Maria and Ramon love each other but Maria's father resents Ramon's family because of the things in the past. When Maria's father dies, her stepmother makes a deal with Ramon to gain a lot of money. Maria, on the other hand, gets banished and becomes pregnant with Ramon's daughter. She gives her daughter to a rich couple because of her contagious disease. Years later, she applies as a maid to get closer to her daughter.

In a remote fishing island in the '50s, Pepito grows up learning the trade of his mother, Rosa, the only midwife capable of delivering the newborn babies of their community. At first, the young son doesn't mind the unusual arrangement, but as he grows older, he begins to resist the role traditionally meant only for women. In time, Pepito's coming of age intersects with the lives of the other islanders, whose beliefs and struggles become critical impetus to his maturity.