FADE IN:

BLACK AND WHITE/DREAMY

CU: THE SERENE FACE OF A BEATIFIC STATUE

Three people, one after the other, rush by in a blur.

EXT. CHURCHYARD -- AFTERNOON

A stiff WIND. A BRIDE angrily drags her ass out of a church and into its courtyard.

Trees bend their bare, twisted limbs as if to lynch her: snagging her gown, catching at the layers of tulle over her face. She fights them off and storms on. Behind her, TWO MEN try to keep up, the Wind chasing the tails of their morning coats.

The men--tall, aristocratic UNCLE ERNEST and MAMMY, his gentler, younger, queenier male companion--collapse on a bench, while the bride, LEILA SWEET, 18, paces in front of them. Mammy silently reads a letter.

A scowling Ernest rips it out of his hand.

The answer's written on Mammy's sympathetic face.

Can't argue with the facts.

From ABOVE we see the young bride. Her uncles stand around her awkwardly. The uncommon Wind stirs the leaves on the ground. CRANE UP off Leila's face to an ASKEW ANGLE:

Uncle Ernest steps forward.

The camera WIDENS to reveal a trail of clothes leading down the courtyard path through the church's outer gates: dark pants, cummerbund, suspenders, tailed jacket, bow tie, dress shirt and shoes. We imagine an intended GROOM running the streets of New York in his underwear, and incongruously hear the sound of an alarm clock as we...

FADE IN:

INT. LEILA'S LOFT -- DAY

BEGIN CREDITS

In total darkness we HEAR the sound of a hand slamming down on the ringing clock, silencing it. Out of the darkness, in POV, an image emerges: that of a mop-topped, sorry-looking dog staring straight at us with a Post-It stuck on his head.

Turn around to find Leila, now 29 years old, and still so fresh and beautiful it defies the laws of nature. So what.

She pulls the Post-It off his head and reads it.

Leila sits on the side of the bed, rubs her eyes, and then heads for the bathroom. She is wearing a long Harvard T-shirt and socks.

Paxil sits attentively on the bed while we HEAR Leila brushing her teeth.

Paxil BARKS his approval, as Leila returns, pets his head, and walks towards the kitchen.

Her LOFT is a bit of a shambles: books everywhere, lots of stuff in boxes. Her taste isn't bad, but her homemaking skills seem to be. A planet-themed mobile stands on a table in the living area.

Leila slaps the Post-It next to another on the fridge that reads "WEDDING!". And one which reads "GET A GRIP!". She pulls out a carton of milk, and a bottle of Vitamin C, chugs both from their containers, and pushes the message button on the answering machine. Her sister's voice:

Leila walks towards the bedroom to change.

INT. LEILA'S LOBBY -- DAY

With Paxil in tow, Leila heads out. There are delivery menus strewn all over the floor. She picks them up, with a shake of the head that says she's done it a hundred times before.

EXT. LEILA'S LOFT -- DAY

A few more menus are littered on the outside stoop, and assorted other rubbish decorates the sidewalk in front of the adjacent SWEET'S MUFFIN SHOP. She cleans all of this up, dumps the whole mess in a trash bin, and walks Paxil around the corner. We notice a "Closed" sign in the shop window.

EXT. ERNEST AND MAMMY'S HOUSE -- DAY

Leila drags a somewhat reluctant Paxil up the steps of an imposing-looking brownstone.

INT. ERNEST AND MAMMY'S HOUSE -- DAY

The door opens on Mammy's generous face. He's eleven years older.

After a big hug, Mammy leads them inside. He is wearing an apron, and carrying a glass of Sherry.

They walk into the living room of a beautifully appointed home. Old school. Uncle Ernest sits by the fire barely looking up from his laptop computer.

Ernest notices the dog cowering behind Leila.

Paxil makes himself even smaller.

Leila comes to peek over his shoulder, as Mammy heads to the kitchen.

Leila produces a bag of fresh coffee beans from Zabar's and dangles it in front of his nose. Ernest grunts his approval.

INT. ERNEST AND MAMMY'S DINING ROOM -- DAY

Eggs Benedict and Bolivian coffee for all. Mammy enters from the kitchen with a coffee pot.

Off Mammy's scandalized look.

Mammy energetically clears his plate.

Ernest yells out after him.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK/BALTO STATUE -- DAY

Leila sits alone on a bench reading The New York Times, while Paxil waits dutifully at her heels. Children play on the statue nearby.

