Twice, one right after the other, and that might mean she actually wants to talk to him, instead of leaving him a clipped, terse message. He could let it ring, but the alternative is continuing to fume at Steve for his assumptions, so he throws himself in front of the lesser of two evils, picks up the phone, shoves it to his ear. "Yes, dear."

Exhaled and already angling for a fight, until "Hi Danno," comes tinny down the line, and everything changes.

Everything. The world shifts. Anger evaporates like it was never even there, and he's grinning before he realizes it, while his heart makes a painful little sidelong skip. "Hey, Monkey."

She sounds so good. Cheerful and sweet and bright and everything that's good in the world, and it's like all the shit in his head and chest just up and moves out, packs up and leaves, without warning or hesitation. Not Rachel. Just his baby girl, sounding questioning about why he answered the phone like he did. "No, I thought you were your mom."