Okay, I have absolutely NO IDEA where this idea came from… I was playing Kingdom Hearts with my sister and it just came to me.

For those who read Two Sides – the next chapter is still with my beta, so I'll be posting it as soon as I hear back from her! Also, I have started a community for Falling Skies – it's going to be full of stories and oneshots based on the Mason family (primarily about the brothers). I'll be adding more fics to it when I find ones I really like, so check it out if you want to find a good read! Just go to my profile – it'll be on there.

Oh, one last thing – a HUGE thanks to everyone! I've just passed the 100 favourite author and 100 author alert mark :D You guys rock!

Anyway, enough from me. I hope you like this!

BLESSED IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

DancerInTheDark101

As his newest child is brought into the world, Tom Mason thinks back to how it all began and how he ended up so blessed. Future fic.

-FALLING SKIES-

Anne had been struggling the last few weeks. Her stomach had grown even more, swelling with the unborn child she was carrying. She had been taken off the active roster some months before, due to increasing exhaustion and because they wanted to be careful. They didn't have all the luxuries and equipment needed to deal with her pregnancy, so once Anne had entered her seventh month, Tom had put his foot down and ordered her to rest.

Unfortunately the world was still at war. With the arrival of the newest aliens some months before, everything had gotten just a little more complicated.

They termed the new aliens 'Scales' due to the scaly nature of their red-tinged skin. Tom had no idea where the nickname had come from, but it had stuck. So now they had Fish-heads (Overlords), Skitters, Mechs and Scales… the list just kept getting longer.

After the initial contact, they had discovered that the Scales were in fact mortal enemies of the Overlords. They'd been at war for centuries and the Overlords had come to Earth to scavenge for slaves and materials to make their new weaponry – make Earth their new base.

The Scales had left humanity mostly alone as they started up the fighting against the Skitters. However, they didn't seem to care if any humans died. The Earth was now their battlefield and humanity was stuck in the middle.

The Second Mass had gone into hiding for several months, taking the back roads and only travelling during the day. It had grown arduous, the constant close proximity to each other had caused friction and several times people had come to blows.

One of the only good things to come out of the arrival of the Scales was the fact that the Overlords, Skitters and Mechs were now too preoccupied with their mortal enemies to even consider dealing with the human race. They'd heard no more instances of children being harnessed and Tom would never forget the day Ben had come to him and said he couldn't hear the static anymore.

Currently they were hiding in one of the outmost suburbs of New York City. With Anne due any day, they'd bunkered down and let everyone have a breather. The Second Mass had re-enacted what the people of New Charleston had thought of. An abandoned underground mall had become their latest home. It was out of sight and deep enough that the children could run around and let out a little noise without the constant threat of being heard.

Tom walked into the room where his partner was lying on their bed. Her dark hair was fanned out across the pillow, one hand holding a battered paperback book and the other rubbing circles across her enlarged stomach.

"Tom," she smiled as he reached the bed. Tom sat down, leaning over and kissing his girlfriend. He then lifted the white shirt stretched over Anne's swelled belly and lifted it to reveal the stretched skin. He placed a chaste kiss just below her belly button, smiling as he felt his unborn child squirm under his touch.

"How is he today?" he asked. They didn't actually know what gender the baby was, as the required equipment was extremely hard to find and they hadn't found one in working order. Tom was not-so-secretly hoping for a girl. Not that a boy wouldn't be bad, but he already had three of those.

Speaking of his children…

He was so proud of his boys. They'd come a long way since the beginning of the invasion well over a year ago.

Hal had recently turned eighteen. Some of the other fighters had managed to locate a rather large stash of alcohol and in a rare moment, they'd thrown a party for the teen. He and Maggie had officially become a couple and Tom honestly couldn't have been happier for his son. There had been a few rough patches between the two, but for the last few months they'd been happier than ever.

And then there had been the issue immediately after the Scales had arrived. It had taken weeks for them to notice that something was wrong and when they did, it had been messy. When Karen had kissed Hal when they'd destroyed the weapon, she had infected him with a parasite – similar to the one Tom had when he'd been released from the Overlords ship – and it had taken to controlling him some to the time. He'd almost gotten them all killed.

Luckily, Ben had felt the presence of the parasite before it could do too much damage and after a harrowing surgery, had managed to extract the insect from where it had begun to twist around his spine. Tom had just been thankful it hadn't started to enter his brain stem, which by the looks of it, it was starting to do.

"He's decided that my bladder is his favourite place right now," Anne replied, smiling as she placed a hand over his. She put down her book. "He's definitely getting ready to meet us." She explained that she'd felt the baby drop lower into her pelvic region earlier that day, which in turn was putting a lot more pressure on her bladder and strain on her pelvic.

