A/N: This is the very first fiction I have ever posted and possibly the only I will ever post. It is just a little blurb of the conversation Michelle and Scotty might have had after their adorable duet. While I'm not sure it's entirely realistic for the characters to have such a serious talk, it is one I always wanted to see, namely Michelle expressing to Scotty the importance Hubbell played in her life, however brief their marriage.
Once the last chords of the ukulele had faded from the night, Michelle became aware of Scotty shifting uncomfortably beside her. Neither one of them was much good at dealing with vulnerability, and both of their soft underbellies had been exposed tonight. Michelle wondered if Scotty would apologize now and try to discuss the whole blow-up like the rational adults that they aspired to be, or if he was now gearing up for some non-sequitur into a harmless round of inconsequential banter. She was betting on the latter – they were good at banter – so she was surprised when she got an acknowledgment of some part of what she had said to him in the studio.
"He was a great guy, huh?" Scotty even sounded faintly apologetic. Michelle took this to mean that if she wanted to talk about her dead husband, he would listen. She hadn't realized until that moment, but she actually did want to tell Scotty about Hubbell. They were the only two men in her life who'd ever truly loved her, and all of a sudden she found herself wishing that they could have met.
She turned her head to look at her brother, to see from the look on his face how serious he was willing to be about this; the expression he wore was the closest thing to 'caring older brother' she had ever known to grace Scotty's face. She took a breath and looked back at the ukulele in her hands to give herself some composure. She hadn't really talked much about Hubbell since he died, and she so did not want another emotional episode like the one she'd experienced in front of the unfortunate Connor. For once, Scotty seemed to understand that he needed to be patient now, and he waited quietly until Michelle was ready to answer.
"Yeah," she began slowly, "he was wonderful. He was so kind. He thought I was smart, and beautiful, and special. Hubbell – "she drew a deep breath as she glanced at Scotty long enough for him to see how important it was for him to understand what she was about to say. "Hubbell loved me. He loved me."
Scotty didn't react for a few breaths of time, but when he did, he simply reached out a hand and rested it on Michelle's shoulder, squeezing gently so she'd know the weight behind the words he spoke next. Just as the silence was on the verge of becoming uncomfortable, Scotty lowered his head to speak softly in his sister's ear, "I'm glad."