Anna Min thought she heard the crack of apparition, too, all the way from the library where she was curled up in the biggest chair. But she'd thought that a lot in the past month and had taught herself not to trust her ears. She didn't look up from her book -- something by Wodehouse from the Jeeves canon -- but her hand unconsciously moved to touch the tulip set beside her on the seat. Yellow was her favorite but this one was white. A symbolic offering of peace most likely, she thought. She'd shyly asked her mother to charm it so it wouldn't wilt so quickly out of water. It was beginning to look a little rough around the edges anyway but only because she'd been handling it almost constantly.

She heard the crash of a plate and thought that probably meant that Daddy was, indeed, home again and Mum had spotted him. But maybe it was just Mum breaking a plate. It happened a lot. Anna Min's eyes stopped moving on the page, fixing on Aunt Dahlia's name as she listened with a bit more interest. The sound of the front door ... and then voices. One corner of her mouth tugged upward for a moment. She hadn't been hearing things. He was home. He'd said he would be in his note but she hadn't let herself believe it.

Still, Anna Min remained where she was. She didn't want to show too much enthusiasm. Partially because if time away was what Daddy had needed, then that's what she wanted him to have. But mostly because she was hurt and had missed him and was afraid he was just here for a little while before leaving again, maybe for good this time. So instead of jumping up and running full-tilt at her father and launching herself into his arms, Anna Min went back to reading about teetotaler Gussie Fink-Nottle presenting awards while accidentally drunk out of his mind. If he really was staying, Daddy would find her eventually.