Paxil looks up, troubled. A rubber kick-ball rolls over near Leila. A cute kid, about six, runs over to retrieve it. He breaks into a heart-melting smile, picks up the ball, gives Leila a shy little wave and rejoins his friends.

A startled Leila looks up as a MAN joins her on the bench.

Regards the dog.

There is an awkward pause as the Man beats himself up over that one. A little girl roughhouses on the statue.

Silence.

They resume their non-talking. After a bit...

Leila indulges him with a slight smile. More silence.

The disappointed man heads off towards his niece. After a moment, he turns back.

He gives her a puzzled look, the dog gives him a puzzled look, and they continue on. Leila watches them go.

INT. LEILA'S KITCHEN -- NIGHT

Leila stirs a pot of macaroni and cheese, while talking on a portable phone. She looks exasperated. Paxil follows her every move.

She pulls the phone away from her ear, and looks at it. Another night shot to hell.

INT. LEILA'S LOFT -- NIGHT

As before, except Leila is now seated. The CAMERA takes a while to find her. A plate of half-eaten food gets cold. She crosses a name off a list while she speaks.

Leila leans back in her seat and sighs. She notices a framed photograph nestled in a cluster of them, and picks it up.

INSERT: two pensive little girls sitting on the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park: PUSH IN on Leila and her little sister Evy as girls...

INT. CAR -- DAY

PULL OUT from Leila, as a young girl, sitting next to Evy in the back seat of a cherry 1963 Falcon. They are both dressed in expensive, official-looking NASA spacesuits. Up front DADDY, driving, and MOMMY, riding shotgun, are singing a road song:

CU: little Evy and Leila, mouthing the words through their space helmets...their adoring eyes glued on Daddy's adoring eyes...

As the car passes out of frame we hear the SCREECH of tires, CRUNCH of twisted metal.

The CAMERA finds a billboard welcoming visitors to the space center, while a lone hubcap rolls into frame.

INT. LEILA'S LOFT -- NIGHT

CU Leila's face as she remembers. Widen to show the phone in her lap. After a moment lost in thought Leila walks to the kitchen, dumps her plate in the sink, pulls off a Post-It and writes a note to herself.

She slaps it on the refrigerator next to the others, and hits the lights. We can't read it.

As they exit, we move in on the note: "HAVE A CHILD".

INT. LEILA'S LOBBY -- MORNING

Leila again scoops up an unwanted pile of delivery menus. She produces a homemade "NO MENUS" sign, posts it on the outside lobby door, and takes a moment to admire her work before heading out.

INT. RESTAURANT -- MORNING

Evy digs into her bagel and lox. Leila toys with biscotti.

Leila begins to speak and then notices something.

Evy doesn't look up from her breakfast.

Beat.

Evy's eyes go wide.

A waiter approaches the table.

The waiter glances at his watch. It's ten in the morning. Impressive.

EXT. SKATING RINK -- DAY

Evy and Leila skate side by side and talk about Leila's sex life.

Leila walks on as Evy follows.

Leila makes a face.

The girls share a smile as they walk on, away from the camera.

EXT. MUFFIN SHOP -- DAY

ESTABLISHING SHOT of the luncheonette-type shop directly adjacent to Leila's loft in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood of Manhattan.

INT. MUFFIN SHOP -- DAY

Two WAITRESSES (late teens) sit in a booth, slacking. DARCY, the punked-out smartass smokes a cigarette while DOTTIE, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, shuffles Tarot cards.

Leila plods in and looks back out the window towards the packed coffee bar on the corner.

Darcy discreetly hides the Nellie's Deli cappuccino she had been drinking.

With trepidation, Dottie turns over a card. Darcy squints at the supine man with the swords in his back..

Leila goes behind the counter and brings the coffee pot from the industrial urn. She pours them each a mug, careful not to disturb the Tarot.

Darcy tries the cream pitcher. It's empty. She hands it to Leila.

Leila heads towards the kitchen.

Darcy calls out after her.

Leila comes out with a tray of fresh muffins.

An exasperated Leila rushes to put the muffins out.

The girls continue to stare.

Leila takes a deep breath as she approaches their booth.

The girls look at each other in wide-eyed wonder.

They can't stop staring.

Leila looks at Darcy's orange hair and belly-button ring.

Leila walks to the front of the shop for her coat. The girls glance at her expectantly.

