"Okay, so I will buy New York from you!" She says taking the most expensive tile you have in the game. You're playing monopoly together, and she is holding a 17-0 win streak against you in board games.

"How are you so good at this? How do you get such luck!"

"It's not luck, it's skill." She says with a smug smile.

"Nuh uh! These cards threw me into jail 4 times, while you got free money and a 'get out of jail'; you got all but one of the most expensive tiles, you land in your houses everytime; and haven't lost a single board game yet!" You protest while posing like a lawyer in a trial.

"Geez, talk about drama. Just sit down and let's get this over with." She says rolling her eyes.

"Taxes..."
"One more house in Los Angeles!"
"Go to jail!?!?"
"Paris!"
"...I will sell my houses..."
"Milan, oh, I want to go there someday."
"..."

"What did you get?!" Brandy asks worried about your silence.

"I got bankrupt. I guess we can't wim evertime. But it's alright, maybe next time." You say holding back your frustration in losing everygame.

"Oh come here. I should go easier on you, I'm sorry..." She says hugging you.

"No, I can learn how to win. Just need a little practice. I will beat you!" You tell her with a confident smile and she chuckles.

"Well, how about we eat dinner and watch a movie after? There are no losers in movies." She asks excited.

"Sure, but I disagree, villains always lose in movies. There are losers in movies, the poor, misinterpreted villains!" You say being extra dramatic and holding back a snicker.

She rolls her eyes and stands to leave for the kicthen. "You are great at this you know that?"

"Hihihi!" You laugh dumbly.

You follow her to the kitchen and sit at the counter, watching as she pulls the ingredients and tools out. You look at her cutting the vegetables and feel like you should be helping out.

"Mom, is there anything I can help with in cooking dinner?" You ask her while giving a inquisitive look.

She thinks for a moment, looking around for something you can do, before smiling and nodding.

"Yeah, you can peel the garlic. Just squish it lightly against the counter until it cracks and peel." She says and shows how to do it.

"Okay, how much garlic?"

"Three cloves please."

You squish the garlic against the counter and a satisfying crack can be heard, you inspect the garlic and just like your mom said you can easily peel them. "OOOOH!" You say excited, your tail swaying left to right in amazement. You smash the three cloves and hand them to her, watching as she skillfully chop them into tiny pieces. 

She takes the onion and cut both the top and the bottom and peels it too, then cutting it into rings.

"What are we having?"

"Chicken and vegetables, you're okay with that?"

"Sure, I like it."

To be honest, after living in the streets and starving for a year, you don't pick what you eat. Sure, you have foods you like more, but you wouldn't refuse anything served to you. 

She grabs another pot and fills it with water, she then gets broccolis, potatos, carrots, and more; throwing them in the pot along with salt. She puts a twenty minutes timer and starts working on the chicken, she takes it out and slice it into cubes, she throws them in the pan and light the stove. Stirring them every once in a while, getting all sides a perfectly golden brown.

You look at her humming and wonder. "Mom, what's your favorite food?" You ask her.

"Lasagna." She doesn't even think before answering. "It's so good, every layer is a bomb of flavor!"

"I had lasagna once, it was indeed really good..." You think about what is your favorite food, but you can't think of anything. "Mom, I don't have a favorite food I think... Is that weird?" You ask her with a somewhat sad face.

"Well, did you have many culinary experiences?"

"Culinary means food?" You ask and she nods. "No, most of the time it was because I was too hungry, and the orphanage didn't have money to make anything special..." You say sad that you lost a lot of things because you were homeless or in the orphanage.

"Hey Sam, don't worry. I promise you, we will find your favorite food. And whenever you feel like cheering up, you will just say the word and we will be having that." She tells you with a confident smile and you cheer up again, your tail swaying even more than before.

"Do you have a favorite colour?" She asks you.

"Hm, purple, I saw a beautiful purple flower once in the park, and loved the colour since then."

"Ohhh, that's so cute! Mine is red, no cool reason behind though."

"Surely there is, you just don't remember."
She looks at you with surprised face. "Maybe you're right, surely we can try to jog my memory later."

You two keep asking eachother questions and getting to know eachother better until the food is ready. You two eat while talking, both of you telling stories. After you two finish eating she tells you to take a bath and you do so. She puts you to sleep and you get an idea.

"Mom, you said at some point that you need to do more exercises right?" You ask her with a plan in mind already.

She pinches her belly and frowns. "Yeah, I do."

"We could jog together tomorrow! That would be a great thing to do together! Can we?!" You ask her excitedly.

She looks uncertain but agrees. "Sure Sam, we can jog together."

The next morning, you wake up early, before Brandy even, and wait for her to eat breakfast. You remember her what she said and she rolls her eyes, after your breakfast, you two go outside and stretch.

"Mom, now it's time for MY winstreak!" You tell her smiling smugly and she gives you a annoyed face.

"Ain't you a little sore loser, huh?" She says chuckling.

And with that you run. She tires and you go back to hand her water with the same smug smile.

"I deserve it-" She huffs out of breath. "I went overboard-! With the board games-!"

"Nah, we even now. I can learn how to play those board games, and you can learn how to keep up with me..." You say with a cheeky smile and she rolls her eyes.

You turn around and run off again. You think about how things changed and how you're finally winning.