A brief note: The below story is the first sequel I have written, a short continuation of my 2012 fanfic Beyond DNA. While you will likely be able to understand much of this sequel without having read the original, you will enjoy it the most if you are familiar with Beyond DNA.

December 6, 2022
2:35 a.m.

Marlene was speechless. Ever since their marriage began, she had always wanted to adopt a child with Skipper, but he had always told her that he wasn't cut out to be a parent. He didn't have the right temperament, his work was too dangerous, he just wasn't cuddly enough. But here he was with an adorable little penguin chick resting peacefully in his flipper.

Marlene's eyes filled with tears. "She's beautiful, Skipper."

Skipper set down the flashlight he was holding and began to pet the chick gently on the head. "Her name is MaryRose Elizabeth Fidelis, and she's given me the best promotion I've ever received. I'm not just Captain Skipper anymore—I'm Daddy." Carefully he lifted her with both flippers and held her out to Marlene. "Would you like to hold her?"

Marlene held her paws out and took MaryRose from Skipper gently so she wouldn't wake up. She held the sleeping chick against her chest and slowly stroked her soft down. "Hi, sweetie," she whispered before looking back to Skipper. "How old is she?"

"She just turned a month old on Friday. The boys and I had a party for her."

"So young. How did you get her?"

Skipper thought for a moment. "She's my daughter."

Marlene smiled. "It's nice that you feel that close to her."

Skipper moved a little closer to Marlene and then placed a flipper on her shoulder. "No, I mean she's really my daughter. Technically in all ways but one, but I don't think about it that way. I've been with her nearly every moment of her life since the afternoon of the day her egg was laid."

Marlene looked at MaryRose for a moment and then back to her husband. "I don't understand, Skipper."

"It's a little bit complicated. Could you cover MaryRose's earholes, please?"

Marlene moved MaryRose down an inch and then covered the chick's earholes with her paws.

"First," Skipper began, "don't think for a moment that I got with any chinstrap sisters while you were gone. I will always be faithful to you—Fidelis is our last name, after all. But what did happen is that the Maryland Zoo wanted to conduct a mother-child penguin study and decided to use one of us to father the child by artificial means. MaryRose was never supposed to know her father, but when her mother died after laying her egg, her egg was brought here to be cared for by the only parent she still had—me. Although fatherhood came as a shock, I instantly loved the life I had created; I felt that being a parent was my most important mission ever." He paused for a moment and shut his eyes. "I was heartbroken Sunday when I learned that I had been given MaryRose's egg by mistake and that Private is really MaryRose's biological father, but Private knew that I was still her father in everything but DNA, and he wanted me to keep her." He paused again to dry a few tears away with a flipper. "So MaryRose is my daughter, and I don't think about it any other way."

Marlene took a paw off MaryRose for a moment to dry her own eyes. "Oh, Skipper, that's so sad."

Skipper shook his head. "If Alice were a more competent zookeeper, I would never have discovered that it takes only a heart and a gut to be a good parent. It may not be fair to Private to say this, but I'm glad it happened." He smiled and then placed a flipper on the back of Marlene's neck. "I'm also glad to have you back right now. While your mission in Europe prevented you from being here from the start, MaryRose is still young and impressionable. That's why I limit her time around Ring-tail, but having a good mother figure in her life now will have a positive effect on her."

"Does she know about me?"

Skipper shook his head again. "She asked me what a mother is only a few days ago, and I had to tell her that hers died before she hatched. It wasn't the time to go into explaining that I have an otter for a wife. Uh ... no offense."

"None taken. We are kind of an unusual pair." Marlene paused for a moment. "Do you think she'll like me?"

Skipper looked at MaryRose and saw that her flippers were now hugging Marlene's chest. "I think you've got your answer right there, Marlene."

— § —

Although Skipper told her that she could hold MaryRose for the rest of the night, Marlene handed the sleeping chick back to her father after a little while. She was happy that MaryRose seemed to be taking a liking to her—or at least to the feel of her fur and the warmth of her body—but she didn't want to confuse the child if she suddenly awoke embraced by paws instead of flippers. She and Skipper then talked about how she and MaryRose should officially meet, and they decided that Skipper would take her to Marlene's cave in the morning for a special introduction.

Marlene stayed the rest of the night on her cot beside Skipper, though. She had been away from him too long already. After talking for a little while more, the two decided that they should get some sleep for the big morning. As Skipper shut his eyes, Marlene set her mental clock for just before sunrise so that she would be the first in the HQ to wake up, which would give her enough time to tiptoe to her habitat and be ready. She then cuddled up with Skipper and fell asleep.

