When morning arrived at the penguin HQ, Private was the first one awake. After spending a moment or two wondering why he and Rico were lying on the floor, he recalled the long night of television and reasoned that they must have fallen asleep at some point while watching. Remembering that MaryRose had also been watching TV with them far into the night, he looked for her in the space between them but found that she was no longer there. "Skipper must have taken her," he thought as he turned toward the bunks. But instead of seeing Skipper holding MaryRose as he expected, Private saw an empty bunk with what appeared to be a piece of paper on his leader's pillow.

Hoping it would provide an answer, Private waddled over to Skipper's bunk and picked up the paper. He read the short note that Skipper had written on it, but he didn't understand what it meant. After reading it a second time, Private reached into Kowalski's bunk and shook him awake with a flipper.

Kowalski giggled. "Stop it, Doris; I'm not ticklish!" he said as he playfully pushed Private's flipper away.

"Kowalski, it's me," Private said as he shook him again. "Listen, Skipper and MaryRose are gone, and he left this strange note that I don't understand." He held the note out near Kowalski's head.

Already knowing how devastated Skipper had been the previous night, Kowalski became fully awake and took the note from Private. He then sat up and read what Skipper had written:

Boys,

I'm sorry for taking off in the middle of the night, but I just need some final moments of father-daughter time with MaryRose before we are torn apart. I'm taking her wherever she wants to go.

—Skipper

"Does it make any sense to you?" Private asked once Kowalski had finished the note. "What did he mean by 'final moments' and 'torn apart'? Skipper's not dying, is he?"

"No. Not unless his broken heart suddenly changes from a figurative sense to a literal sense." He sighed. "But there is something you should know." He took a moment to climb down from his bunk and then stood in front of Private. "First, we shouldn't be worried that MaryRose is in any kind of danger. Skipper didn't kidnap her; he just wants to spend some time alone with her because of something I learned about yesterday and felt he had a right to know. Private, MaryRose is not his biological daughter."

"Oh my goodness! That's so sad. No wonder Skipper is so heartbroken. He loves MaryRose with all his heart."

"And all his soul." Kowalski took a deep breath. "But that's not all I have to tell you. The reason we had all thought MaryRose was Skipper's daughter was that Alice had given MaryRose's egg to him. But being the incompetent zookeeper that she far too often is, she mistakenly gave the egg to Skipper instead of MaryRose's real father—you."

"Me?"

Kowalski nodded. "The DNA confirms it. After talking with Skipper last night, the plan was to tell you this morning, which I'm now doing. Though I had expected Skipper to still be here so that the two of you could decide how to proceed with things."

"I ... I don't know how I should feel right now. I feel happy for bringing a chick into the world, but I feel so sad for Skipper. I can't even begin to imagine how it would feel if you had told me that I wasn't a chick's father after I had started raising it. Skipper must really hate me right now."

Kowalski shook his head. "No, Skipper doesn't hate you. I think he might want to slap Alice a few times and curse at the universe with a few four-letter words that are so coarse that they haven't even been invented yet, but he doesn't hate you. He knows that you're just as innocent in all this as he and MaryRose are."

"Well, I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel," Private continued. "Skipper may not hate me, but I still feel strange and confused."

"That's certainly understandable, Private," Kowalski said as he placed a supportive flipper on Private's shoulder. "But don't worry. I'm here to help you through this any way I can, just as I support Skipper."

"I know you are, Kowalski," Private said, placing a flipper on Kowalski's back, "but I think what I really need now is to talk with Skipper. Is there any way to figure out where he and MaryRose might have gone?"

Kowalski shook his head. "Skipper said only that he was taking MaryRose wherever she wanted. And with the way he feels about her, I'm sure he'd even be willing to take her on a tour of Denmark if she asked. They could truly be anywhere."

Private thought about Kowalski's answer for a moment as he tried to imagine the kinds of places MaryRose might want to visit. But she had never left the zoo before—she didn't know what city she lived in, let alone what was in the rest of the world. Wherever MaryRose was, it wasn't some exotic destination. It wasn't even a place at all. It was a thing.

"I think I've got it," Private said after a few minutes had passed.

— § —

At the pond just outside the Central Park Zoo, Skipper and MaryRose sat together inside a radio-controlled toy boat, which Skipper had managed to commandeer from some poor, unsuspecting child. Skipper was still reluctant to allow MaryRose to be so close to the water, but he had told her that her "mission" could be whatever she wanted it to be, and she wanted to go fishing more than anything. So before they set out on the water, Skipper spent the early morning hours putting together a lifejacket for her using discarded Styrofoam cups and plastic bottles. Thank goodness New York had so many litterbugs.

The fishing rod that Skipper had been able to procure—that is, lift from an entirely different poor, unsuspecting child—was much too large for MaryRose to hold, so Skipper held on to it firmly and MaryRose placed her flippers on top of her father's to "help" him.

