Cattle Annie helped take care of Wade Jr. many days throughout the months of June and July, and when she couldn't, Bill took the day off from work. All of the household cleaning staff was on paid vacation as they were annually during the months of June, July, and part of August because their children were out of school. Bill and Sergei, the chef, kept the house functionally clean. Of course, Rebecca was thrilled to have Wade Jr. to practice on. Bill was so busy taking care of Rebecca and the baby and going to work himself, he had only checked on Wade a couple times early in their caretaking of Wade Jr. One of those times, Wade was fall-down drunk again, but Bill just left him lying there, walking away disappointed.
On the last Saturday in July, Bill was home with Rebecca and Wade Jr. "You're a natural, Rebecca. You really are," he said, while she held Wade Jr. and gave him his bottle and cooed at him.
"He's finished. Do you want to burp him?" Rebecca asked.
"Uh….not really," Bill said.
"You're going to have to do this sooner or later at some point," she said.
"Will I?" he asked with a smirk on his face. He immediately held out his hands for her to pass Wade Jr. to him.
"You do that like a professional," Rebecca said observing his back patting skills.
"I don't know. It doesn't seem to be working," Bill replied.
"Give it time," she said.
Bill tried a little longer and went to hand Wade Jr. back to Rebecca, and he spit up on Bill's lap in the process.
"Oh, no!"
"You quit too soon," she said with a smile while Bill took the spit cloth and wiped his pants with it, while holding Wade Jr. with one arm. "Here, give him to me," she said.
"So much for being a professional," he said.
"You'll get the hang of it," Rebecca said while cradling Wade Jr. in her arms.
"Okay. Give him back to me. I'll put him down for a nap," Bill said, holding out his arms.
Rebecca passed the baby to Bill and he went into the next room and laid him in their future baby's crib. As he was returning to Rebecca, she let out a loud moan of pain. He ran the rest of the way.
"What's wrong?!" Bill exclaimed.
"My water broke! I think I'm having this baby today," Rebecca said.
"It's a little early isn't it?"
"Not too early, though," Rebecca said.
"I'll get your things for the hospital," Bill said and ran out of the room. He ran to the banister above the living room.
"Sergei! Sergei! "
"Yes, Mr. Houston," Sergei replied after running out of the kitchen.
"Can you help me get Rebecca downstairs and out to the car? She's in labor!"
"Yes, sir! What can I do right now?" he asked in his thick Russian accent.
"I'm going to get her bag for the hospital and toss it to you. Take it out to the car and come right back and come upstairs and help me with Rebecca," Bill said.
Bill quickly tossed the bag to Sergei who ran it out to the car and came back in the house running up the stairs. Once Bill stood a heavily breathing Rebecca up, he placed one of her arms over his shoulders and Sergei put the other over his and the two men gently guided her out of the room and down the stairs, having to stop once on the stairs for a contraction. Sergei helped Bill put Rebecca in the passenger seat.
"Sergei, Wade Jr. is asleep. Will you keep watch over him while we're at the hospital?"
"Yes, sir. I will take care of the little malyshka. Don't worry," Sergei said.
Bill drove Rebecca to the Methodist Hospital where some orderlies helped Rebecca into a wheelchair and wheeled her down to maternity, while Bill followed behind with her bag. He had to stop at the waiting room and sit down and wait out his child's delivery. He called Wade to see if he was alright and to tell him what was transpiring. Wade did not answer his phone. He was starting to get concerned about him, but had his mind on other pressing things at the moment.
A few hours later, a doctor came out to meet Bill in the waiting room.
"Mr. Houston?"
"Yes?" Bill replied, standing up.
"Go ahead and sit down," he said in a somber tone.
"Well?" Bill asked.
"Your wife is fine, but I have some bad news," he said.
Panic emerged on Bill's normally stoic face. "What is it, doctor?"
"Your child did not make it," he said.
Shocked, Bill said, "How…why?"
"He…."
"He?" Bill asked with tears welling in his eyes. "A son?"
"Yes, sir. He was a stillbirth. We don't know how long he'd been deceased."
Bill was clearly mortified that he had lost what might be his last chance at his only child and heir. In spite of all of this, he asked, "What about Rebecca?"
"I told her what happened. She was very upset as you can imagine. So much so, I sedated her. She's resting now," he said.