When the sun came out to greet the city at 7:06 a.m., however, Marlene's eyes were still shut. Her mental clock had been thrown off by her sudden change in time zone, so the title of first awake went to Kowalski a little later in the morning. After stretching his flippers, the acting commander hopped out of his bunk to call the others.

"Aaahh!"

Kowalski was equally surprised to find Marlene in his landing spot. "Whoa! Marlene!" He quickly rolled off her and onto the floor. Fortunately, their exclamations did not startle MaryRose or trigger the others' commando reflexes.

Marlene rolled onto her side. "Hey, Kowalski." She held out a paw to help him up.

"Thanks," he said. He took it and pulled himself up. "Sorry about that. You were gone for so long that I just presumed the space in front of Skipper's bunk would be clear." He paused for a moment. "So, how was Europe?"

Marlene chuckled as she sat up. "Tell me, are there any Scandinavian countries that you can't set foot in, or is it just a Fidelis family thing?"

"None that I know of."

"Well, the mission was successful—that's the important thing. But apparently I can't set foot in Norway, which led to a setback and a lot of lost time. It's complicated. Skipper may be ambivalent about the Norwegians, but I'm certainly not."

"Wow. Marlene Fidelis: wanted dead or alive. Who would have thought?"

"I know, right? But that's what the posters around Oslo said. That and 'Reward: 200,000 kroner.'"

"Unbelievable. I'm glad you're safe."

"Thanks." She looked at Skipper and MaryRose for a moment and then stood up. "Well, I'm sure you have questions, but I should probably get going. Skipper's given me a new mission already, and he's going to bring her to my cave soon."

Kowalski smiled. "Skipper knew you'd be happy. Congratulations, Marlene."

Marlene smiled back. "Thanks, Kowalski." She gave him a friendly hug and then left the HQ.

A few moments later, Kowalski moved Marlene's cot out of the way so no one else would accidentally land on it. He then waddled over to a shelf and picked up a silver trumpet. After pressing his beak against the mouthpiece, he began to play "Reveille." He was no Louis Armstrong, but he wasn't half bad.

The sound of the traditional wake up call woke up Skipper and the others like it had most of the past few mornings, but Skipper kept his eyes shut as if he were still asleep and waited. Moments later, MaryRose wiggled out from underneath her father's flippers and lightly touched the side of his face. "Time to get up, Daddy."

A smile came to Skipper's face a few seconds before he opened his eyes. There was nothing like having his little girl wake him up. "Good morning, MaryRose. Thanks for letting me know."

After Kowalski set the trumpet back on the shelf, Skipper motioned for him to come over to his bunk. After Kowalski waddled over, Skipper whispered something in his earhole. "Yes," Kowalski whispered back, "I already know she's back. I ran into her a few minutes ago. Well, landed on her." Skipper told him his plans for the morning, and Kowalski thought they were good. "Remember to turn off my robotic otter while you're there," Kowalski added. When they were done talking, Kowalski left the bunks to get ready for the day.

A few minutes later, the five penguins were all on their feet. Rico and Private were also on their flippers doing push-ups as Kowalski instructed them. After watching them for a minute or so with MaryRose, Skipper picked her up. "Well, everything looks good here," he said. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"OK," she said.

Skipper told the others he and MaryRose were leaving and then carried her out of the HQ.

Once outside the habitat, Skipper set MaryRose down and began to walk with her. He decided to take the long way to Marlene's habitat by going around Pinky's exhibit first, which gave him a little time to tell MaryRose about whom she was about to meet. "MaryRose," he said after they had gotten a short distance away, "do you remember when I took you around the zoo two weeks ago and you got to meet all the animals?"

MaryRose nodded.

"Well, there's actually one animal left that you haven't met."

"Leonard?"

Skipper chuckled. "OK, make that two animals you are yet to meet. Leonard is awake only past bedtime, so it may be a while before you get to see him. He's also the least appreciative of all the hard work that your uncles and I have done over the years, but I won't go into that right now. The animal I was actually talking about is a special friend of mine. She was away on an important mission when you hatched, but she returned to the zoo during the night. Her name is Marlene, and she's an otter."

"What's an otter?"

Skipper smiled. "I knew you were going to ask that. Well, do you remember Becky and Stacy?"

"Uh-huh."

"Otters are part of the same mammal family as badgers, but they are not on an eternal sugar high."

"Huh?"

"What I mean is, otters are much calmer than badgers. They also like to swim more often, and Uncle Private isn't usually afraid of them."