Leila leaves quickly. Darcy pushes away her mug of coffee and retrieves the cappuccino from her lap.

EXT. DR. KIRK'S OFFICE -- DAY

INSERT: on a plaque which reads "DR. BEVERLY KIRK, OB-GYN"

Leila stands outside the office door, gathering her courage.

INT. DR. KIRK'S EXAM ROOM -- DAY

Leila is writing the great American novel on the medical form. A knockoff of NURSE Ratched enters the room, rips the chart out of her hand, and tosses a blue gown to the exam table, ringing one of the dreaded stirrups.

Leila cringes.

Leaving:

Pondering, Nurse leaves. Leila looks around. On one wall, a large blackboard, on another, a photo-montage, featuring hundreds of babies delivered by Dr. Kirk, under the caption: 'WE DELIVER.' Leila starts biting her nails.

INT. DR. KIRK'S EXAM ROOM -- DAY

Leila is now wearing the blue robe, sitting on the exam table, a hand tensely clutching each stirrup. Her luxurious hair, loosed from its bun, lies in a generous wave over her shoulder.

INT. DR. KIRK'S EXAM ROOM -- DAY

Holding the back of the blue gown closed over her beautiful butt, Leila is at the chalkboard, writing the words:

INT. DR. KIRK'S EXAM ROOM -- DAY

Leila, her face resting in a stirrup, sleeping. A White Rubber Glove taps her on the shoulder. She looks at her watch, as the doctor reads her chart.

They look at each other in astonishment. Not only are his voice and gender a surprise to Leila; so too is the fact that HE IS THE MAN SHE MET IN THE PARK YESTERDAY.

Couldn't be more awkward.

Fighting closed the back of her examination gown.

She looks down at her gown.

He looks over her overly long chart, fumbles it. He's a shy gynecologist; she's a beautiful woman. Why didn't he choose husbandry?

He studies her.

Oh.

He looks up in response, only to be distracted by the new words on his blackboard: Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity.

For Dr. Kirk, what she's written is apparently so fraught with meaning, he can't even talk about it.

Words fail him. He's completely floored.

Not to Dr. Kirk.

He takes the Magic Marker and draws the symbols for Man and Woman, hesitates at Birth, goes on to draw Death and Infinity.

Kirk wracks his brain for the answer, while Leila waits patiently on the exam table.

He goes to her, gingerly pulls down the gown, puts a stethoscope to her chest and listens.

Points to his neck. With dignity, Dr. Kirk fixes his stethoscope.

He pauses.

She is definitely stealing a look back at him as he again puts the stethoscope to her heart. This time we clearly HEAR-thump thump thump: she really has one.

INT. MUFFIN SHOP -- DAY

Darcy rests in a booth painting her nails black while Dottie refills the sugar dispensers.

Leila moves back and forth behind the counter, straightening up.

Leila cleans up the sugar that Dottie spills at every station.

Leila goes to the kitchen to get a trash bag. She peeks out again.

A MAN (30's)enters the shop. He's wearing a baseball cap, and dark glasses, which he never removes.

Dottie sighs and walks behind the counter.

The Customer removes his leather jacket. There's a flesh-colored nicotine PATCH on his arm.

Customer shakes his head in amazement, as Leila crosses.

Barely a glance, as Leila shovels uneaten muffins into the trash bag.

Leila grabs her coat and drags the bag towards the side door.

She hurries out.

Dottie and Darcy look at him.

INT. DR. KIRK'S OFFICE -- MAGIC HOUR

Music cue starts. Dr. Kirk stands at an easel in his office, writing out the five words Leila wrote on the blackboard in his exam room. Then he draws the symbols, again struggling to remember the one for Birth. He stands back, transfixed.

EXT. LEILA'S LOFT -- MAGIC HOUR

CRANE UP from Dottie and Darcy locking up the shop to Leila silhouetted in her living room window, looking out over the city. She holds a portable phone in her hand.

EXT. NEW YORK STREET -- NIGHT

A deserted corner of a seedy street. A RUSTY BLUE CHEVROLET with the muffler hanging on for dear life comes into frame and screeches to a halt. The back door of the car opens and a beat-up stuffed DOG is tossed out. Moments later two CHILDREN (9 and 6) clamber out onto the damp road. One is a Boy and the other a Girl. They could be siblings, except he's black and she's white. The car takes off with a roar. The children remain sitting on the street, stunned. A moment, and then the Chevrolet reverses into frame. The back door opens again and two TWINKIES, one after the other, fly out onto the pavement beside the two children. The car takes off again. This time for good. The Boy picks up the Twinkies, the Girl picks up the dog. He takes her hand and they walk away from camera down the deserted road.

