Everyone ready to finish this one off?

Mike: No. I had fun with this one.

Micky: Ready.

(We open back at the Dining Room. It's very late and fairly quiet; only a few other people sit in tables around the room. Emma, Micky, Mike, and Lauren sit together, enjoying drinks and desserts.)

Bob: Hey, Emma. How does it feel to be a winner?

Emma: It feels WONDERFUL. I can't believe I took third place.

Mike: She got three thousand bucks, a stack of cookbooks, and a couple of smaller appliances like blenders and toasters. That's always useful.

Emma: And some of the recipes were really, really good. It's amazing what people are doing with cake mixes these days.

Bert: As Micky well knows. Did anyone turn you in for snitchin' all those goodies?

Micky: *Shakes his head* Actually, most everyone got a kick out of my antics.

Lauren: I know of one person who didn't.

Bob: Has anyone seen Al since the Bake-Off?

Emma: (Shakes her head) I think he was with the other judges.

Bert: Micky, why did you pick on Al in that last part?

Micky: *Shrugs* Because I could?

Mike: Yeah, Micky? What do you have against that guy?

Micky: I could've been in the competition!

Mike: With those muffins?

Emma: Micky, sometimes it's just as important to support the competitors as it is to win yourself.

Micky: I don't care if I won. I just wanted to be IN the competition.

Mike: You can't always get what you want, Micky.

Micky: *sighs* So what if some of my food is weird. At least I cook! I'm always cooking!

Emma: I'm always cooking too, Micky. (Pats him on the shoulder) You'll be recognized someday. You're allowed to enter the Bake-Off until you win. You'll get in next year.

Mike: (Nods) Next year, we'll be watchin' you in the competition.

Micky: Yeah, but they don't seem to like the stuff I make. It's too weird for them!

Mike: Maybe the world just needs to catch up with you, Mick.

Emma: You're ahead of your time.

Al: *Comes in* Or maybe you just need a little direction.

Micky: Oh crap, he's come for revenge! *Tries to duck under the table, but Lauren stops him*

Mike: Hi, Al.

Bob: Hello, Al. Back from the press junket?

Emma: I already went through mine and will be going through another photo-and-interview session before we leave for home tomorrow.

Al: Done for tonight, yeah. They're doing more with us as well tomorrow.

Emma: (Leans back in her chair) It feels so nice to be a winner for once in my life. (Looks at Al) You can tell me now. Did you like my cupcakes?

Al: I loved your cupcakes. They sorta had to drag me away from them.

Emma: (Laughs) Thanks. Micky and the kids usually have the same reaction.

Mike: I was wondering who Officer Howlett was draggin' around at Em's table.

*Al slowly raises his hand.*

Emma: Well, I'm glad you liked them, Al. That's one of the best compliments I've ever had. It's not often a renowned cook tells me he likes my food!

Mike: And a cool one, too. We've had a great time with you this weekend, Al.

Al: I have to admit, thanks to all of you, I had a heck of a lot more fun than I thought I would.

Bob: And you looked like you did.

Bert: So...what's next on the schedule?

Mike: (Shakes his head) Summer's here. We're just gonna be watchin' the kids and doin' company work.

Emma: Micky, you're still doing your concerts with Davy, Tommy, and Bobby, right?

Micky: *Nods* Yup, we are.

Mike: Have the kids seen them yet?

Micky: *Shakes his head* No, they haven't.

Mike: We'll have to remedy that sometime soon.

Bob: Lauren, how's the pregnancy feeling?

Lauren: So far so good. I can still move, and I can still see my feet.

Bob: No twins this time?

Micky: We wanna be surprised, but we did let the doc tell us that. There's only one again.

Mike: I guess the twins were just luck.

Bert: Speaking of plans, what's up for next month?

Emma: More comedy, but action-oriented comedy.

Mike: Good. I had fun with this, but I really wanna be able to kick someone's ass.

Emma: We're going into orbit.

Mike: (Raises his eyebrow) Huh?

Micky: Orbit...wait a minute...

Emma: I think Micky's guessed what we're doing.

Micky: Emilio?

