Sweltering

It was the last days of spring in Glurfsburg. For the Grinch, the warmer weather made him feel like he was being cooked alive.

"Don't worry about it, babe. It'll grow on you", Pam tried to assure him.

"Oh, I hope so."

Pam came over to him and threw her arms around him, nuzzling into his chest. "Trust me. Days can be tough, but I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Pam."

Luckily, their house was air-conditioned. But in the meantime, the two of them were looking for jobs since Pam knew her spy salary wouldn't sustain them forever.

One day when simply just trying to walk to the kitchen, Pam suddenly felt like a lizard under a heating lamp. It was as if she was walking on marbles. Sweat began pouring down her forehead. Her heart began racing.

She must've looked odd because Grinch yelled "Pam! What's wrong?!" But she couldn't answer. Instead she fell to the ground.

——

When Pam woke up, she found herself in a hospital bed.

"Pam! Thank goodness you're okay!"

She turned and saw Grinch sitting next to her on a stool and smiled.

"I'm okay, Grinchy", she said softly.

Sam, Gluntz and Molly came in.

"Mom! Are you okay?", Sam asked.

"Think so." She then noticed Molly in her mother's arms. "Come to Grandma, Molly!"

Molly made a small shriek and began wriggling in Gluntz's arms. She was let onto the bed and crawled over to Pam and plopped down onto her chest.

"What happened, Mom?", Sam asked.

"Not a hundred percent sure, but..." She paused, then looked down at her granddaughter. "Maybe she shouldn't hear this."

Molly smiled at Pam, not entirely understanding what she meant.

Then Gerald and Lianna came in with a vase of flowers.

"Hey, Pam", Lianna greeted. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty good, Lee. And hi to you and Gerald." Thinking for a second, she then requests Sam, Gerald and Gluntz, "Could you take Molly out of the room? I wanna tell Grinch and Lee what happened."

"Okay then." Sam picks up Molly and takes her out of the room, followed by Gluntz and Gerald.

Pulling up a stool, Lianna sits by Pam's gurney right by Grinch.

Holding Pam's hand, Grinch says "Okay, hon. Tell us" calmly.

She began with, "I was just trying to walk to the kitchen and then suddenly it got really warm. I don't know how it started, but it was immobilizing; like I was heating up from the inside."

"That's when I saw her collapse", Grinch told Lianna.

"Oh, Pam", Lianna sympathized. "I'm sorry. I actually went through something similar to that a few years ago and a couple times since then."

"Really?!"

"Mm-hm. Doctor told me I'm in..." She looked at Grinch and then got up and whispered in Pam's ear.

Pam gasped. "No! No, no, no, no!" She rolled over on her side away from the other two.

Sam opened the door. "What's going on? Mom, are you okay?"

She didn't answer. Just cried.

——

Later that evening, after being discharged from the hospital, Pam wept silently on her side of the bed. Grinch put his arm around her and held her back to his chest.

"I...", Pam grunted. "It's just that...I'd always hoped that...I would have a third one, but... I never loved anyone else until I met you!" And she resumed crying.

Grinch linked his hand with hers. "It's okay, Pam. It's not the end of the world."

"I wanted to bring up the idea to you. Thought I still had a few...more in me, but I guess not."

"That doesn't matter, Pam. I still love you no matter what."

She turns around. "I do too." And she kisses him. In the moment, the two of them ran their fingers through the other's hair. Pam's in particular temporarily unfurled itself into flowing locks whenever Grinch ran his fingers through it, and then curled back up again.

Grinch probably didn't have to ask, but he did so to bring his own thought process to closure: "You really wanted to have a baby with me?"

"Mm-hm. You've been so good with Molly and Terry, I had a feeling. But I'm not gonna let this whole debacle define our relationship going forward. As long as we have each other, that's all we need." She kisses him again.

"Ah, but get this!"

"What?"

"What do you think about adopting a baby?"

"Adoption?"

"Yeah! I'd been onboard with having a baby too. I've actually been exploring other options in doing so. However, I didn't want to bring it up to you unless I knew for sure that it was something you wanted."

Pam smiled. "You know me so well, Grinchy!"

"It's a talent of mine", he remarks. "So do you want to consider an adoption?"

With this new option, Pam took some time to think before saying anything. Melanie spent her entire childhood from the age of five in a foster home. She was forced to leave Sam at an orphanage to protect him. And now, her third child was about to have a similar background. If the universe wasn't on her side, she would've seen this as cruel. However, given the fact that both Sam and Melanie found their ways back into her life, then adopting a baby would be perfect.

Then she finally said, "Let's try running it by Sam and Mellie tomorrow and see what they think."

——

The next morning, Sam and Melanie came over to the house. They respectively had Molly and Terry with them since both Gluntz and Jack were working at the moment. Both little ones were happy to see their grandparents.

"What's going on, Mom?", Melanie asked.

"Well, Mellie and Sam, Grinch and I needed to ask you two something", Pam began.

"Ooh! What is it?", Sam queried excitedly.

"What do you two think about having a little brother or sister?"

Sam gasped dramatically. Molly laughed at her father's hammy nature. "Really? Mom, are you—?!"

"Are you?", Melanie questioned too.

Pam laughs. "Oh, no. I'm not pregnant."

"The deal is your mom and I were talking about adopting a baby and we wanted to see what you two thought about it", Grinch summarized. "So, what do you think?"

It seemed like a stupid question, but Sam and Melanie didn't give stupid answers.

"Yes!", Sam exclaimed. "Go adopt yourselves a baby!"

"Ditto", Melanie added with an excited smile.

"Molly, Terry? Are you two excited about having a new aunt or uncle?", Pam asked her grandchildren.

Molly couldn't answer, but she did crack a smile. Terry babbled semi-incoherently; semi since he still sounded thrilled.

The family hugged.