"Anything yet?" MaryRose asked with sweet optimism after their line had been in the water for around half an hour.

"Not yet, sweetie," Skipper replied. "But don't you worry. As penguins, we are by our very nature expert fishermen—and fisherwomen. We'll catch something eventually."

MaryRose smiled. "I hope so." She looked over her shoulder at Skipper. "I really like this mission, Daddy. I like being with you."

Skipper wanted to give her a hug then, but he couldn't let go of the rod. "I really like this mission too, MaryRose. It's my second most important ever." His eyes began to tear up a little thinking about his most important mission, but suddenly there was a bite on the line. "Whoa! Did you feel that, MaryRose?"

"A fish!"

"Yup," Skipper replied. The fish that had been caught felt small and wasn't putting up much of a fight, so he asked her, "You want to reel it in?"

MaryRose nodded, so Skipper repositioned the rod so she could reach the handle on the crank. She then began to turn it gently to wind up the line.

After two minutes of slow winding, a five-inch golden shiner appeared at the end of the pole. It was a bait fish, but Skipper couldn't have been prouder. "Way to go, MaryRose! You did it."

"We did it," MaryRose said. "Together."

Skipper smiled, and MaryRose let go of the rod so Skipper could remove the wriggling catch from the hook. "Well, the choice is yours," he said as he held the fish in front of her. "We could eat it, or I could put it on a nice plaque for you to remember as your very first catch."

MaryRose thought about the choices for a moment. "Well, I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Then it looks like golden shiner is on the menu." Skipper lifted the fish into his mouth and savored it for a moment before biting down to break it in half. After swallowing his piece, he handed the other to MaryRose.

MaryRose put the fish in her beak. "Mmm! It's good." She swallowed. "Did you like it too, Daddy?"

Skipper smiled. "MaryRose, that was the best fish I've ever tasted. I've eaten century-old brine-preserved herring, and there's just no comparison. Nothing could ever top our fish." As he gave her a hug, an idea came to him. "Nothing could ever top that fish, but how about a little dessert?"

MaryRose nodded.

"Good. I know just the thing." He let go of MaryRose and then started up the toy boat to return to shore.

Back on dry land, Skipper let MaryRose take off her lifejacket, which he left by the boat to be picked up later. He then led the way to a nearby year-round snow cone cart so he could share with her all the wonders of the sweet, frozen treat.

When they got close, Skipper saw that the snow cone vendor was on duty, so he told MaryRose to stay back before knocking him unconscious. After assuring MaryRose that the man he had just KO'd would be fine, Skipper climbed onto the cart and helped himself to the vendor's ices and syrups.

About forty-five seconds later, as he climbed down from the cart carrying a tasty treat in his flipper, his heart skipped a beat. Private and Kowalski were just a short distance away and were heading in his direction. His time alone with MaryRose had run out.

Quickly, Skipper tossed the rainbow cone back onto the cart and then lifted MaryRose up into his flippers. He held her tightly as tears began to well up in his eyes. "MaryRose, I love you with all my heart, and I always will," he said, his voice breaking. "Promise me that you will never forget how much I love you."

"I won't forget," she said as she hugged Skipper's chest. "I love you too."

Skipper lifted MaryRose a little higher to give her a kiss on the head. A tear or two fell onto her feathers as he placed his beak on her.

MaryRose was confused. She couldn't understand why her father was so sad all of a sudden, especially after just telling her how much he loved her. "Daddy, what's wrong?"

Skipper didn't answer her. Instead, he set her back down on the ground and touched the side of her face. "Wait right here, OK?" he said. "Uncle Kowalski will be right over." He then began to waddle away toward Private and Kowalski, his heart breaking with every step he took farther away from her.

It didn't take long for him to cover the distance. When the three penguins met, Skipper told Kowalski to go watch MaryRose, and Kowalski waddled away to do so after giving Skipper a comforting pat on the back. Private then reached out to hug his hurting brother as Skipper reached out to do the same. Neither one held back any emotion as the tears flowed freely.

"I'm sorry I took her like that," Skipper said as he embraced Private.

Private shook his head. "No, Skipper, I'm sorry. I'm truly, truly sorry."

"It's not your fault, Private. I don't blame you. How can I?"

"I know, but I still feel like I've robbed you of your heart and soul, even if indirectly." He paused for a moment as the anger built up inside him. "Oh, that Alice! How could she have done this to you? To me? To MaryRose? Does she think her mistake is insignificant just because we're penguins?"

Meanwhile, Kowalski had made it over to where MaryRose was so he could stay with her. She seemed very confused and worried as she stared at Skipper and Private a few hundred feet away, so Kowalski picked her up to try to comfort her. "Uncle Kowalski, what's going on?" she asked as she fidgeted in his flippers.

