Meanwhile, at the Lou-Who house, after feeding her children and turning off the gizmos that the Grinch built for her, Donna Lou went upstairs to her bedroom. She has to fix her things again before taking a long nap for her shift tonight. Her shift was rescheduled to a night shift again just yesterday. She must have a lot of energy for tonight so she won't get tired until tomorrow morning. She was quite flattered that her room was clean, and not a mess on the floor last night. She has no idea it was the Grinch who came to her room and cleaned the place when she was at work.

When she was ready to bed, Donna caught a glimpse at the portrait of her and her husband on their wedding day. Donna took the picture, and touched the spot where her husband is. She really missed him so much, but she's still happy that he left their three beautiful children with her, just to keep her company. After he died, she always promised that she'll love her husband forever, and no one will replace him. That's why no Who men caught her eye. Then, she was confused. When the Grinch came to her and her daughter's lives, and started to help them everyday, Donna didn't know what she was doing or thinking anymore. I mean, she almost kissed him without thinking. Donna tried to know what's happening to her during her work yesterday. Is he the one who caught her eye? That's impossible! She would never want to betray her husband, even he's not with her anymore. Sure she still loves him and all, but she doesn't know what she felt when she was around with the Grinch.

Just then, Cindy Lou was about to enter her bedroom, only to notice her mother from a half-opened door. The little girl was curious what her mother was looking at. It's like she's really sad. Cindy Lou slowly walked towards the door, and opened the door widely.

"Mom?" she called her mother.

Donna Lou was startled as she quickly put the portrait down on her lap, "Cindy Lou! What are you doing here?"

"I just saw you sad. Is there something wrong?" Cindy Lou asked.

"No, nothing's wrong, sweetie," Donna replied. "Do you have something to do today?"

"Not really. It was quite boring when Mr. Grinch wasn't here. He was so much fun!" She answered.

The mother chuckled, "Fun than Mrs. Wilbur?"

"Kind of. Yeah," Then, Cindy Lou noticed something on her mother's lap. "What's that?"

Donna sighed as she can't keep a secret from her own daughter, "It's nothing, sweetheart. It's just a picture of me and your father."

Cindy Lou hopped on her mother's bed beside Donna, and looked at the picture with her, "Wow. You and Dad are so happy together."

"Yes. Our wedding is the happiest day of my life, along with you and the twins were born. I would never forget those happy times," Donna smiled warmly as she leaned down on her daughter's head.

Cindy Lou beamed at her. Then, there's something on her mind that she wanted to tell her mother, "Umm, Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?" Donna asked.

"Do you have chance to find someone to like you or someone that you like?" Her daughter asked.

Donna Lou was shocked about her daughter's question. No one has ever asked her about that before. Every Who left Donna Lou alone with her daughter when she lost her husband, just to give her space and time with her feelings. But now, the question was said by her own daughter, "Why would you say that?"

"I'm… just curious," Cindy Lou replied.

Donna exhaled, "I don't know, sweetheart. I still love your father, and I promised that I would never replace him."

"But Dad doesn't want you to be sad. He wants you to be loved again." Her daughter said.

The mother caressed her daughter's cheek with one hand, "But I have you and your brothers. You three are the only persons who love me."

"Thanks, Mom. But, I was thinking that you should meet someone new. Someone else to keep you company."

"Oh, really? Give me one example."

"Well, what about… Mr. Grinch?"

Not that the question shocks the mother. Donna just kept quiet.

"I saw you, Mom. You almost kissed him." Cindy Lou recalled.

"I know. I know. I wasn't thinking. I was in a hurry," Donna Lou recapped.

"But you said you met him before," Her daughter added. "How does that happened?"

Donna Lou wanted to remember how it happened, but she was just a child that time, like 5 years old. It's too difficult to remember.

25 years ago.

Young Donna was strolling around town alone with her red balloon. But then, she accidentally releqsed the balloon from her hand.

"Oh no! My balloon!" She started to chase after the balloon, no matter where it foes.

The balloon was blown by a cool breeze at it headed straight towards Mt. Crumpit.

Donna just stop right there as she stared at her balloon all the way to Mt. Crumpit. Somebody said an old hermit called the Grinch stayed in a cave of this mountain, and he doesn't want to come to his place. That doesn't matter to Donna as she continued chasing her balloon, and ran on the snowy land way.

Almost there to reach for her balloon as a blizzard started to blow. All the way up on the mountain, a strong cold wind struck on Donna's face as she tried to push herself in to get her favorite balloon. She saw what she was looking for, but she can't keep up because of the strong wind. The little girl couldn't take it anymore as she fell on her knees, crawled behind a big sign, and hid there to keep herself warm, but it's not enough. Not even her winter clothes can't warm her. She's scared. She just wished she shouldn't climbed on this mountain. She was shivering and whimpering. She thought that her lide is about to end as she can't fight this extreme coldness. But suddenly, before she could close her eyes, Donna saw a pair of two green hands carried her whole body, and she can't tell what happened next as she lose consciousness.

