After the staff herded them into a room off to the side and filmed them answering all sorts of questions about how everything went, all four contestants went backstage where a table full of snacks and water bottles waited for them. Fruit slices, bags of chips, and a huge tray filled with ranch dip and vegetables gave the kids plenty to munch on while they waited. Their companions had plenty to eat too with staff members bringing in potted flowers for Anna's bees, a bucket of birdseed for Connor's rooster, and bowls of berries for Reese's skunk and Norman's beaver.

"Y'all might have to wait a while," a cameraman said as he set out the last of their feast: all the leftover desserts they'd made. "Sometimes it takes forever for those three to agree. In the meantime, we're gonna film you while you chat."

"Just pretend we're not here," one of the other cameramen said with a reassuring smile.

Anna was so exhausted an elephant could have tap-danced into the room and she wouldn't have noticed. Her bees were just as worn out, lazily drifting among their buffet of flowers.

She wasn't too tired to cut herself a slice of Connor's cheesecake. The rich creaminess mingled perfectly with the sweet raspberry sauce. "Mm, this is so good! No wonder the judges liked it so much."

"They wouldn't have if you hadn't helped me fix those cracks." Connor slumped forward in his chair. "Grandpa is going to be so upset."

"Why?" Norman asked around a mouthful of ice cream. "My family would be super impressed if I managed to make anything better than chocolate chip cookies by myself, let alone some kind of fancy pants cheesecake." He rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "I kinda sorta have my dad help me most of the time, even when I... well, let's just say I still can't believe I'm gonna be on TV."

"Grandpa wants me to take over Cake Kingdom someday. Says he and my parents worked so hard to start so many bakeries that I'd better get good enough to run one myself."

"Gosh, if I owned a bakery, I'd eat so many desserts!" Reese finished their third red velvet cookie. "That sounds so fun."

Connor grimaced. "That's what most people say, but..." He bit his lip, glancing at the cameras pointed at them. His rooster looked up from pecking at its bowl of birdseed, twisting its head this way and that before clucking quietly. Connor sighed. "I really don't want to."

"But you're such a good baker!" Anna said. He was easily one of the best ones she'd ever met, especially considering he was her age. If he was this talented now, she could only imagine how good he'd be when he was actually old enough to run Cake Kingdom.

"Thanks." Connor's smile didn't reach his eyes as he fidgeted with his fork. Out of all of them, he was the only one who'd barely touched any of the food. "Baking's alright, but it's not really something I want to spend my whole life doing, you know? I mostly just do it 'cause otherwise my family won't pay much attention to me. Gets lonely when they're spending all their time managing our bakeries."

Anna's heart sank. Her family did their best to make time for her, and even when they were super busy, she could always count on her friends. From the sounds of it, Connor had no one. "You can come visit Sweet Surprise if you want. My friends've been talking about throwing a party there to celebrate me being on Sliced, and I'm sure they'd be happy for all of you to come too."

Norman grinned, wiping a smudge of blue frosting off his lips. "I'm in! Can't say no to a party."

"It'd be so nice to hang out with y'all some more," Reese said.

They all turned to Connor. He looked down at his hands, flicking a couple stray crumbs to his rooster. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind me coming? I haven't exactly been real nice to you."

"If it weren't for you, my tart would've been a soup." Anna cut him a small slice filled with lots of rhubarb and kiwi chunks. "Besides, it wouldn't be a real Sliced celebration without all of us there, would it?"

"I guess not." Connor's lips tugged into a smile even as he wiped at his eyes. "Ever since I started spending so much time at Cake Kingdom, nobody ever invites me to stuff anymore," he said as his voice cracked.

"Well, it's about time somebody fixed that!" Anna said.

After talking about all the fun stuff they'd do at the party, the four of them started discussing what they'd do with the ten thousand dollar prize if they won. "I didn't even think I'd make it this far," Norman said with a laugh. "Maybe I'd buy a humongous bouncy castle or something."

"I'd save most of it," Reese said, "but I'd definitely get somethin' real nice for Grandma since it's her birthday soon. Oh, and some stuffed animals for Petunia. She loves cuddling with 'em when I go to bed."

Their skunk looked up from its bowl full of berries and chirped before returning its attention to the food.