INT. LEILA'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT

Leila steps out of her bathroom and reads the results of the ovulation test. Fertile as Iowa loam. She looks at herself in the mirror.

INT. DR. KIRK'S OFFICE -- NIGHT

The nurse enters the now empty office. She angrily tears the paper off the easel, smashes it into a ball, and chucks it in the waste paper basket. Music ends.

FADE IN:

EXT. ERNEST AND MAMMY'S HOUSE -- DAY

Leila approaches the brownstone and heads up the stairs.

INT. ERNEST AND MAMMY'S LIBRARY -- DAY

Leila enters the library. An open laptop sits on the etage, screen-saved by the flying toasters.

A voice from another room.

Leila sits by the computer, scared of it. She touches the mouse tentatively. The screen pops up saying: "'Welcome to the Web.' To continue, press Enter." She does.

Leila starts. The computer is talking to her in a slightly exaggerated "computer voice." She presses "Y".

Leila presses "Y". A bulletin board of topics currently being discussed online flashes up. Since Leila does nothing, the computer once again prompts her.

Leila presses "Y".

Leila stares at the screen in horror.

No response.

No response.

Leila abruptly closes the lid of the laptop -- which then beeps at her -- forcing her to pull the plug from the outlet. Switching over to battery, the computer continues to beep. Leila puts a pillow over the contraption.

Mammy and Ernest approach from behind in robes that reflect their personalities: Mammy's -- floral and bright; Ernest's -- Brooks Brothers and muted. Mammy nips at his ever-present glass of Sherry.

Ernest grumbles his way to turn off the beeping computer.

Mammy heads for the kitchen.

Mammy returns with milk and cookies, to Leila's dismay.

Mammy searches in the sideboard drawer for a tape measure.

Mammy starts measuring Leila's hips, her waist, her bust.

Mammy measures the distance from the nape of Leila's neck to her waist and writes it down.

Horrified at his own indiscretion, Mammy puts his hand over his mouth.

The two uncles stare at each other.

INT. MUFFIN SHOP -- DAY

CU: Leila's face as she looks on with fascination and horror.

TURN AROUND to reveal Darcy, covered in a barber's smock, sitting in a chair while Dottie holds ice to the top portion of her left ear. A piercing is in progress.

Leila shudders and looks back down at something she's been writing, while the Customer, behind the counter, pours himself a coffee refill. Business as usual at the muffin shop.

Customer walks to the kitchen.

Customer makes a u-turn.

Dottie closes her eyes and pushes the needle through Darcy's ear.

Leila looks up from her papers.

Leila looks up. The girls, one with a needle through her ear, look stunned. The Customer fumbles in his jacket, pulls out his emergency cigarette and sucks on it like there's no tomorrow.

EXT. MUFFIN SHOP -- DAY

A line of men stretches from the door down the stairs, for as far as the eye can see.

INT. MUFFIN SHOP -- DAY

CU of a primping, Italian, God's-gift-to-women type.

Evy sits across the table from prospective candidates. We see photos and what appear to be medical records piling up. Leila sits off to the side, horrified at the can of worms she's opened. A video camera rests on a tripod between them, running. They've been at this a while.

Turn around on...

Blank stare from Man 2.

Blank stare from Man 2.

Evy looks up at Mr. Perfect and then, hopefully, across at Leila. He's got their attention.

INT. LEILA'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT

Man 5 is on the television monitor in Leila's bedroom.

OFF-CAMERA VOICES, Evy and Leila.

Man 5 drops his two front teeth for emphasis, and winks.

Fast forward on the tape. Stop on WOMAN 1, a lesbian. Fast forward to MAN 6, a priest. Fast forward to MAN 7. Evy's off-camera voice.

Man 7 sits with a shit-eating grin.

Pull back on Leila, disgusted, as she turns off the tape and throws the remote on a chair. She's wearing flannel pajamas.

INT. LEILA'S KITCHEN/LIVING ROOM -- NIGHT

Leila walks out to the kitchen for a glass of milk. She sees the "Have a Child" Post-It, crosses out the word "Child" and replaces it with "Girl."

