There he was again, another year had rolled by and another Christmas morning was greeting him. The whole house was decorated with Christmas cheer but for once he was truly not bothered with it. Now he knew his family was not as materialistic as the rest of the Whos in Whoville, so he could accept the decoration without grunting about it.

A soft movement in his bed made him turn slightly to look at his side. Martha May was resting besides him, her rosebud lips slightly parted, her long eyelashes resting on her cheeks and moving slightly with the movement of her eyes. He couldn’t have felt more blessed. His life had drastically changed in the past two years, particularly in the last one. They didn’t live at the lair anymore although they constantly staid over. He had battled, and barely survived, through Martha’s pregnancy hormones though he had just adored the physical changes she had gone through. Thousands other little things had changed, but quite frankly although he had whined through them all he couldn’t be happier.

A soft cry was suddenly heard through the walls of their bedroom. The Grinch froze and closed his eyes as if by pretending he was sleeping the cry would stop. He felt a bigger movement at his side as Martha rolled over and cuddled to his side. Her hand instantly threaded through the green hairs of his chest and settled there. Her face moved against his chest and buried itself into his neck. She moaned softly, the air escaping through her nose as she released it. “Your turn.” She moaned out without moving anymore.

“Is it?” He asked then cringed as he realized he had blown his cover.

Martha May giggle and placed a leg over his hip. “Yes it is.” She answered and finally opened her eyes. She was greeted with the green of his body and she couldn’t help but smile. She stretched a little and looked upward to try and look at his eyes. “I can do it Grinch.”

“No! It’s my turn, I will go.” He declared but he didn’t’ move at all. He was comfortably laying with his Martha at his side.

“Oh Grinch.” She said, the laugh she was trying to hide still heard in her voice. “Stay here, I will go.” And before he had a response she was already out of the bed and getting into her robe. He adored to see her in that robe almost as much as he adored to see her out of it. She always looked like a Christmas angel when she wore it and it amazed him how beautiful she still looked years after his crush had developed. He didn’t know whether it was the impact of waking up by her side or not but he simply adored that robe.

Soon her footsteps were out of ear reach and he couldn’t’ help but let out a sigh. He thumped his fingers against his chest and looked around. Steps were heard but he knew it was not Martha but Max. “Christmas again old boy.” He told him without turning to look. “Drama ensured.”

Max whined in response before shaking his head.

“What do you mean I cause the drama, of course I don’t!” He said quickly turning to look at him and frowning. “And don’t you dare shake your head at him, I’m right!”

Max shook it again then went down and lay on the floor, his paws covering his eyes.

“What are you talking about Max! You were there, you know damn right what is the truth.” He exclaimed before pouting childlessly and covering himself with the sheets.

Silence followed until the Grinch felt the sheets covering him slide down his body. He quickly caught hold of them. He was not about to let the Martha May scented sheets get in the paws of the bag of fleas also called Max. “No Max!” He grunted as he pulled harder which only resulted in Max pulling more.

A tearing sound finally made the Grinch let go. “That was not me.” He said quickly as he hugged Martha’s pillow. Max whined as he too let go of the torn sheets. “Of course it was you, and now you are going to get it when my Martha baby sees it.”

Max barked and whined as if telling him it was also his fault.

“No.”

Whine.

“No.”

Whine.

“No!”

Whine.

“No!” The Grinch’s voice boomed through the wall completely covering the now soft cries of the next door’s inhabitant.

An even louder whine with a hard bark was heard as a response.

“I said no!” he replied. “And who is she going to believe? A bag of fleas? Or the Grinch she loves?”

Upon hearing that Max gave up and left the room without a single bark. The Grinch grunted and rolled his green eyes. When he did not hear Max come back he finally looked at the door. “Great! He’ll be all sadly and Martha will have my neck.”

He got up, stretched then slouched forward as he tiredly made his way to a nearby bathroom. Once done he flushed quickly, put the seat down as Martha had spent months training him, and exited the room. He quickly stopped and looked at his hands before rushing back to the bathroom to wash them. He hated it but Martha had made it clear he had to do it before going anywhere near the source of the cries. Once done he ran out of the room and threw himself at the bed.

He had not seen Martha by the door so he couldn’t’ stop her from seeing his bed launch. “Grinch!” she quickly called out but although her voice was stern it was not loud.

“Sorry.” He replied in a sing song voice as he looked at her with a ‘sorry’ expression.

She shook her head and gave him a smile. She made her way towards him and once more he was mesmerized by the image she presented. She was perfect in his eyes, and everyone else’s, from the hair in her head to each toe in her feet. Her eyes were brightened, a little more than usual, and he noticed that her lips were showcasing a real smile. His eyes left her face and traveled down the ringlets of hair to her shoulders and finally to her arms; both carrying a five month old baby Who.

