Los Angeles, Dec 18

Hollywood star Brad Pitt will only be allowed a four-hour long visit to his children on the Christmas Day.

His estranged wife Angelina Jolie has agreed he can deliver gifts in the morning and early afternoon, reports dailystar.co.uk.

\"She doesn\'t have the heart to refuse to let him see the children over the holidays and they would probably never forgive her if she did. But Brad is going to have to use every ounce of his acting skill when he arrives with their presents and put on a brave face to mask the torment he\'s going through over spending so little time with them,\" said a source close to the warring pair.

Jolie, 41, is living in a rented beachfront mansion in Malibu with Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and eight-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. She is locked in a legal tussle over the custody of their children with Pitt, 52.

Jolie had filed for divorce on the grounds of \"irreconcilable differences\" and is demanding sole physical custody of the kids with visitation rights only for Pitt, whose lawyers have filed a counter-claim.

As part of the Family Services probe, he was ordered to undergo anger management counselling and submit to random drug tests prior to agreed visits with the children.

The source told Daily Star: \"He bit his tongue and suffered through all of that in the hope Angelina would allow him more time with their kids. But he was really choked when he didn\'t get to spend a single moment with them at Thanksgiving last month.\"

\"And although he can\'t wait to see them at Christmas, he\'s dreading how hard it will be for him to leave them again after four hours.\"

Last year, the family had spent Christmas Day together in a 10-bedroom rented villa in Phuket, Thailand.

Pitt can visit kids only for four hours on Christmas