"I should have bit him! I should have bit him!"

"Relax, Skipper," Kowalski said the following morning as he, Rico, and Private tried to restrain their leader. "Because he just discovered that MaryRose had hatched, the vet just wants to examine her to make sure she is healthy."

Skipper kept trying in vain to pull away from his teammates. "But she is healthy! She doesn't need his twisted medicine when she's got me! I can only imagine what kinds of sick things he's doing to her right now. Needles might be involved."

"I doubt it, Skipper. But even if he does give MaryRose a shot, I'm 97.4 percent sure that he wouldn't derive any pleasure from poking a needle in her rear."

"Well, I'd sure derive some putting a needle in his! I swear the only reason that man is a vet is that he couldn't cut it as a dentist."

Kowalski shuddered at the very mention of such a practitioner.

Skipper finally stopped resisting his teammates' hold on him. "Uh, sorry, Kowalski. Let's say he couldn't cut it as an optometrist instead."

An hour or so later, the vet returned with MaryRose in his hands. "There you are, friend," he said as he set MaryRose down next to her father. "According to the tests I performed, you've got yourself a nice, healthy girl. But you probably already knew that, didn't you, fella?"

"You bet I knew that, and I didn't have to spend four years in veterinary school at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to tell you," Skipper replied as though the vet could understand him.

As the vet exited the habitat, Skipper lifted MaryRose into his flippers. "Are you OK, MaryRose? Did that man hurt you? Does Daddy need to take somebody out and make it look like an accident?" MaryRose just stared at him for a moment before making a small cheep. "Are you hungry? You're always hungry. But you'll have to wait until Alice comes by to feed us before I can feed you."

"Skipper," Private said, "I'll go get one of my Peanut Butter Winkies if you want to feed MaryRose now."

Skipper shook his head. "I don't want to load MaryRose up with sweets when she's not even a full day old. Thanks anyway, though."

Shortly after, Alice came by on her feeding rounds and tossed several fish toward the penguins' food dish, missing it completely with most of them but at least landing the fish somewhere on the iceberg. She then turned around to leave before doing a double take. "Ah, so I see you've hatched," she said as she saw MaryRose for the first time. "Roland will be thrilled to hear the news. Behave yourself now." She then left to continue her rounds.

Once Alice was gone, the penguins waddled over to where the fish had landed and quickly consumed the capelin that they had been given. Skipper mashed up some of his fish with his beak instead of swallowing each one whole so that he wouldn't have to wait for his food to partially digest before feeding MaryRose. Once he was full, the Skipper Café was once again open for business, this time serving from its breakfast menu. And as MaryRose enjoyed her latest meal, a group of zoo visitors gathered in front of the habitat to watch.

When feeding time was over, Skipper picked MaryRose up and held her as the visitors all awwed over her. "I hate to break it to you, Private, but you're no longer the cute one," he said as he turned to Private. "And as much as I love you like a brother, I'm going to try my hardest to make sure MaryRose gets the cover of the next zoo brochure."

Private chuckled and then reached out to pat MaryRose on the head. "I look forward to the competition, little one," he said with a smile. "I have no chance," he thought to himself.

A few moments later, Rico mumbled something to Skipper as he did a little waddle back and forth and gestured to the crowd with a flipper.

Skipper shook his head. "Not yet, Rico. I know it's been a while since we've done the 'cute and cuddly' routine, but I can't be a part of the performance and be with MaryRose at the same time. Sorry, but the routine will have to wait until I return form paternity leave." He looked down at MaryRose. "Until then, I've got all the cute and cuddly I need right here."

— § —

November 5, 2022

Although she couldn't yet speak in words, the smile on MaryRose's face spoke a thousand of them. They were about equal to the words Skipper's own smile was saying—or that he might say himself if he could catch his breath.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you actually enjoyed being tickled," Kowalski said after walking in and finding Skipper and MaryRose tickling each other on the floor of the HQ. "You don't even like it when Marlene does it. You look like you're having the time of your life."

"I am, Kowalski," Skipper replied, holding MaryRose on top of his chest for a moment. "Having MaryRose makes me feel alive in ways I've never felt before—in ways I didn't even know existed. I wouldn't trade being her father for the world."