"Grandpa'll probably use the prize money to buy a new oven since we've got so many customers we can barely bake enough for all of them." Connor rubbed the back of his neck. "Wish we could go to Hawaii or something instead, but I think he'd rather eat a bag of flour than go on vacation."

"I'm gonna give my family the prize money if I win, too," Anna said. "Sweet Surprise isn't doing so hot."

She'd been so busy having fun with the other contestants that she'd almost forgotten how important it was for her to win. Anxiety wormed through Anna's stomach as she thought about what would happen if she lost. Sweet Surprise would shut down, and her whole family would have to find new jobs. They'd all get so busy none of them would have time to bake anymore, especially not together.

"Alright, everybody. Time for the winner to be announced!" A cameraman passed around a stack of napkins. "Let's get you all tidied up real quick."

Once everyone cleaned the crumbs from their faces, the staff ushered them into the kitchen. The equipment they'd used to make their desserts had been cleaned, with all the bowls, whisks, and spoons returned to their original places. If it weren't for the four silver domes in front of the judges, nobody could have ever guessed they'd spent an hour and a half baking their best desserts.

"Good luck, everyone," Anna said.

Connor gave her a thumbs up. "May the best baker win."

The four of them shared smiles as their companions clustered together. No matter who won, they were all happy they got the chance to meet each other.

"Alright, bakers, line up in front of the judges' table," said one of the cameramen. "We are on in three, two..."

"Welcome back, bakers." Ivan's lips curled into a wolfish grin as his vulture rustled its feathers. "Ready to see who won?"

The kids chorused the affirmative, but Anna's heart thundered in her chest. They'd have to see who lost first, starting with whoever got last place. Her eyes burned with tears just thinking about what it would mean for her family if she didn't win the money they needed.

"You all did amazingly today," Philip said, "so no matter what place you get, make sure you treat yourself to some chocolate!"

"Everyone's desserts were so delicious it was super hard to pick a winner," Jessica said.

"But we have come to our final decision," Ivan said. "In fourth place we have..." He lifted the first dome, revealing a chocolate cupcake topped with blue frosting and chocolate-covered pretzels. "Norman."

"We loved the adorable little beaver dams you built on your cupcakes," Jessica said, "but unfortunately the cupcakes themselves were way too dry."

Norman shrugged. "I figured. Thanks for having me, anyway. This was so fun!"

"In third place, we have..." The next plate Ivan revealed contained an ice cream sandwich. "Reese."

"This was a tough call because I would gladly eat a dozen of these," Philip said. His stomach growled its agreement, and his duck quacked as it scoured the floor for any stray crumbs. "Ultimately though, it came down to you using Oreos to tie this into your companion. Don't get me wrong, they're absolutely delicious, but since you didn't make them yourself, your dessert felt like it didn't meet the theme as well as it could have."

"I was afraid of that." Reese gave them a small smile. "At least now I've got a dessert I know I can make for Grandma!"

"That leaves our final two contestants." Ivan's gaze burned Anna and Connor like the Louisiana sun in the middle of July. "While you are both very talented young bakers, only one of you will leave our kitchen as the newest Sliced champion."

Anna gulped. This was it. After months of hard work and practice, the fate of Sweet Surprise rested on this one moment.

"After a lengthy discussion, we decided that our runner-up is..." Ivan lifted the second to last dome, revealing a thick slice of cheesecake topped with raspberry sauce. "Connor. While your ambitious decision to prepare a cheesecake in such a limited timeframe while also integrating cookies greatly impressed the judges, I'm afraid you were simply outbaked today."

Connor nodded. "That tart really was amazing." Even though he lost, there wasn't a hint of bitterness in his voice.

For the first time during the episode, a smile broke across Ivan's face. "Anna, your dessert is the bee's knees. Your creative take on today's theme and your wonderful blend of sweet and tart flavors make you today's Sliced champion. Congratulations!"

"Thank you so much!" Tears of relief ran down Anna's face as her bees twirled around her in black and yellow loops. Connor gave her a high five as everyone cheered for her.

As happy as she was, the best part wasn't the title, the judges' praise, or even being on TV. All she cared about was saving Sweet Surprise and making everyone's lives a little sweeter.