After numerous failed fertility treatments, childless couple Linda and Michael Spector meet with attorney Susan Drew, who explains the process of “open adoption,” in which adoptive parents meet with expectant mothers before they give birth. The Spectors agree to give it a try, and one day, Linda receives a call from seventeen-year-old Lucy Moore, who is eight months pregnant. Linda nervously asks Lucy about her family history, and the girl reveals that her mother died in a car accident when she was seven years old. Lucy never knew her father, but heard that he was handsome and Irish. She also claims that Sam, the father of her unborn child, is her best friend. In turn, Linda offers some information about herself. Joining Sam in his car, Lucy tells him that Linda was more forthcoming than others she has called. Soon after, she takes a bus from her hometown of New Lanceville, Ohio, to meet the Spectors in Seattle, Washington. Although working-class Lucy is initially nervous around the affluent couple, she loosens up when they go out for Chinese food. The next day, Linda joins Lucy at a doctor’s appointment, and they learn from a sonogram that the baby is a boy. Linda excitedly shares the news with Michael that night. Back in Susan Drew’s office, Lucy agrees to move out of the maternity ward immediately after having the baby, and promises to allow the Spectors to administer the baby’s feedings. Lucy visits the Spectors’ home, and notices a flowering plum tree visible from the window in the nursery. She suggests Linda place the crib by the window, so the baby will see the tree’s pink blossoms in the spring. Later, she watches a sports game with Michael and shares family photographs, including a snapshot of her seventeen-year-old mother, smoking a cigarette and holding Lucy as a baby. She also shares a picture of Sam, and the Spectors closely examine his photograph. As Lucy’s due date nears, Sam comes to Seattle for a short visit. The Spectors are taken aback by his abrasive sense of humor and anecdotes about his alcoholic father. However, they are impressed by the young couple’s obvious love for each other. Sam, who currently works as a record store clerk but has ambitions to be a songwriter and keyboard player, discusses plans for the baby that he and Lucy will someday keep, when they are ready. Sam and Lucy persuade Michael to lend them his convertible, and when they return from a drive, the couples go together to the bus station, where Lucy cries as she kisses Sam goodbye. That night, while staying with the Spectors, Lucy goes into labor. The couple rushes her to the hospital and stays by her side through the childbirth. Lucy declines to hold the baby after Michael cuts the umbilical cord, allowing Linda to cradle the infant instead. Lucy is moved to another floor of the hospital, and the Spectors visit her to say goodbye. Lucy cries, and Linda responds that there are no rules against keeping in touch. Hours later, Lucy wanders into the maternity ward to view her baby. She surprises the Spectors with a visit as they feed him the next day, and Michael asks her opinion on the name William. Lucy approves, as long as they do not call him “Billy.” Back in her shared hospital room, Lucy becomes despondent when a patient asks about her baby. The next day, Linda and Michael hurry to the hospital to take baby William home, but they are greeted by Susan Drew, who informs them that Lucy has changed her mind and wants to keep her child. Lucy apologizes to the distraught couple. Suggesting she might be suffering from postpartum depression, Michael begs her to reconsider and insists that William will suffer. However, Lucy stands by her decision and informs him the baby’s name is now Andrew. Lucy returns home to New Lanceville, where she lives with her stepfather, and her rowdy stepbrother and stepsister. Struggling to take care of the baby on her own, she chain smokes, argues with her younger siblings, and takes refuge at Sam’s house despite his mother’s disapproval. One night, Sam informs her that he fought with his boss, who fired him from the record store, and Lucy begs him to ask the store to take him back. Meanwhile, the Spectors meet with their attorney, Susan, again, but Linda resists the idea of meeting another birth mother so soon. At home, she suggests they take advantage of their freedom by taking a tropical vacation. On the verge of tears, she babbles that she might even pursue a law degree before collapsing into Michael’s arms. Later that night, their doorbell rings. On the front doorstep, Michael finds Lucy and Sam with the baby. Admitting they are not fit parents, Sam asks if the Spectors could love their baby again. Michael takes the child just as Lucy asks to use the bathroom and runs upstairs to the nursery. Linda finds her in the baby’s room with a note addressed to William. She asks Linda to read the letter to him, and the women embrace. In the letter, Lucy tells William this is the hardest day of her life, but she knows she is doing the right thing and hopes he will someday forgive her. She promises that Linda and Michael will be wonderful parents, now that they have the baby of their dreams, and she knows in her heart that God will love them all. In the spring, the Spectors’ plum tree is covered in pink blossoms as Lucy predicted. Linda looks out at the tree as she holds William in the nursery. Sometime later, as she finishes up her shift as a hairstylist, Lucy glimpses a picture of baby William and the Spectors’ dog. Sam eagerly awaits her outside the salon.