Joyce Brookes, an aspiring dancer, met CDR. Vernal Moody at New York Medical Center in 1988 while working as a volunteer. Vernal was recuperating from an accident after being run off the road. After discharge, they became friends and dated. Then the Gulf War started, and Vernal was deployed to Iraq in November 1990. First reports stated that he was killed while detonating a land mine. Joyce is devastated and is pregnant but decides to keep the baby despite backlash. She has a daughter, Madison Joy Brookes, August 1991. It is now 2009, and Joyce will succumb to cancer. A month before her demise, she learns that her beloved Vernal is alive. She makes contact, but it's too late for her to introduce her daughter to her father. The day they were to meet, Joyce died. However, her dying wish is father and daughter get to know each other. Joyce's dying wish is for Madison to live with Vernal for a year to get to know each other. Will it work, and how will Madison cope with this Lazarus? They meet but are instant adversaries. Will time and forgiveness bridge this divide?