The movie starts in the present day with Carey singing into the camera, a song full of curses,
for her husband’s birthday party. She has asked all the guests to record a video
message for him and they all say things into the camera. Later, Carey gets up on the stage
and begins the event by singing the first song she ever wrote for her husband, Simon, and she
fondly remembers the times they spent together. In the next scene, we go back a few years and see
Simon getting out of a store. Back home, Carey is cooking but she seems stressed about something,
due to which she burned the cookies while lost in thought. When Simon arrives and greets his wife,
Carey seems a bit distracted and abruptly walks away mid-conversation.
Simon follows her into the room, just about to make a comment on her behavior when Carey
tells him that she has some news for him. She seems very much on the edge and this makes Simon
worried. Carey eventually tells him that she is pregnant and this news sends Simon on cloud nine.
He has wanted kids for so long now and it is finally happening. He hugs and spins Carey around,
joyously shouting at the top of his lungs, swearing out of sheer joy. That is when Carey
establishes that they can no longer swear for they have to be good role models. The
news overwhelms the two but in an amazing way. Carey and Simon spend the next few days choosing
baby names. One day, while they are at a coffee shop and making fun of all the different names
they find in the newspaper, Carey casually swears and right then, Simon empties a jar and calls it
their swearing jar. Each time either of them swears, they have to put 5 dollars in the jar.
As the days go by, we see that Simon and Carey are perfect for each other. They communicate,
enjoy each other’s company, and can make each other laugh; they have a compassionate
relationship. We also find out that Simon is a writer and has already written a famous book,
and Carey is a middle school teacher. One day, Carey walks into a bookstore
and attracts the attention of a handsome store manager. While browsing, Carey also finds herself
stealing glances at the man, but she pulls her attention back. She then finds a quiet corner
and starts writing something but finds that her pen does not work. The store manager who has been
watching her all this time offers to give her a pen and is intrigued by what she is writing.
Carey tells him that she is writing a song and that she sings sometimes but does not play.
He asks if he can see what she is writing and Carey tells him she has only come up with the
title ‘May the Fourth’. The store manager seems interested in her and asks her more questions, but
it makes Carey feel a little weird. He introduces himself as Owen, and Carey awkwardly leaves there.
Back at home, Carey and Simon talk about what they are going to do with the money they collect in the
swearing jar. Simon suggests they should put it towards a vacation and they should do it sooner
rather than later. Carey reasons that they need to be saving up for the baby right now, but maybe
they can use it on his 40th birthday which will be three years from now. This, for some reason,
makes Simon uncomfortable. Carey teases him about him growing old, but Simon declares that he would
never ever be 40 years old. Carey continues teasing him when Simon gets a call from someone
and he does not answer it. This makes Carey a little skeptical but they do not dwell on it.
In the next scene, Carey is back at the bookstore and chatting with the cute store manager. She
came back to the bookstore to buy a book but got distracted by Owen. Carey seems awfully into the
conversation and is enjoying herself, and so is Owen, who then proceeds to nervously blab about
how he does not just work at the bookstore but is also in a band because he wants to
impress her. As the two talk and share a laugh, Owen asks if she would like to have coffee with
him. This makes Carey feel uncomfortable and guilty. She refuses and awkwardly
leaves without even telling him her name. One day, Simon’s mother, Bev, surprises the couple
by showing up at their door. Simon, who seems to have a strained relationship with his mother,
is not too happy to see her there. Carey wonders why the woman came unannounced and finally finds
out it was because Simon did not respond to her calls. She wants to know what’s going on with
him but Carey still does not want people to know that she’s expecting. She tries to stall
the truth a bit, but Simon can’t hold the words back and finally tells his mother the good news.
Bev is completely overjoyed by this news, but she does warn Carey that if Simon is anything like his
father who abandoned them, Carey might end up raising that child alone. This makes Simon so
very mad because his father passed away and it offends him in more ways than one. This
gives rise to an argument between the two and Carey struggles to diffuse the fire. She gets
mad at Simon for revealing the secret but he manages to win her over and then Carey manages
to calm Bev, assuring her that her son loves her. One random day, for reasons unknown to her, Carey
goes to the bookstore to give her business card to Owen. A few days later, they meet again when
Owen is cleaning the bookstore windows. They have yet another awkward run-in and Owen reminds Carey
about the email he wrote her, to which she never replied. Carey feels a little guilty and awkwardly
tells him that she shouldn’t have given him her card because she’s in a complicated situation
that does not allow her to give away her card to random men. Though she really liked meeting him,
Carey feels guilty and wrong about what she did. This makes Owen wonder if she is taken by another.
