[May 18, 2012]

The big day has come for Tyler and Eduardo. Graduation day. A lot of people would be congregating by the parade ground, their parents included, and so would their girlfriends. Luckily, it's Mei and Abby's day-off from work, so they definitely would be one of the spectators to attend the graduation.

Being a good 2 to 3-hour drive away from Toronto, Mei and Abby decided to book an Airbnb the previous night a week prior to avoid any hassle they might encounter if they travelled during the day.

The two had a conversation as they took their breakfast.

"Good thing your parents allowed you to come to Kingston despite you working in your family salon as a second job,"

"Yeah, just needed to negotiate a bit and we were good,"

"And your parents, Mei, good thing Aunt Ming allowed you!"

Mei laughed her friend's remark off and continued eating.

Mei was wearing her red cardigan with her pink polo shirt underneath, and Abby was wearing a purple blouse. Both were wearing jeans for the day, which was an occasional sight for Mei as she normally wore a plaid skirt and blue leggings. Probably she didn't want her skirt to be flying in a potentially-windy parade ground.

"By the way, why didn't we join Tyler's parents in their Airbnb again?" inquisitively asked Abby.

Mei paused for a while, eyes enlarging at the thought.

"Dude…. You're right, why didn't we, anyway?!"

"They were inviting us, Mei, but I think it's better for us to use our own cash and not theirs for us?"

"Fair point, babe,"

As they left their Airbnb, Mei received a call from Ming. It was rare for them to actually speak in full Cantonese. Abby, not understanding a thing, simply stuck around with her bestie.

"How's your day in Kingston, Mei-mei?"

"Cool and great, we're leaving for the Academy now, what about you, mother?"

"That's good to know. Me and your dad will be doing grocery shopping before we open the temple, and you're attending the dinner later, right?"

"Yes, mom, I'll be attending. Take care!"

"Take care too, Mei-mei. See you around, sweetie,"

Abby then turned to Mei after they hung up and said,

"Dude, it's like the first time in ages I heard you and your mother speak in Cantonese, how amazing!"

Mei chuckled and then replied,

"You'll hear more of it soon, don't worry!"

This time, it was Abby bringing the wheels. The two then hopped into her car, a grey Toyota Prius, and went for the academy.

Moments later

The parade had begun. As the troops marched in, Abby, Mei, Tyler and Eduardo's parents recorded them with their cameras. The pipe and brass bands came in first, followed by the corps of cadets in red tunics. An hour later, the graduation/passing-out parade had concluded and the graduates marched out, Tyler and Eduardo holding their sabres. Marching out of the arch, they eventually regrouped with their parents… And girlfriends.

"General salute, present, arms!" commanded Tyler with Eduardo who saluted his dad with their swords.

"Cool job, 4 years was pretty fast, airmen!" cheered Tyler's dad. "I remember the time we marched out of here, damn that was ages ago, son," Then, he returned the salute and the two boys ran to their parents and gave them huge hugs.

"You're so muscular, son!" chuckled Eduardo's dad, Lucas, frisking his son's body.

"And you look spectacular, mi amor!" cooed Eduardo's mother, Aurora.

The three had a group picture together, camera held by one of their classmates who graduated along with him.

Mei then quickly approached her boyfriend, Tyler, grabbing him from behind, arms wrapped around his torso.

"Hey flyboy!"

Tyler initially gasped at the unknown force that grabbed him, then turned around to see his girlfriend looking into him with a charming face and glittery eyes.

"Oh hey, sweetie!"

Tyler immediately grabbed Mei by the waist and had a long, passionate kiss together.

"You've changed, oh my gosh, you're a total champion!"

Smilingly, Tyler replied, "No, YOU ARE! If it weren't for your motivations and encouragements, I would have been part of the attrition rate,"

"Look at you now, you've made it, I told you!"

Tyler sometimes had breakdown episodes during his training, sometimes ranting to Mei that he'd want to drop out and return to his old life and be a basketball player/coach instead back home.

Abby was then standing from a distance and Eduardo caught her from the corner of his eye. They slowly approached together and came to a halt.

"Babe?" the two simultaneously said to each other softly.