"Uncle Private is afraid of badgers?"

Skipper nodded. "It's a long story. But he's controlling his fear much better today than he was back in 2010."

After a few more steps, Skipper and MaryRose were in front of Marlene's habitat. He was about to carry her over the wall when he had a different idea. "Come on," he said, "I want to show you the secret entrance."

A moment later, the two were in front of a nearby manhole. "Down here is what's known as the sewer," Skipper said as he pointed at the cover. "Home to sewage, a kingdom of unfriendly rats, and, at one time, our friend Roger. It also serves as a passageway to stealthily get from point A to point B." After telling MaryRose to stand back, Skipper removed the cover effortlessly. He then picked MaryRose up and entered the manhole.

Marlene was sitting on her bed looking toward the entrance to her cave when something metal crashed near her. "Aaahh!" She looked down at where the sound had come from and saw Skipper's head poking up from the drain in the floor. "Skipper, you know I have a—" She stopped. Not today. She had to admit she had actually missed the sound of Skipper's unconventional entrances. She smiled. "You just couldn't resist, could you?"

Skipper smirked. "What? It's important that MaryRose learn how the sewers can be used for clandestine operations. I'm not barging in—I'm educating."

After climbing out of the drain and putting the grate back in place, Skipper sat down next to Marlene on her bed. He held his daughter and looked into her eyes. "MaryRose, this is my special friend and the world's greatest mammal, Marlene. She's my favorite girl whose egg I didn't sit on. You can trust her just as much as you trust me."

Marlene held her paws out, and Skipper handed MaryRose to her. "Hi, MaryRose."

"Hi," she said.

Marlene gently placed the chick in the crook of her left arm. "It's nice to officially meet you. I actually saw you really early this morning, but you were still sound asleep. I didn't get to see then that you have very pretty eyes. Do you know whose they remind me of?"

"Daddy's?"

Marlene smiled. "That's right. Your daddy and I are very good friends, and he told me a lot about you. He told me that you turned a month old a few days ago. I bet you had a lot of fun that day."

"I did! I got presents and fish cake. I was very happy."

Marlene smiled again. "I'm glad you had such a great time. He also told me that you've been helping him and your uncles on some missions."

MaryRose nodded. "I love when I'm part of the team! Last night we took the strings off Ring-tail's guitar. Daddy says we usually store them for him."

Marlene chuckled. She thought it was so cute how MaryRose had picked up her father's nickname for Julien. "It's very nice that they like to include you. I was on a mission of my own recently. I was gone for a very long time, and I missed your daddy and your uncles and the zoo. I also missed the cotton candy. Do you like cotton candy?"

MaryRose thought for a moment. "Um …"

"She's never had cotton candy," Skipper said.

Marlene turned to Skipper and pretended to be shocked. "Skipper! You've never let MaryRose have cotton candy?" She looked back to MaryRose. "Well, we'll just have to go get some now, won't we? Cotton candy is a wonderful treat. There's a cart that sells it year round in the park just outside the zoo. What do you say, MaryRose? How about the three of us go on a little cotton candy mission together?"

MaryRose's face lit up at the proposal of a mission. She turned to her father. "Can we, Daddy?"

Skipper smiled. "Of course we can. Commence Operation: Fluffy Pink Sugar."

A few minutes later, Skipper, Marlene, and MaryRose left the zoo for the park. To get there a little bit faster, Skipper carried MaryRose since her steps were still much shorter than his and Marlene's. When they were just a short distance from the cotton candy cart, Skipper saw that the vendor was on duty. "Well, MaryRose," he said, "it looks like Mr. Cotton Candy is going to have to go nighty-night for a short time, just like that snow cone vendor yesterday. I'll be back in a moment."

"Can I help?" MaryRose asked.

Skipper shook his head. "Sorry, sweetie. Knocking out the humans is an adults-only job. You stay here with Marlene." He handed MaryRose to his wife and then headed for the cart.

A chop of a flipper and the sound of a falling man later, Skipper motioned for Marlene and MaryRose to come over. "OK," he said once they were in front of him, "here's the plan. Marlene, you and MaryRose climb onto the cart and get the cotton candy. I'll lift you up and then keep watch."

"Got it," Marlene said. She raised her right leg and Skipper lifted her up until she could climb onto his shoulders and then onto the cart.