"And by the look on MaryRose's face, I don't think she'd trade you for the world either." He paused for a moment as he watched Skipper and MaryRose resume their tickling game. "Anyway," he continued, "I just came in to get my clipboard. I couldn't find it behind my back, and Rico and Private are waiting for me to begin this morning's workout." He then went to get his clipboard and then returned outside to lead the others.

Around forty-five minutes later, Kowalski, Rico, and Private came down the ladder after their morning exercises. Skipper was still playing with MaryRose on the floor—she was now amusing herself by crawling in and out of an empty cereal box. It was a decades-old collectible featuring Buck Rockgut's picture on the front, but it had quickly become MaryRose's latest plaything.

"So, how did the routine go?" Skipper called over to Kowalski, noticing an unexpected expression on his face. "And what's with the big smile? It's creeping me out a little."

"To borrow your word, sir, the routine was excelente," Kowalski replied. "I've just redesigned our regular workout to work our muscles twice as hard in half the time with a quarter of the effort!"

"Excelente indeed!" Skipper said. He paused for a moment. "Um, your redesign doesn't involve Sweatin' to the Oldies or those old 'As Seen on TV' ab belts, does it?"

"No, sir. My redesign is 100 percent original. Get up and I'll show you how to do it."

Skipper then felt something cardboard bump into him lightly. He lifted up the cereal box, which MaryRose was now walking inside of, and smiled at her. "I'm a little too busy to participate myself," he said, "but I'll watch if you boys want to give me a demonstration." He then set the box back down on the floor.

Kowalski nodded, and a few moments later, he lined up alongside Rico and Private, and the three began to execute the new routine. It appeared relatively normal to Skipper at first, but it quickly picked up in its intensity and excitement. "Jump, kick, spin, dive!" Kowalski called the moves out. "Work your body, feel alive!"

As his teammates chopped their flippers of fury in front of him, Skipper was quite impressed. To his right, he noticed that MaryRose had become uninterested in the old box and was now focused on watching the demonstration as well. She rocked herself from side to side as she looked on, perhaps trying to copy the moves in her own special way.

After watching her for a moment, Skipper picked her up and carried her over to where the others were performing the demonstration. "Can you boys slow down a little, please?" he asked. After they did so, Skipper set MaryRose down on the floor and then got down on it behind her. He then took each of her flippers in his own and began to guide her through each of the moves that Kowalski was instructing.

Punches, kicks, spins—Skipper showed her everything. And the three-day-old was quite delighted to be playing this new game.

Private turned to them and smiled. "I don't know what's cuter, Skipper: MaryRose's little moves or you guiding her through them."

"MaryRose," Skipper replied. "Penguin chicks are always cuter."

The demonstration continued for a few more minutes until Kowalski gave his final command. Skipper then stopped guiding MaryRose and let go of her, but she didn't want the game to end. On her own, she began to throw cute little punches in the air.

"She's a chip off the old block, I think," Kowalski said. "Though her punches may not be able to stun a fly, she certainly has your fighting spirit, Skipper."

MaryRose began to waddle away a short distance, still imitating some of the moves she had just been guided through. Skipper quickly went after her, not wanting her to accidentally hurt herself. "Be careful now, sweet—" His caution ended nearly as soon as it began as MaryRose suddenly spun around and struck one of the cinder blocks by the table with a flipper. "MaryRose!"

As she began to cry, Skipper bent down and picked her off the floor. He looked at her right flipper; there was a small cut but nothing serious. He hugged her and told her that everything would be OK as he carried her over to the sink to wash the minor injury with soap and water.

The washing stung a little, but MaryRose somehow knew that Skipper wasn't trying to cause her any intentional discomfort. She quickly stopped crying. Once washed, Skipper patted the wound dry and then gently kissed the injury. "All better, sweetie," he said.

As Skipper continued to hold her, MaryRose looked at the small cut on her flipper. Whatever Skipper had done to it had stopped the pain, and the wet red stuff was now dry. She then took one of Skipper's flippers between hers and hugged it while resting her head against her father's chest. She made a relaxed, happy sound and then shut her eyes.

— § —

November 7, 2022

Skipper couldn't believe what Kowalski was telling him. "You can't be serious! We can't put reports from those slimy vermin ahead of our own intel."