Eventually, they shared a kiss and had pics together with Abby's camera, both selfie and someone holding it for them.

Eduardo, Tyler, Abby, Mei, and the boys' parents then had a group picture together to treasure the moment, and also for the girls to show to their folks back home 3 hours away. Eventually, the two reminisced the 4 years' memories they had from 2008-2012. They couldn't believe they're now commissioned officers of the RCAF. From then on, they decided to have a 30-day paid leave before they join pilot school in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

"What plane do you wanna fly if ever?" asked Ed.

A variety of thoughts then entered Tyler's mind. He was thinking of whether he'd like to become a Search & Rescue or Tactical helicopter pilot, transport pilot, or a fighter pilot.

"Perhaps I'm flying Transport. You?" replied Tyler finally.

"Hmmmm… Same, CC-177s or CC-130s look awesome, well, whatever the Air Force throws at us, I'm down for it,"

Returning to Toronto, there was a celebratory party for the boys at the Baker residence, attended by Miriam, Mei, Abby, and Priya, plus Mei's parents. Stacy was unable to attend as she had the flu and needed to rest.

"Get well soon, babe!" said Abby smiling on her phone as she was videocalling Stacy.

"Hey, don't forget your meds, girl," added Mei with Abby shifting her phone for the camera to focus on the former.

Returning the smile, Stacy then proceeded to drink water and her medicine.

"Thanks, guys! Oh and you two, Abby and Mei, your boys are now military officers, right?!"

Simultaneously, Abby and Mei let out "Yeah!"

The 4 girls then bid goodbye to Stacy together and hung up so the latter could get enough rest and feel better.

It was a celebratory dinner for the two boys consisting of pizza (and lots of them), roast beef, mashed potatoes, wine, and beers. Desserts of carrot cake baked by Ming, and Brownies made by Tyler's parents were also served.

Ming's carrot cake would be Tyler's birthday cake, with a "2" and "3" candle on top, signifying his age.

The boys, now commissioned RCAF officers, were wearing the less-formal versions of their dress blues: the No. 3B Service Dress. They wore their blue uniform pants but on the top were short-sleeved sky blue shirts with their surnames on nameplates above the right-side breast pocket, and ID cards in casings clipped to their left breast pocket flaps. Their shoulders now feature shoulder boards in a blue background illustrating a thick white line in between two thick black lines: 2nd Lieutenant. Below the lines are an all-caps "CANADA". The two placed their wedged caps under their left shoulder boards.

"Hey flyboy!" called out Mei to her boyfriend. "You want the panda? You're getting the panda!"

Everyone looked at her as she went full panda.

"Let's hear it for the birthday boy!"

Miriam then fired up the sound system playing Top Gun music, the appropriate tunes for the occasion. Mei then lifted Tyler, and as the besties yelled "HIP HIP, HOORAY!", with the 'hooray' part being Tyler lunged into the air by his girlfriend.

"CHILL OUT MEI YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME THROW UP" screamed Tyler almost feeling queasy, but he didn't really mind.

Noticing her boyfriend was starting to look queasy, Mei slowly dropped Tyler to the ground on both his feet first.

"With pleasure, baby boy," winked Mei.

Tyler, who was drowsy with all the lungings being held by Mei, sat down immediately with his slightly-tunnelling vision. Not wanting him to throw up, Abby quickly sprung into action and applied ointment on his nose, the mint soothing him of his dizziness.

"Thanks, Abby!" said Mei to her friend who offered help.

"With pleasure, Mei!"

The party continued on with beers and wine. The parents didn't really want to drink too much and so did the Besties, so there were leftover unopened beers.

[9:52 PM]

Party ended and everyone was preparing to leave after a good 15-minute cleanup of the living room and the kitchen. The Besties, Ming and Jin, Lucas and Aurora, and Tyler's parents would be leaving. The latter had packed bags.

"Wait, you're leaving, too?" inquisitively asked Ming to Tyler's parents, surprised.

"We're off to the Netherlands for our long-postponed anniversary date, Ming," smiled Tyler's dad. "We're transiting in Montreal."

