Lovely Hues | Fillie AU

August 18, 1950

With her heart thudding rapidly against her ribcage, Millie's eyes shot open and were greeted with a black room flashing a furious yellow and white from the lightning outside. Sheets of rain slapped against the window as she struggled to catch her breath. The clap of thunder that pulled her from sleep still echoed in her ears and through the atmosphere.

But she wasn't anxious. At least, she wasn't anxious about the dream she had just been pulled from. On the contrary, she was overcome with peace—although the thunder still made her heart race—for it was love that her head had conjured up for her this evening. Or maybe it wasn't her head at all, but some mystical force of God that brought the dead back to life within the space of her sleeping mind.

She had been strolling down the street in London that she had been raised on—which should have been her first clue that she was dreaming—when she saw Louis waving her over to him. She pivoted and ran to him, having felt like she hadn't seen him in a long time. After they greeted each other with a kiss and a hello, they kept walking down the cobblestone path, arm in arm, towards their favorite cafe that overlooked the River Thames.

Once they arrived, they sat and ordered tea. As it was being brought to the table by the waiter, Millie heard a familiar voice over her shoulder, "Still can't believe you got me to like that stuff."

This familiar, American tinged voice should have been the second clue that she was dreaming, but maybe somewhere deep within her, she knew she had to believe it all in order to stay. So she didn't bat an eye when she stood up to greet Noah, standing just behind her, with a warm hug and a kiss.

When she turned back around however, she saw Louis looking up at the two of them, not the least bit concerned that his wife had just kissed another man and he simply sipped his tea. She felt a twinge of uneasiness at this but then Noah sat down and her two husbands shook hands like they'd known each other for years.

She wrinkled a brow at them and sipped her own tea as the two men conversed for a moment, like they were old university buddies, catching up on the latest in their lives. And then they both turned to her, looking like they had to tell her something.

Noah spoke first, "I've missed you Millie." he said, "And the kids, are they doing well?"

Bits of her reality began to surface in her mind like the feeding fish in the pond, "Y-yes, they are." she started, "Louisa talks about you everyday, and the boys. . ." She trailed off to think, "Well the boys look at your picture all the time, but honestly they're too caught up in roughhousing and attempting to learn baseball these days to talk much of anything else."

Noah smiled warmly and chuckled, his eyes looking to Louis, prompting him on.

"As much as I wish I was there for my girls," Louis said, "It was my time." It was matter-of-fact, yet still, a trace of wistful sadness could be heard in between his words.

She reached out and held his hand, her lips turning up in the corners into a consoling smile while her thumb ran lightly over the top of his hand. His eyes ran up her arm to her face and he smiled back. "But I made sure you both were well and fine, I wouldn't have been able to move on if I didn't know you were okay."

Noah thanked the waiter for his cup of coffee and chuckled, "Tea is great and all, but still no substitution for the real stuff." he sipped it and made a face, "Whew! Forgot how strong that was."

Louis laughed at him like an older brother and shook his head, "Been telling you that, mate." he said.

Sitting back, Millie watched Louis jeer at Noah for adding cream and sugar to his coffee that he normally took black, and she couldn't quite understand what was happening. Her two husbands, that she now remembered had died, were sitting with her as if this were a normal Sunday afternoon in the park. As if they weren't long dead and were just away on some trip. But as an old man and a young boy walked past, she remembered another dream she'd had.