Node.js Q promises then () chain does not wait

I am trying to refactor the following code to avoid the callback addon by converting it to:

createUser(user_data)
  .then(createClient(client_data))
  .then(createClientPartner(clientpartner_data))
  .then(function(data) {
    cb(null, _.pick(data,['id','username']));
  }, function(error) {
    cb(error);
  });

      

        
        
        
      

    

As you can see, I created a method for each of the steps:

function createUser(user_data) {
  console.log('createUser');
  var deferred = Q.defer()

  new db.models.User.create(user_data, function(err, user) {
    console.log('createUser done');
    if (!!err)
      deferred.reject(err);
    else {
      client_data['id'] = user.id;
      deferred.resolve(user);
    }
  });

  return deferred.promise;
}

      

        
        
        
      

    

The other methods have the same console.log calls to be able to track the execution path.

I expect it to be:

• createUser
• createUser done
• createClient
• createClient done
• createClientPartner
• createClientPartner done

But instead this:

• CreateUser
• createClient
• createClientPartner
• createClientPartner done
• createUser done
• createClient done

Why do functions occur when the previous promise was not resolved? I expect that "then" wait until the previous promise is resolved or rejected to continue. Am I missing something important about promises?