There was no cotton candy already bagged or spun onto paper cones on the cart's shelf, but there was plenty of sugary sweetness inside the cotton candy maker itself. After touching the side of the bowl with a paw to make sure it wasn't too hot, Marlene grabbed a cone and then jumped into the fluff with MaryRose in her arms. Once inside, she set MaryRose down and then held the cone in front of her. "Here, MaryRose. Hold on to the cone and help me roll it to get a whole bunch of cotton candy to stick to it."

MaryRose wrapped her little flippers around the narrow end of the cone and began to turn it with Marlene's help. "Like this?" she asked.

Marlene nodded. "Exactly. You're doing great."

MaryRose smiled. "This smells yummy. I can't wait to try it." The sweet treat at the wide end of the cone kept getting bigger and bigger.

About two minutes later, Marlene held the cotton candy in her right paw as she climbed down onto Skipper's shoulders. After helping her down to the ground, Skipper noticed that something was missing. "Hey, Marlene, where's MaryRose?"

MaryRose giggled as she popped out of the pink fluff on the cone. "Hi, Daddy!"

Skipper laughed. "Good thing you popped out, MaryRose. I'd hate to have accidentally eaten you." He pulled MaryRose out of the cotton candy and then ate the small wad that had stuck to her head.

Marlene smiled and then held the cotton candy out for the chick in her husband's flippers. "Here you go, MaryRose. Tell me what you think."

MaryRose pulled some off with her beak. "Mmm! It's good!"

"I knew you'd like it," Marlene said. "I don't know anyone who doesn't like cotton candy." She took a bite and then held the pastel cloud out for MaryRose again.

After MaryRose had a few more bites, Skipper took the confection from Marlene and had a few bites of his own. Marlene had a mouthful after him and then MaryRose had some more. Soon, the fluff was half its original size, then a quarter, then an eighth. MaryRose had the last bite and then Skipper took the paper cone from Marlene.

"Well, that was good," he said. He tossed the cone into a garbage can a few feet away. "I think we all worked really well together on this mission. What do you think, Marlene?"

Marlene nodded. "We were a great team." She patted MaryRose on the head. "You were an excellent cotton candy spinner, MaryRose. I couldn't have done it without you."

MaryRose smiled. "Thanks for showing me how!"

"You're very welcome, sweetheart." She was about to give her another pat but MaryRose reached out and hugged Marlene's paw instead. Without a word, Marlene took MaryRose from Skipper's flippers and hugged her.

After a minute, Skipper placed his flippers around Marlene. "I think you've made a friend," he whispered.

"I think I've made a daughter," she said. "I think you can tell her now."

Skipper nodded. "Head back to your habitat. MaryRose and I will be a few minutes behind you."

Skipper let go of her, and Marlene looked down at the beautiful little girl in her arms. "MaryRose," she said, "I'm so glad I got to meet you this morning. I'm going to give you back to your daddy right now, but we'll see each other again soon." She smiled and then handed MaryRose to Skipper.

MaryRose smiled back. "It was nice to meet you too!" She gave Marlene a wave as the otter began to walk back to the zoo.

"So," Skipper said, "what do you think of Marlene?"

"She's very nice and very fun."

"Do you think she likes you?"

MaryRose nodded. "I like her too!"

Skipper smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. Do you remember how I said Marlene is my 'special friend'?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, there's a special reason why I called her that. Marlene and I have known each other for a very long time, and through many years of adventures, misadventures, and games of chess, we have become very close friends. So close that a few years ago we decided that just being friends wasn't enough for us anymore. So she's now an important part of my family. She's my wife."

"What's a wife?"

"Well, when two adult animals love each other very much—at least in a civilized zoo like ours where animals can talk and understand the most complicated emotions—they do something called get married. This is a special way of saying, among other things, that they will always love each other and that they want to spend their lives together. The boy who gets married is called a husband, and the girl he marries is his wife."

MaryRose seemed to understand the concept, at least as much as a one-month-old could.

Skipper held his daughter close. "Sweetie, Marlene and I are in each other's hearts very deeply, but you touched her in a way that only you can. She loves you, and she would love to be a part of your life. Would you like to be a part of hers?"

MaryRose smiled. "I'd love to."

When writing the ending to Beyond DNA, I decided not to include Marlene's reaction to MaryRose and instead to leave readers with the feeling that Skipper, Marlene, and MaryRose would become a family and that MaryRose would now get to have a mother figure in her life. But when I began to think seriously about options for a sequel, I knew early on that I wanted to continue from where I left off—quite literally. While my sequel was short and the Fidelis family's future beyond December 6, 2022, remains unwritten, I hope that when MaryRose smiled at the end that you smiled with her.

[Story edited July 10, 2015.]