It was summer time. The middle of June to be specific. And Jake and his father had just come home from his latest baseball game. Jake had played spectacularly in an extremely close match up that was neck and neck until the last inning.

Jake was all over the field, catching balls that had been close to a home run, throwing to first base to get the easy outs, and making home runs himself.

His dad was super proud of him. “That was awesome to watch, Son,” Jake’s dad said, “You scored 7 runs. Just the same as your other two games. You keep up a pace like this and you’ll have 91 runs by the end of the season.” 

Jake smiled with pride, knowing he had indeed been doing well. “I have been doing pretty good at batting, but did you see the catches I made, Dad? It had to have been like 12 outs I caught!” Jake exclaimed. “That’s right son. I think you had one an inning until the last two. You really came in clutch there at the end,” 

Jake and his dad were nearing the house. They could smell the cooking Jake’s mom had ready for them.

“What do you think we’re having tonight?” Jake asked. His dad replied, “Well, knowing your mother, it ought to be something wonderful. And if not, you just tell her that so we don’t upset her.”

Jake laughed, knowing full well his mother took as much pride in her cooking as he did in his ball playing.

Jake often enjoyed her cooking, but it was best for him to never let her think otherwise if that wasn’t the case.

As they got closer, Jake’s dad asked him, “Hey sport. Wanna work on a little bit of conditioning?”

“What do you got in mind, Pops,” replied Jake. His dad explained, “Well, I bet you I can beat you to the house.”

“You bet?” Jake laughed. “Well, dad I think you’re a bit too old to be running like you used to. But if you want to make a wager, how about this? If I win, we get to have ice cream for dessert.”

“Before bed?” Jake’s dad thought hard. “Fine. But if I win, you have to do the dishes and the laundry for the next week.” “Deal!”