Benny and Frida first decided to do their work for the day, because they had another important meeting and they couldn't postpone it. It was 11:30 a.m. when they finally finished, Frida was the first to get up from the table, she felt uncomfortable. Benny looked at his watch, he was dying to know what the doctor had to tell them, but in a way he was putting it off too, because he was nervous and didn't know if he could take it. "Benny, we have to go," Frida returned and peeked out the door. He nodded.
"Wish me luck," Frida walked over to Görel and Agnetha who were standing in front of the office.
"Good luck," Görel said. "But why?" She added.
"We'll go collect the results now," Frida explained.
"Already?" Agnetha questioned. "Faster than expected," she put her hand on her arm and gave her a brief smile.
"They called this morning, said something like I got priority," she sighed. "I don't know how to feel about it."
"Everything will be fine," Agnetha assured her. Before they could say anything else, Benny walked out of the meeting room and caught the attention of the three of them.
"We can go now," he leaned closer. Frida nodded and said goodbye to the girls, then followed her husband to the car. She got on, she was still disgusted by the perfume that was impregnated in the seat, Frida made a disgusted face and he noticed it, again.
"Don't forget to get the car cleaned, deep cleaning," she ordered, a little annoyed.
"It's not that big of a deal, I think you're exaggerating," Benny said, taking a gamble.
"So you think?" Frida looked at him defiantly, and there he knew that he shouldn't say more. "We have a pending conversation, don't think I'll forget it," she sighed aggressively and looked out the window with a frown. Benny was scared, of course, so he decided not to say anything more.
Half an hour later they reached Danderyd, Benny opened the door for her and she got out of the car, now her legs were shaking. He tried to look for her hand to enter together but she dodged him, she was still angry and it could be seen in the tension of her body, but she was not only angry, she was also pressured and nervous, she did not know what expect.
Benny pushed open the door and helped her in, they both walked to the end of the hall, where Frida's doctor was. "Hello, good afternoon. How can I help you?" A young blonde girl in a nurse's uniform said kindly.
"Hello, Anni-Frid Lyngstad," Benny said, introducing his wife. "I think Dr. Larsson is waiting for us," he added. The girl checked a list and nodded.
"Yes, actually Dr. Larsson with Dr. Johnson," the girl got up from her desk. "Can you please follow me," Benny and Frida followed her, her gynecologist was there too, how serious could it be? The nurse knocked once on the office door and then opened it, "Excuse me doctors, Mr. and Mrs. Andersson are here," she announced to them. Benny and Frida entered, and both stopped almost instantly in front of the desk, startled.
"Hello, go ahead. How are you?" Dr. Larsson said standing up from his seat and shaking his hands.
"We were just talking about you," Johnson commented, also greeting them.
"Is that good or bad?" Benny joked and laughed.
"I'm assuming good," Johnson smiled. Frida was extremely quiet and anxious, she thought that she wanted everyone to be silent and at once get rid of the doubt. She was the first to take a seat, Benny sat next to her. On the other side of the desk were the doctors, each in a chair.
"What are the notifications today?" Frida asked curious.
"Well," Larsson, as he is the doctor who has been in charge of Frida in recent months due to her memory condition, although he was a neurosurgeon, he was present, since the analyzes were general and what related to her pregnancy was also within his competence. "Here we have the results, Dr. Johnson and I will give you the verdict and what our recommendations are."
"Okay, we're keeping an eye out," Benny nodded.
"Well, the tests have shown a positive pregnancy," said, Benny turned pale, felt his blood pressure drop and a tingling sensation in his stomach. Frida, for her part, was paralyzed, she really didn't know how to react. She slowly turned her head to look at Benny, but she was scared to death, and she saw his face light up at the news, but scared at the same time.
"And how are they both?" Benny tried to take charge of the conversation, Frida seemed to say nothing.
"They are relatively well. But there are certain things we want to see with Frida," he added. "Anything you're feeling?" He addressed her.
"Just a lot of nausea and tiredness," she replied.
"Well, it's normal. Your body is adapting to a foreign being that it has to feed and help to develop," the doctor said. "But I want you to tell me something, was it wanted?"
Frida laughed. "Not at all, someone forgot to tell me that I should take birth control pills," she looked at Benny suspiciously and rolled her eyes.
"I didn't know I was supposed to remind her, I never paid attention to that," Benny defended himself. Both doctors looked at each other confused, but they had to give them all the options.
"Good. Here I go then," Dr. Johnson opened the record and jotted down a few things. "You know what your options are, right?"
"Options?" Frida frowned.
"I'm not saying you should, but..."
"Doctor, we already know what it is, and no. It is true that it has taken us somewhat off guard but we do not plan to resort to an abortion," Benny went ahead without thinking twice, then he became aware that he did not let Frida have an opinion. "Frida?" He turned to her.
"No, it's not an option," she stated and placed her hand on her belly.
"I'm glad to hear that," the doctor said. "So, let's talk about Frida's health."
"This is where I come in," Dr. Larsson gathered up all the papers. "All the medications for Frida of memory should be discontinued, I think that with the therapy sections they will be enough for now, we will supply her with more vitamins for consumption, including Phospho B 12," the neurosurgeon doctor explained to them.