Carey struggles to give him a straight answer for some reason even though she is in a happy
marriage with Simon. When Owen asks her to walk with him for a while, Carey reluctantly agrees.
Later, Carey’s leaving school one day when she finds Bev waiting for her. This worries Carey
a bit and even more when she sees that Bev is drunk. An emotional and inebriated Bev asks
Carey to hold tight to the happy moments in life and memorize them. She recalls that despite her
late husband being a womanizer, what truly ruined their marriage was the secrets. She
implores Carey to be patient with Simon and to be strong. Her impromptu visit baffles Carey and she
forgets all about her doctor’s appointment. When she arrives at the clinic, Simon is
already waiting for her with the doctor. He gets annoyed with her for being late,
but Carey still seems distracted by her phone. She eventually tells him about his mother showing
up at her school and it strikes Simon as odd. On the way back home, Simon is pissed at Carey for
being inattentive at her doctor’s session. This makes Carey mad and she spirals out of control,
freaking out about having a kid. Bev’s words have gotten to Carey and now, coupled with all the
hormonal changes that come with pregnancy, she is bursting at the seams. She declares, in her fit,
that she does not want a baby and storms inside. Simon tries to reason with her and calm her down,
but has little luck as Carey is still spiraling. She worries that they are not ready for this and
she does not want to end up doing this all by herself. Simon, exhausted and defeated,
finally says that maybe one day she could do it all by herself but this pisses Carey
off even more. She just wants to know if Simon is okay or not because she can
feel that something about him is different. Simon hesitantly confesses to her that he is
not okay, but before he can say more, Carey starts to hyperventilate. She starts getting
cramps and gets sick and this worries Simon even more. He gets her to calm down and tells her that
he was only joking earlier. He swears to her that everything is okay but even then, Carey is
convinced that Simon is hiding something from her. As the days pass, Carey spends more and more time
with Owen and they get to know each other better. She hides this from Simon and it
makes her feel guilty too, but she can’t stop herself from spending time with Owen either.
One day, Owen and Carey go for a picnic in the park. They get to talking some more and Carey
finds out that just like her, Owen, too, is an orphan. After spending some time with him, though
Carey constantly feels guilty, she can’t help but feel attracted to Owen. It’s like something
draws her to him and she just can’t figure out what it is because she truly loves Simon.
When she can’t stop herself anymore, Carey kisses Owen and then instantly regrets it because she
spots Bev in the park. Bev recognizes Carey but hastily walks away from there. Carey feels
mortified and so terribly guilty as she rushes to leave but when Owen demands to know what is wrong,
she feels forced to confess the truth about her marriage. Leaving him with a shocker,
Carey hurries away from there. Days later, Simon ignores calls
from his mother, and since Carey has chosen to keep her infidelity a secret from him,
Simon has no clue about it. He lies in bed, feeling a little under the weather and Carey
suggests he consult a doctor. Simon brushes over that suggestion as he studies Carey’s sonogram.
He is convinced that they are having a boy while Carey is adamant that it’s a girl. The two joke
around and get back to the topic of baby names. Simon wants to name their baby girl Gretchen and
Carey is totally against it. After a playful conversation, Simon goes to the kitchen to get
some coffee like he normally would on any random day, but suddenly a harsh reality comes crashing
down on Carey when she goes looking for him. She finds him lying unconscious on the kitchen floor
and soon we find out that Simon has passed away. One rainy day, an emotional and lost Carey arrives
at the bookstore to meet Owen. She apologizes to him for lying to him for so long about her
relationship. Owen is definitely hurt and feels betrayed but he still confesses that
he really liked her. This makes Carey feel even more guilty on top of all the other
agonizing emotions that she’s feeling and she tells Owen that her husband passed away,
but not so she could gain his sympathy. She leaves but does confess that she, too, liked him a lot.
