"All right, boys, preparing this HQ for the coming pitter-patter of little webbed feet starts right now," Skipper said once the penguins were back at the base. "We have exactly"—he turned to Kowalski—"well, Kowalski, just how long do we have until my egg hatches?"

"The offspring of our unique species of Spheniscidae typically hatch between thirty-five and thirty-nine days after the egg is laid. Your chick should be here within the first few days of November."

"Then we have just over a month to get things shipshape," Skipper continued. He then took a moment to look proudly at his unit before making a request of them. "Now, boys, unlike a certain former first lady, I don't think that it quite takes a village to raise a child. But it does take a family, and since you three are all like brothers to me, it would be an honor if you would be my chick's honorary uncles."

"Of course," Kowalski replied. "You didn't even have to ask."

"Happy to serve, Skipper," Private said with a smile.

Rico simply grunted affirmatively.

Skipper smiled. "Great to have you on board, boys—brothers. Now let's get to work." He then began to assign the expectant uncles various tasks to perform. "Kowalski, thinking time. Pull out your clipboard and jot down everything you know about penguin chicks and anything you don't know that needs to be researched. Rico, take an inventory of your explosives and weapons, and store anything that might spontaneously combust, explode, or discharge down in Level 12. Private, look around the HQ for things that need to be made childproof. Let me know how many electrical outlet covers we'll need, and think of a place to store all the screwdrivers, keys, and cutlery we usually just leave lying around on the floor." He gave his men a salute, and they waddled away to perform their duties.

As they did so, Skipper carried his egg to the table and then sat down to flip through the pages of a book of baby names, which Rico had given him from his bottomless digestive and storage tract during the walk back to the HQ. He began with the male section and then went on to the female pages.

After a while, Private waddled by while counting outlets. "Ooh, the baby name book! Find the right name yet, sir?"

Skipper made an indecisive gesture. "I'm trying to pick something that suits my chick, either a name from this book or an idea of my own, but it's a bit difficult since I can see my chick only as an egg right now. And 'Eggy' is already taken."

"Are you leaning toward anything at all right now?"

"Well, if it's a boy, I keep thinking Colt, Beretta, Remington, Glock, Smith, Wesson, or Ruger ... or Skipper Jr."

"And if it's a girl?"

"I ... haven't had as much luck with female options. But something will strike me eventually."

Private's eyes lit up a little. "Well, Skipper, I know the names of all the female Lunacorns, even the single-episode extras." He pulled the pen Skipper was holding in his flipper away from him. "Here, let me write them down for you. There are a few gems among them that I'm sure you'll love—Gem is even one of them."

Skipper quickly grabbed the pen back before Private could write a single letter. "Private, if you ever have children and wish to name them after froufrou space equines, I'll roll my eyes but it would be your right. But there's no way I'm naming my child Moon Unit or anything of the sort."

"I think I'll take that as a suggestion to go back to what I was doing." Private turned around. "Good luck, Skipper."

As Private waddled away to resume his duties, Kowalski exited his lab and approached Skipper with a question of his own. "Skipper, could I see your egg for just a moment?"

Almost instantly, Skipper shook his head. "Denied, Kowalski. Sorry, but being an honorary uncle limits you to things like pulling a quarter out of my chick's earhole and playing 'got your beak.' I won't allow you to experiment on my child before or after it hatches."

"That's not why I wanted to see it, Skipper. I merely wanted to take a quick measurement to make sure that my incubator design would work."

"Incubator?"

"To ensure optimal temperature and humidity conditions for your developing little one. I'm actually a bit surprised that our zoo overlords aren't already working on this themselves."

Skipper thought about the idea for a moment but again shook his head. "I appreciate your concern, but I think I'm going to incubate the old-fashioned way. I'll make a nest of some sort, and I'll keep the egg safe and warm myself. It just seems right."

Kowalski nodded. "I admire your commitment and dedication, Skipper. Your paternal instincts are truly to be envied."

