 Russia, the present. Young Lena (Olga Arntgolts), Lyosha (Semen Spesivtsev), and Olenka (Marianna Ilyina) are siblings, who live together with their parents in a pleasant, well-kept home. Their family is loving and close-knit. Their father, Sergey Ivanovich Vlasov, is a mechanic on a cargo ship; their mother, Nadezhda Nikolaevna, is housewife. The youngest is little Olenka, who is only six-years-old. Alyosha is the middle child. The oldest is Lena, a seventeen-year-old senior in high school. A very pretty and carefree young girl on the verge of adulthood, Lena has all the hopes and dreams for her future that any girl her age has. One day they hear on the television that the "Nikolay Kachanov", the ship their father was on, has sunk. There are no survivors. When their mother hears this, she suddenly and mysteriously slips into a coma. Left alone, underage, and with no means of support, the government intervenes and takes control of their affairs. Their parents  estate is seized and put into a trust, with a Mr. Khavkin assigned as the trustee. The siblings themselves are made wards of the state. Then a distant relative, Aunt Maria, appears unexpectedly and becomes their legal guardian. With these two caring, responsible adults in their lives, it seems that the three have some reason to hope again after so much tragedy. But, Mr. Khavkin and Aunt Maria both have plans of their own. Soon, Lena, Lyosha, and Olenka will learn to be three against all.