When he reaches age 18, Peter is released from the children's home where he grew up, but this does not mean he is truly ready for adult life.

The law student Caroline and the assistant professor Tom are husband and wife, but they keep their marriage a secret. While Caroline is afraid of annoying her mother Hella who ever since her divorce twenty years ago distrusts men in general, Tom dreads the criticism of his professor, a family law specialist who objects to the concept of marriage. By chance, Caroline gets hold of some juicy information: Her mother and the professor used to be a couple and she is their child. With almost missionary zeal she addresses herself to the task of convincing the two grown-ups to get back together. In the process, however, she steers both her academic studies and her own marriage into a crisis.

Little Felix Grosser is given a chest full of tin toys by old Mrs. Goldberg. The woman had once saved the toys for her future grandchildren, but her children were too busy working to start a family. Now Felix receives the old toy and Mrs. Goldberg warns him not to let it fall into other people's hands. Felix takes a white, dancing "magic horse" from the chest into his nursery, along with various other items. His parents, who are busy remodeling the bathroom despite a lack of materials, only find out after a while that the pony is a gift from Mrs. Goldberg, who no longer lives in the house. They have no idea about the chest full of toys in the attic.