6PM
`` I will . '' `` But first we have to tell your father . '' # Dad no longer had any regular time when he came home . Between his consulting clients -- who had lots of work now that the DHS was shopping for data-mining startups on the peninsula -- and the long commute to Berkeley , he might get home any time between 6PM and midnight . Tonight Mom called him and told him he was coming home * right now * . He said something and she just repeated it : * right now * . When he got there , we had arranged ourselves in the living room with the note between us on the coffee table .