When an aneurysm kills Alice, Joey is left to look after their daughter Emily on his own, but her maternal grandparents don't feel that he is capable and fight to get custody.
Joey and Alice have hardly enough to keep their heads above water. Alice's wealthy parents disapproved of their daughter marrying Joey, but after a while they had to admit that, with their 6-year-old daughter Emily, they were a happy family. After Alice's sudden death, Joey takes care of Emily the best he can but doesn't manage too well. After losing his job, he reluctantly agrees to Emily going to live with her grandparents. But Emily isn't happy. When Joey finally realizes this, he fights back.—<[email protected]>
The movie opens with Alice Cutter narrating video footage of her with her carpenter husband Joey and their daughter Emily. Alice picks up Emily from school, and together they take the bus home. At their townhouse, Alice sets up a camera where she and Emily record themselves playing the piano and singing.
When Joey comes home, Alice chides him about being late, to which he responds that he had to stay overtime. Over dinner, Alice promises Emily that someday they'll all take a ride together in a hot-air balloon. Alice also asks Joey to be more careful about his spending when he buys some lumber for a house they are building.
The family visits Arthur and Eleanor, Alice's parents. Arthur gives Alice a check, which she reluctantly accepts. That night, Joey goes out bowling with his friends. When he returns, he and Alice get into a fight about his staying out late. Joey wonders if he and Alice should have married at such a young age, but Alice tells him that what they don't know, they'll learn.
The next day, Alice suddenly collapses at work. Joey gets a call at work and is devastated to learn that Alice has passed away. He picks Emily up from school and takes her to a park, where he tells her that her mom has died from an aneurysm. That night, he sees her playing the same song on the piano that she was playing with her mom.
Now a newly single parent, Joey finds himself having trouble adjusting, with him getting Emily to school late. Joey meets Harriet St. John, also a single parent, who suggests enrolling Emily in co-op daycare to accommodate Joey working late. Emily enjoys the co-op, but Joey struggles to manage the kids his first time watching them.
Later, Emily falls off while jumping on the bed and suffers a nosebleed. Joey calls Harriet for help and she also offers some encouragement. That night, when Joey is going through the bills, he comes across the check that Arthur gave Alice. When Joey goes to return the check, Arthur admits that he was against Joey and Alice marrying so young, and while he likes Joey, he believes it would be better to have Emily stay with him and Eleanor.
Joey shows up late to pick Emily up from Harriet's house. Harriet warns him that he will have to leave the co-op if he's late one more time. Back home, Joey sets up a more structured schedule for meals and activities. That night, Eleanor drops by. She airs her concerns, saying that Emily's welfare would be better served by her staying with her grandparents. Frustrated, Joey tears up the schedule.
The next day, Joey shows up late for work and is fired. He takes out his anger and despair on the partially built house. To add to his problems, Emily's teacher tells him that she appears to be having trouble coping with her mom's death. When Joey picks Emily up from school, Harriet persuades him to babysit her daughter Charlotte for one night the following week while Harriet goes out on a date.
Two days later, after Emily's birthday, Joey reluctantly decides to leave Emily with her grandparents. He tries to tell her, but she doesn't want to go. Unsure if he made the right decision, Joey asks Arthur to promise they'll take good care of her. He begins to second guess his decision when he later visits Arthur and Eleanor and they find Emily in a tree, refusing to talk to her dad.
Harriet brings Charlotte over, but Joey says he can't babysit, having sent Emily to live with her grandparents. Harriet berates Joey, telling him he shouldn't give up so easily, and says he can't back out from babysitting now.
When Harriet picks Charlotte up, she asks Joey to host a co-op night at her house that she was originally supposed to do, but can't due to a scheduling conflict. Joey turns her down, saying he didn't do well the first time, but Harriet refuses to take no for an answer. After Harriet leaves, Joey finds a bottle of Alice's perfume, then breaks down when he watches the video of Alice and Emily playing and singing.
The next time Joey visits Emily, he takes her to a carnival, where he wins her a prize and rides the Ferris wheel with her. On the ride, Emily asks if the balloon ride goes that high, to which Joey says it goes even higher. Joey takes Emily to a park, where she says she misses her mommy and wants her to come back. Joey admits he wants that too. When Joey drops Emily off, he gives her the tape that her mom had been making.
Joey has better luck with his second attempt at hosting the co-op. When Harriet comes home, she tells Joey that the man she's dating might be proposing marriage, but while she likes him, she doesn't know if he'd be a good father. Joey suggests that Harriet might be using Charlotte as an excuse to avoid getting involved. Harriet tells Joey he shouldn't be trying to solve her problems, and he tells her she shouldn't be trying to solve his either.
Emily's trouble in dealing with her mom's death becomes even more magnified at her grandparents' house. Eleanor says that Emily is becoming like Alice, but doesn't want her making the same mistakes that Alice did.
Joey interviews at a lumber yard, which appears promising and also has accommodations for single parents. When he gets home, Eleanor confronts him, saying she had gone to pick up Emily from school but Emily never showed up. Harriet calls Joey, saying that Emily took the bus to her house. When Joey and Eleanor pick up Emily, she says she doesn't want to see her dad again. Concerned, Joey talks to Emily's teacher and finds out that her behavior has gotten worse since she went to live with her grandparents. He calls Arthur to talk to Emily, but Arthur says she doesn't want to talk to him.
Joey meets Harriet and confides to her about what happened the night before Alice died. He says he never told Alice he loved her, he misses her, and implies that he feels lost without her. Harriet encourages Joey, telling him to do what he believes is right. Joey goes to the partially built house, where his friends show up to initially take him fishing, then finally convince him to finish building the house.
Arthur and Eleanor watch Alice's tape. Arthur tells Eleanor they can help, but that Joey should be the one to raise Emily, saying that's what Alice would have wanted. Joey shows up to take Emily home, and they leave in a hot-air balloon, fulfilling Alice's promise to Emily.