"It's not just instinct, Kowalski. It's love." Skipper held his egg close. "You know, all my life I saw chicks as just things that other penguins had. Cute little things vital to the survival of the species but not something I had ever thought about having myself. But with this egg in my flippers, everything has changed. I may not have expected to become a parent, but my chick expected even less to become my child. So I couldn't care less about never expecting to have this duty; it is impossible for me not to love the life that I have created."

"Powerful words, sir. It's beautiful that you can take a role you never expected to have and embrace it to the fullest. I'm proud to know you and to serve alongside you." He gave his leader a pat on the back. After a few moments, he began on a different topic. "So, how do you think Marlene will react to your future little one?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, don't you think having a child might make things a bit awkward between you?"

"Given the circumstances, I know she will completely understand." He chuckled lightly. "Besides, this is Marlene we're talking about. If she wanted a normal, boring, humdrum life free from unexpected, far-out situations, she would never have married me."

Kowalski chuckled. "And she would never have volunteered for her first solo mission either, I suppose. Speaking of which, the robotic otter I built to cover for her isn't going to last forever and is completely useless should the vet ever want to examine her. It's been three months, sir. The mission wasn't supposed to take this long."

Skipper sighed. "I know. I'd be concerned but we trained her well. Whatever Blowhole Jr.'s European spies can throw at her I'm sure she can handle. But I do miss her."

Kowalski nodded and then continued to converse with Skipper for a few more minutes before returning to his lab.

— § —

As the hours passed, the three subordinate penguins helped Skipper wherever they were needed. Private, after completing his childproofing duties, made some smoothies and sat with Skipper, offering his leader various pieces of wisdom from his Uncle Nigel—or at least from the wisdom he thought his uncle had before learning that he was an undercover penguin agent who actually hated doilies. Rico provided Skipper with various regurgitated items that he used to build a nest on the floor. He also escorted Julien out of the HQ when the lemur came in and started to think yet again that any egg found within the zoo was logically the heir to his throne. And Kowalski scored big when he stumbled upon an old cassette of Danielle's Guide to Parenting: Baby Penguins that hadn't yet been recorded over with one of Skipper's personal logs, rock music, or Marlene's snoring like a lumberjack.

As night fell, Skipper and his teammates, though still excited about all that had happened that day, began to prepare for bed. Lights-out was soon after, and Kowalski, Rico, and Private climbed into their respective bunks for some shut-eye. Skipper's bunk, however, remained unoccupied; his place was now the nest he had built for his egg on the floor.

After several minutes of repeatedly assuring himself that his egg was in just the right position—safe, warm, protected against accidentally being crushed during the night—Skipper felt a warm sensation in his heart as he closed his eyes and peacefully fell asleep. At this same time, as if knowing it was loved, the tiny embryonic heart of Skipper's chick began its formation.

Following a calm night, the morning sun was at work early to light and heat the earth as usual. The penguins, however, were not their typical early bird selves. Skipper, still asleep with his egg in the nest, had not yet called the rest of his sleeping unit, so all were oblivious that morning had arrived.

Eventually, the sunlight that entered through the HQ's porthole window was enough to wake Kowalski, who then glanced at the clock to see how late it was. When he saw that it was almost 10:00 a.m., he quickly got out of his bunk and waddled over to his sleeping leader. Lightly, he tapped Skipper on the shoulder. "It's nearly ten o'clock, sir," he whispered. "You overslept and didn't call us. But since I'm the only one who knows, I'll help you cover this up so you don't have to feel embarrassed in front of Rico and Private."

"There's no need," Skipper said, speaking through a yawn. "I didn't oversleep; I never intended to get up at our usual time. But since we're both awake, I think now's a good time to brief you about a little change in how we operate."

"What kind of change?"

"Well, even though we're not officially employed, I have quite a bit of vacation time saved up, and I've finally decided to take a little time off."