Her consciousness led to sleeping as she can breathe again in a warm air. Donna then felt something on her mouth. It was a spoon though, but on it is something hot and delicious. Without opening her eyes, she took a sip from the spoon: it was a hot soup she tasted, and she felt her stomach got warmer. She continued pretending to be sleeping until she felt that the mysterious man who keep her from the cold is gone. Donna woke up, and looked at her surrounding. It looked like she's in a cave with furniture and a bed.

"This must be the Grinch's cave," She wondered. "But if he doesn't anyone to come here, why he took me in?"

She then heard footstep coming from the stairs. Donna quickly pretended to be asleep. She doesn't want to take a little peak of what the Grinch was doing, but she felt something warm on the top of her head, thus fading all her coldness disappeared, making her fell asleep.

Then, the next time she woke up, Donna found herself back in Whoville, sitting on a bench with a red balloon. That was weird. The last time she woke was she was on a cave where the Grinch lived, but now, she's back in town. Is that just a dream? No. It's not a dream. Despite being 5 years old, Donna wasn't that stupid. The place where she slept was real. She remembered how she lost her balloon, and went up to Mt. Crumpit to retrieve it. Her parents found her with worry faces and hugged her. Donna told her parents what happened, but they didn't believe her. It didn't matter to her now. All that matters to her was the town's grump wasn't as bas as she thought.

Back to the present.

Donna Lou was silence and her face was away from her daughter while trying to remember her first encounter with the Grinch, if that was truly him or the stranger who took care of her.

"Mom, are you okay?" Cindy Lou interrupted her thoughts.

Donna then turned to her daughter with a smiley face, "Oh, yeah. I'm okay. I was just thinking… about what you said."

"I'm sorry that I made you shock, Mom." Apologized the little girl.

"That's okay. You're just a child. You're just worried about me."

"Of course I'm worried about you, Mom. Ever since Dad died and we have the twins, I saw you were having a hard time taking care of us while working. I hate to see you like this."

"I'm alright, Cindy Lou. You don't have to worry about me all the time."

"But I thought of that otherwise, so that's why I ask Santa that my Christmas wish is making you happy. You've done so much for us… for all of us. And you deserve to be happy too."

Donna was so touched for her daughter's wish as she kissed her on the nose, "Thank you, sweetie. That's very thoughtful of you. I love having a wonderful daughter like you."

"You're just lucky, Mom. And it's a good thing Mr. Grinch was there to make you happy, right?" Cindy Lou grinned.

"Umm… yeah. Good thing he is," Donna blushed as she turned away from her daughter, trying not to pet her see her face turning red.

Cindy Lou already noticed that reaction as she started to get suspicious, "Mom… do you like Mr. Grinch?"

"What?! Uh…, yes, of course I like him. He's a very good and thoughtful man." Donna Lou replied.

"No, I mean, do you like like him?" Her daughter asked.

Then, Donna blushed one more time, and, this time, this is serious. She would never lie to her own daughter like that, but she's not sure if she answers a lie or a truth. She wasn't sure if she has feelings for her daughter's friend who helped them a lot and the one who saved her life from the cold since she still loved her husband and can't break a promise for him. Donna just chuckled about her daughter's question, "Oh, Cindy Lou, you're still too young to understand these things, and, besides, Mr. Grinch and I are just friends. We're just getting to know each other yet."

"Sorry, Mom. It's just that… if you love someone besides Dad, I'm okay with that. I just want you to be happy, and whatever makes you happy, I'm happy," Cindy Lou smiled at her.

Donna Lou smiled back at her daughter, "Thanks, Cindy Lou, but, still, I don't have time for those stuff, and I'm just friends with Mr. Grinch. That's it. Now, will you go out and play with your friends? I'll take a nap for my work tonight?"

While her mother is still talking, Cindy Lou had thought what Aggie said that her mission is to get Grinch confess his feelings Donna Lou since he's to nervous and afraid his feelings for her. And Aggie was right. Even Cindy Lou realized it. She realized her own mother has feelings for the Grinch, but she's afraid to admit it, and Aggie can't do it alone because she's still taking care of the Grinch. She can't take care of her mom for this mission, so Cindy Lou made this as her mission, but she needed help too. She has an idea, "Okay, Mom, but can I borrow your bowling ball again?"

"For what?" Her mother asked.

"It's a secret."

"Well, okay, just return that later, okay?"

"Okay, Mom. Just rest." Cindy Lou covered her mother's body with a blanket when she lied down to bed, "Love you, Mom."

"Love you, too, sweetie," Donna Lou replied before going to sleep.

Cindy Lou silently took her mother's bowling ball as she rolled it out of her mother's room, and let it roll down stairs. She quickly headed to her room to grab her backpack. She raced down the stairs with the ball reached the floor downstairs. She put the ball inside of her backpack, carried it outside, and put it on the carriage of her bike as she started to paddle her bike away from her house.