"I'm afraid we're going to have to," Kowalski said. "The sewer rats may hate our guts, but they're not going to make up a story like this. They have just as much reason to fear Savio heading toward Manhattan as we do."

Skipper shook his head and then conceded with a sigh. "So, how are you boys going to eliminate this threat?"

"I have a plan, but I'm afraid it's not a three-penguin operation. To defeat this serpent, I'm going to need you with us, sir."

Kowalski had barely finished his sentence before Skipper shook his head. "No. I won't leave MaryRose. I can't risk my life when she's still so young. She needs me too much."

"I understand, Skipper. I truly do. But without you, there's probably a 50 percent chance that Savio will make it to the zoo, and God forbid we are unable to protect MaryRose. With you, I'm confident that we can take him down miles away."

Skipper sighed, knowing he had no choice. "All right, Kowalski. I'll trust your plan. But who's going to watch MaryRose while we're gone?"

"I think you already know the answer to that question."

Skipper frowned. "You're not suggesting Ring-tail, are you?"

"He's really the logical choice when you think about it. Most other animals around here are just too big to look after a tiny little chick—they could easily scare MaryRose with their size or accidentally sit on her. And the smaller animals have their own disqualifications: Leonard is asleep right now, and he's not fond of us anyway; the baboons are busy trying to help Darla undo a hex she accidentally put on herself; your trypanophobia prevents you from trusting the porcupines; et cetera." He paused for a moment. "Besides, Julien already has experience when it comes to looking after penguin chicks ... right, Petey?"

"Don't remind me," Skipper replied. "You know, Ring-tail still can't get it through his royal head that 'Petey' was me." He sighed. "Well, I should probably get MaryRose over to Julien before he eats his mangoes. He's always crazier after the fruit kicks in."

A few minutes later, Skipper carried MaryRose with him to the lemur habitat, where he found Julien jumping around inside his bounce house like the party animal he was and would always be.

"Ah, flightless visitor and little flightless visitor!" the king greeted when he saw Skipper and MaryRose coming his way, not slowing down his bouncing any. "Come to join me in my bouncy?"

"Could you maybe stop bouncing and at least pretend to act your age for a moment?" Skipper said as he approached the bounce house. "Even Peter Pan would find your behavior a little juvenile. I've got a favor to ask you."

Julien jumped extra high for one final bounce and then stopped. "Well, that depends. What's in it for me?"

"The same thing that's always in it for you: the assurance that no matter how foolish and/or infantile your behavior and no matter how strange the predicaments you get yourself into, I will always bail you out, save your life, or prevent you from sustaining bodily injury because I believe too much in doing what's right to do otherwise. If you can find a better deal, take it."

Julien tipped his crown to Skipper. "Point taken. How can my royal services be of the usings to you?"

"I have a mission I need to go on today with the boys, and I was hoping you could take care of MaryRose while I'm gone." He handed his daughter to the lemur king.

Julien cradled the chick in his arms and smiled. "Aww, she is so cute! She reminds me of little Petey all those years ago. How come he never comes to visit?"

Skipper rolled his eyes. "I just fed her, so you don't have to worry about her next mealtime; I'd appreciate it very much if you didn't try to force-feed her prechewed watermelon. For play, you can take her into your bounce house, but be very, very gentle. I should only be a few hours."

Julien looked down at MaryRose and smiled at her. "Are you ready to be having the fun with your Uncle King Julien?"

Skipper chuckled. "Don't get too attached, Ring-tail. She's mine."

After saying goodbye to MaryRose and thanking Julien, Skipper turned around to leave. He got half a step away when one final thought came to him. He spun around on his left foot to face Julien again. "Have fun, but if you even think about teaching MaryRose how to shake her booty, I'll shake you—over the Brooklyn Bridge."

Julien nodded. "No problem. I promise to be putting off all the booty shaking until tonight."

Skipper knew that meant he and the others would be getting less sleep that night, but it would be worth it to prevent MaryRose from picking up one of Julien's most annoying habits. He nodded back and then turned around to leave once again.

