Elena continued, "Because she just wanted to be normal. She was already different enough. She just wanted to fit in and be normal. She didn't want to be, 'the cancer kid,' in addition to, 'the weird prodigy gifted kid.' Maybe she would have been comfortable enough to tell everybody if some little shit wasn't busy making her think everybody hated her!
"Just leave people alone! Mind your own business and learn some humility! But you think you're invincible because the only one who picks on you is your sister and I defend you from her. But maybe she's been right all along. Maybe you do need a different sort of treatment."
"Mom! Please, no!"
"Maybe you do need to learn you are just as, if not more, vulnerable than all those little girls you pick on. Maybe then you'll learn to be a better person."
"You can't let her do this to me!" he whined.
She grabbed him by the chin and didn't release him until he looked her right in the eyes. She poked him in the chest to punctuate each word of her child's new full name, "Rebekah...RAINBOW...Ramirez. From this day forward, you are Mommy's little girl..."
"Yes!" a muffled triumphant voice could be heard shouting from outside the room.
"But!" Rebekah began to protest, but was quickly cut off with a sharp look.
Elena continued, and raised her voice so as to be heard outside the room, "For ONE year, at home or around the kids who already saw you like this only, aside from a few particular outings I have in mind. I'll decide what to do with you after that, until then you better do everything your big sister says if you ever want to wear pants full time again."
Wendy swore under her breath. She had thought that she had her little sister forever now for sure. In the end though, she figured it didn't matter. With total control of a petticoated little brother, it would be easy as pie to find some sort of way to set him up to fail if necessary. Rebekah Rainbow was here to stay as far as Wendy was concerned.
Rebekah Rainbow whimpered in despair, "But...!"
"Don't you dare, Rebekah, say anything in reply to that besides, 'Yes, Mommy. I'll be a good little girl for big sister Wendy all year long until you decide IF I can have my pants back full time.'"
Whimpering and stammering in shame, he repeated the humiliating promise. She lifted him from the bed and led him by the hand to the bathroom. She stripped the dress off of him and yelled for Wendy to come take it and bring Rebekah Rainbow a nightgown to wear to bed. With only his bloomers for modesty, he stood in front of the mirror in shock waiting for the next unbelievable alteration in his life to occur.
It came in the form of scissors and an electric hair clipper and razor. First his mother removed the wig. Then, wordlessly she set to work with the scissors and then the buzz of the electric tools. Soon Rebekah was as bald as Rebecca had been. Rebekah Rainbow didn't dare utter a single word of complaint. When Elena was done she finally spoke again, "Whatever else happens to you, blame on Wendy if you want. I'll take the consequences if it goes wrong, but I don't have the energy to fix you, kiddo. She's in charge of you now unless she breaks the rules I set for her."
She forced his drooping chin up so he looked directly at his bald head in the mirror. "But this was from me." She started to clean up the mess and he walked from the room eyes cast downward in shame.
When he came out of the bathroom after his shower Wendy guffawed at his pathetic state. He wore the prissy light blue nightgown she had picked out for him. The skirt was ankle length and made of a smooth silky material. It had a super thin layer of white netting on top as well. The nightgown had a similarly high bust line as his baby dress, with a dark blue ribbon that tied in a decorative bow on the back. The high bust line gave the nightgown a distinctly childish appearance, but Rebekah at least felt happy the new underwear his mother had dressed him in was concealed by the ankle length skirt. Judging by many of the outfits he had seen in the room so far, that was going to be a luxury he would be forced to get used to not having with many of his skirts.
His sister lifted his dress to mock him over the frilly blue panties with the white lace ruffles on the rear he now wore, but at least once she dropped the skirt back down he wasn't putting on a show anymore like he had in the super short dress before.
Without his makeup he looked less like a girl and his bald head just looked goofy. "Oh well, little sis, it's no big deal. We've got all the wigs you could ever need!" Wendy told him in tone dripping with condescension.
Wendy whispered in his ear, "Remember when we watched Peter Pan and you said I should wear a frilly night gown like the girl in the movie because I was named Wendy too? Well I think it looks better on you, little sis!" She laughed and then leaned in to his ear again, "Remember when you said you thought it would be great to be a little boy forever and never grow up? Well you've almost got your wish. Instead you could be a little girl forever if big sister gets what she wants."
His mother led him back to his new room while he continued to apologize and try and to find some way out, but his mother still remained unmoved.
"You took away the security blanket that made Rebecca feel safe, so it's only fair you lose yours. Your sister has an idea of how to do that. Let's see if she's right about you, huh Rebekah? I'm starting to think she might be."
"Noooooooooooooooooooooo!" Rebekah Rainbow screamed and whined as he buried his face in his mother's chest. He cried tears of shame and fear until they made visible wet marks on his mother's scrubs. As he cried to his mother and begged her to change her mind, his cheek was resting on the cool plastic of the lanyard she wore around her neck. The lanyard identified her as Elena Ramirez, a registered nurse working at the local hospital in their pediatric oncology unit. His begging did not move her.
Exhausted and with no tears left to shed, Rebekah Rainbow was led back to his new room and tucked into bed. Elena moved the doll off the bed and into the bassinet it came with to charge and hung all the dresses back up where they belonged. She could have sworn Rebekah almost looked disappointed not to be sleeping with the doll. He drifted away to sleep for the night hearing the soft gentle sounds of the cooing electronic baby doll in the bassinet by his bed. After all that had happened, she couldn't blame Rebekah Rainbow for wanting something to cuddle. "I'm sorry," she whispered to his sleeping form, "But it could be the only way to save you." She turned around and left the room to go to bed. She couldn't think about this anymore. She had to be back at the hospital the next morning.