It was entirely joyous for the friends to sit amongst one another, the first time they were able to since last February. They were still astonished with the surprise of Frida's arrival. It was never even in their imagination that she would suddenly show up.
"You hadn't even called!" Agnetha exclaimed.
"Where is the joy in that?" she answered. "Besides, I know you both. You have enough on your minds without me. It's nothing."
"Doesn't mean anything... but you're here and I'm so glad." Agnetha hadn't moved her attention from Frida as she sat with her.
"When did you arrive?" Björn asked.
"Two days ago. I thought I'd see Hans and the kids and then come see you two. I have time on my hands now. I'm staying until your wedding because who knows when I will return again and I figured there's a lot to do while I am here."
"Did you RSVP?" Björn wondered. "I don't remember seeing your name." She turned to Henry in question.
"I thought we did," she said.
"You said you'd do it," he told her. She smiled and turned to see Björn and Agnetha.
"Well, I am here now," she laughed. "I already have my outfit planned so that's a definite yes, I am coming. Two for me."
"We have Hans RSVP'd already, too," Björn laughed.
"Wonderful," she giggled. "My own son beat me."
The group who sat in the living room amongst by jealous dogs had caught up for a short hour over coffee and both were enthusiastic about works and their lives. Summer was coming to an end and it was the perfect chance to all see one another again.
Agnetha shared with Frida news about her dress and the relief was easily seen on her face as they talked. She described what she had in mind and then the list had become endless for what they were planning. By the time they stood at the door wishing farewell, Agnetha pulled back from Frida's embrace to add on another thing.
"Frida, I'm glad you're here. Just sitting with me is enough. You don't have to do anything."
"Darling, it will work out easy in time. There was no party ever planned that was not stressful, but it's just important we keep the spirit alive and by the time the wedding comes, it will be so great you'll forget everything you stressed about." Agnetha hugged her again. "Don't overthink, you'll hear from me this week."
As the week indeed moved forward, Agnetha and Björn sought their own focuses in their wedding planning process. Björn had made confirmations with a few different vendors that were still needed. They had seen florists and decided together on the colors and the design. They chose seating set-ups that best suited their home and the ceremony they had in mind. They spent time in the office both sorting through which payments to make in advance and their checklist was slowly becoming smaller. Agnetha had made orders to come in with the girls earlier in the week and she was ecstatic to see that they were arriving so quickly. She gave a small gasp as she received the email on her phone which confirmed it. She had not even set her phone down for two seconds before another chime had come in for her from a conversation that rolled on throughout the day.
Frida
Glad you're finishing a lot this week. I guess this is the sign for you to relax. Girl's night will help👏🏼
Lolo
Woo-hoo! Do you need help with anything?
Frida
We'll start the weekend with our legs up. Wine in hand always helps too 😉
Agnetha smirked at her phone to herself.
Agnetha
Tomorrow I'll have a few things arriving–
crafty things and seating still needs to be organized. Whenever you two are free come by😘 you're always welcome
The drinks are waiting 🍷
Agnetha set her phone down and walked around Björn's desk. She leaned against it and listened to him finish the call.
"What's next?" he asked, seeing she was waiting on him.
"What's next is to rest. Well, eat. We need to eat. Then we rest. It's late already. I didn't think we would take so long." Björn smiled up at her and he stood. He leaned into her and set a kiss to her cheek.
"I can't wait to marry you. So maybe we are a bit eager to have everything ready."
"Are you eager for the wedding as you are for the honeymoon?" she bit her lip. Björn had his hands at both sides of her flat on the desk.
"Oh, definitely. I have to marry you to take you away. Unless we forget all the invites and plans and just get married on the way to Mallorca." She had a very bright smile at his thoughts.
"No," she giggled. "I don't think so. I want this wedding and it's too late now, everything is planned."
The next afternoon had three women rounded at the table making decisions and crafting things. They started with wedding party favors and had about 100 glass bottles of mini champagne with the customized text on the bottle that left the date and Mr. & Mrs. Ulvaeus neatly printed in a very elegant font. They tied small cards that enclosed a small message of thanks to little fabric bags which held Jordan almonds.
When they had finished with favors, they moved onto centerpieces and talked about the floral arrangements which were ordered. Everyone agreed it would make the tables more beautiful. She excitedly showed them the brown steel lanterns that were purchased too which would be spread out along the tables with an arrangement of flowers.
They worked through seating and had mapped out the space after she hunted down the copy Björn had on the desk of the office. The large field beside the house had space for a very long table. The rest of the space would have round tables for the guests and the dance floor installed between the round tables. There was thought to figure out who should be beside who. The long one was almost obvious to them and it was reserved for all of the Ulvaeus family, at the center having Björn and Agnetha, on each side of them their two children, their life parters in front of them, Emma, Anna and their partners as well. One end of the table would hold all the grandchildren together and the other end there was a decision to make. Agnetha made a strange face. Her lips parted a few times needing to say something but she didn't.
"She doesn't know where to place Lena," laughed Frida. "Will you place Björn's ex at the table with you?"
"She is a tricky one," admitted Agnetha.
"She is more than just an ex," Lolo countered.
"Well, yes, and I can't say, no you can't sit here."
