Later, Tothero finds Rabbit and tells him that whatever he is looking for is probably illusory. Reverend Eccles informs him of Rebecca June’s death, compelling Rabbit to go home. That afternoon, oblivious to the death of his child, Rabbit telephones Reverend Eccles, asking for his opinion on how best to return home. Soon, everyone except Rabbit finds out about the death and convenes at the home of Janice’s parents. She drinks too much, accidentally neglecting Rebecca June in the bathtub, who drowns. Morning comes, and Janice is extremely wracked with sorrow by Rabbit’s abusive treatment. He goes to a hotel, instead, to spend the night. When he arrives, their apartment is empty. Angry, Rabbit masturbates over her, and then departs, resolving to get back together with Ruth. Janice declines, telling him that he treats her like a prostitute. He convinces her to drink alcohol, and then misinterpreting her signals, tries to force her to have sex. Somewhat altered by his emotions, he attempts to talk with Janice about their emotions. Rabbit goes home and is overwhelmed with happiness at the birth of Rebecca June. She invites him to come in for coffee, which he misinterprets as a request to have sex. One Sunday morning, Rabbit goes to church and ends up walking Lucy, the wife of the minister, to her house. Reconciling with Janice, Rabbit returns to live with her and the new baby, a girl whom they name Rebecca June.

He leaves Ruth’s apartment to see his wife and child at the hospital. Later that night, Rabbit finds out that Janice has gone into labor. Crazed, Rabbit forces a fearful Ruth to perform oral sex on him. Rabbit and Ruth stay together until he finds out that she had a relationship with Ronnie Harrison, his enemy from high school. An Episcopal priest in the area, Jack Eccles, becomes Rabbit’s friend and attempts to convince him to come to terms with his wife, to no avail. Meanwhile, Janice goes back to live with her parents. Ruth and Rabbit begin dating, and he quickly moves in with her. One of the girls, Ruth Leonard, is a prostitute who works various shifts part-time.

The night of his visit to Marty, he has dinner with the coach and his two daughters. He goes back to Mount Judge and visits the home of Marty Tothero, his former basketball coach. When he gets lost along the way, he decides to turn around. Bored by his ordinary white-collar life, Rabbit makes an impulsive decision to escape by driving south. They move into a suburb of Brewer, Pennsylvania called Mount Judge, along with their two-year-old child, Nelson. Rabbit is married to Janice, a salesperson at a previous place of employment. Having grown apart from most of his childhood friends, he now works as a salesperson for the creators of a kitchen appliance called the MagiPeeler. The novel begins several years into Rabbit’s adulthood.

Updike novel rabbit