"A happy childhood has spoiled many a promising life." Robertson Davies, What's Bred in the Bone(no kidding, that's the title, I nearly did an Angela-like squeal with excitement)
Longsuffering
From the time she entered the foster care system, Temperance Brennan's primary thought was when she could be free of it. At first, she was convinced that her parents would come back to claim her. They would explain what had happened on that fateful winter afternoon, vow that it would never happen again, and take her back home so that they could unwrap the presents she had so diligently preserved.
As the days melted into weeks and weeks, months, however, her hopes began to shift. If her parents could not liberate her for whatever unexplained reason, surely Russ would. He would see the error of his ways, spirit her away, and take care of her until she was old enough to go of to college on her own. Late at night, she would strain to listen for his call of "Marco" but all that filled her ears was an echoing silence.
Over time, she began to accept that she had been abandoned by both parents and sibling and she would no be liberated prematurely by anyone. Mentally, she began a countdown to emancipation that served as a tenuous tether to her hope when circumstances grew beyond what she could bear.
More and more she buried herself in her studies, trading whimsical childhood dreams for rational goals that would give her the means to be successful as an adult. Her intellect would not fail her as the people in her life had, and she learned to tuck her emotions as far away from the surface as possible so as to avoid further injury.
Finally, the day came when her internal countdown reached zero and she turned eighteen. The wait was over and it was time to get on with the rest of her life.