Peeta paused in the doorway, taking in the scene before him.
The bedroom was lit with the bright rays of morning sunshine. A warm breeze flowed gently through the open windows, and in a tree just outside, birds chirped and whistled their welcome to a lovely new day.
Katniss sat cross-legged in their unmade bed, floating in a sea of white sheets and pillows. Her braid had half fallen out, and Peeta could still see a red line on her cheek where a crease in the pillowcase had left its mark. There were dark circles under her eyes, but her lips were stretched in an enormous smile as she leaned over their two week-old baby girl laying on the bed in front of her. The baby's arms and legs were flailing about, her eyes fastened on her mother's face hovering above her.
Peeta watched, unnoticed, as Katniss caught the baby's tiny feet and gave them each one, two, three tiny kisses.
"Look at these feet, baby girl," Katniss crooned. "These are the cutest, eensiest, bittiest, most adorable little feet in the whole wide world, aren't they my angel?"
Each foot got another kiss, and Peeta heard the baby gurgle.
"'Bittiest,' Katniss?" He couldn't resist teasing his wife as he came to sit on the bed next to her, gazing at his daughter with awe.
"It's a word, Peeta, so shush." Katniss had no shame when it came to cooing over her baby.
"Okay," he laughed, bending over to offer the baby his finger, which she grasped tightly in her tiny fist. Even after two weeks, this still delighted him beyond measure.
They sat in silence for a few moments, just watching, then,
"Look at her, Peeta. She's just perfect, isn't she?"
Peeta nodded.
"She is," he agreed quietly.
He looked at Katniss and thought to himself that he had never seen her look so lovely, even with mussed up hair, bags under her eyes, and the torn t-shirt she had slept in. (Which, he noticed, had a bit of spit-up on one shoulder. He decided she didn't need know about that just now.) He reached over and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and was rewarded with a smile before she returned her gaze to the baby.
"Happy?" he asked.
"So happy, Peeta. I didn't know it was possible to be this happy."
When he didn't answer, she turned to look at him. He wore a mischevious grin.
"What?" she asked, suspicious.
"I told you so."