The Royal Scandal | Prince William |

Me? Plotting?

June 26, 2017

The thing about the corner is that Jaclyn never knows when the news is going to break. It's a deliberate decision, so her shock can be as genuine as possible, but it leaves her restless.

For two weeks Jaclyn is on the edge of her seat waiting for her press secretary to barge into her office with the news. Not that it's really "news" more like a confirmation most people are already assuming. It's more the actions of the courtiers she worries over.

She does her best to ignore the constant flare of worry in the back of her head, but it's easy getting lost in the what ifs, which isn't good especially when she's working.

It doesn't help that the news is ablaze. Brexit is on everyone's mind, and even after years of deliberation the country remains divided. William and her parade around more if only to distract everyone, but she can't say how well it's working.

They keep the news turned off around the kids, closing them off to the world that's going up in flames.

But the world isn't disintegrating yet.

"Papa, again!"

Jaclyn watches her father toss PJ in the air, his usually soft expression elated. For his birthday they've spent the day outside in their private garden with her family, considering they'll spend the next week with his at Balmoral.

It's perfectly bright and evenly warm for a summer day, and everyone's taking the opportunity to be out in the sun. Leia is running around following Mia who's busy picking flowers. Each one she turns and holds up cheerfully for her grandma.

William is standing with her dad the both of them swinging her usually timid son around in the expanse of green grass that's enclosed by cobble paths.

"It's hot."

Caleb is beside her, fanning himself and scowling at the sky through his tinted glasses. They're both sitting under a canopy to keep their skin from burning a vibrant red that even sunscreen can't fight off.

He's seventeen, but so clearly on the edge of adulthood. He's got four inches on her now height wise, and his hair that flopped in his youth has been cut back so his eyes are on full display. The goggle glasses he once wore have also been traded in for simple black frames, but not everything has changed. His superhero shirts are still the same.

"Like really hot," he huffs with a disgusted twist to his lips.

"Hush." It's a sentiment she shares, which he sees in her closed lip grin. Still, Jaclyn reaches across the space between their chairs forcing his hands to stop pulling at the neckline of his worn shirt.

"I want to go in."

"I know."

"I could go in," he says with the same monotonous drawl.

"But you won't."

He huffs again, but falls back into his chair. They listen to the kids laughing, but he plugs his ears with a scowl whenever they come too close. He doesn't mind Leia though, she's allowed to come as close as she likes and is even given his land to lick.

Jaclyn notices he spends several intense minutes glaring at the flower beds around the garden, and she cranes her neck to see what it is that's got his brow so tightly knit. The rose bushes line up in shades of white and coral, and vines dangle from the flower boxes and pots placed on the brick walls. The kids love the petunias that turn their hands sticky when they pick them, but Jaclyn  will always be fond of the overly large hydrangeas.