"Amsterdam looks awesome, we're headed there!" added Tyler's mother.

Tyler's parents allowed Mei and Tyler to have a sleepover at their house, provided that Ming and Jin also know about it.

"Mom," said Mei to Ming. "May I sleep at Tyler's tonight? I promise I'll be back by Sunday, please!"

Ming and Jin looked at each other and Jin gave a facial expression that said "go ahead".

"Sure, so you could spend the weekend with your man after 4 years, sweetie," smiled Ming.

To Mei's amusement and excitement, she giggled a very soft "yay" to her parents.

"By the way, would you want us to drop you off at the airport, dad, mom?" asked Tyler.

"No, it's fine, we can join Jin and Ming, we planned this before." replied his dad. "Besides, we want this night to be yours with your girlfriend, son,"

"The house is yours for now, Tyler, Mei-mei." said Tyler's mum smilingly. "Oh, and these keys are yours for now, just give it back to Tyler a day before we're coming back," she added, giving a copy of the front door keys to Mei.

"Just message us if you need anything, Ty, Mei," added Tyler's dad.

"Will do, Auntie!" replied Mei.

"There's still leftovers, right?" asked Tyler.

"Yeah, just look into the fridge and you'll see," replied his dad.

Mei and Tyler then went for the Besties to bid goodbye.

"See you next week, Abby?"

"Definitely, I'll come visit the paedia ward as usual when I'm on break!"

"Bye ladies, bye Ed," bid Tyler and Mei goodbye as the girls entered Abby's car and Ed entered his family car.

"Bye mother, bye dad, see you on Sunday," said Mei as she turned back to her parents.

"Sunday, okay?!" sternly replied Ming who then calmed down in a split-second and added, "Have fun, you two,"

"We sure will!"

Tyler then turned to his parents and hugged them goodbye.

"Enjoy your 21 days in Europe, mom, dad!"

"Oh we will, and don't worry, enjoy your 2 days too with Mei, son!"

Tyler's dad then turned to his wife and said hushingly and suggestively, "and I mean ENJOY!", winking twice, in which he was greeted with a playful nudge to the forearm by his wife.

The two then bid goodbye to everyone after helping Tyler's parents put their bags into the trunk of Mei's parents' car. As the cars faded into the distance from both directions, both of them entered the house and closed the door for the night.

"Phew, what a day," exhaled Tyler, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Let's rest upstairs, shall we?" said Mei invitingly.

Both of them went upstairs afterwards. Tyler then opened his room to reveal a nicely-cleaned room, sheets and curtains replaced, and the air conditioning on. This was Mei's first time in the house's upper floor.

"Damn, your room still looks…" commented Mei.

"Awesome?"

"You guessed!"

Tyler's room was filled with basketball jerseys pinned to the walls from his favourite NBA teams, as well as a signed Toronto Raptors jersey and 2012 calendar on his desk, apparently coming from his father. He also has a dartboard on the wall, then he pinned his Royal Canadian Air Force 2012 calendar onto the wall.

"How I wish I'm as sporty as you for you to collect all these things,"

"You don't need to be athletic to collect stuff, babe,"

"I mean, I do play volleyball and badminton but not as competitive as you, Ty,"

Tyler just simply smiled and removed his service wedge cap from under his left shoulder.

"So, you're gonna dress up or what?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure, but I think I'm changing in the bathroom for now,"

Mei then brought her stuff into the bathroom and changed her clothes. Tyler then unbuttoned his shirt, hung it on a hanger, then removed his pants and put on a fresh pair of shorts from his cabinet.

When Mei finished, she left the bathroom wearing just an oversized sweatshirt, barefooted. She then put on her bunny slippers from home and made her way to the bed, lying down.

"Awfully tiring day!" groaned Mei, resting her head into one of the pillows.

From the other end of the room, Tyler could see what was under his girlfriend's shirt and went hard, but didn't allow himself to be fazed by it, and instead focused on his model aeroplane collections of varying makes, models, and liveries.

"You…. You okay, Tyler?"

Tyler continued distracting himself from what he'd just seen. Muttering to himself, he was reciting the liveries of the model planes with stands.

"Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Saudi Arabian, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Aeroflot Russian Airlines, Air China, Vietnam Airlines,"

Discerning what Tyler was trying to distract himself from, Mei quickly removed what's under her shirt, below the waist, and threw it at him on the back of his head.

Tyler felt a thump on his head and flinched. Looking back, he saw Mei looking at him mischievously and was laughing.

"You saw that earlier, didn't you?!" laughed Mei. She noticed his shorts bulging in the front as he was looking at her nervously.

Tyler gave a sly laugh but deep inside, he felt like he asked for it. He then bent down to pick up his girlfriend's stuff.

"I don't want you to just give it to me," said Mei suggestively with an evil look.

"And your point is?" asked Tyler.

"I want you to put it back on me, hotshot,"

Tyler felt even harder down below.

"Put it back on me like you're inserting a magazine into your rifle or pistol,"

"Sure, anything for you, babe,"

Mei proceeded to give way, Tyler inserting her undergarment back on followed by tickling each other furiously. When they were done, Tyler then went under the sheets and wrapped his arm under her waist and had a moment together, talking about random stuff and life.

"Did you miss me in your 4 years' training, babe?"

"You're stating the obvious, baby… Aren't you?!" chuckled Tyler. "What about you, did you miss me?"

"Missing you…. Did I miss you? Just kidding, I really did… But you're gonna be off for 30 days, right?"

"Yeah, you got that right! Then me and Ed would sign up for pilot training in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, probably we'd spend 12 months there, more or less,"

"Hmm, nice," replied Mei. "Then what happens after you complete flight training?"

"We earn our wings and we're pilots by then,"

"Great! So what happens next?"

"Assignment to our first official duty stations, and possible deployment to other bases within Canada and abroad,"

"Cool! Hope you get assigned to Trenton,"

"Same thoughts, Mei… Same…"

Now it's Tyler's turn to inquire about her girlfriend's life.

"So how's work lately, Mei-mei?"

Feeling tired hearing that question, she sighed and rolled her eyes. Finally, she uttered,

"Well, work is let's just say…. Work" grinned Mei slyly.

"Go on,"

"Imagine the amount of patients you deal with daily, some of them really sick to the core, recovering from injuries, blood, burns, and all"

"Mhmmm"

"What I really hate the most is that….Sometimes you'd get thrown up on,"

"Damn, that feels like shit, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does, heheh," stammered Mei.

"And I believe you've never panda'd at work, did you?" followed up Tyler intently.

Laughing at Tyler's question, she replied, "Huh, what panda?! Just kidding, I've never panda'd, and not even my tail nor ears have popped"

They continued talking for hours. Mei suddenly realised she didn't bring any presents for her boyfriend's birthday (and graduation).

"Fudgsicles, babe!"

"Ey what's up?"

"I didn't bring any presents…." replied Mei ashamed, her panda ears and tail suddenly sprouting.

Tyler rested his hands on Mei's face and caressed it slowly.

"Mei-mei, my love…. Your presence IS the present."

In awe at Tyler's words, Mei looked at him and slowly smiled.

"Are you… Serious?"

"I wasn't speaking Spanish, Mei,"

The two then cuddled and that's when things went south: as they were cuddling, they slowly started to inspect each other's body parts and in no time, changed to their birthday suits. Tyler put on protection and Mei took a pill she brought from home, then had a really, really good time.

Minutes later, when they were done, Tyler disposed of his used protection. They were suddenly hungry in the middle of the night.

"How about pizza?" asked Tyler panting, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Sounds good, just get margherita," replied Mei, groaning from all the pressure (and pleasure) she felt.

Happiest birthday ever. 2nd Lieutenant Tyler Nguyen-Baker at 23.

To be continued

A/N: Snackasm, you have returned! Thanks for your review, and by the way, I highly applaud "Looking in the Mirror"! Kudos to it being the most-reviewed Turning Red fanfiction on this website. You rock!

Decided to go a bit smutty here. I might post an unfiltered version this on Archive of our Own (AO3), but for now, that's gonna be far from reality.

Stay tuned for the next chapter :)