Kaja's Backstory, Chapter 2
#2 of Kaja's Backstory
Kaja loved her adoptive parents, but the bond that formed between them had nothing on that between her and Grima.
Grima had always wished for a sister, and so Kaja's arrival was like a dream come true. To Grima, the little Tauren girl was a cross between sister, imaginary-friend-come-to-life, and life-sized stuffed animal. She was always within arm's reach of her new best friend. And if she wasn't hugging the poor girl, she was holding her hand.
At any other time, such an outpouring of physical contact would have been uncomfortable for the naturally-shy calf, but as things were, it couldn't be more welcome.
Kaja embraced the new family that she needed so badly. And for the next several weeks, the girls were inseparable.
Agra peeked inside the children's room. The bed was made, but the covers were crumpled as if someone had been jumping on it. Grima's toys were distributed across the floor.
A pair of bare feet stuck out from under the bed. Beside them were a matching pair of hooves.
Grima sat the lunch plate on top of the bed. She laid down on the floor and peeked under the covers.
Grima was humming tunelessly and spinning her doll one way and then the other. Agra had seen Omagga (Grima's doll) dance many times before. Agra smiled. Omagga only danced when Grima was happy.
Beside her, Kaja was holding her doll (Halfa) and stroking its long, yarn hair. Kaja looked up at Agra with her big, brown eyes.
"Mom!" Grima groaned, "You're interrupting their party."
"Well, it wouldn't be much of a party without lunch. Is Omagga hungry?"
Grima shrugged.
"Well, I bet Halfa is hungry."
Kaja's eyes moved between the doll and her adoptive mother. The doll nodded with a full-bodied bow.
"I thought so," Agra said, setting the plate between them.
Grima took a single date from the plate and pretended to feed it to her doll. "Ew! Fennel. I hate fennel," she said with a wrinkled nose as she surveyed the rest of the day's fare.
Grima gave Agra a serious look. "Kaja doesn't like fennel either."
"Oh, really?" her mother said, disbelief apparent in her voice.
"Nu-uh." The orcish girl shook her head. The calf looked worried that her new mother would take the strongly-flavored roots away.
"Well, there's cheese too. And there's a piece of ham for each of you."
Agra stood up and straightened her skirt. She smiled at the distinctive crunch of fennel bulbs coming from under the bed.