Paco, the bubbly four-year-old nephew, climbed onto the couch next to Ben, who was visiting his girlfriend Gloria’s family for the first time. Ben wanted to watch the game, but knew it would be wise to make more friends.

“Hey, um…” Ben fished his keychain out of his pocket, attached to an RSA fob he used for work. An ever-changing six-digit LCD display showed the code he would need for the VPN.

“You ever seen one of these before? Every 30 seconds, you get a new set of numbers. Just like that. Tell you what, you keep an eye on it, and if it gets to 999999, you show me and… I’ll give you $50.”

“Wow!” Paco’s eyes widened. Enrique chuckled; he was Paco’s dad and Gloria’s brother.

Ben knew he had enough cash, just in case; but it was literally a million-to-one chance. He was amused at how intently Paco stared at the numbers, and found himself checking them from time to time.

823294

Ben smiled. Safe for another 30 seconds.

900231

“Getting warmer,” he joked.

571428

Getting colder.

714285

Hmmm. The same digits, rearranged; and he had seen those somewhere before.

857142

“Hey, kid…?” Ben said, knowing what was coming up.

999999

“I did it!” Paco said.

Ben fished out the prize money. “How did you do that? Enrique, did you see that?”

“Can I do it again?”

“Hey, Paquito, don’t take all the nice man’s money,” Enrique chuckled.

To Ben, he said: “Don’t worry, he didn’t break your device. You can still use it Monday, for your second factor.

“Paco has the gift. We all do, in different ways. It runs in the family. Kids learn by playing, right?

“Anyway, Gloria also has it, even if she didn’t show you yet.” Enrique folded his hands. “Benny, she likes you a lot. We like you too. And she wouldn’t take you back to meet us unless you were the one.”

Ben froze, his mouth half-open.

“Normally, in our culture, you have to ask the family’s permission before you ask for her hand in marriage. But you already have it. The hard part’s done. Now all you need to do is ask her.”

“That’s kind of quick…”

“She’s imprinted on you already. You’re gonna like being in this family. A lot of things most people worry about just go away. Money; health; success; it’s all taken care of. But I will say: if you break her heart, or hurt her in any way, it will turn out very bad for you.”

Ben managed his best customer service smile. “I would never do anything to hurt her.”

This was crazy. They’d been dating for six weeks. He was only 25, nowhere near ready to settle down. There was this cute redhead in marketing he wanted to take for a test drive someday. And that hot mom two doors down-

“Oh, Benito,” Enrique said, shaking his head. “Imagine how hurt Gloria will feel, knowing you have thoughts like that.”