and I seem to attract them all" she sighed and Benny put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her comfortingly. "What did he do?" Bjorn demanded "Well not a lot, he just stared at me and wanted me to let him smell me. He started to chase me around Sanderson and he managed to get hold of my scarf but Sanderson backed up and kicked him rather hard in the unmentionables. That gave me enough time to push the panic button in the stable and get into the tack room and lock the door. The police came and took him away and Jens came down to tell me it was ok to come out" Bjorn rolled his eyes and said "That's crazy, thank god for Sanderson!! I must remember to thank him personally when we go down there later" His comment was designed to make Anna laugh and she did. "Why do you want to know about him?" Anna asked curiously "Well interestingly both Bjorn and I recognise him but we don't know from where yet, it worries us that we both recognised him independently of the other" Benny told her "Bjorn has sent that still to Mono and the Museum and we'll compare it with the footage" Anna nodded and said "that IS interesting. I'll look him up in the archive while you're out, because he's been arrested I'll have his name somewhere. I just need to work out what year it was" she grinned and shrugged "It'll give me something to do this afternoon while you're all out" Bjorn bristled gently "We aren't going to be gone all day Baby, I want to be back here with you" Anna stepped forward and stroked his hair back gently "Baby I know but you need to relax and know that I'm not going anywhere, I won't disappear just because you've taken your eye off me. I promised you when you came back that I wouldn't get jealous this time or yell at you when you have to go out. Don't forget what we've learnt about ourselves" she chuckled at him and continued "Go and enjoy your morning with Benny, do what you have to do. Enjoy your meeting and showing off Slottsholmen to Benny. While you're both there you can work out what I can see safely and when. How's that for a deal?" she kissed him gently and stepped back. Bjorn was left feeling a little silly and a lot grateful as he took on board what she was saying "Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that?" he queried "That as well, I love you" Anna laughed at him. "Don't be too hard on him little one. He'll never really want to leave your side, it took us both 40 years to find our way home, can't blame him for not wanting to leave it" Benny told her gently. "I know that darling, but he has a life outside the walls of Ekero and I won't take it away from him. We were together 24/7 in ABBA and it broke us. It was my fault too but I want him to live his everyday life and come back to me at the end of his day and tell me all about it. I'll love to hear about it all. I want to hear about everything and sometimes maybe I'll go and see with him, maybe with you, maybe with Frida, maybe all of us. I don't want to be an encumbrance or a burden so he must do what makes him happy and fulfilled" Bjorn was stood with his arms folded scowling gently as he listened to Anna's conversation with Benny "Are you two quite finished discussing me?" he asked pointedly. Anna blushed and said "I'm sorry, but it's important to me." Bjorn pulled her to him none too gently and said "Now listen to me Anna, we've had this discussion before. I was an arrogant, entitled arsehole back then, not to mention the fact we were all living a high pressured life under constant scrutiny. It isn't a wonder that the pressure got to all of us. You said yourself that if it hadn't been for ABBA we wouldn't have split up" Benny interjected " It's similar for us, if we hadn't been in the public eye and under so much pressure and so blinded by fame I wouldn't have become an alcoholic and I wouldn't have done what I did" he sighed and Bjorn continued "I KNOW what it feels like to lose you and it won't happen again no matter how much time we spend together and I will ALWAYS want to be with you" he squeezed her to him tightly "I don't like it when life gets in the way of me being with you. I will regret forever making you feel like you were an encumbrance or a burden, I may have thought it fleetingly 40 years ago but I was too arrogant to take it back and when you gave me what I thought I wanted I found that it wasn't you who was my burden, my encumbrance. It was myself and I've never regretted anything more than making you go" Anna sniffled and inadvertently wiped her nose on his shirt and said "Bjorn, 50 bloody years and you still reduce