"How convenient is pregnancy after the accident?" Benny asked concerned.
"Let's see, it's not the worst case scenario," he tried to give them hope. "It is true that perhaps it is something risky, because of everything that the accident involved, and that Frida can still have emotional episodes that imply confusion, but she can perfectly carry a healthy pregnancy." Hearing this news, their bodies relaxed a bit more.
When they left the consultation, they went straight to the house, they had to process all the information. They were happy, yes, but neither of them was able to say anything about it, it was quite strange. "Don't forget you have to wash the seat of this car," Frida said before unbuckling her seatbelt to get out of the car. Benny also came out behind her and they both walked to the entrance of the house.
"I promise to wash it, but later," he assured her.
"Thank you. And I hope that for the next time, if you decide to keep putting women on my side of the car, at least make sure they don't have a stinky perfume," she claimed as she walked down the aisle heading to the kitchen.
"Could you try being a little less jealous?" Benny followed her.
"Jealous?" She laughed dryly, "Not one bit. But it makes me angry that you want to see my stupid face." Benny didn't answer, and instead he decided to go up to the bedroom, there was a lot to think about now.
Frida rolled her eyes, she felt strange because the news of a child was supposed to be something to rejoice, but she just felt like shit, not to mention what Benny contributed to her feelings.
Three minutes later, Benny came downstairs, Frida was in the living room with a glass of water in her hand looking outside but from a short distance she could tell that the smell of his intensified perfume was approaching. She turned and looked at him, he seemed rushed. "I'm going out for a bit, do you need anything?" He said.
"Nothing," she said coldly, looking at him and analyzing what was going through his mind, how strange that he had put on more perfume. Benny walked over to her, put his hand on her stomach and kissed the corner of her lips to say goodbye.
Fifty minutes later, Frida was sitting at the piano playing some pieces, although the instrument was something that Benny played, she did it from time to time, it had been recommended to her as therapy and she accepted; little by little she was learning. She heard the front door open and stopped playing, "Mom!" She then heard the voice of her daughter.
Frida got up from her chair and walked right to the entrance, "Hello," she said as soon as she saw them. Hans and Lotta were at the entrance, Ragnar further back.
"What were you doing?" Lotta asked.
"I was playing the piano," Frida answered, then looked at a shy Ragnar standing in the doorway. "Why don't you enter?"
"I'm sorry. I must go," he said.
"Wait," she stopped him. "Can you talk for a minute?" Ragnar nodded and took a step forward. "Children, I have to talk to your father about something private, please wait inside," she asked them and Frida stepped out onto the porch of her chateau-style mansion to talk. She leaned over the stairs.
"How have you been?" Ragnar asked to start the conversation, she looked somewhat bewildered.
"Well, as far as it goes. Things have happened that I want to share with you, and in the process find some advice," she expressed. Ragnar found the way she was speaking strange but he was willing to give her support.
"Sure, anything you need you know I'm here," Ragnar replied.
"Well, this morning Benny and I found out I'm pregnant," she finally said, stunning him. I mean, it wasn't like something like that couldn't happen, in fact he was very doubtful that after all those years she and Benny hadn't had children, but now the situation was different.
"Congratulations?" He said confused. "I mean, a baby is always welcome." He noticed that Frida was somewhat distracted or worried.
"It is. But not everything is happiness," she confessed. Ragnar looked up to the window of the house, Lotta was hovering near and then looked back from her to Frida, he took her arm and gently led her a little further from the entrance.
"So, is that what you want to talk about?" He asked and she followed his gaze.
"You know, I don't remember but, I found out that one of the reasons why I hadn't had children with Benny was because Lotta didn't see the point in having a younger sibling, at least not from my side," Frida paused as she recalled her conversation with Benny. "Which, even if I understand her, seems absurd to me because she still has a brother from you," Frida added.
"The problem with Lotta is..." Ragnar thought how he would put it, he had his hands in his pockets as he swayed. "It's that your relationship with her is different from mine with her. For a time, she felt a degree of disunity and that is why she believed that if you had another child you would no longer love her," he expressed.
"How much did I talk about it with her?" Frida questioned.
"You did it a couple of times, but I think after a while, and you convinced yourself that a child wasn't the solution to your life, that conversation ended at a certain point and was never discussed again," Ragnar explained.
"So do you think there might be a different reaction to the news?" Frida asked scared.
"I wish I could tell you yes, but I don't know," Ragnar sighed.
"Would you help me with that?" Frida asked him. "That is, to tell her and have her to accept it?"
"Do you think it is convenient to do it now?" Ragnar questioned.
"You don't?" Frida slightly frowned.
"Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't think so, but maybe you should prepare the ground to tell her, I don't want Lotta to suffer again," said this, Frida took a step back almost feeling offended, but maybe he was right. A headache began to take over her, so she wanted to end the conversation and rest.
"I know you mean it," she held out his hand. "For that, I would feel more comfortable and you help me in the process," Frida asked again and squeezed his hand tighter.