Kowalski sighed as he gave MaryRose a hug. "I've caused two hearts to break when I probably should have just kept my beak shut," he said quietly, mainly to himself, though MaryRose still heard parts of it.

"What?"

"What? Oh," he said, realizing he had probably just confused MaryRose even further. "Your father and uncle care about each other very much, and they're both just trying to help each other through some difficult, grown-up problems." After a moment's pause he added, "You needn't worry; things will be OK."

And he truly hoped they would be.

MaryRose looked a little less worried after Kowalski's assurance, but it was evident to him that she was still concerned about whatever these sudden problems were. Remembering the day that Skipper had talked to him about the roles of an honorary uncle, Kowalski moved MaryRose into one flipper and then used his other to gently grab at her beak. "Got your beak!" he said with a smile, giving MaryRose the temporary distraction she needed. And that he needed.

There was no such distraction available to Skipper and Private, however. Their hearts truly bled for each other; never had there been a more heartbreaking event in the Penguin Unit or in either of their lives.

"Oh, Skipper," Private said, "I wish there were a way for us to go back to the end of September to change things so we didn't have to be here today. I especially wish it were possible for your sake; it wasn't fair for you to have been set up for heartbreak."

Skipper shook his head. "No, Private. Even if it were possible, I would refuse. MaryRose may not be mine, but I wouldn't trade or try to get rid of the past two months for anything. She was and will always be the greatest thing to have ever happened to me, and no matter how much I hurt today, I'm a better penguin for having had her in my life. I regret nothing."

Skipper's words were so moving and so heartbreaking that Private didn't know what to say. Instead, he remained silent for a few moments before asking the inevitable question: "What happens now, Skipper?"

What happens now? It was the same question Private had asked him when Private handed MaryRose's egg to him back in September. Skipper let go of Private and looked at Kowalski holding MaryRose a short distance away. It was a bit too far to see her eyes with his, but he could see them clearly in his heart. And as he gazed into their beautiful blue, Skipper could see himself standing and holding MaryRose's egg in his flippers at the moment his mission began. As images of memories of her life so far began to float all around him, he was once again lost in a world that only he and MaryRose shared.

Private watched in silence as Skipper gazed at MaryRose in the distance. He had no problem with Skipper's taking all the time he needed.

Then, after about ten minutes had passed, Skipper continued to look into MaryRose's eyes as he said, crying slowly, "You're a good soldier, Private; I know you'll treat her right. But how am I going to tell MaryRose that I won't be her daddy anymore? How am I going to tell myself?"

Private turned his head to look at MaryRose as well. As his eyes focused on her, images of memories began to race through his mind as well, only they were not truly his memories. Instead, all the scenes that he had witnessed of Skipper and MaryRose together over the past month began to play before him. He saw her hatching, of course, her first words, and all her other milestones, but there were so many little moments as well—the simple things that made a father-daughter relationship so special and so rewarding, the joys that Skipper would surely miss the most.

Private's eyes again filled up with tears, but they were no longer his. He turned to Skipper and gently placed a flipper on his shoulder and answered with a single word: "Don't."

Skipper looked at Private. "Don't what?"

Private reached out and hugged Skipper tightly. "MaryRose is your daughter, and she always will be. You built her a nest. You sat on her egg. You fed her. You're more responsible for giving her life than the trivial role I had in it." He began to hug Skipper even tighter. "She loves you with all her heart, and you love her with all of yours. The two of you share a bond that is beyond DNA, and I will never, ever break it up."

"Private, I—" was all Skipper could say as Private's words deeply touched his heart. He reached out and held Private close. "Oh, Private, you'd let her go ... for me?"

"I'm not letting her go, Skipper; I'm letting her stay where she truly belongs."

Skipper was the one who now found himself at a loss for words. "Oh, Private, I don't know what to say," he said after a moment. "I'd say 'thank you,' but those words seem so small considering what you've given me. I can't think of a word or phrase to express just how grateful I am." He dried some of his joyful tears with a flipper and then placed it back around Private.

"I don't need to be thanked. I'll always know what I did was right every time I see you and MaryRose together." Private looked at MaryRose and Kowalski again and then back to Skipper and smiled. "Well, don't let me keep you any longer," he said as he let go of Skipper. "I'll see you back at the HQ later."

Skipper let go of him and smiled back. Private then watched as Skipper left him and ran as quickly as he could toward MaryRose.

When Skipper was about halfway there, Kowalski knew something good was happening, so he set MaryRose down on the ground. She then saw Skipper running toward her and took off waddling toward him.

When they met moments later, Skipper scooped MaryRose up into his flippers and then held her against his chest as he spun around three times before laying himself on the ground on his back. MaryRose hugged her father with her little flippers as he surrounded her with his. He then placed his beak on her head and kissed her.

"Daddy! Daddy! Is everything OK?" she asked when she saw that Skipper was crying again.

"Oh, MaryRose," Skipper said as he kissed her again, "things have never been better."