Chapter 13

"Well," said Theresa when they got home and with a twinkle in her eye, "once we've sorted Wendy's things we can now move mine into our room."

"Good," said Bill smiling happily at her.

Wendy's few things did not need much sorting. Some things needed to be washed but most merely needed to be put away.

"What do you want to do with Wendy when she comes out of hospital," asked Bill.

"I really ought to take her home and relieve Poppy of the dogs but I won't do that until Sally gets back. They ought to see each other before I drag her away. I wonder how soon she'll be allowed to go back to university. I must ring her tutor tomorrow morning and ask him what we should do about work she could be getting on with."

"Sally's going to be horrified, poor girl."

"She is indeed and we need to swear her to secrecy. If this got out it would embarrass the life out of Wendy."

"I'm afraid it's going to get out even if she's referred to as Miss X in the newspaper reports. Bloody Walker's name will be in the papers and other people reading aeronautics will twig immediately. I'll give Ian Davidson a ring now and see whether the police can keep both names out of the papers.

He did so and Ian said he would do his best but could promise nothing. Bill had to accept that.

The following day Bill went to the office. He found out what time the hearing was and went to it. Walker was remanded in custody and reporting restrictions were imposed. Bill rang Theresa to give her the good news.

She told him that the doctor was still pleased with Wendy's progress but wished to keep her in for a further twenty-four hours minimum. In the meantime, Theresa was to learn how to apply the ointment to Wendy. The trick apparently was to apply enough to work, to work it in without aggravation and leave it so that Wendy's clothes did not stick to it.

Sally rang that evening to say that she would be coming back on Saturday evening. She was very grateful when Bill offered to pick her up at the station.

With it being their last evening alone Bill took Theresa out for dinner at a quiet little restaurant which served the most delicious food. The proprietor was an old friend and they were more than well looked after. They took a nightcap into the drawing room when they got home and sat in each other's arms, their conversation interspersed with gentle kisses. It was a tender rather than a passionate evening. They went to bed quite early and continued the mood there. They made sleepy love the following morning.

Both went to the hospital to discover that Wendy was to be released and that the wheels were already turning. They were away again by midday. Wendy was to continue in a nighty until given permission otherwise. She was to take exercise without tiring herself. She was to let the air get to her wounds as much as she decently could. A nurse would visit on Monday and Wednesday and she was to attend an outpatient appointment on Thursday afternoon. All this rather threw Theresa's plans. Bill was inwardly delighted. She rang Poppy who was quite unworried and told her not to rush home on any account. The dogs were fine and not pining at all.

"They wouldn't," Theresa observed to Bill and Wendy, "but they'll be like a couple of barrels when I do collect them. She will give them titbits even though I always ask her not too."

Sally was as appalled as Bill had forecast. The two girls spent an hour closeted in Wendy's room. Sally readily agreed to collect Wendy's assignments for her and needed no persuasion not to breathe a word to anyone about what had happened.

Wendy seemed slightly withdrawn after her talk with Sally but brightened up again while they were all in the kitchen before dinner. When Bill asked her if she was going to sing for her supper she glowed.

"Mum," she said, "do you remember that one I used to sing specially for Dad?"

Theresa nodded. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes," said Wendy vehemently.

She sang 'Er, der Herrlichste von Allen' (He, the Noblest of All) from Schuman's 'Liebenfrau und Leben'.

At the end Bill and Sally clapped. "I've no idea what that was about," said Bill, "but it was beautiful and really got to me."

"'He, the Noblest of All'," said Wendy softly. "I used to sing it for Dad and now I sing it for you."

Bill opened his arms and she ran into them.

"Thank you, my precious," he whispered. "I'm very, very touched."

They kissed and Bill wondered again at her ability to pass such love without passion.

Theresa stood up slowly from the piano. Her eyes were full of tears. She joined Bill and Wendy who both put their arms round her and held her in tight.

On Sunday morning, which was sunny and surprisingly warm, Bill got out a chaise-longue and some other garden chairs and they all sat out in the garden, Wendy lying face down to allow the sun to help the healing process. There was of course a limit to how much of that she could do. She certainly could not risk sunburn.

In the afternoon Sally took off to check on her schedules for the term. Bill went off to do some gardening. Everything was burgeoning, including weeds. He attacked them.

Both girls were reading, although Theresa was aware that Wendy's mind was elsewhere. She kept looking over the top of her book into the distance.

"Wendy, darling, do you want to talk about it?"

Wendy collected herself with a jerk.

"I was thinking about the three of us, Mum."

"Go on."

"What does Bill think about your not being able to have children?"

"He's accepted it. We may consider adoption at some stage."

"Not quite the same is it. Is there no way you could have a baby?"

"No, darling. I had a total hysterectomy. No more babies. Full stop."

"Did it occur to you both that Bill might father a child through a surrogate mother?"

"No. It never crossed our minds."

"Well, you might like to talk to him about it, Mum."

"I will. Thank you, darling."

After that, it was Wendy that did the reading while Theresa stared at the page in front of her. Wendy had given her a completely new slant to consider. Adopting a child was all well and good but it was the flesh and blood of neither parent. At least, with a surrogate mother, half the child would be Bill's. Presumably she would be able to share in the pregnancy which would make her closer to the baby. She wondered whether Bill would be put off by having to masturbate to provide the sperm. She thought not. She might be able to help with that too.

She wandered down to where Bill was working and shared with him what Wendy had said and her initial thoughts.

"Do you really want another child?" he asked.

"I think so, although it's not as though I crave one. You want one, don't you?"

"Yes, I do but it's not vital. If you decided that after all you didn't really want one I wouldn't hold it against you."

"So what about the surrogate mother business?"

"It rather appeals to me. At least part of the child would be ours."

She kissed him. "Let's plan on that then."

She went back to her chair.

"I think it might be time to cover you up again, Wendy darling," she said.

Wendy grumbled but did as she was told.

"We both think your surrogate mother idea is a good one," she said.

"Great! Well, there's no rush to find one yet, is there?"

"Good heavens no! Let's get the wedding out of the way first."

Bill invited his family for lunch the next Sunday but his mother would not hear of it.

"Nonsense, Bill," she said. "Your fiancée is not feeding the entire family. That would be not only inappropriate but an unnecessary strain on her with her daughter still not fit."

"I appreciate that, Mum, but Wendy will still not really be in a state to venture out."

"Rubbish! If she can sit at a table at your end she can sit at one here and it's not going to matter one bit whether she's wearing knickers or not, wherever she is."

Bill chuckled. "OK. Mum, I give in."

Wendy giggled too. "With my scars I'm hardly likely to flash them at the moment."

Bill hugged her.

The lunch party was a huge success. Bill's family without exception fell for Theresa and Wendy. They, in return responded wholeheartedly to their welcome. The family could not help but see Bill and Theresa's love for each other. They also delighted in his obvious affection for Wendy and her almost worship for him.

"He's saved me three times from horrible circumstances," she explained to his mother, "and he is my rock. He will never replace my father, who I loved with all my heart, but I love him to bits."