Bev offers Carey comfort and support in her time of need, assuring her that she won’t have
to do this alone. Later, while going through Simon’s clothes, Carey finds a piece of paper
and its contents shock her to her very core. She goes to Bev and shows her the document
that says that Simon had a life-threatening condition called Berry Aneurysm. She then,
in a completely shocking twist of events, finds out that Bev knew about this all along
and Simon asked her to hide this from Carey. Carey has trouble grasping this truth. She
can’t believe that Simon, who used to update her about his bowel movements,
would lie to her about something this big. She struggles to deal with this earth-shattering
revelation and gets pissed at Bev for lying to her. In a fit of anger, Carey banishes Bev from
visiting her or her child ever again. Days go by and Carey gets through her
pregnancy all by herself. Months later, she gives birth to a baby girl whom she
names Gretchen, just as Simon had wanted. The movie takes a three-year leap and we
see that Carey is now living a happy and full life with her daughter Gretchen.
One day, the doorbell rings and Carey opens the door only to find Owen at her
doorstep. This takes her by surprise. Owen is there in response to Carey’s message,
asking him to be his friend. Although the two still seem pretty interested in each other,
Carey and Owen decide to be friends and start fresh after all these years. Carey does not even
hesitate to introduce him to her young daughter and Owen instantly charmes the little girl.
As they get to talking, Owen finds out that Carey has not seen her mother-in-law since before
Simon’s funeral and that she never even attended Simon’s funeral. The topic of her deceased husband
makes Carey a little overwhelmed and emotional. As she struggles to be open with Owen, he consoles
her and assures her that he’ll always be there for her. Even after all the things she kept from him,
he still likes her and wants to be her friend. And though they try to establish boundaries,
Carey and Owen are still drawn to each other and they end up sharing a passionate kiss that
reignites their feelings for each other. Soon, Owen becomes a part of Carey’s and
Gretchen’s life as he develops a strong bond with the little girl.
Carey finally meets up with Bev one day. Bev is still very much angry at Carey for the way
she handled things three years ago, and Bev finds it preposterous that Carey has sent out
an invitation for a birthday party, slash concert, slash wake, for her deceased son. She refuses to
attend the event and is still raging mad at Carey for not allowing her to ever know her
granddaughter or to be a part of their family. Carey eventually admits to Bev that what she did
to her was unforgivable and she apologizes for it as well. Bev forgives Carey and asks to see her
granddaughter to which she happily agrees. Later, Carey and Owen spend some intimate
moments together and get closer than ever. One day, Carey brings Gretchen to meet Bev at
the park. As they watch the little girl play, Bev talks to Carey about her life and tells her that
Simon would have wanted her to move on. All he ever wanted was for Carey to be happy and so Bev
insists that she should do what makes her happy. While prepping for the concert slash wake, Carey
and Owen spend some sweet moments together. Carey feels it is odd how the guy she’s sleeping with is
singing at her deceased husband’s wake. It offends Owen that Carey just thinks of him like that and
nothing more. Carey clarifies that she did not mean it like it and as they kiss and make up, Owen
confesses that he loves her. This freaks Carey out because it is too soon in their relationship for
them to feel this way. She is scared to open up and let Simon go, and this is hindering her from
starting a new fulfilling relationship with Owen. She still feels like she is cheating on Simon by
being with Owen. Owen harshly reminds her that it has been 3 years since Simon’s passing and
it’s time for Carey to be happy again. But Carey can’t seem to handle all of
this all at once. She feels so lost when she is with Owen, and she had only just
started to get her life together. She breaks it off with Owen and walks away.
Back at the main event, in the present day, despite their differences, Owen has
accompanied Carey through her entire performance and she thanks him in front of everyone for his
constant support. She presents the swearing jar, which, even after throwing this party,
still contains enough money for a little vacation for her and Gretchen.
At the end of her speech, Carey thanks Simon for bringing joy into the lives of everyone
he ever met for as long as he lived. And as she begins her last song, Carey thinks back
to the day when Simon had once asked her to just be happy in case anything happened to
him and Carey had then promised him that she would never ever love anyone other than him.
She has always held onto that promise, but somewhere along the way, Carey has
found happiness in someone other than just Simon. So as she sings her very last song,
the image of Simon that she had imagined in front of her this whole time, vanishes from
in front of her eyes, and Carey finally can see past her past and into her future, which is Owen.