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Walking back down the aisle is easier.
Maybe it's because she's done it. She's said the vows, got all his names in the right order, managed not to faint. Maybe it's because William is walking beside her and they leave together as man and wife. Duke and Duchess. Maybe it's because she notices more of her friends on the way out whereas coming in she saw so many daunting important people.
Kate and Charlie. Thomas and Arthur. Zara and Mike. Their genuine pride is intoxicating in the best way and it lifts her spirits.
Jaclyn stops to curtsy to the Queen. It's lower than she would usually go, but her back remains lifted and she's kind of obsessed with the way her gown pools around her. William's grandmother, who is often so hard to read, smiles ever slightly under the wide brimmed yellow hat. Which is approval enough for her.
Outside the Abbey a carriage is waiting, four white horses pulling it along while men in fancy uniforms stand watch. It could've been a scene straight from a fairytale if it weren't for the waves of shouts that mixed with the clicks of cameras.
Before hopping into the carriage William slipped on the cap that went with his uniform and Jaclyn paused. Now was not the time to moon over how sexy her husband looked with the cap on. She was going to get in the carriage like a normal person and not blush like a fool. Not in front of two billion people.
"Are you alright?" William asked, taking her hands to balance her as Natania adjusted the train behind her. She nodded lip between her teeth to stop from saying something embarrassing.
Her attention was stolen from her husband by the softest intake of panicked breath. To the side of the carriage, where her attention snaps, Caleb's sensory headphones have fallen off and rolled under the carriage. She can only imagine what it must feel like to go from peace to chaos with a surprising jerk, and she nearly moves to ease his hyperventilating when Alice jumps into action.
Her hands cover his ears while little Tom Pettifer helps Natania retrieve the headphones, but it's only when they're placed securely back on Caleb's head that Jaclyn fully relaxes into the bench beside Will.