Kowalski was shocked. "Time off? I guess the world really is going to end in five months."

"It didn't end in 2012, and it's not going to end in 2023 or in any future year purported by those with end-times paranoia. And I know a thing or two about paranoia. But I digress." He moved over a bit so Kowalski could see the egg beside him. "Tending to this egg and looking after my chick once it hatches just have to be my top priorities for the next few months. Higher priorities than leading our unit. So until the start of the new year, I'm putting you in charge of daily operations."

Kowalski was speechless for a few moments before responding with a salute. "I accept, sir. I won't let you down."

Skipper returned the salute. "I know you won't." He then gestured to the bunks, where Rico and Private were still sleeping. "Now go call your subordinates for morning exercises. Dismissed."

And so began an era of great change in the Penguin Unit. Skipper was still the leader in rank and title, but Kowalski was in charge of the day-to-day for the time being. It was Kowalski who now decided when to have the snow cone raids, the intel-gathering missions, and the sudden fits of paranoia. Skipper, meanwhile, remained inside the HQ nearly all the time, heading up to the concrete iceberg for only a quick bite of fish and the occasional waive to passersby as he tended to his egg and waited for the day that his chick would arrive.

— § —

On the morning of November 2, Skipper and Kowalski sat at the table playing a game of chess together, as they had done every morning for the past few weeks. It was Skipper's way of keeping sharp on strategy during his time away from actively leading his unit.

As he was about to capture one of Kowalski's bishops, Skipper paused for a moment when he heard a very faint and unfamiliar cracking sound coming from somewhere in the HQ. "What's that sound?" he said as he began to look about. "Private, what snack food are you trying to nibble on quietly without my knowing?"

"Nothing, sir," Private replied from across the room.

Skipper began to think he had just imagined the sound, so he looked back at the board and captured the bishop he had targeted.

But there it was again.

Skipper suddenly stood up and left the table. "Where are you going?" Kowalski asked.

"Instinct," was his only reply.

When Skipper reached where the feeling had led him, the mystery of the sound's origin was over. He smiled proudly for a few seconds before announcing his new job title. "Boys, I'm a father!" His teammates quickly gathered around him, and they all saw that a tiny hole had been chipped in the shell of Skipper's egg, with a beak poking from it every few seconds working to break free.

"Your chick has begun to pip, Skipper," Kowalski said. "It should be fully out of its shell within the next thirty-six to forty-eight hours."

Skipper laughed. "It may have taken you thirty-six to forty-eight hours to hatch since you were probably in there calculating where best to begin pecking and totaling the number of pecks per hour on your teeny-tiny abacus, but this chick is a Fidelis. He or she should be out in no time."

The new father was right for the most part. Although it did take a few hours, the team watched intently as new life slowly but surely made its way into the world. But after the chick was about three-fifths out, Skipper was too excited to continue just watching and waiting.

"Here, let Daddy help you out a little," he said as he bent down and carefully began to work the remainder of the eggshell off his chick. Within moments, his chick was completely outside of its egg. Skipper gently lifted the tiny hatchling into his flippers and kissed it. "Welcome to the world, MaryRose."

"Aww," Private and Rico said together.

"Congratulations, Skipper," Kowalski said as he patted Skipper on the back. "Though I do have to ask why you just suddenly gave your chick a girl's name. You know all too well that a penguin's sex cannot be determined without DNA analysis, especially when only seconds out of the egg."

Skipper smiled. "I'm her father, Kowalski. I can just tell."

Skipper held MaryRose close to his body with one flipper and, with his other, began to lightly brush away the little bits of egg material still stuck to her short, damp feathers. As he did so, she spread her tiny flippers and placed them on Skipper's chest. "I love you too," he said as tears came to his eyes. He then used his free flipper to softly stroke her back like MaryRose was the most innocent and most precious thing in the entire universe—to him, she was.

