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‘Because you’re Italian,’ Holly pointed out, wondering why he was questioning the obvious ‘I looked up Italian names’

Vito forced himself closer to the baby His hands weren’t quite steady as he undid the belt strapping Angelo into his seat As Vito lifted the baby, Angelo gave his father an anxious, startled appraisal

‘You’re used to children,’ Holly assumed, rather taken aback by that deceptively confident first move

‘No I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to a child before There are none in the fale as well,’ Vito told her abstractedly, wondering what he was supposed to do with the little boy now that he was holding him

‘Thank you for having him,’ Vito breathed in a driven undertone ‘You could have made a different decision but you didn’t’

Nothing about this firstin any direction that Holly had foreseen And she was even less ready to hear her baby’s father thank her for not opting for a termination Her eyes prickled with sudden emotion

‘I wanted hiruffly ‘He’s the only family I have…apart from my friend Pixie’

As Angelo squir him round in aeroplane mode

The baby’s eyes grew huge and he let out a frightened howl before breaking down into red-faced, gulping sobs

‘Let ed in dis baby ‘He’s not used to the rough stuff There are no men in his life, really, just Pixie and me…’

Vito settled Angelo back into Holly’s arestion of haste and relief ‘Sorry, I upset him’

‘He needs tiet used to you,’ Holly explained ‘I’ll put him on the floor to play with his toys’

Vito was tempted to back off entirely but that struck hi Finally recalling that he had brought a gift, he removed it from his pocket and tipped it out of a box ‘It’s only a little toy’

Holly winced as she noted a piece of the toy break off and fall It had detachable tiny parts and was totally unsuitable for a baby ‘You can’t give that to hi in his mouth and he could choke on those tiny pieces’

In haste, Vito reri about babies’