"Of course she is your best friend by now," Frida joked. Agnetha rolled her eyes sarcastically. She can't call her "best friend," no, but they were on good terms mutually.
"God, she is going to bring Marc and that will mean he will sit at the table too."
"What a party," Lolo said with sarcasm. "Do you know for sure that she will come?"
"She RSVP'd, I think," Frida stated.
"What's stranger is that she is invited. Oh, hey, come watch your ex-husband marry me again and celebrate it. Ha-ha," Agnetha said. "But she is the mother of his children and we really couldn't... not invite her."
"Whose idea?" They wondered. Agnetha hesitated.
"Mine," she complained.
"I don't see why you needed to invite her, really. You weren't invited to theirs."
"Well, because no one was invited... besides, it was a different time. Miserable, ugly time. He didn't even tell me," Agnetha sighed with annoyance that he'd do such a move. "She'll sit with all of us and we can see what Björn says."
They worked through the rest of the seating chart, deciding all the families and who'd be beside who. By the time they finished, a second bottle of wine was opened and everything in that room was abandoned. Agnetha had baked a few snacks for them to eat, Lolo had gone to her car for some items and Frida had sat with Ester and they talked about small things.
An hour had passed having brought the time just a little more into the night. Lolo used the time to practice wedding makeup on Agnetha and in that space of time they made use of it to talk conversationally.
"Something came in the mail," Tilda called from the hallway. She approached the women and smirked at her grandmother who was laying on the couch as Lolo applied the makeup. "That looks nice. Want to do mine too?"
"Of course, get in line," Lolo chuckled, and glanced to Ester on the couch.
"Ah it must be more of those things we ordered for the party." Agnetha sat up and opened the package, but it felt much softer. She remembered what it was and tucked back in. She curiously smiled to herself.
"Are they the baggies?" Frida asked. "We ran out of them. That's probably the rest."
"No... I ordered something else," she mumbled quietly, a bit shy.
"That would be lingerie," Lolo laughed into her drink in comment to Frida. Agnetha scoffed a light laugh.
"No!"
"Oh, thank God," Ester breathed out, laying her head against the couch in relief.
"They're just swimsuits."
"You ordered bathing suits?" Tilda smiled. "I want to see them. What'd you get?"
"Just... swimsuits."
"I agree, you should show. Least you can do is let us imagine the scene at the beach," Frida added. "We won't be there but we can enjoy from afar." She playfully pouted and then laughed.
"Fine, I am curious. I honestly forgot what I ordered." Agnetha opened them and the first she pulled out was a white one piece. It had a thin belt for the waist and neckline was a little lower with an underwire. Tilda let out a whistle.
"Grandpa is going to have a heat stroke and I don't think it'll be from the sun." Agnetha opened her mouth and laughed at Tilda. She hadn't said anything and she pulled out the next.
The second was a black one piece, the V-neck plunged low but definitely would cover modestly, and the sides were mesh. The women cheered her on and though she was shy, she had a character that teased back.
"I'm thinking I like the white one more," Frida said with a smile. She seemed confident with the opinion until Agnetha turned it over. "But now that I see the back," she gasped.
"It's also interchangeable," Agnetha smirked. "I can wear it both sides." She flipped it inside out to show the deep purple color on the inside.
She also pulled out a beach cover up, which was a long black dress and very lightweight, and lastly a white and lavender floral swimsuit. The giggles and jokes amongst all of them had stopped briefly when they'd noticed Björn at the tip of the room. He hadn't known what was happening or why they quieted but he stood awkwardly. He didn't imagine it to be that much of a girl's space, but it made sense when he saw a swimsuit held against Agnetha, makeup all around, and wine.
They greeted him, some verbally and some with just a smile. They had not felt him come home, and he only popped his head into the room out of curiosity and now decided it should be their space. He smiled and left them into another direction.
Agnetha followed after him laughingly as she left the conversation with the ladies and met him in the kitchen.
"Hey," she smiled. "You took long. Where'd you go?"
"Mm, just with Benny. Time kind of passed."
"With Peppa?" she smiled, seeing him put down the leash.
"Peppa was the important part of it." She looked at him quizzically and he held up a little blue booklet in his hand. He opened it and it revealed a small 1x1 photograph of the light brown terrier, his name, date of birth (estimated), and all of his health details.
"You got him a passport?" She took it and shuffled through it. The photograph of Peppa made her laugh because it was so... him. It was as if he was smiling.
"Did we really decide we'll take him?"
"Why not?" She didn't really know what to say, and she didn't oppose to it, but also hadn't thought about it so seriously. She hadn't responded and Björn beat her to a separate thought. "Did you... order swimsuits?" he questioned, recalling what he only caught a glimpse of.
"Maybe."
"Mm," he smiled. "Okay. Maybe if you want to try them on tonight, I can tell you what I think, too," he told her quietly. He watched her eyes sparkle, and the makeup she had on from Lolo's test run enhanced the way they glowed. He hadn't missed one feature of hers and his lips smiled noticing it all.
"Yeah maybe I could... or I might just ask Peppa for his opinion since he is coming too." She bit her lip. Agnetha lightly winked at Björn as she hit his chest playfully with the passport before walking back to the room where all the women's laughter overlapped.