Like a Mix Between Slow Motion and Ultrarapid

It was Monday and Maja was on her way to kindergarten with her mother Agnes. It was the first time in her five-year-old life that she would be in kindergarten by herself. Without mom! All last week, mom had been with her at kindergarten. But not today. It felt a little nervous. But more exciting than scary. Jonathan would be there. He was Maja's friend. They had gotten to know each other the week before and they had become best friends as soon as the first ten minutes of shyness was over.

Jonathan was almost as old as Maja. He had turned 5 in March. Maja's birthday was in January. It had been important to sort out and mother had helped them work out that there was a month and 27 days between them.

Jonathan knew exactly how kindergarten worked. He had been going there for a whole year. He knew which pillows you built the best forts with and where the prettiest necklaces were if you wanted to play princess. He taught Maja everything he knew and when mother left he showed the best window to wave goodbye from. And there he stood by her side and waved until Maja's mother went around the corner to the store where you could buy the best ice creams.

When Agnes came to collect Maja, she arrived exactly at the same time as Per. He held the gate open for her and then the door. Jonathan and Maja thought it was funny that Maja's mom had arrived exactly at the same time as Jonathan's dad. They left kindergarten together. Agnes held Maja's hand. Maja held Jonathan with her other hand and Jonathan had Per in the other hand. Maja and Jonathan managed to persuade their parents that the shop on the corner really had the best ice cream and they HAD to buy it. This was a wonderful day, thought Maja. Kindergarten was great fun!

Agnes and Per picked up the children at the same time every day that week. On Wednesday Agnes invited them both home for dinner and on Thursday Agnes and Maja accompanied Per and Jonathan home after kindergarten. It was easy to talk to Per. They had gotten along well from the start. It never felt awkward and there was always something interesting to talk about. It felt as if they had known each other for much longer than a week.

They really talked about everything. Everything from the children's ailments to their more or less non-existent sex lives. Maja's father had completely disappeared from their lives before Maja turned one. And Jonathan's mother had separated from Per a few years ago. They still got along well and there were no problems with having shared custody. When Jonathan's mother had had to go to Barcelona for a few weeks to work, there had been no talk of the matter. Per himself was going to Peru with work in about a month and Jonathan was going to be with his mother then.
But they were both single with children. Not ready for a new relationship, but at the same time didn't feel like going out and trying to pick someone up at the bar.
The idea that they were going to be friends with benefits was just a joke the first time they talked about it. But the more time passed, the better the "solution" felt. They definitely weren't looking to get together. But why not use the opportunity to satisfy your needs a little.

After a few weeks of opportunities that just didn't quite come, they simply decided that Per and Jonathan would accompany Agnes and Maja to their summer cottage. The only opportunity that worked was the day before Per was to fly to Peru. But as it happened, it would be perfect because it had clashed a bit with the time because Per had to leave for the flight at lunch and Jonathan's mom couldn't get home from work until four. So it was decided that she would pick him up at the cottage.

The cottage yes. It was probably more of a house. Agnes shared it with her parents. It was an old white house that stood among the sand dunes. There were three bedrooms. One for Agnes' parents. One for Maja and one for Agnes. In the recreation room in the basement there was a pull-out couch for guests.

Agnes had gotten a few bottles of wine. They put the children to bed and opened a bottle. But it was more than half full when Maja woke up. Crying, she came into the living room. Agnes took her with her and lay beside her in Agnes' bed. Per checked on them a while later and they were both sleeping. So he simply went down to the basement and slept on the guest bed.