In their cottage in Seal Beach, Karen Sims and her husband Tom, put their two-year old daughter, Lara, and infant Jaime to bed. Tom wishes upon a star that Jamie doesn't wake up crying as he and Karen make love. Meanwhile, Karen's best friend, Marty Andrews, meets Blake Edwards for a date at the pier. Marty gets a frantic call from Karen saying that Jamie stopped breathing.

The separation between Karen and Tom is immediate. He blames her for moving Jamie too soon from the cradle to the crib; she blames him for making the wish and says she wants Jamie's body exhumed so they can toss the ashes at sea, where Jamie will be free. "Free? She's gone," he says.

Seven months later, a very pregnant Karen sees Blake at a party. They engage in deep conversation about death and he is surprised to learn that Marty's dad committed suicide years ago. Blake leaves and Karen finds Tom flirting with the office receptionist, Tiffany. A few weeks later, Karen goes into labor at Chuck E. Cheese.

Just fired from his job, Tom is with Tiffany and doesn't get Karen's call about the baby. She goes through labor alone and takes her new son and Lara to live at her dad's. A relationship develops between Karen and Blake at the same time Tom sees his relationship with Tiffany going nowhere. Upset about Blake, Marty accuses Karen of caring more about her dead child than her living ones and they angrily part ways.

After finding a news article that Marty killed her father, Blakes' bond grows closer with Karen. In therapy, Marty recalls hidden details of her father's death, such as the fact that Karen slept with him. She reveals all to Blake and sleeps with him, but he admits he loves Karen, not her. As Tom makes an attempt to get Karen back, Lara disappears during a beach outing and Karen's lost faith is again challenged.

A surfer safely leads the missing Lara home. Her faith restored, Karen mends fences with Marty and realizes she wants to be with Blake not because she loves him but because he hasn't hurt her yet. She moves back in with Tom. On what would have been Jaime's first birthday, they walk to the pier and drop a rose in the ocean. A flying seagull leaves a feather at Lara's feet.

Copyright 2009 Linda Delmont
All Rights Reserved