"I hope everything's okay. It's awfully quiet in there." Euchariah said as he and the rest of Whoville stood outside the doors of town hall.
They've all been waiting outside for a good few minutes; they heard all sorts of muffled noises coming from inside, but then after a while, it went quiet, which greatly worried the townspeople. Martha stood in front of the doors with a worried look on her face, rubbing her arms with her hands. Max was standing next to her, nuzzling against the skirt of her dress; he whimpered up at her.
"I know, Max. I'm worried, too." She told him
"It's okay, Mayflower." Wilbur said, approaching his niece and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure the Grinch is perfectly fine."
Euchariah sniffed the air, and the Sour Sweet Winds started to die down. Martha nervously pressed her ear against the door to see if she could hear anything at all.
"I wonder." She whispered before she reached out to open the door.
"No, wait for me." Wilber said with worry, following her inside.
Martha, Wilbur, and Max took a peek inside and everything in town hall had turned back to normal. The Grinch closed the wagon with a look of pride on his face before he made his way back to the floor. Martha grinned at the sight of him.
"Grinch!" She cried, running over to him and giving him the biggest hug she could muster; she started crying tears of joy as he hugged her back. "You're okay! Thank goodness."
"Oh, I'm so glad everything's alright." Donna said as she came in.
"Wait, where's Constance?" Euchariah asked as he, Cindy-Lou, and the others entered.
They all looked around the room, but Constance was nowhere to be found. The Grinch scratched his head and furrowed his brow in thought.
"That's weird. I could've sworn she was here a minute ago." He said.
"Where'd she go?" Cindy asked.
"Alright, nobody move!" A new voice said.
They all turned around to see Sheriff Rosyridge, Deputy Zip, and Officer O'Mittens standing with a few other cops in the doorway. Mayor McGerkle quickly approached them with Sergeant McPherson at her side.
"Can we help you, officers?" The Mayor asked.
"Yes, we received a call about an attack and attempted murder not too long ago. Do you know who made the call?" The Sheriff replied.
"Oh, that would be me." Wilbur stepped forward.
"Excellent. You said a woman named Constance May-Who was responsible, yes?" Deputy Zip asked.
"Yes."
"Do you know where she is now?"
Wilbur looked around and noticed something moving behind one of the banners hanging from the ceiling. He smirked and approached it.
"Well, let's see. What could be behind Curtain Number 1?"
He reached out his hand, grabbed the banner, and quickly pulled it away to reveal Constance curled up in a ball on the floor with a terrified and insane look on her face. Everyone gasped in shock.
"Grinch is gonna get me! Grinch is gonna get me!" She repeated, rocking back and forth; her hair was a mess, her fur coat and dress looked completely mangled, her right eye was twitching nonstop, and she had a crazed smile on her face.
Martha gave the Grinch a shocked look, and he simply said, "I told you things would never be the same."
"Whoa…" Cindy said with wide eyes.
"What the what happened in here?" Groopert asked.
"She's gone mad." Donna said in shock.
"Mad as a March Hare." Dallas spoke, shaking his head.
"I'd almost feel bad for her if she didn't try to kill us." Josiah commented; Mariah nodded.
"Uh… don't worry, folks. We'll take care of it from here." Sheriff Rosyridge said, nodding at her colleagues.
"Come on, let's get her outta here." Officer O'Mittens said as he and Deputy Zip hoisted her up off the floor.
"Oh! And officers? You might wanna arrest him, too. He's her head accomplice, just so you know." Wilbur said, pointing a finger at Dallas.
"Huh?" Dallas froze on the spot.
Outside of the Town Hall, Constance was now wearing a straight jacket and laughing like a madwoman. She was claiming she was seeing monsters everywhere before a pair of Whos dressed as nurses threw her into the back of a van that would take her to an insane asylum far, far away. The Grinch chuckled and held his wife close when Euchariah walked up to him.
"How are you immune to the Venom-Virus, Mr. Grinch?" He asked.
"Oh? Well because… I'm the Grinch. There's no need to become savage." The Grinch replied with a smirk.
"Hey, get your hands off of me! You can't arrest me; I'm a functioning member of society! I was set up, I swear!" Dallas objected as two more officers handcuffed him.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't swear?" Cindy asked smugly. "Serves you right." She blew a raspberry in his face.
"Oh! And Dallas? For a lonely single man in his forties, might I suggest internet dating? Or a cat?!" Wilbur shouted.
"And say hi to Augustus in jail for me!" Grinch added.
"Bye-bye, Dallas!" Martha taunted with a wave before Dallas was shoved into the back of a police car.
"Thanks again for the call." The Sheriff said, shaking Wilbur's hand.
"Any time." Wilbur answered with a smile.
And with that, the van and the police car drove off, leaving the citizens of Whoville all alone once again.
"Talk about your big finish." Wilbur commented with a chuckle.
"Well, that was certainly a… very interesting party." Martha said before turning to her husband. "And one more thing…" She punched the Grinch in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his sore arm.
"For scaring me and not telling me about your plan!" Martha said sternly. "Why didn't you say something about this to me sooner?" She put her hands on her hips.
"I wanted your reaction to be genuine." The Grinch said, placing his hands up in defense.
"Well… just let me in on the plan next time, okay?" Martha said, knowing she can't stay mad at him forever.