On the other hand, Benny had gone to Mona's house, he had promised to leave the gifts that day, since she already had her car back. Johan's birthday would be the next day but the little boy was with his father until then. "Do you want me to offer you something?" She walked over to Benny, who was sitting in the kitchen chair.
"Water is fine for me," Benny said smiling.
"Thanks for bringing the presents, I already want Johan to see them tomorrow," Mona said excitedly.
"You have nothing to be thankful for, it's been a pleasure to help you," Benny answered and took the glass of water that she handed him. But still she couldn't stop thinking about his new responsibility, about what was happening in his life. His smile wasn't as wide as last night, including that his eyes were brighter with sadness.
"What's wrong?" Mona asked. "I don't want to sound reckless but, you look different, like you're distraught," she said. Benny was slow to respond, she was right in what she noticed.
"It's nothing, it's a lot of pressure at work," Benny said without wanting to go into details of the latest things that were happening in his life.
"Sure?" Mona insisted. "Benny, we're friends and you know that you can count on me for anything, no matter how small, because that's what we're here for," she sat next to her and put her hand on her thigh trying to comfort her. Benny took her hand and stroked it.
"You're right," he sighed. "We just found out Anni-Frid is pregnant," he finally confessed, taking Mona by surprise.
"And does something happen?" She asked, because by the look on his face he didn't look so happy.
"It's no big deal. We were supposed to have agreed not to have children, she didn't want to for personal reasons, so as a couple we made that decision some time ago," he confessed. "But, after the memory loss because she didn't continue taking the contraceptives and it happened..." Benny let off steam. "And it's not that I feel bad at all, but I'm very scared of what might happen, maybe she'll get her memory back and realize it was a mistake."
Mona was also stunned, she couldn't believe it. And suddenly she also felt that her world was falling apart, now to conquer Benny it would cost her more, but she had to pretend. "Sorry, I'm sure you'll find a way out," she comforted him. "But it's so right that the pills thing happened," though she wanted to sound understanding, she couldn't help but rant.
"It was a mistake. She had no way of knowing."
"But, maybe at some point a friend told her and she didn't want to use them," Mona knew she was playing with fire, but she lost more if she didn't play it. "Maybe she did want to get pregnant." Benny was thoughtful and remembered the discussion that they had for that reason, when she insisted that they should have children. Benny didn't comment further, despite all that was his private life.
Later in the night, Benny was playing pinball in the entertainment room with the kids, while Frida was in her bedroom, she had no face to look her children in the eye, especially Lotta. She began a period of uncertainty and anxiety in her life. Sometimes she felt that she was recovering, that everything was fine, that her life little by little was the same again, but suddenly she had episodes of confusion and weakness that she could not contain, she simply returned to being the most vulnerable and weak person in the world.
She was sitting on the bed while she trembled, she remembered what she had talked about with Ragnar and now she had to face the fear of telling her children, but maybe she would listen to him and not do it for a few months more. On the other hand, there was Benny who acted as if nothing was happening, leaving her unprotected in the face of the situation. Speaking of the King of Rome, her thoughts vanished when she saw the door of the room open, Benny entered, he already had his pajamas on and therefore went straight to bed, but he noticed something strange in Frida, she was crying. "Do you feel bad?" he asked concerned.
Frida tried not to say anything until she calmed down and wiped her tears, she didn't want to show the weakness that she felt in her heart either. "I'm fine," she shook her nose, which was already red.
"Why the tears?" Benny knelt down and took his hands to her lap, staring at her.
"I can't help but cry, the news we received this morning, far from making me the happiest, has caused me anxiety because of what it implies," said this, Benny felt his heart break to pieces.
"That was exactly what I wanted to avoid," he lamented. "I didn't protect you and I knew it was wrong for me to have sex if you weren't ready yet," he confessed.
"Benny, that's not the point," she stopped him. "In the end we're a couple and those things happen, even if half of me is gone, neither of us could give that up," she put her hand on his cheek. "I don't regret that I'm pregnant, it just makes me anxious about how the children will react, especially Lotta."
Benny patted her hand, "we'll tell her together and she'll be fine, she's matured quite a bit," he assured her.
"I asked Ragnar to help me with that, neither of us want her to suffer," Benny was immediately disconcerted upon hearing that and got up from the floor letting go of her hand, Frida at that moment knew that perhaps she had made a mistake.
"Ragnar? You told him?" His face showed anger.
"I did, I needed some advice. He thinks we should wait a while," Frida said firmly.
"Why exactly should he have a say in what we want to do or don't do as a couple?" Benny refuted.
"Benny, he's the father of my children," Frida tried to defend herself from it, now mentally questioning if telling him was the right thing to do.
"Of two of your children, and anyway, the issue of the pregnancy concerns you and me, I don't understand the purpose for which you told him," Benny, clearly angry, went to his side of the bed, leaving Frida feeling like a shit
"Fine," she whispered and got up from the bed. They both needed a few days to put their thoughts and feelings in order, they were stressed with the situation, Benny knew that he couldn't get mad because she told Ragnar, because he also told Mona, but what bothered him more was that he had an opinion on what they should do. In spite of everything it was a situation of two: he and Frida.