The typical wiseguy response would be to say Phil could take his acceptance and shove it, but Firo was too preoccupied with thoughts of home to harp on that issue. So maybe his judgement was correct.

"'Course I'm not gonna hurt a kid." The disgust on his face was something that couldn't be faked; at least, not something that could be faked by someone as unskilled in that area as Firo was.

He grinned, "Technically not blood, I guess, but that ain't what matters anyway." He'd only ever met a single member of his biological family and that didn't bother him too much. "They're a better family than anyone's had."

The boast was a moment of honesty he hadn't planned and his smile vanished an instant later as he wondered if he'd said too much.