"I wish you would have let me tell her," Bill said with a flash of outrage in his eyes.
"She knew something was wrong, Mr. Houston. I had to tell her. It was the only fair thing to do at the time," he said. "I asked if she wanted to see the baby and she said 'no.' It's probably for the best."
"Is it?" Bill asked.
"Some think so. Others regret not seeing their baby. What about you?"
Bill still looked to be in sorrowful shock. He thought for a bit. "No. I don't think I want to see him."
"Are you sure?"
"I think so. It's too much to handle right now," Bill replied.
"Well, you'll have to talk to your wife soon about what to do with the remains. We can take him and give him a proper burial or you can take him and have a family burial. It's up to you."
"I, uh…..I don't know," Bill said.
"Take your time, Mr. Houston. And, I'm sorry," he said. "A nurse will come in a bit to take you to your wife."
"Thank you," Bill said.
The doctor walked away and Bill stayed sitting in the waiting room. After a few moments, he put his head in his hands and cried harder than he ever had. A nurse approached him after a while and escorted him to Rebecca's room where she was sleeping. He held her hand and looked out the window for what seemed like forever.
Bill and Rebecca decided to let the hospital take care of their son's remains, both deciding a funeral would be too hard on them. Rebecca remained on sedatives for a couple of weeks after the stillbirth. Cattle Annie cleared her work calendar and stayed with her and Wade Jr. while Bill was at work during the week. Bill checked Wade's house and contacted his business associates and he was nowhere to be found. It was as though he vanished. He had left his car but had taken his motorcycle, and had told no one where he was or where he was going.
"Rebecca, you can't just give up and lay there balled up on your bed forever," Cattle Annie said.
She was met with silence.
She sat down on the bed next to her after putting Wade Jr. down for his nap. "Honey, it's been a few weeks now. You need to get up and do somethin' and even get out of this house. You've been cooped up in here for too long," Annie said.
"Cattle Annie, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm trying to come to terms that it's not in the cards for me to have children," Rebecca said.
"See, now there's an idea….There happens to be a child in this house right now, that needs a momma, and Cattle Annie is gettin' too old to do it full-time," she said.
"Wade Jr.? He's not mine. No sense in pretending otherwise. Wade will be back and that will be that," Rebecca said.
"Wade? Why, no one's seen hide nor hair of that coward, not even his best friend," Annie replied incredulously. "Harumph! Man fought in the War and he can't handle a tiny little baby!"
"Still, it's his child and he'll be back," Rebecca said.
"Maybe. Maybe not," Annie replied. "Doesn't change the fact that you were fine with takin' care of Wade Jr. before you lost your own baby. It can be the same now and it will be good for the both of you. Besides, I'm sure he'd like to breast feed instead of drink that nasty formula that's not the real deal."
Rebecca rolled over and looked at Cattle Annie, aghast.
"Don't look at me like that. There are plenty of wet nurses out in the world taking care of another mommas' businesses," Annie said.
"I couldn't," Rebecca said.
"You could. I see it on the ranch all the time. A momma can't or won't suckle and another steps in. End of story," Annie replied.
"I'm not a cow, Cattle Annie," Rebecca said.
"Oh, honey, don't delude yourself. We're all animals," Annie replied.
"Hardly," Rebecca said.
"It's true, whether you like it or not," Annie said. "Here's the deal….You're going to get your butt out of this bed and start with holdin' Wade Jr. when he wakes up from that nap, and that's that," Annie said standing up and with her hands on her hips.
"But…."
"There's no but, Missy. It's time for you to stop feelin' sorry for yourself."
Rebecca started slowly with Wade Jr. She began with holding him and then was nursing him just like her own child. She eventually started taking him out to parks and other more public places, telling strangers that the child was hers. This escalated into her telling their neighbors and friends the same thing, who, were unaware that she had lost her own child since she had been on bed rest for the end of her pregnancy, and cloistered in her house after the stillbirth. Bill had remained strong but somewhat shut down, not telling anyone the outcome of her pregnancy. He had avoided contact with friends and kept busy on the job being more comfortable being a caretaker than one who was taken care of.
A few months into Rebecca treating Wade Jr. as her own, Bill worried for his wife's future emotional stability because she'd eventually have to give Wade Jr. back to his father. Still, it had been so long that anyone had heard from or seen Wade that Bill had even gotten into the surrogate father role.