December 6, 2022

It was around 2:30 a.m. when the sound of the penguins' food dish being slid over to expose the entrance to the HQ broke the dead silence of the night, though none of the five flightless birds inside were awake to hear it. Seconds later, a figure began to descend the ladder, stopping after a few rungs to press a button on a key chain to turn off the HQ's security system before continuing down to the bottom.

After making contact with the floor, the figure proceeded to the penguins' bunks and scanned them from top to bottom, smiling upon making out Skipper's sleeping form in the bottommost one. The visitor then found a nearby cot, dragged it over to be in front of and level with Skipper's bunk, and then lay down on it before beginning to cuddle up with Skipper.

"Who's there!" Skipper shouted as he sprang awake. He rolled over and pinned the intruder in a tenth of a second flat.

"You haven't changed a bit," Marlene said calmly. "And that's why I love you."

"Marlene, you're back!" Skipper quickly released his hold on Marlene and instead held her close. "I've missed you. I never thought you'd be gone for so long."

"Neither did I. The mission was successful, but not before I suffered a little setback."

"Setback?"

Marlene chuckled. "Yeah. Apparently I can't set foot in Norway."

"Really? Wow, Marlene, I am both shocked and impressed." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Tell me about it. You know, unless it's classified, of course. I wouldn't want you to feel pressured to tell me something just because I'm your husband and commanding officer."

"Oh, I'll tell you, Skipper, but if you don't mind, I think I'll save all the gory details about the Oslo incident for later. Right now, I just want to enjoy being back home and being with you again." She softly ran a paw down the side of Skipper's face. "So, what's new with you?"

"What's new with me?" Skipper chuckled. "Oh, nothing much. Except for—hold on a second."

Skipper turned around and gently lifted MaryRose, who was sleeping peacefully, into his left flipper. He then reached for a nearby flashlight with his right.

Because of the darkness of the HQ, Marlene could not make out what Skipper was holding when he turned back around to face her. Then he turned the flashlight on.

"Well, Marlene, you know how you've always wanted to adopt?"

And so ends Beyond DNA as a story, but so begins a new chapter in the lives of Skipper, Marlene, and MaryRose. As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I did writing it.

When I began writing fan fiction in 2009, I never thought I'd write a story about any of the characters having children. Beyond DNA started out as just another idea I had one day—something worth adding to my notes but probably never doing anything else with. But after just a few hours, I had already come up with a basic plot in my head, and I knew that I had to turn the idea into a complete story. The resulting work may very well be the most emotional thing I've ever written, fiction or nonfiction. Beyond DNA is also personally special because MaryRose was my first major original character and personally historic because I used it to improve how I write dialogue.

As always, thank you to all who have taken the time to read my story, especially the seventeen who have reviewed, who together have submitted a total of forty reviews for Beyond DNA so far. You know who you are, but I'd still like to recognize the following people for making all the long hours I put into writing this story the most worthwhile: Rookie70Penguin, InternetGirl123, Historian1912, hardrocker21, Princess Bubblegum11, Carolyn the Dark Angel, KristenTheKittyKat, Adenn666, TheSkySpritsTalentShow, POM4ever, StoriesAreMagic, Hhgfhg, EeveeRoseRunner, Kukipye, 13thsense, The Young and Free Dragon, and Semillas de Melon. Thank you as well to those who have complimented me on Fanpop.

—GrandOldPenguin
Sunday, January 15, 2012
6:45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time

[Story last edited October 13, 2015.]