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. 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.