me to an emotional wreck." she gave him a damp smile and said "I just don't want you imprisoned in here with me and missing out, work gives your life meaning." "No Anna, you are wrong" Benny said firmly "you give his life meaning, his children and grandchildren give his life meaning. Work filled the gaps when you weren't there. Now you're here it won't be work anymore, the music will come back for him and life will be life. Not just waiting to die" Bjorn swallowed back the lump in his throat and said "Benny, it's mortifying and beautiful at the same time that you know me so well" "I know because it is the same for me Bjorn, with Frida. It's exactly the same. I couldn't ever live without her again" "Delighted to hear it you handsome devil" Frida's voice floated down the stairs "I have no intention of letting you" she came down the last of the stairs "What's going on here?" she took in a tearstained but smiling Anna, a somewhat frazzled looking Bjorn and a satisfied looking Benny "Just clearing up another bump in the road" Benny told her "they'll be fine, come on I'm hungry. We'll have breakfast first then go to the stables and look at this breech point" Benny took hold of her hand and tugged her towards the kitchen leaving Anna and Bjorn standing there. "I'll never want to leave you you know" he mumbled, she wrapped her arms around his waist and whispered "and I'll never really want you to go but we must be sensible. You have a lot of responsibilities and things that you enjoy doing, that challenge you. It would be criminal to waste your talent and your drive stuck in here ALL the time with me. I'm used to it now but it would drive you mad full time" Bjorn grumbled with frustration as he admitted she was right. "Okay, but I am going to alter my schedule a bit and I want you to come with me sometimes when things are sorted out and you're feeling brave. I'm clearing my schedule totally for next week and I won't stand for any argument from you about that at least" he was stopped mid sentence by her wrapping her arms around his neck and hauling herself up to kiss him, his eyes crinkled with happiness as she wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed him tightly. "There will be no arguments from me Bjorn. I just want you to be happy and have a decent work life balance. I would never take your work away from you, it makes you who you are but I won't argue when you need me or want me" "Then that'll be no arguments ever baby. We can do this. I want you involved too even if it's from here. Use the technology that you've become so good with. You could Skype with me when I'm working sometimes" He was thinking on the hoof but he could see that his thoughts were sparking her interest. "I can learn. I'd like that, I wouldn't bother you all the time" she assured him. "Well I'd quite like it if you would. I like the idea of you next to me on screen if I can't have you there" he chuckled and kissed her hard before walking with her still wrapped around him to the kitchen where they walked in on Benny and Frida saying their own good morning in their own inimitable style.
Both Anna and Bjorn burst out laughing and Anna said "Well we really are back where we were, always walking in on the insatiable ones" she giggled and Bjorn said "I hardly think we can comment seeing as I still have you wrapped around me" Anna blushed as Frida and Benny laughed and moved to settle for breakfast. "Never a truer word Bjorn" Frida commented "Put her down so she can eat" "Actually for once she put herself up here and she is the one not letting go" Bjorn defended laughing as he tried to put her down unsuccessfully. She was refusing to let go so he gave up and wandered with her to get tea and then sat back down with her on his lap. "Anna, don't you ever change" Frida said laughing. "You take him at his word" Anna grinned and said "I'm comfy and he'll be gone all day" Bjorn sighed "I won't be gone all day baby, I'll be back as soon as it's decently possible" They drank their tea and Anna managed a slice of toast with some jam on but despite Bjorn's encouragement could not manage anymore though she did want to. She eventually clambered off Bjorn to clear away the breakfast things when everyone had finished and Benny enquired gently what the hurry was."I want to walk with you and feed the horses. It will rain later so I won't get the chance. I can feed the horses and look at the fence. I can call them to come and look at it today if we can decide what needs doing. Frida looked pleased and Bjorn got up with alacrity to get ready to go to the stables.