Tom pushed himself against the head of the bed, wrapping his arms around Anne and pulling her close. She lay back, her head resting against his chest as he rubbed the swell of her stomach. The last time he'd been able to do this was when Rebecca had been pregnant with Matt, almost ten years earlier.

It was at times like these that Tom struggled with what to think. In a lot of aspects, the alien invasion was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. The aliens had taken away his wife, kidnapped his son, killed his friends and destroyed any normal semblance of life. Yet, in other ways it had led to the best things in life.

If the aliens hadn't come, he never would have met Anne, or even Weaver. He never would have bonded so much with his sons and he definitely wouldn't be expecting his fourth child.

If the aliens hadn't have come, he would still be a history professor. Hal would still be the school jock and probably failing his exams; Ben would have continued to be the nerd of the family, staying up all night on his computer playing games; and Matt would have never have grown into the strong young man he was today.

"It's almost dinner. Do you want me to bring you some food, or would you like to join the rest of us in the mess hall?" Tom asked.

"I think I'll come with you this time. I'm feeling particularly fat today; I need the exercise."

Tom scoffed at that. His girlfriend wasn't fat and she knew it. Even when her jeans had failed to button, she had taken it all in her stride, knowing that it was because of the growing child in her belly. Tom was glad that Anne was a woman who loved her pregnancy body. Rebecca had hated it; had always been complaining about her expanding waistline and how nothing fit. No matter how many times he'd told her, she never listened.

He helped the heavily pregnant Anne off the bed, steadying her as she swayed a little. She stretched, stomach jutting out almost comically. The large white sleep-shirt she had on rode up, revealing a sliver of stretched out skin.

"Come on," she motioned. "Let's go get something to eat. I'm sure the little one would like some food."

They walked in silence, Tom keeping pace with Anne as she waddled towards the mess hall. Her belly was that large now that she couldn't do much more than shuffle slowly, her balance off. Entering the food area, Tom immediately spotted his family.

Hal, Ben and Matt were all sitting together at one of the large tables in the middle of the room. Maggie was seated next to Hal, leaning over and whispering something in his ear that made him laugh aloud. Anthony, Tector, Pope and Weaver also sat next to his boys, all conversing amongst themselves.

It was the large smile on Ben's face that really captured Tom's attention. His middle son had been through so much in the last year. It was nice to see that he was finally getting the happiness he deserved. Tom knew that he'd even started to make some friends amongst the other kids his age in the Second Mass.

"Tom!" Weaver called over as he saw the two adults standing in the doorway. Tom reached over and linked his fingers with Anne's before heading over to the table and joining his family.

Eight days later Tom sat in a small room, holding his very precious package. Anne had gone into labour twenty three hours earlier and after a long and difficult birth, he was now the proud parent of another little boy.

As he stared at his son's dark eyes, Tom couldn't help but think about his earlier thoughts. Even though the aliens had brought a lot of bad things to this world, they had also brought good. And the proof of that was currently lying in his arms, staring up at the new world he had just been introduced to.

"Dad?"

Tom looked up from his newborn son to see his other children milling in the doorway. Hal stood in front while Tom could see Ben and Matt attempting to peer over their brother's shoulders.

"Come in," he said quietly, not wanting to startle the infant. "Anne's sleeping in the next room."

The three boys crept into the room, their attention fully on the baby in his arms.

"I'd like you to meet James Daniel Mason; your brother."

He and Anne and both agreed on the name. 'James' was for Jimmy Boland, a young boy who had been killed when a Skitter had attacked. Both Anne, himself and his children had been close to the teenager, especially Ben. It was only fitting that they gave remembrance to a young fighter who had the heart and courage to fight so that others may live. Tom just hoped his son would live up to his namesake.

'Daniel' was in fact homage to the captain of the Second Massachusetts Militia Regiment. Without Dan Weaver, Tom was certain he and his family would not have survived. The man had done a hell of a lot for all of them and he was one of Tom's closest friends.

Sitting in the little room in the middle of an underground mall which was their current city, Tom looked at his family gathered around. Even though the war had caused a lot of grief and tragedy for everyone; even though a lot of good people had died fighting for the right to live freely in their own world, it was moments like this that made it all worth it.

He was blessed – blessed to have an amazing girlfriend (soon to be wife), three incredible children, a wonderful extended family (all those in the Second Mass) and now a beautiful little baby boy.

All the fighting and hardships in the war would be well worth it if everyone was able to be as blessed as he was.

I hope you all enjoyed this little ficlet! I hope I wrote the romancy stuff okay between Tom and Anne… I don't normally read romance, let alone write it…

Uh, not a lot else to say really. Just please review and let me know what you think! This is completely out of my normal writing area, so I'd really appreciate the feedback – even if it is to tell me that I should stick to writing action/angst and horror 'cause my romance sucks LOL.

Thanks for taking the time to read :)