Her intercom BUZZES.

Leila goes tentatively to her window, opens it and looks down.

POV Leila: a grown man with a red wig, a bulbous nose, a polka dotted suit and big feet looks up at her, arms extended.

INT./EXT. LEILA'S LOFT -- NIGHT

She gives an exaggerated shrug. He blasts his big HORN.

He squirts water from his lapel. She shakes her head.

Slappy produces a bouquet of paper flowers from his sleeve.

A window opens on the floor below Leila's. A man leans out.

The man's window slams shut.

Slappy is about to say something else, decides against it, starts to walk away, comes back, and carefully lays the flowers on the doorstep. He walks off, sadly.

INT. LEILA'S LOFT -- NIGHT

Leila starts to close the window when she sees Menu Man working his way down the street towards her door. She rushes out of the loft.

INT./EXT. LEILA'S LOFT -- NIGHT

CU -- Bottom of the outer door to Leila's building. A bunch of menus come under the door. A hand pushes them back outside. In again, out again. A tug-of-war-to-the-death over a "Pizza Perfect" delivery menu.

With her free hand Leila reaches up and pushes open the door -- hard. THUMP.

Leila looks through the door and sees Menu Man hopping around on the stoop holding the side of his head. She tries to comfort him.

In the light, Leila can't help noticing that she has beaned the most beautiful, young black man on earth: gorgeous dreads, fiery eyes... She softens a bit.

Menu Man pulls open the door.

Beat.

Leila starts to chase him down the steps when she notices the plastic flowers. She offers them to Menu Man. Behind them, the door closes and locks. They look at it. Whoops.

EXT. NEW YORK STREET -- NIGHT

The abandoned Boy and Girl rest on an embankment over train tracks. As trains pass in opposite directions underneath, they crack open and eat their Twinkies. Red hugs her stuffed dog.

EXT. MUFFIN SHOP -- NIGHT

Through the window, we can see Leila and the Menu Man in animated conversation. Outside, the daily bag of UNEATEN MUFFINS sits by the trash.

FADE IN:

INT. MUFFIN SHOP -- MORNING

CU: Lots of different symbols, drawn, and then scratched out. The one that remains appears to be the letter "O" within the letter "O".

Darcy studies the drawing which lies on the front table, as Dottie enters.

Darcy shushes her when she notices Leila and the Menu Man in a booth, slumped over a couple of cartons of milk, asleep. They approach carefully, stunned by the sight of the handsome young man.

They attempt to pick up a dreadlock to get a better look at his face. Leila wakes up and sees her staff.

Leila stands, looking as dignified as she can in her pajamas, grabs the not-donut from Dottie and walks towards the door leading upstairs to her apartment.

INT. DR. KIRK'S WAITING ROOM -- DAY

Leila has a stare-down with a mean looking ten year old boy. She curls her lip in a sneer, he does the same. She sticks out her tongue -- pink. He sticks out his -- bad-candy purple. She raises her finger and thumb, and eyeballs him down the barrel of her "gun". He pulls out a SuperSoaker and completely drowns her.

Nurse looks up, barely containing her glee.

INT. MUFFIN SHOP -- DAY

Menu Man pokes at the muffin in front of him and eyes it suspiciously. He decides to stick with coffee. Dottie and Darcy solemnly approach.

Menu Man walks behind the counter to the kitchen. The girls follow.

He begins to gather pots, pans and ingredients from the shelves.

The girls exchange a look.

Menu Man begins to make himself a fabulous-looking omelet.

They look in the Customer's direction. He's slumped over in his seat, a nicotine patch on each arm, lighting one cigarette off the end of another. Point taken.

INT. DR. KIRK'S OFFICE -- MORNING

Kirk opens the door to find Leila standing there. She's drenched.

He ushers her into his office, and gives her a hand towel.

Leila hands Kirk the cardboard symbol, now dripping and limp.

Kirk delicately transports the wet card towards the easel, looking at it oddly.

He erases the "?" next to "Birth" on his reworked design, tacks up the donut, and stands back with a sense of accomplishment.

Still doesn't look right. He crosses to his desk and picks up a folder.

Kirk tries to calm himself down. Leila shakes her head and points to her stomach.

Kirk braves an uncertain glance at her.

Decidedly pregnant pause.

Kirk looks like he wants to crawl in a hole.

If there were scissors present, Kirk would cut out his tongue.