Emma: Yes...but that's all I'm saying, other than we're sticking to comedy. It's going to be a sci-fi spoof. We planned on doing something light in August, since we'll likely be either on or getting ready for vacation by then.

Mike: Didn't we already do outer space?

Emma: Not with us ladies.

Mike: (Sighs, then shrugs) Well, it's action. As much fun as this month was, I wanna do somethin' excitin' next.

Emma: Don't worry about that. We have plenty of excitement planned for at least the next three months.

Mike: As long as there's no demons and no one ends up dead, I'm all for it.

Emma: I'm looking forward to it, myself...although I will admit this story came out much better than I thought it would. I had a hard time coming up with ideas at first.

Bob: What was your favorite part of this story?

Emma: You need to ask? Winning the contest.

Mike: Seein' her win the contest.

Micky: The lounge was fun.

Bert: How about you, Lauren?

Lauren: Em winning.

Emma: I'm kind of glad we have no actual plans for a while. It'll give us a chance to rest and spend time with the kids and trying to regroup after last year and this spring.

Mike: And now that we have some money, maybe I can get this company up and running.

Emma: And I can get the Pad's kitchen redone.

Bob: How about you, Al? You going back to the Country Club?

Al: I don't know, actually.

Mike: Maybe you could find somethin' else.

Al: I'd like to do more with my show, but I use a film company...

Micky: *Grins* Need a director?

Al: Actually, I need some crew in general because I've been wanting to go on my own with the show.

Micky: I'm your crew!

Al: Should I trust him?

Mike: Yeah, trust him. He's a pretty decent director.

Emma: Just make sure it's not an early talkie musical.

Micky: Ha ha ha.

Al: Alright, Micky. You have a deal.

Micky: *Pumps a fist in the air* Yeah!

Bert: There's another thing to keep you busy, Mick.

Micky: Fine with me.

Bob: Where did you get the idea for this one, ladies?

Emma: Amazingly enough, Lauren came up with this one, so...take it away, dear.

Lauren: *grins* Let’s blame this one on a certain Food Network cook that we borrowed here.

Al: Who would that be?

Emma: Yes, we'd like to thank all of our guest stars in this story, including the ones I brought in from MY current obsession.

Micky: I think we're getting outnumbered.

Emma: You'll appreciate next month. I might call in some of my current obsession to act as alien extras, but that's it. It'll just be us and Emilio going into space.

Micky: I can't wait to go into outer space again!

Mike: Actually, it don't sound too bad. The last time we went into space was pretty cool, even if we almost lost Pete and Emilio.

Micky: I hope he's been doing okay.

Mike: Yeah, me too. He seemed ok back in November when he helped us out with the play.

Emma: I'm looking forward to next month. We've done a great deal of work on it, and I think it'll be a lot of fun. As I mentioned, it'll be purely a wild action-comedy. The September and October stories will be more serious.

Bert: So, what are you guys going to do for your last night at the hotel?

Emma: Go to bed. It's been a long day, and I have more press conferences and photo shoots in the morning. I'm going to need to make another set of cupcakes for more photography, too.

Mike: Sleeping sounds good. Won't get much of that when we get home to the kids.

Micky: I guess I'll have no choice but to sleep as well, since my party friends are dropping like flies.

Al: Ah, that's what you think. We could check out the lounge again.

Mike: Why don't you finish us off, Em? You're the big winner here.

Emma: Thanks. (Turns to the camera) First of all, while Millsberry Flour is a fictional company, there is an annual Bake-Off every year in real life, and has been since 1949...and I'd like to thank them for the research at their website and "The Best of the Bake-Off" cookbook.

Mike: Anyone interested in real bakin' contests or hotels can head to your local library or online for more info.

Emma: Oh yes, and we here at Dream World would like to wish our American readers a very safe and happy 4th of July.

Mike: See you next month, folks.

Micky: Bye!

(The camera fades out on Emma's content smile as the others chat around her, with one last shot of the decadent chocolate cake on her plate.)

(Cut to the end credits. "She" plays over scenes from the "production." We end with the words "A Raybert Production" over another black-and-white "photograph" of Emma, Micky, Al, Lauren, Mike, the Millsberrys, and all of the Bake-Off contestants in front of the kitchens in the ballroom.)