“Mum, hi. How are you?” she tried to put on a cheerful voice. “We are fine. What about you? How is Vasko?” her mum replied in an equally cheerful manner. “We are fine too thanks. But I have news for you.” She knew it was not good to lie to her parents, but up to now she had done it plenty of times, always of course in order to protect them. “Are you pregnant?” Her mum's voice sounded as if that was the worst thing that could have happened. Most probably the question reflected her biggest fear. “O God! No, Mum, I am not.” Annika could hear her mum's relief in the receiver. “So what is it, dear?” “I found a job in Holland and I am leaving for Amsterdam in a few days.” “What? How? You barely know English and you don't know Dutch!” Her mum sounded worried, surprised and excited - all at once.
