One of Inga's prison workers is distraught over his wife's ill health, and Inga takes steps so that he can care for his wife. Seeing the strength of their marriage, Inga contemplates marriage for herself.
In Rome, an 18-year-old girl finally meets the man who has been her "second father" through a foster-parents program. Thrilled with her voice and with the girl herself, the older man plans an extensive singing career for her in New York.
John Newland becomes another series fixture as the practical, detached father of a disabled mute boy, both whom are brought out of their shells by a children's book author.
A mother, suffering sustained grief of losing one of her two sons, has distanced herself from her other son and husband. She becomes attached to a melancholy neighborhood boy.
A real-life research project inspired this tale about a wife and mother having trouble juggling work and family when she becomes embroiled in a psychological thesis based on asking people a very telling question.