It was four years before Buttercup joined the family. Her disposition was as bright and sunny as her nameflower. She became the pet of the family. Kali and Ban were too young to try to carry her about, but they tried anyway, and frequently hung over her cradle making silly faces and watching her laugh.

Briar Rose was now old enough to be a real help to me. She watched the baby for me when I needed to be about other tasks. And Addie would make up lullabies for Buttercup, and sing them for hours. Her grandfather and grandmother doted upon her, and when her father was at home, I scarcely had a chance to hold her.

You might think with so much attention she would become spoiled, but she never did. Instead she absorbed it all and gave it back. I never had to teach her the lessons of sharing as I had with the older children. As she grew, she expected everyone to like her, and she liked everyone.

This included Great-aunt Gerda, Tûk's aunt on his mother's side. She was a spinster with a sour disposition and an exaggerated notion of her own importance. She had never cared much for me-- considering me still a stranger, in spite of how long I had been wed to her nephew. She had shown disdain for all his children, until Buttercup.

Buttercup would go to her with a smile, holding out her little arms to be picked up and coddled, with every expectation that she would be. The first time it happened you could actually see the sour expression fade to be replaced by surprise and a shy smile. That opened the gate to the garden, and as time passed, Gerda became a much more pleasant person to be around.