A/N: This starts about 3 months after Beyond the Darkness ends. I'm not entirely sure where this one will be going. I got this idea last night while I was outside, and just had to share it. So if it takes me a little time to get more of this up, I apologize. As soon as I come up with a plot, I'll write it. Also, I really wanted to put Owen Slater in this, but have no use for a travel-weary IRA lackey, so I've just completely given him a new history (well, he is still Irish). Also kinda played with his age a bit. (Maybe? Not entirely sure how old he's supposed to be in the show.)

Chapter 1

When Kathleen said that her family wanted to come visit for Christmas, Richard was a bit apprehensive, but excited none the less. He couldn't wait to meet the people who were so important to the woman he loved more than life itself. He just didn't quite realize what he was in store for.

Jean arrived in town first, with her husband Carl and their four sons.

"Pleasure to finally meet you!" Carl boomed, shaking Richard's hand so hard Richard thought his arm was about to fall off. Carl was a short, stocky man with a receding hair line and rosy cheeks. "Jean's told me a lot about you. I got to agree with her, you must be something special to get Kathleen to settle down!"

"You always agree with me, dear," Jean said as she hugged Richard, "because I'm always right."

"That you are, my plum," Carl replied with a wide grin. "Where's Kathleen?"

"I'm coming," Kathleen replied as she waddled towards the group. "I'm in the 'going to the bathroom every fifteen minutes' stage of pregnancy." She hugged her brother-in-law, then her twin sister. She hugged David and Edward, Jean's older sons, and spent a good five minutes cooing at the five month old twins, Richard and Stephen.

"Gracious, Kathleen," Carl said, looking at his sister-in-law's round belly. "You're big enough to be birthing a litter!"

"I know," Kathleen sighed. "I haven't seen my feet in a month..."

"Twins," Jean said knowingly. "That's exactly how I looked when I was six months along, last time."

Kathleen looked over at Richard, who had a happy twinkle in his eye. The Harrows had discussed the possibility that Kathleen might be having twins. Richard was thrilled at the thought.

"I'm not disputing...oh...excuse me. Bathroom time again!" Kathleen hurried as well as she could back down the hallway. Richard watched her go, a contended smile on his face.

"Is there someplace I can settle the boys down for a nap?" Jean asked Richard. He nodded. "Good," Jean replied. "Let me do that, then we'll give you a quick overview of our family."

Sitting in the living room a few minutes later, Richard listened to Kathleen and Jean list their siblings, their families, and little tidbits of information about each one. Richard listened, and began to wonder what he had agreed to as he realized there would be at least forty people at his house for Christmas dinner.

"It's not a family," Carl said said a laugh when the sisters finished the family run-down. "It's a small nation!"

Carl was right, Richard found himself thinking a few days later as his house was invaded by the Gallagher clan. There were children of various ages all over the place. Adults sat where they could, some being climbed upon by some of the younger children. Luke and Mildred Gallagher, the two with whom this happy chaos first started, sat on the davenport, beaming with pride as their children, grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren moved about in an intricate flow. Hugs here, laughter-filled conversations there, occasionally good natured arguments popped up as well.

Kathleen was in the kitchen, having shooed everyone who offered to help away. Jean moved over to Richard's side and slipped her arm through his.

"It's a right mess, isn't it?" she asked with a smile. Richard smiled back and replied "It is, mm. But it's. Wonderful." And it was. For someone who came from a small family, where holidays were very quiet affairs, this was a treat for Richard. This was the kind of thing he dreamed about during those lonely days in the veterans' hospital but never expected to come true.

"Are you having any trouble remembering who's who?" Jean asked.

"Not, mm, the adults. I admit, I am not. Quite sure which. Mm, child is which. Or who they belong to."

"That's okay. The rest of aren't sure either. But I guess it's alright...as long as we know which one are ours...Oh, David! How many times have I told you not to climb the curtains!" Jean rushed off to get her oldest son down from the window dressings. Richard continued to watch his new family. Benjamin was in a deep conversation with Carl and Francine's husband Joseph. Henry was hovering over his wife, who's real name was Anne but everyone called Doll, not only to avoid confusion with Anne Gallagher (now Slater), but because her delicate frame and porcelain like completion made her resemble a China doll. Doll was also nearly six months pregnant, but was having a much rougher time of it than Kathleen was.

In the corner, John Slater, the husband of Kathleen's oldest sister, was in a deep discussion with Gregory and John's oldest son, Owen. Anne, Francine, Ingrid and Edith were sitting on the floor with four young children crawling between them. Richard knew one of the toddlers was Anne's granddaughter (they had custody of her as the baby's parents, Anne's daughter and son-in-law, were killed in a car accent shortly after the baby's birth.) The other three belonged to Francine, Ingrid, and Edith, but Richard wasn't sure which baby went with which Gallagher.

He leaned against the wall and smiled to himself as he watched this wonderful group of people. He was quite content to contemplate how lucky he was to have met and married such a wonderful woman who came from this large family when he felt a tug on his pants. Looking down, he found a young girl, about five years old, with large blue eyes, curly red hair, and a light smattering of freckles similar to her aunts' staring up at him.

"Unca Richard?" she said. "Will you read to me?" She held a book up in front of her. When Richard saw the title, he couldn't help but smile. It was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. It seemed so long ago that he had told another adorable little girl, her older brother, and their kind mother that he was the Tin Woodsman.

"Mm, yes," Richard said, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. The little girl climbed right into his lap, handed him the book, and laid her head against his shoulder.

"Mm, am I right. That you're Kit?" he asked. The little girl looked at him and nodded. Kit, who's real name was Kathleen, after her aunt, was Gregory's youngest child. (At least, Richard thought she was Gregory's. She could have been Henry's).

Richard opened the book and began reading, but he didn't get past the third sentence before Kit looked back at him and said "Mamma said you got a bad owwie when you were fighting the Germies. And that you hafta wear the mask, 'cause it's like a bandage." Richard nodded. "Oh. Didn't your mamma kiss it to make it feel better? That's what my mamma does whenever I get an owwie."

"It's, mm. A very bad owwie," Richard replied. "Besides. My mamma wasn't there. When I got it."

"Oh," Kit said. With a tenderness that would've stirred even the real Tin Woodsman's heart, she leaned her little face in and kiss the cheek of the tin mask that hid his damaged face. "Better?" she asked brightly. Richard smiled.

"Better," he said.

"Good," Kit said, settling herself back against Richard's chest. "Read, please?"