Maxwell Njoku, a reserve US Marine in his mid-thirties, is deployed to fight in Iraq. He’s been married to his high school sweetheart, Bettina, for a decade and the couple are desperate for a child. The draft couldn’t have happened at a worse time as the couple are scheduled to start a fertility treatment in a few weeks. To dry Bettina’s tears, Maxwell makes off his last week home an unforgettable exercise in romance as he showers her with gifts and spoils her rotten with candlelight dinners every single night of that week.

On the Njokus’ request, Frank, Maxwell’s younger brother, moves in with Bettina and the two get along just fine. Frank, a university drop-out, lives on odd jobs and has a mind of his own. He has an on-and-off romance with a struggling supermodel, Keisha; he’s been dating for a while. After years of struggling, Keisha finally has a gig in Paris for a year. Six months after Maxwell’s departure, his unit is ambushed by insurgents in Iraq. Chaos and confusion reign for a few hours as the Pentagon is scarce on details about the casualties of the attack. Circumstantial evidence forces the Capitol to admit that no one survived the attack, even though there are no remains of the victims found.

Bettina wallows in a downward spiral of grief and despair while her in-laws categorically refuse to mourn their son as long as the Capitol isn’t able to return Max’s body home. Frank goes out of his way to console Bettina and one thing leading to another, they find their way into each others’ arms and that marks the beginning of a passionate affair. Though unable to get pregnant for over a decade, Bettina soon bears the fruit of her romance with Frank and gives birth to a set of twins.

A year later, Max’s parents are still holding on to their prayers of protection for Max, believing that Jesus was still capable of bringing him home. Not long after, the news breaks that Max eventually survived the attack and he’s heading home. Frank is unable to get Bettina’s commitment to marry him in a desperate move to fend off any attempts from Maxwell to get his wife back. Despite the Njokus’ efforts to prepare Max to face the reality of Frank and Bettina’s romance, Maxwell reacts violently. He strikes Frank in the face and the confrontation with Bettina ends at the Police Station. At the end of his wit, Maxwell consults extensively friends and relatives on the way to go about his disappointment.

True love conquering all, Maxwell and Bettina eventually find their way back to each other. Maxwell forgives his brother and Frank takes off to Paris with his supermodel girlfriend.