twinkle in one's father's eye
A notional look of anticipation or hope (either for sex or a child) in one's father's eyes at or around the time of one's conception.
Kimberly handed him a whisky and said: "So's that, my boy. Forty-eight-year-old Glenlivet. This was a connoisseur's drop before you were a twinkle in your father's eye."