Neutered Male caring for Kitten?

Hey yall! I have a 3 yr old neutered male cat named Winston. I recently rescued a female kitten,Penelope. She was 2 weeks old when I got her, and she's now 4 weeks old. Winston loves to clean Penelope and he's very attentive when she's in the room (if he heard a strange noise he'll look at her and then go investigate).

However, Winston does something that concerns me. Before he starts cleaning Penelope, he will nip at her, or keep her in his jaws for a few seconds. He's never drawn blood, and penelope only squeaked once. Is this normal behavior? Is it aggression or is it something else?

Thanks for the help!

My Pipsqueak, who was also neutered, did this with three kittens that I brought home. It actually can be very common for a male cat to care for kittens this way! I have heard wonderful stories of such. In fact, I had a male tom cat whom I was in the process of trapping that cared for his litter of kittens like a hawk. VERY protective, and would even encourage the kittens to eat well before he did and it was in the dead of winter. I had never in my life seen such a beautiful thing as that. SO - not to worry and it is very common for them to wrap their paws around them and hold them still or give a little love nip as you mention. I think Winston is a superb kitty and you are lucky to have such a helper in the house. Penelope probably loves the extra care and attention. Love her name too.