— § —

For the next several hours, Julien entertained MaryRose any way he could think of—well, except for the ways that Skipper would find objectionable. While he kept his word not to engage in any booty shaking, nothing had been said about simply listening to the music, nor had there been any prohibition on forcing Maurice and Mort to join him in performing some karaoke for her. MaryRose seemed to enjoy the show; she even giggled in amusement when Julien kicked Mort off his feet when the little lemur got a little too close while doing an otherwise flawless performance of Kenny Loggins's "Footloose."

After the karaoke was over, Julien decided to put on a puppet show for her. It began simply enough as a made-up fairy tale about princes and princesses, but it soon turned into a retelling of Julien's own life story, peppered with all the delusions of grandeur that one could expect. Afterward, Julien entertained MaryRose by painting faces on various fruits and vegetables and then naming each one. Finally, Julien took MaryRose into his bounce house for a little light bouncing, first holding her as he hopped around gently and then allowing her to try it herself while he stood outside and watched.

At around 3:30 in the afternoon, the penguin foursome entered the lemur habitat, returning from their mission against Savio. Private was leading the way as Kowalski and Rico each held on to Skipper's flippers to steady their leader as he waddled slowly.

Maurice was loading pieces of tropical fruit into a blender as the team walked past the juice bar. "Oh, Skipper! What happened to you?" he said, losing his grip on two mangoes at the sight of Skipper.

"Oh," Skipper said, "the boys are just helping to keep me steady because I'm a bit sore from the mission we went on."

"Not that, Skipper," Maurice said, pointing to Skipper's left eye. "That."

His eye was closed but there were several scratches and bruises around the area and on the lid itself, as well as a fair amount of blood. "Oh. Well, do you remember Savio?"

"Hard to forget a guy when you've been inside his digestive tract."

"Well, the mission was against him. We defeated him, but not before he managed to grab me by the head and pierce a few teeth through my eye. I can't see a thing through it." He slowly opened his eye for Maurice to see. "Kowalski says I'll probably lose it."

Maurice sighed. "That's pretty rough. I'm sorry, man."

"When I think about what I could have lost, an eye is nothing."

As Skipper and Maurice continued to converse, Julien walked over to them.

"Where's MaryRose?" Skipper asked, seeing that Julien was alone.

"Asleep in my bouncy. She was such a joy for the royal me." He then noticed Skipper's injury. "Eh, you have a little something in your eye. Want me to get it for you?"

Skipper shook his head. "Just a new battle wound for the collection. I'll survive."

Feeling able to make it over to Julien's bounce house on his own, Skipper had Rico and Kowalski let go of him, and after thanking Julien, he waddled over to pick up his daughter. The other penguins followed in case they were needed.

Although he hadn't intended to wake her, MaryRose awoke when Skipper began to pick her up. After opening her eyes to see what was happening, she suddenly began to cry.

"What's wrong, MaryRose?" Skipper got on his back on the floor of Julien's bouncy and held MaryRose on his chest to try to comfort her. When he saw her look up at his injury, he quickly knew what was the matter. "Don't be scared, MaryRose. It's still me."

MaryRose stopped crying when she recognized her father's voice. But she soon began to fidget in Skipper's flippers as if still distressed and wanting to get away. Skipper relaxed his flippers to let her move freely.

"MaryRose, what are you—"

That's all he was able to say before MaryRose climbed onto his face and lightly kissed his closed left eye. She just as quickly backed up a little and began to hug him below his beak. "You're trying to make me better," he said as he began to tear up. "Thank you, sweetie." He placed his flippers back around her and held her close.

Moments later, Skipper had to open his left eye to drain the tears that had collected. He did so with a surprise. He had to blink a few times to be sure it wasn't his imagination before he exclaimed, "I can see!"

"What was that?" Kowalski asked.

"I can see through my left eye, Kowalski! It's like nothing ever happened! It doesn't even hurt much anymore."

Kowalski was astonished. "That's wonderful, Skipper." He climbed into the bounce house and then leaned over Skipper to look at his eye again. "The perforations still need to be repaired, but it appears that the production and release of tears amazingly restored your vision." He then looked at MaryRose still hugging her father. "Either that or there's something magical about your daughter."

Skipper smiled. "Love isn't magic, Kowalski. It's real."