Once they were suitably attired they set off for the stables both couples hand in hand and as they wandered along Anna said "Bjorn can you please give Benny his own codes to get in here? He should have them too so that he can come and go as he pleases. Benny will you use the new pool truck when it comes or will you get one of your own?" Benny was still somewhat speechless about her code request and had to work hard to answer her "I spoke about it at some length with Bjorn and Frida. We will be ordering one for ourselves and use the pool truck until it comes. As Christian pointed out, it seemed unwise to not have the same vehicle as you" He let go of Frida's hand to hug Anna "thank you for the codes little one" Anna blushed and pushed him away affectionately "Well, seeing as you're insistent on staying around to see me to the end of chemo and you two haven't quite come up with a plan as to where you might settle, here and Vallentuna seems to be your safest bet for now" Frida agreed "I do love Switzerland but we will find a base here too I think. Benny?" she asked "Frida, are you asking me to live with you? Permanently?" Benny was floored "Well of course! You didn't think I'd leave you after Anna was better and go back to Switzerland permanently did you?" Benny had the grace to look abashed "I was just taking it one day at a time, I didn't really know what would happen. I'm so happy now, I didn't want to wreck it" Frida laughed and took his hand again "I was going to move house in Switzerland anyway. Can you handle a holiday home in Switzerland and I'll look for something here? Near Anna?" Benny looked ecstatic "I think the occasional change of scene in Switzerland would do you the world of good Benny" Bjorn opined gently "Me too, as long as Bjorn can come and visit you" Anna piped up "You two can't be split for too long" she giggled "Anna you will come too. You love Switzerland" Frida said sternly "Frida, I don't really know if I can fly but I'd love to come, don't think I don't want to. It's just difficult" Anna looked sad. "What happens if I put you all at risk getting on a plane? What happens if I have a meltdown?" "Well now, let's not get upset, that's a little way into the future, let's not worry right now about that" Bjorn said calmly. He knew that when she was better he would be able to get her on that plane and they would go on a little holiday. He knew without a doubt in his mind and no big headedness that she would get on that plane only because she knew that he would be there with her every step of the way and she trusted him to keep her safe.
The conversation had kept them all occupied and they found themselves at the stables nearly before they realised it and Bjorn and Benny made a beeline for the fence that ran behind the stables. Anna kept back because she was worried that there would be someone there so she went into the stables, Frida was interested so went to have a look, she could see that there was no one there so she went back and called Anna. Anna came back out again and went to join them. "See baby, here is the issue, the police are right, this is a weak point" Bjorn pointed to a tree on the other side of the fence "Who owns that land Anna?" he asked " I do, there's a 10 meter perimeter outside all of the fences excluding the beach that belongs to the estate. It was done that way deliberately so that I had security options in the future" "That's clever Anna" he looked at her admiringly "it makes life easier in this instance, we need to get that tree felled" he pointed it out "it's grown too close to the fence and gives easy access over the fence to the roof of the stables. You can see it's been climbed. We need to increase the height of the fence here so that the stable roof can't be used" Benny nodded and said "Also you could put something on the roof of the stable to stop people walking on it like spikes or glass or something like that." Anna grinned and said "Listen to you two, taking it all in your stride" she shook her head in resignation and said "I'll call the security company today. They are specialists in this field and they may know who can do the roof at the same time and the tree." she went off into the stable clearly finished with the conversation. Bjorn and the other two smiled and followed Anna into the stable. They helped her to feed all the horses and Bjorn met Sanderson properly, she was right he was a huge lad and he was surprised that the intruder was still walking after a run in with him. Bjorn couldn't help but grin as he made a fuss of Sanderson and whispered Thank You in his ear and Sanderson butted heads with him affectionately. It was like he knew who he was, they were firm friends now. "Do you ride him Anna?" he asked "Before I was ill I did, I love him. I've got weak though with chemo and he needs more strength than I have at the moment but when I'm better and stronger I will" she sounded determined. "Do you ride at all?" asked Frida "Oh yes, I couldn't not ride, I just ride a smaller one like Elin over there or Fernando" They all grinned at the names. Once the feeding and grooming was done they left the stables and Bjorn pulled her back "You want to ride with me?" he asked her "Do you still ride?" she asked surprised "I haven't for a while but I used to with the girls. I'd like to with you baby. We used to." "I'd love to Bjorn, god I'd love to yes please when you have time" she fairly glowed with joy.
As they walked back to the main house and he thought over an idea that had popped into his head the minute he'd met Sanderson, he reflected on how much they were all changing their lives, how much they were all willing to sacrifice to take this one last chance at making the life they all desperately wanted, making THIS life work.
