Bittersweet

Chapter 1

He woke up to the sound of his daughter crying. He sighed and got out of his bed. So much for a good night's sleep. When he turned on the lamp in his room, he glanced at a picture of his wife. He smiled sadly at the beautiful lady sitting on the beach.

The five month old screamed and he walked over to her crib. He picked her up and gently rocked her in his arms.

"It's okay, Elizabeth. I'm here." He started humming a lullaby to calm her down while he looked for the bottle that he always kept nearby. He fed her and watched her close her eyes, still drinking from the bottle though.

When she fell asleep, he put the bottle down and layed her gently back in her crib. He layed back down, unable to sleep for now, he stared up at the ceiling and thought about how he was going to have to raise Beth alone. He knew it was going to be hard, but the good would endure through his troubles. He looked forward to watching her grow every day.

Anders sighed, her mother wasn't going to see her grow up though. Maybe that's why every month he wrote a letter to his wife; to feel like she was still apart of this. He would leave the letters on her grave with lilies. Five months ago was when he lost her. Enough time had passed where people expected him to have moved on after accepting her death, but he wasn't quite there yet.

She was gone so quickly, ripped away from him before he could say goodbye. It wasn't fair that she had to go so early, she didn't deserve that fate at all, but that was the path that God had decided for her to follow. If only he could have been just as strong as her. He would know what to do.

He was uncertain of the future for Beth and himself. There was so much to be done with such little help. There was going to be many firsts without Minnie and he knew it wasn't going to be easy. He didn't even know the first thing about babies, let alone girls. How was he supposed to manage on his own?

Then again, he thought to himself. I'm not so alone.

The early morning hours passed by slowly, and Anders only slept for an hour before waking up again. His dreams haunted him with Minnie. Finally he could hear the soft melody of his alarm clock going off. Yesterday... All my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay, oh I believe in Yesterday.... He let the song play as he got out of his bed. Another sleepless night over.

He stepped over to Beth's crib and watched as she slept peacefully. He hated leaving her every morning for Riley to care for. Every minute he was away from Beth, was another minute lost from bonding with his daughter. He knew that it was what had to be done, but it didn't make the idea easier. He leaned down and kissed Beth's forehead then quietly walked into the bathroom to get ready for work.

By the time he got out of the shower and was dressed, Riley was already there. He walked out of his room at last, closing the door quietly behind him so their morning racket wouldn't wake up the child.As he walked out into the kitchen where Riley occupied herself with the coffee, he glanced at the clock. Ten minutes until seven. He had twenty minutes to spare before he had to leave for the high school.

"Morning, Riley." He walked over to the cabinet to look for something worthy of breakfast. The only thing left was the bland and probably stale bran cereal that  he only ate if he had to. It was going to be one of those days. He grumbled as he got out the box and set it on the counter so he could find a clean dish.

"Good morning, Anders." Riley poured two mugs of coffee. "How are you this early morning?"

Anders turned around and looked at his friend, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know."

"Ah. Somebody is in a pleasant mood today." She handed him a cup. "Are you feeling alright today? You look worn down." Riley tried to reach for his forehead, but he ducked under her so he could go sit down.

"I have no feelings today." He just stared at the cereal, not doing anything with it.

Riley, only 19 and a night school student, walked over to the table where she pulled out a chair to sit. She had grown close to the young man over the past few years. General concern overcame her as she looked over her close friend. She could tell he hadn't been eating or sleeping very well. He'd grown thinner over the past few weeks. She thought he was getting through Minnie's death pretty well, but must have been wrong about that.

"Is that so?" She asked, taking a seat next to him at the table, hoping they'd be able to talk for a few minutes at least. "How did you sleep last night?"

He picked up his coffee finally, and took a long draught before setting it back down. "Beth woke me up around two this morning. I couldn't go back to sleep after I gave her a bottle. I slept for maybe an hour after that, but I kept waking up."

"Did you go to bed early at least?" She asked, sipping her coffee.

He scoffed. "No way. I was up grading essays for the one freshman English class and then reading lab reports from the Advanced Chemistry class. I maybe got in an hour of sleep before Beth started crying." None of his words came with anger, only sadness and pain.

"Are you an insomniac?" Questioned Riley, half-serious.

"Oh most likely." He checked his watch. "Ugh. I don't want to teach today."

She laughed a little bit. "Then why don't you call in? You can sleep and I'll stay to take care of Beth."

Anders shook his head. "I can't do that. I have to be there for my chemistry students. They have no clue what they're doing right now."

"What time do you plan on getting off work then?"

"I'm coming home as soon as I can. Beth and I need some time together and the past few days have been really tough being away from her."

"Okay, she'll be excited to see you." Riley smiled at him, trying to make him feel better.

"Do you have something going on tonight that you need to leave earlier?" Anders looked at her as he stood up to put his empty dishes in the sink.

"I do, actually, but I should be fine in the event that you can't get home from the school right after it ends." She stood up, following him to the kitchen sink.

"And what that might be?" He raised an eyebrow as he let water run over his hands and the clean bowl and spoon.

"I've got a date." She glanced over at Anders and then turned away from him.

"Really?" She's going on a date? He didn't know why that made him a little upset, but it did. "With who?"

"Oh... Just someone I met on campus. He's really nice."

Anders was about to respond when he checked his watch and did a double take. "I would love to learn more about this strange man who is taking you on a date, but I have to go. I'm going to be late for my own class." He ran to the table to grab his wallet and phone and then back through the kitchen to the mud room for his shoes. Which weren't there. Back through the whole house he ran. "Where are my damn shoes?"

"You mean these ones?" Riley dangled the shoes from her fingers.

He quickly walked over to her. "Yes." He half-smiled, laughing at the degree of his organization. Which happened to be zero. Not even asking where she had found them, because they had probably been right in front of his face, he put them on. "I'll see you later, Riley." Anders quickly ran out the door to his car. It was going to be a long day.

A/N: So, this is one of my new stories in the works! Don't worry, I will be finishing Never Leave My Side. I've still got a little ways to go on that one, so it's not going to be cut short, however, I have new projects that I would like to start working on. This story being one of them. Another one will be out soon, but this is the first one that popped in my head.This is not a continuation of NLMS, it is merely an idea that randomly bestowed itself on me. I also should say that I do not own The Beatles song "Yesterday". I love that song and the Beatles and that's the only relation I have to them (sadly).

Comment, vote, and follow me. I would really like to know what everyone thinks of this "pilot" we'll call it, and any constructive criticism as usual is welcome. So comment and tell me what you think!

Until next time, my thespians,
Sairahiniel