July 26, 1955
Early in the afternoon the following day, Elizabeth gave birth.
"Congratulations Elizabeth, you have a little boy!" the nurse smiled, happy tears in her eyes.
Elizabeth began sobbing.
"I'll go get your husband." The nurse said.
"Thank you!" Elizabeth said through sobs.
The minute Drew came into Elizabeth's room, he started crying.
"We have a son!" he choked out.
The couple cried in each other's arms.
A few minutes later, the nurse brought in their boy.
"Clarence Paul Cutler." Drew smiled.
The couple spent some time with their new son. In about an hour, the nurse came in and said it was time for Elizabeth to rest.
"I'm gonna head home." Drew said.
"Give Judy a kiss for me." Elizabeth said. "Tell her she'll be able to meet her new brother in about a week."
"I will." Drew smiled. He kissed Elizabeth. "I love you."
"I love you." She smiled.
Drew drove back home to Walton's Mountain.
Jen jumped out of her chair and went to the door when she saw her uncle.
"Well?!" she asked.
Drew just smiled.
"Uncle Drew!"
He laughed. "Guess."
"Uncle Drew, you're bein' mean!" she said.
Drew laughed.
"Did Aunt Elizabeth have twins?"
"Oh no." Drew chuckled. "Just one baby this time."
"Well, go on, tell me!" Jen was anxious.
"Aunt Elizabeth and I have a son!"
"Oh Uncle Drew, I'm so happy for you!" Jen hugged her uncle.
"Thank you Honey." He smiled. "Where's my little girl?"
"She's in her crib taking a nap."
"Was she any trouble?"
"None at all. She was perfect while you were gone."
August 2, 1955
A week later, Elizabeth and Clarence came home.
November 28, 1957
On Christmas day at the Walton house, Drew asked the blessing.
"Dear Lord, thank you for all your goodness in this year. We're so thankful for family, good health, and blessings. Elizabeth and I are especially thankful for the blessing that join our family in June. Thank you Lord. Amen."
Everyone was silent for a second.
John looked at his daughter. "Honey, are you pregnant?"
Elizabeth laughed and nodded.
Everyone jumped up and congratulated them.
"Miracle Baby Number Three!" Elizabeth beamed, tears on her face. "God is so good!"
June 18, 1958
In the early afternoon hours on a sunny Wednesday Summer afternoon, Elizabeth went into labor. Drew called Jen to come watch the children while he took Elizabeth to the hospital. Jen quickly came over to stay with Judy and Clarence, aka "Clancy" by most of the family.
"Don't worry about Judy and Clancy," Jen assured her uncle. Jen was only about 3 weeks shy of her 22nd birthday. She would be entering her final year of teaching school in the coming Fall.
"Thank you Jen. I'll call you when the baby is here."
"Thanks Uncle Drew." She smiled. "Tell Aunt Elizabeth I'll be thinking about her. I love you both."
"We love you." He smiled.
That evening, Jen made supper for Judy and Clancy. After eating, they went into the living room. Jen turned on a western movie and they watched for a while.
"I prefer Mickey Mouse." Judy said.
"You do?" Jen teased her little cousin, tickling her.
"Yeah!" Judy squealed through laughs.
"All right," Jen smiled. "I'll see if it's on. She went through the channels but couldn't find her cousin's favorite show."
"Sorry Judy, Mickey's not on right now."
"Do you want to color with me?" Judy asked.
"Sure." Jen smiled. She stood up and took Clancy's hand. "Come on Clancy, you can join us too."
Around 9, Jen put her little cousins to bed.
"I'm gonna stay here with you all night. I'll be just down the hall if you need anything."
"I'm glad you got to stay with us Jen." Judy smiled.
"So am I, Sweetheart." She kissed Judy's cheek.
She went over to Clancy and kissed him as well.
"Night Yen." He said, unable to pronounce a 'J' sound yet.
"Night Clancy. Sleep well."
Jen went down the hallway to her room. She read her book for a while, but when she began to yawn, she went to bed.
June 19, 1958
Around 7:30 the following morning, Drew called.
"Hi Jen," he said. "Elizabeth has had a really tough night. She was in a very hard labor, so they're preparing her for a C-section right now."
"I'll be praying Uncle Drew. Thank you for telling me."
