Boba was walking through the halls, thinking to himself, when he heard a little commotion coming from the guest quarters where the Madrigals were staying.

"I'm eighteen! I can make my own choices of who I like and date!"

"I'm only trying to protect you!"

"From what? Tech poses no threat. And I can always use my gift to defend myself if I need to."

Uh oh. Boba thought. He decided to see what was going on.

And when he looked into the room, he saw Mila and Bruno arguing.

"Papa, I've been doing things for myself since I was five!" Mila said. "I've been using my smarts to help other people make the right choices all my life, so why can't you just once let me make a decision for myself."

"You were allowed the decision not to let anyone know your gift."

"Doing that was a smart decision. You saw how Mirabel got treated for not having a gift. And in the end, people learned to appreciate both of us with or without gifts."

"None of those people tried to date you."

"Tech might not be some hunk like Mariano, or big and strong, but I know he's a good guy. Doesn't it matter to you that I've finally found a guy I connect with who isn't related to me?"

"He's not good enough for my daughter. No one is!"

"Ugh! I can't stand you!"

Mila telepathed her father into a chair and angrily left the room.

Boba peeked into the room as Bruno picked himself up.

"I couldn't help overhearing." Boba said.

"This is a family matter." Bruno said, dusting off his freshly cleaned ruana.

"I know it's not really my business, but I think you might be acting a little overprotective of Mila."

"I only want to keep her safe."

"From what, exactly? I haven't known any of the Bad Batch that long, but I know they mean well. Believe it or not, my girlfriend's father acted the same way you did when he first met me. He didn't think his daughter should date an ordina, a non-magical being, much less someone who did some... bad things he's not proud of."

Bruno, however, was pretty stubborn where his children were concerned.

"I get it," said Boba. "You love your kids. You've already lost Rosella and don't know where she is, and you're worried about losing your other daughter too."

Bruno was surprised when he heard those words come from a twelve-year-old's mouth. He wasn't sure if it was because of how education worked in this world or there were a number of children who were smart and/or mature for their ages in this world, but somehow it seemed as though Boba could see right into him.

"I cannot lose one of my children again." Bruno said. "I don't need to have visions to know that I would never forgive myself if I let anything happen to my Milagro."

"I know how you feel." Boba said. "I feel the same way about my sister. When we met, she showed me all kinds of compassion even after she found out I was on a revenge quest. But then she showed me a better way, and I couldn't forgive myself for putting her in danger. And since I got adopted, I've tried so hard to be a good brother and keep her safe. Sometimes I wonder if I'm good enough for the family."

"But Mila is wanting to be with a guy, not her brother." Bruno pointed out.

"I know. The point I'm trying to make is... you gotta learn to let go. Mila's growing up, my sister is growing up. I'm growing up. So, you have to grow up too and see that Mila's smart enough to make her own decisions and learn from her own mistakes. Inventors always face setbacks, but have any that Mila faced stopped her?"

Bruno thought about it for some time. Over the years, Mila had built more inventions in one month on her own than an entire construction crew did in a year. Many of them were amazing, but they didn't always work the first time.

There was always a matter of recalculating velocity, angles, trajectories, finding more efficient material, adding or subtracting certain amounts of specific ingredients, and figuring out how to test things safely. But, no matter how many setbacks she faced, Mila was determined to see that her invention succeeded.

Many times, Bruno even spotted Mila talking to a sketch or prototype of an invention, telling it, "I won't give up on you. People don't know it yet, but they need you." Just like she always told Mirabel that she would never give up on her the way Abuela did when she didn't get a gift.

Mila also knew just about everything about everyone in the Encanto. She didn't need the miracle to give her magic for her to have a perspicacious, vigilant mind. It was her who diagnosed that Pedro had anxiety, pulled Mirabel through emotional times, and created medicines that helped the Encanto's doctors cure a lot of patients whenever they couldn't get Julieta's food for any reason. If Mila could help so many people with her intelligence, why shouldn't Bruno trust her decision on who she dated.

Mila had also been the one to pull herself out of what could've been a horrible relationship. Turned out her acting skills helped her expose the boys' true colors and teach them a lesson about underestimating a beautiful girl's intelligence.

"Tell me," said Boba. "Did your wife's family accept you at first?"

Bruno thought again. He remembered how people called him Bad Luck Bruno for the longest time. But then on his sister Julieta's wedding night, he was met by the beautiful dance instructor who helped Augustine learn to dance, Alicia Martinez. People were shocked that she wasn't afraid to get close to Bruno, especially the man himself. They were even more shocked when they kissed for the first time. Alicia and Bruno fell madly in love, but Alicia's older brothers were not so quick to accept him.

Alicia had lost her parents at a very young age, leaving her brothers to raise her into adulthood. They had always been so overprotective of their one and only sister, and didn't trust any other man with her... especially Bad Luck Bruno. But, Bruno fought for her. He stopped looking into the future and giving prophecies for three months. No bad prophecies, no one could blame him for anything. At least, that was his theory.

Bruno came to Alicia and told her he would give up his magic completely just so he could be with her. He began training his rats to deliver messages and started sending them to Alicia's bedroom with a message he wrote himself. He even parkoured up to her balcony one night to profess his love for her in person. He knew he was taking a huge risk, but he knew that it might be the only way he could prove how much he wanted to be with her and that he wasn't bad luck. And because he fought so hard for her, his mother convinced Alicia's brothers to allow Bruno to get down on one knee and propose to the love of his life (mostly because from her perspective, the chances of there being another girl who wanted to marry Bruno were slim to none). And here he was now, married to Alicia with three beautiful children, one of whom was still missing.

"Tech is learning everything about talking to girls, getting to know your daughter specifically, and learning to dance, all things he knew nothing about before, just so he can have the chance to know if she's the one." Boba said. "The fact that he's doing so much for the first girl who's ever made him feel the way he does now... if you think that's not good enough for Mila... then what is?"

"No, Tech. Don't look at your partner's feet." Carmine instructed. "Watch how you're holding her!"

Caroline was helping Tech learn to dance with a partner, but Carmine got a little on edge seeing his wife in another man's arms. He wasn't normally the jealous type, but the last time he saw Caroline in another man's arms like this was back in music school when another guy wanted Caroline for himself.

"Carmine, relax." Caroline said.

"I'm only holding her as instructed." said Tech.

"Just watch how much you hold her," Carmine warned. "That's my wife you've got your arms around."

Caroline rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure who was more overprotective, her husband, her brother-in-law, or Bruno.