"Sure thing." Grinch replied with a chuckle.
"Hey, Mister Wilbur?" Euchariah walked up to Wilbur. "I just wanted to say sorry about earlier. Midas and Oslo are sorry, too." He showed the two mice to him.
"And so are we. We shouldn't have judged you or jumped to conclusions." Cindy-Lou added.
"We're sorry." Axl, Ozzy, Groopert, and Izzy chimed in sheepishly.
"Eh, it's okay, kids. I know you were only trying to help your friend, and I can appreciate that. And honestly, I'm sorry too. But don't worry, no hard feelings." Wilbur said, kneeling down to the children's height and shaking Euchariah's hand.
"Thank you, sir." The boy said shyly.
The Grinch then turned to Wilbur as he stood up. "Oh, Wilbur? I just want to say… thank you for all your help."
"No problem, Grinch." Wilbur replied.
"But… why did you help out like that, Mister Wilbur?" Cindy asked.
"I've always been something of a family oriented guy. No one, and I repeat NO ONE, hurts my family. And right now, I'm proud to say that Grinch is family." He turned to Grinch and Martha with a smile. "Besides, all of Whoville thinks you two coming together was the greatest thing since they put the ginger in gingerbread. Plus, I haven't had this much fun since the time I helped freak out some of the tenants at the Haunted Motel attraction in Who York a few Halloweens back. Bada-bing, bada-boom."
Cindy and her friends giggled.
"Well thank you, Uncle, for everything." Martha said with a smile.
"Of course, Mayflower. I'd do anything for you." They shared a hug. "And Grinch? Take good care of her."
"You got it." Grinch smirked as Martha and Wilbur parted.
"Oh! And another thing before I forget, Grinch, I'm really sorry your first Grinch Night Ball didn't go as planned." Wilbur added.
"Are you kidding me?! This was the best Grinch Night EVER!" Grinch cheered.
"It was?" Euchariah asked.
"Absolutely! Man, what a rush! I already have so many more plans, tricks, and ideas in store for next time!" Grinch started before he turned to Martha and smiled. "But right now, I have something a lot more important in mind." He pulled her closer to him and put a hand on her stomach.
She smiled at him before they shared a kiss; everyone clapped their hands and cheered.
0-0-0-0-0-0
It was the night of Christmas Day; gifts were unwrapped, dinner was had, and kisses were exchanged. Now, it was time for bed. Martha was now about four or five months pregnant and it was starting to show; she and her husband are beyond excited to meet their baby when it finally arrives. They walked up the stairs to the bedroom with Max following close behind.
"What a great Christmas." Martha said as she made her way to her side of the bed; she was wearing a green and white floor length nightgown and she wore her hair in braids.
"I know. And just wait until next year. That'll be our first Christmas with our baby." Grinch said, adjusting his pine green robe. "And I'm sure the kids will love him."
"Or her."
Grinch chuckled. "Well, whatever the baby's going to be, I bet everyone in town is going to love it."
"Absolutely. You know, it was super sweet of Uncle Wilbur to give each of the kids a high-five before dinner."
"Yeah. And what about him and your dad?"
"I'm just so glad they finally talked things over; they haven't spoken to each other in years before tonight. I'm so happy that they're acting friends again."
"Me, too. And as weird as it sounds, I think your uncle is really starting to grow on me."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that."
They sat down in bed side by side and shared a quick kiss. They parted and Grinch scooted down a little and positioned his head closer to Martha's rounded belly. Martha smiled as she watched him rest his cheek on her abdomen.
"Do you have to do this all the time?" She asked with a giggle.
"I'm sorry, I can't help it. I just want to be as close to the baby as possible right now." He replied, rubbing her belly with one hand.
"I understand." Martha said before getting an idea. "Have you ever tried talking to the baby?"
Grinch lifted his head up to look at his wife. "Talk to it?"
"Why not? I heard people do it all the time."
Grinch paused and thought about it for a moment, then he smiled. "Okay. What've I got to lose?" He laid back down, repositioning himself next to Martha's stomach once again. He started talking to the belly. "Hey there. It's daddy. Can you hear me in there?" He could hear a faint heartbeat within. "Your mommy and I are super excited to meet you."
But then, the Grinch thought he felt something bump underneath his cheek. He looked at Martha's stomach, then up at Martha who had a surprised expression on her face. They stared at each other in disbelief; they were sure it was a kick they felt.
"You felt that, too?" She asked, placing her hand on her stomach.
He nodded, then asked, "It's kicking? Already?"
"I guess so." Martha said with a chuckle; then she noticed Grinch's eager expression. She smirked and nodded at him.
Grinning excitedly, the Grinch got himself back to his spot, but this time he had his hands holding her tummy. A few tears of joy had started falling from his eyes as he felt the baby continue to move and shift within his wife. Martha beamed at her husband's adorable behavior; she started stroking his head with her hand.
"I love you so much." She said.
Grinch stopped what he was doing and looked at her with a loving smile. "I love you, too."
They leaned in and shared another kiss, but then after he kissed Martha, the Grinch gave her belly a quick kiss, since he knew it was the closest he could do into giving their baby a kiss, too. He made his way under the covers beside his wife and placed a protective hand on her stomach before Max jumped up onto the bed and curled up on the bed at their feet. They laid down, Martha turned off the lights, and they all drifted to sleep.