The Grinch’s expression was indescribable and Martha just adored it. His eyes would widen and his smirk would disappear to be replaced by a genuine smile. She could see his hands twitching wanting to hold one of his babies. Who would have thought the Grinch would love to hold his children? “What did you do to Max?” she asked as she slowly sat on the bed. “I saw him leave rather sad.”

“He tore your sheets.” He said pointing at the offensive sheets. “I told him what would happen because of it.”

Martha stared at him, her eyes narrowing as she judged whether or not he was telling the truth. “I don’t believe it was just him.” She said. “Be sure to say sorry to him.”

“Yes, I will say sorry to the bag of fleas.” He said as he reached for his daughter. Just like her mother the tiny baby girl looked like a delicate doll. Her light brown hair was placed into two tiny ponytails with a tiny present in each. Apart from the amount of hair on top of her head there was almost no sign of the Grinch in her. That is until she opened her eyes then you could see her father as gorgeous green eyes stared back at him. His son, who remained in Martha’s arms, looked a little more like him. Although he wasn’t completely green if the light caught him just right the hair on his body appeared with a tint of green. His eyes, however, were like Martha’s.

His daughter wiggled in his arms. “Yes, I know you just want to be mischievous today!” He told her as he brought her closer to his face. The baby girl instantly caught hold of his hair and pulled. “Hey! We have to ask your mother before wrecking havoc!”

Martha giggled as she looked at them before turning to look at her son. In her arms the boy simply looked around, his tears having been brushed carefully away minutes ago. His eyes made contact with his mothers and Martha’s heart fluttered. Her son was very close to her, and just like her, he adored Christmas and would spend minutes if not hours staring all the decorations.

The Grinch was plotting with his daughter who giggled at each and everyone of his words. “What are you two talking about?” Martha asked as she expertly moved to his side on the bed without moving her son too much.

“We are going to cause trouble at the Whomall.” The Grinch declared proudly. “After that we will change the tags of a couple of gifts in a couple of streets and we will finish the day by changing the sitting order of the Who Christmas Dinner.” The baby girl giggled in agreement.

Martha shook her head as she smiled at them. “What will I do with you two?” she asked rhetorically.

“Love us?” The Grinch asked her as he turned his daughter around and placed his face besides her body.

Martha smiled and leaned forward to kiss his lips.

Throughout the day Martha did as she always did during Christmas day. First she got ready in her year’s best winder clothes and then left her home. Then she went around giving gifts to her loved ones. Afterwards she went back home to get ready for the dinner. This time, however, she accommodated getting her children ready and leaving her baby daughter with her Grinch while she took her son. The trip took her almost double since many Whos just stopped her every time they could to coed over her son.

When she finally made it home she had already heard about her Grinch, her daughter, and Max’s adventures. Apparently they had ripped most of the price tags off the Christmas gifts in half of the Whomall. In the other half the Grinch had undoubtly coaxed his daughter into loud cries. She knew her daughter had complied because they had reported to her that the cries were followed by tiny laughs. She had also heard about the confusion with gifts as she and her boy delivered gifts. Whotoys were given to Whoelders while boring Whoclothes were given to the whokids. She didn’t need for the Whos to tell her who had been behind it, she knew very well.

“Grinch!” she called out after she placed her son in his crib. She knew he was there because she could hear his laugh along their daughters. She made it to the ‘mini lair’ or the room he had called his. There he was playing with his daughter as he recounted their adventures.

“And di you see when that young Who balled over his Christmas gift; a sweater?” He asked her.

“I hope you two had fun.” Martha finally interrupted them. “I’ve heard about your adventures.”

“We have no idea what you mean.” The Grinch said adopting a passive expression even his daughter reflected.

Martha shook her head and went towards them. She picked up her daughter and kissed her nose. “Oh Grinch, I hope you have those Christmas presents ready” She said referring to the gifts she had made him buy and wrap in preparation for the many ‘sorry’s he was going to give. “I hope we bought enough to cover you two.”

Her baby wiggled and giggled. “It was purely recreational.” The Grinch quickly insisted. “I showed your daughter how material gifts are not important.”

“I hope she did learn that while you two had fun.” Martha whispered as she started to rock her baby as she walked to the nursery. She laid her down and noticed that she had no sooner put her down that the baby had fallen asleep. The poor was exhausted. She turned to look at him and smiled. “Never change.” She whispered as she moved to embrace him.

He quickly put his arms around her and held her tightly. “I never will, Martha baby.” He said as he gently caressed her arm.

Martha breathed in her scent and sighed. His scent always calmed her but she couldn’t help but wonder. “Grinch? Just how many name changes did you do?”

“Me?” He asked with a smirk. “None, it was all Max and your daughter.”

Martha laughed out loud, her rich laugh making his heart elevate. Who could say what would happen at the Whoville Christmas dinner? Whatever happened she was sure she would enjoy it, and she was sure that her Grinch would blame it on Max or his daughter.

THE END