"Thanks for watching the kids Jen, we appreciate it."
"You're welcome. Talk to you later."
"Bye Jen."
Judy wandered out of her room downstairs.
"Morning Honey." Jen smiled at her little cousin.
"No Mommy and Daddy yet?"
"Your daddy called and said it's taking little longer than they thought. But your new little brother or sister will be here very soon."
"I'm so excited!" Judy smiled.
"Me too. Is Clancy up yet?"
"I don't know." Judy said.
"Should we go check on him?" Jen asked.
The little girl smiled.
They went upstairs and got Clancy up. Jen carried him downstairs and put him in a chair. Then she gave the children their breakfast.
Around 10, Jen put the children to bed for a nap.
At 10:30, Drew called.
"Hi Jen, it's official. We have three children! Mary Jane Cutler was born about ten minutes ago!" Drew's voice was filled with enthusiasm.
"Oh Uncle Drew, congratulations! I'm so happy for you two!"
"Thank you." Drew said. "How is everything there?"
"The kids went to bed about half an hour ago."
"Good. They have been good?"
"They've been great, we've had so much fun!" Jen smiled.
"I'm glad to hear it. Well, I'll be home sometime this afternoon."
"Uncle Drew, I had an idea."
"Shoot." Drew said.
"Well I have my car here. What if I would bring the kids into town and we could eat lunch at a restaurant there? Maybe I could sneak a peek at my new little cousin too."
"The kids haven't been to a restaurant forever, so I'm sure they would love it." Drew said. "Sure."
"Should we meet around noon?"
"It's a date. How does Pat's sound?"
"It sounds great! I'll see you then. Bye."
"Bye."
Jen went upstairs and woke her cousins.
"Your daddy just called. You have a new little sister!"
Judy was very excited. Clancy pretended to pout, but Jen knew he was excited as well.
"We're gonna go meet your daddy at Pat's Restaurant and eat. Let's get ready quickly."
The kids excitedly got ready. They soon got into Jen's car and drove to Charlottesville. Jen parked in the lot out front of the familiar restaurant.
Inside, they found Drew.
Jen gave him a hug. "Congratulations Uncle Drew!"
"Thank you." She smiled.
"Do I really have a sister?" Judy asked with enthusiasm.
"You sure do Honey." Drew smiled, patting her head.
"Yah!"
Clancy crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.
"Cheer up, Clanc!" Drew smiled. "You know you'll enjoy being a big brother."
Clancy smiled.
After eating, Jen said goodbye to her cousins. They were headed home with Drew while Jen was going to see her Aunt Elizabeth and Cousin Mary Jane.
"I'll see you kids in church on Sunday." Jen smiled.
"Bye Jen." The kids called out.
"Bye Jen. Thanks again for watching the kids." Drew smiled.
"You're welcome. I'll see you guys on Sunday." Jen waved and got in her car. She drove to the hospital.
She asked the nurse at the front desk where Elizabeth's room was. The nurse gave her the room number and Jen went down the hallway.
Jen knocked on the door.
"Come in." Elizabeth's voice came from behind the closed door.
"Aunt Elizabeth!" Jen ran over to her aunt and hugged her. "Oh Aunt Elizabeth, I'm so happy for you and Uncle Drew!"
"Thank you." Elizabeth smiled. "We're very excited too. For some reason, I thought that this baby would be a boy. So I was surprised when the doctor said it was a girl. Either way I'm happy."
"You didn't have twins." Jen teased.
"I didn't." Elizabeth laughed.
"Well, that just gives you an excuse to have another baby."
Elizabeth smiled. "I wonder if we really could have Miracle Baby Number Four."
"I hope so." Jen smiled.
Elizabeth smiled. "I'm just so blessed. We were told we would never have children. Now we have three. I'm just in awe."
Jen smiled. "Well, where is my new little cousin?"
"The nurse should be bringing her back any minute."
After visiting a couple more minutes, a knock came at the door.
The nurse came in.
"Aww!" Jen was in delight.
"Someone is excited to meet her new cousin." Elizabeth said.
The nurse smiled and handed Mary Jane to Jen.
"Oh, she's so precious. She kind of reminds me of when Judy was that size."
Elizabeth smiled.
A week later, Elizabeth and Mary Jane came home.