It is January 1957 and Helen's husband Jack returns from National Service. Happy to be reunited, they resume their life together. Their friends, Lily, pregnant and married to Jack's brother Martin, Katie, pregnant and married to Helen's father John, and Judy, engaged to policeman Sam, form part of their everyday life. Then Helen is utterly shattered when Jack tells her that a brief fling with a sergeant's widow has left the woman pregnant. Helen can't have children so handling her friends' pregnancies has been difficult enough; this is more than she can bear. She starts divorce proceedings but their fierce love for each other cannot be extinguished. Finally she has to make a decision which requires courage but could be the answer to their differences.