The Royal Scandal | Prince William |

Pretty Pretty Girl

Her spoon swirls around the bowl of melting liquid taking another bite before it's gone. "You know, the chewable little ice nugget things?" She asks around the cold chucks of water and fruit.

"Only you child." But it doesn't sound exasperated or worn down, even with the catches in the call, and the undertones of electric energy pulsing between them Jaclyn can hear the softness her mom holds for her. She's positive right now the woman's eyes have softened and tears could spring to them at any second.

They're both aware of the fact that Jaclyn's only a month away from being thirty, a few months away from being a mother herself, yet it hasn't stopped Michelle from calling her sweet names like child, little girl, or my baby.

Her mom knows, most likely she's too self aware of the fact that her baby was having a baby. That her baby grew up right before her eyes, and she missed all of it. Jaclyn's not one to dwell on regrets, wasn't raised to do so, but her biggest one is allowing herself to be so far from her family for so long.

That's why asking her next question is so easy.

"Would you move out here? To London?" By the time the baby's one they were already planning on being settled in KP. They already spent so much time in London that it would just be easier, but having her family there already would make it all the better.

The other line goes dead silent and for a second Jaclyn thinks she's hung up, but then her mom sighs, heavy and crippling, and it's not exactly the reaction she was hoping for.

"Nevermind-"

"No, stop," Michelle asserts, and Jaclyn quickly bites her lip as they fall back into silence. "Jac, that's a big ask. Your father has a business, and an aggravatingly loyal mindset that he has to take care of his parents, and they won't ever leave Villa Grove. Not to mention your brother who's just adjusting to middle school."

It's another sharp reminder, the fact that her brother will soon be thirteen, and she might not get the chance to celebrate with him. The feeling of dread also ignites something within her, and she can feel her heart pushing back and fighting against her mom's arguments.

"Villa Grove has done nothing for us, mom. People boycott buying plants from dad just to spite us, they throw tabloids of me at you just to be cruel, and not once has anyone ever tried to understand Caleb." Her voice teeters on hysterical, a fact she will later blame on her hormones, and from the corner of her eye she catches William standing and moving closer. Not yet imposing, but ready all the same.

But it frustrates her to no end, the small-minded toxicity that weaves its ways through the cobbled streets of her home. How many churches refused to let them enter because Caleb was disruptive? How many people turned their noses up believing her parents were incompetent? How many times did her mom have to cry after picking Caleb up from school covered in bruises because no one knew how to safely restrain him when he got upset?

When was enough enough?

"Your lives could be so much better here," she whispers, trying to choke down excitement threatening to fill her with butterflies. Jaclyn starts to continue but her mom cuts her off. "And what about the press, Jac? Would you be able to keep them away from us?"

She hates that she can't say yes. The promise almost slips out as an immediate response, a way to ease her mother's worries and get what she wants, but her senses pull the falsity back down. Because she can pull as many strings as she wants, plead with Buckingham Palace to threaten every person with a camera, but at the end of the day people will do what they want.

"I can't, but it's not so bad. Dad could open up a business here, and you know it would be popular, and we could get Caleb into a good school. A school that wants to help him and knows how to do it. Doesn't that sound worth it?"

"I need you mom."

Those four words hang between, suspending for an eternity, pulling at their hearts till their pounding fiercely. Jaclyn's stomach flips with a flutter under her skin that narrowly feels like a kick, but is still too soft to tell.

When the baby settles, a hand over her belly tracing a familiar pattern, she continues. "I need you to help me raise this baby, I need you by my side if we decide to get pregnant again because this time has been scary enough."

"Sweetheart, you'll have plenty of people to help you," her mom's voice is frail, clogged with the tears backing up her eyes, and Jaclyn can tell she wants to say yes, but it's simply not that easy. But it's the worst kind of wound to not be there for your child, to think that your first grandchild will grow up thinking of you as a stranger.

"But it's different," Jaclyn says, turning to hide from William who's crept closer, "I love everyone here, but I still feel like a fish out of water, and I need to turn to someone in those moments and be reassured that I'm not crazy. I want my kids to have the childhood I had growing up, where you can work or bake cookies with grandma without a photocall and press there to capture the moment."

This time when she goes quiet Jaclyn knows she's in agreement. "I'll have to talk to your dad, but I don't want you to be alone over there. I don't want..." She stops abruptly, but Jaclyn already knows what she's thinking. It's what they all think but refuse to say.

God forbid history repeats itself

It's the unspoken fear amongst everyone around her. She feels it from the palace courtiers who talk to her cautiously as if she'll spill anything she's told. It's their within the excited hands she holds at each walkabout, people wanting to make her something big, but fearing the outcome. It's in her husband's eyes when he sees cameras follow them, imbedded like memories in his muscles when he wakes up from a nightmare.

She won't let herself be Diana 2.0, but it doesn't mean other people won't make her out to be.

"Well let me know, and I'll have someone from the palace set everything up," she says softly, hoping to casually ease away from the thoughts.

"The palace?" Her mother asks her voice jokingly aghast, but some of the shakey unsureness lingers. Still Jaclyn cringes thinking how that must sound.

"See this is why I need you here, to smack me upside the head when I start to sound pretentious."

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Lol don't judge my crappy faceapp edit, I'm not buying a Photoshop subscription just so I can continue to make subpar edits lol. Also I know Kate's portrait came out at a different time, but I'm gonna play with the timeline just a little bit.

In other news sorry for the short uninteresting chapter I'm setting things up that are to come! Those of you who expressed your want for more Lady M last chapter, well never fear she shall return in the next chapter for Remembrance Day.

Only seven (possibly eight if I can't fit Christmas into one) chapters left and then we'll be moving on to 2016 for a bit before we jump to 2018. You guys have no clue how excited I am! Let me know what you're thinking in the comments!!!