— § —

Skipper felt the proudest he had ever felt in his life. In the short time that he had been an official father, he had held MaryRose, rocked her in his flippers, whispered to her, sang to her, and allowed the others to hold her and Kowalski to weigh her. He enjoyed very much being lost in these beautiful moments, though he knew there were other parental responsibilities besides the cute and cuddly ones. One in particular was quite important, and he couldn't put it off much longer.

Spotting Rico now across the HQ, Skipper called over to him, "Hey, Rico, got a minute? I need a bit of advice."

Rico waddled over to see what his leader needed. "Yeah?"

"Well, Rico, the few times in my life that I've lost my lunch have been completely involuntary, but MaryRose needs to eat, and it's my responsibility to feed her. So I was hoping that as our resident vomit expert you might have a few pointers on regurgitation technique."

Rico nodded and then mumbled a string of gibberish that only those who knew him could understand.

"Really?" Skipper asked.

Rico mumbled his reply.

"Really?"

Rico continued.

"That much, huh?"

Rico mumbled some more.

"For real?"

Rico mumbled again.

"Wow," Skipper said. "I guess I really have my work cut out for me. Thanks for all the help and all the, um, descriptive detail."

"Yup," Rico grunted.

As Rico turned to leave, Skipper set MaryRose down on the floor by his feet. "For you, I'd do anything." He then bent down to her level and cleared his throat. "I'll admit it's no five-star establishment, but the Skipper Café is open for business. No lines, no rude waiters, no 15 percent gratuities; just us at a table for two. I recommend the herring—let's share a plate."

And so lunch was served.

— § —

As the day went on, word spread among the zoo animals that Skipper's chick had arrived. It was a particularly special occasion because, even though the zoo's population was made up of a diverse group of animals, the great majority were not native New Yorkers, having been born at other zoos or in the wild. By closing time, they were all eager to see their youngest fellow attraction, so they gathered outside the penguin habitat as soon as the gates were locked.

"Kowalski, who's out there?" Skipper called across the HQ after hearing some noise outside.

Kowalski waddled over to the periscope and looked through it. He chuckled. "Everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Everyone from Burt to Barry to that new guy whose species I'm still not sure of. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that they want to see your little one."

Skipper smiled. "Then I guess it's time for them to meet the next generation. Let's go, boys."

Skipper carried MaryRose carefully under one flipper as he and the others climbed the ladder up to the concrete iceberg. Once outside, the other three stood in a line behind Skipper as he held MaryRose in his flippers as high as he could for all to see and adore.

The gathering of animals reacted warmly to her debut. Burt trumpeted. The chimps jumped around as they screeched with approval. Others clapped their paws or stomped their feet, while Julien swung Mort around by the tail like a noise maker.

Maurice turned to Julien. "You know, this all seems like something I saw in a movie once."

Julien responded by humming the chorus of "Circle of Life."

After a minute or so, Skipper lowered MaryRose and began to address the gathering. "Ladies and gentlemen, mammals and lower mammals, thank you for being so welcoming to my daughter. MaryRose Elizabeth Fidelis hatched this morning at 11:52 a.m. and weighted 89.6 grams before her first feeding." MaryRose then wiggled a bit in Skipper's flippers. "And if my paternal instinct is correct, I think she's just about ready for another. I will assume that most of you are not interested in watching me regurgitate a small portion of partially digested herring, so I think I'll head back inside. Thanks again for coming out."

As the penguins turned around to return to the HQ, MaryRose turned herself around in Skipper's flippers and positioned herself to again face the crowd. As Skipper stopped to try to figure out what she was doing, MaryRose smiled and, with a small movement of her right flipper, waved goodbye to the gathering that had welcomed her.

"That's amazing, Skipper," Kowalski said. "She's never seen the 'smile and wave' routine, yet she's got it all figured out."

Skipper smiled. "What can I say? She's her father's daughter."