Kirk's eyes go wide. Dare he dream? The nurse, as usual, finds some non-reason to enter the room. She smirks at the easel.

Nurse puts some files on the table by the door and exits with a smirk. Kirk and Leila look at each other for a moment.

Leila rushes out. Kirk looks perplexed.

INT. DR. KIRK'S WAITING ROOM -- DAY

Leila heads through the waiting room on her way out.

Leila freezes.

Where's that door.

EXT. NEW YORK STREET -- NIGHT

The abandoned Boy and Girl, both exhausted, descend the stairs leading from the park. As they walk towards us, the girl drags her little stuffed dog at her side. As they clear frame and walk away from us, the dog is gone.

The CAMERA finds the dog lying in the street, just before a LIMOUSINE crushes it. A squeal of brakes. The limo backs up, a jeweled hand reaches out and grabs the pooch, and the car heads off down the street in a cloud of steam.

EXT. NEW YORK STREET -- NIGHT

Dr. Kirk strolls under the street lamps of a deserted New York street, his head cast down, his collar turned up. Very Edward Hopper. As he approaches the entrance to an upscale restaurant, the limo turns a corner and comes towards us.

A YOUNG COUPLE hops out. They're beautifully dressed and stupendously drunk. They whirl through the restaurant's front door. Then, the woman spins out again, crying gaily:

She dives back into the limo and returns holding FIVE STUFFED DOGS. As she whisks through the door again, the little girl's dog flies out of her arms and lands in the bushes.

Dr. Kirk waits for the woman to spin back around, but the door stays closed. Meanwhile, the limo drives off.

Dr. Kirk looks back and forth between the dog and the restaurant entrance. He looks through the window for the couple--rather easy to locate because now they are seated at a table with four Collies.

He sets the mutt next to the door, so it can be found by its owners on the way out.

He begins to walk away, but turns to look back at the dog.

He stands there for an inordinately long time--wrestling with some kind of question of conscience. Then he suddenly comes back, snatches up the dog and strides off.

INT. BAR -- NIGHT

The place is mostly empty. Dr. Kirk puts the dog on the bar, and takes a seat on a stool. A DRUNK looks on from further down. The BARTENDER, 20s, good-looking, bemused, comes over.

Dr. Kirk has to think about it.

The bartender stares at him with a bottle in each hand. The drunk in the corner rolls his eyes.

INT. LEILA'S LOFT -- MORNING

Evy lets herself in with a key.

No answer.

Evy unloads a shopping bag of goodies in Leila's kitchen: lotions, some pornographic magazines, a video or two, some lingerie. She puts a bottle of champagne in the fridge, and is about to do the same with some fresh, raw oysters. Paxil jumps on a stool.

Paxil stands on his hind legs. Evy scoops a few oysters in his bowl.

The phone rings. Evy answers on the portable and heads for Leila's bedroom with the lingerie.

INT. LEILA'S BEDROOM -- CONTINUOUS

Evy enters still on the phone, and fishes around in Leila's closet for some clothes to "borrow".

She hangs up, stuffs the scarf she has snared into her bag, and walks back to the kitchen.

INT. LEILA'S KITCHEN -- CONTINUOUS

Evy puts the phone down, writes "I fed myself" on a Post-It, sticks it on the dog, and is out the door.

INT. MUFFIN SHOP -- DAY

Evy enters the muffin shop, not particularly surprised to find a basin filled with grape Kool-Aid, and Darcy's head in it. Dottie stands above her monitoring the dye job.

Customer is unusually perky, as he devours an actual lunch.

Dottie motions toward the kitchen where Menu Man kneads a pile of sourdough. Evy is instantly struck by his looks.

Menu Man looks up, biceps rippling, chest hair glistening, flour flecking...

Her peek at Menu Man says "Mysterious AND Cute".

Dottie beams until a glance from Darcy lets her know that wasn't a compliment.

Rack focus past the dripping Darcy to Menu Man. A serious look is exchanged. Evy shudders and leaves.

INT. ERNEST AND MAMMY'S KITCHEN -- AFTERNOON

Mammy ducks his head in the refrigerator.

Leila sits on a stool at the kitchen "island". Mammy pulls out hot fudge, ice cream and peanuts.

Mammy kisses the top of her head.

INT. ERNEST AND MAMMY'S HOUSE -- AFTERNOON

They take their sundaes into the living room, where Uncle Ernest sits in his half-mo