Title: Long Live... (continued)
Characters: Pete Townshend, Cady Townshend, and family
Word Count: 2066
Rating: PG-13 [innuendo, language]
Warnings/Spoilers/Summary: Pete, Cady, and the family head to Miami for the Super Bowl. February 2010. Canon. Lots of spoilers.



Sitting in the rehearsal tent, Cady sighed and fanned herself. Pete and Roger moved about on the stage, making certain it all came together how they wanted. Sipping on her iced tea once more, she sighed, wishing she had stayed back at the hotel with the kids. Even if she had not been involved with the very design of the stage, Pete would have asked her to come. Therefore, when the wakeup call woke him to head down to the stadium, Cady dressed and dutifully headed there with him. Without anyone speaking to her for the past hour, she almost considered slipping through the crowd and making her way back to the hotel.

As she stood to do just that, Pete trotted towards her, “Baby, you need to come and see this from where I’ll be.”

Her eyes met his and she smiled, “All right, Pete.”

Taking his hand, she followed him through the crowd of technicians. Up on the stage, she smiled as he pointed out things excitedly. She found it worth everything just to have him smile and laugh like he was. In the very least, he was not stuck trying to break through his latest rock opera.

“We’re going to do a dress rehearsal to make sure all the lights work. Stay up here with me?” Pete requested.

“Anything you want,” she agreed.

Having been on stage with Pete less than a dozen times in the past forty years, she was not quite certain what to expect. Standing outside of the band’s immediate space, her eyes danced around as the light crew ran through the different effects while The Who tore through their twelve-minute medley. She was still glad Pete deferred to Roger on the medley, agreeing that it would expose more people to more of The Who’s genius than just playing a couple of songs all the way through. As the lights danced around, her eyes lit up even more. This was going to be quite the spectacle.

Once the last note hung in the air, the light crew scrambled about to make adjustments and Pete approached his wife. She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him quickly. Chuckling he squeezed her once more, before excusing himself to discuss the rehearsal with the rest of the band. She could not wait until that night when they would do another run-through – inside the stadium. Even the children planned to attend, getting to see a sneak peek of what millions of people would see the following night.



Lying in bed, Pete turned on his side, “Cady? Are you still awake?”

Rolling towards him, she touched his cheek softly, “Of course I am. Your tossing and turning is keeping me awake.”

“I’m… I’m sorry. I just… I can’t sleep,” he admitted.

Kissing him softly, her hand left his cheek to grasp his hand gently, “You’ve never been nervous before a show, Pete. Why this one?”

“Have you seen the size of that stadium? And I’m not exactly a young guitarist anymore.”

“So? You bring wisdom, experience, and so much more to the table, Pete. Thank god they didn’t ask Hannah Montana or the Jonas Brothers or someone else who has no music in them. You are going to blow… well not the roof off since there isn’t one… You are going to blow the minds of so many people, Pete. Tomorrow will be excellent,” she assured him.

“But–”

“You will be excellent, Pete,” Cady kissed him again. “Now sleep.”

“But–”

“Okay, on your stomach,” she instructed.

“What?”

“And take your shirt off.”

Doing as she instructed, he groaned as she straddled him and began to knead his back. In between her deep rubbing, Cady leaned down and showered his back with kisses. Between that and her long hair tickling his skin, he began to relax about the show.

He certainly was not fully relaxed at all. In fact, he was becoming aroused. With little effort at all, he rolled her off his back and quickly leaned over her. Cady giggled as he leaned down and kissed her. His hands pawed at her nightgown, working it up from her hips.

As his hand cupped her breast, Cady breathed, “See? Not too old at all.”

He chuckled, kissed her, and replied, “You make me feel years younger.”

“Mmmm, let me make you feel even younger,” she purred.

“I like the sound of that.”



Sitting in the media room, Cady smiled to herself as Pete and Roger entertained the gathered media with their guitars. She loved seeing Roger with a guitar in hand almost as much as Pete. It seemed to remind everyone that he was more than just a singer, though he certainly was still a powerful singer. She could even hear the murmurs in the crowd, commenting about that and about how impressed they were with The Who’s mere presence. She wished the others were there with them, but that was a daily wish that went unfulfilled.

As the guitars were set aside, Cady tensed. She knew questions were coming and just knew the lies of the so-called children’s groups were going to come up. Within moments, she wanted nothing more than to run up onto the small stage and hold her husband, protecting him from everything.

“Pete, there are a lot of people who are very excited about you being here. However, there are a number of children’s groups that are not. Could you address the issue in England and some of their concerns here about you guys playing at the Super Bowl at halftime?” an anonymous voice questioned in the back of the room.

Holding her breath, Cady listened to his answer.

“I’ve… it’s… I’ve been really saddened by it. And… and… concerned about it. It’s an issue that’s very difficult to deal with in sound bites. It’s a big thing. And um… it’s sad. I kinda feel like we’re on the same side. And um, that’s kinda really what I can really say. I think… I think… for a family that has suffered the issue of childhood abuse or anything of that sort… that um… vigilance, common sense, vigilance is the most important thing, not vigilantism. And I’m not trying to make a you know, pre-arranging statement here, but you know, I’ve been working as an advocate and uh, an agent in this kind of area of uh, of uh, research and fundraising for over forty years. It’s something… I have my own story, that some of you know and I would say that anyone who has any doubts about whether I should be here or not should investigate a little bit further. Everything that you need to knew, to know, is funnily enough is out there on the internet,” he answered, waving his hands around some.

Slowly she released her breath, though she still chewed on her bottom lip. The questioning continued, leaving that issue alone. They played another song acoustically before calling the media circus over so they could go prepare for the actual event. Cady rushed to Pete’s side and kissed him lovingly. He squeezed her tightly for a moment before they turned to head out of the media room.

“I love you, Pete,” she breathed, causing him to stop and look at her.

Their eyes met and he grinned, sneaking another kiss, one he was certain the media caught. Holding her hand, they left the room, onto bigger and better things.



Audrey leaned forward in the skybox, her brows knitted, “I think Dad forgot something.”

Refilling his beer, Alec turned around, “Shit! Why didn’t you tell me it started!?”

Zooey rolled her eyes, “Are you seriously on something tonight, Alec? There was only aloud announcement.”

“I know. I’m kidding,” he sat back down next to his younger sister, sipping his beer. “So what’s Dad missing?”

“Really? Just look at him,” the eldest sibling motioned at the stage.

Leaning forward Alec, squinted, “Nope. I don’t see it.”

“Look at the screen,” she instructed.

Sipping his beer, he looked at the large screen. He still did not see what Audrey was going on about. Shrugging he leaned back into his seat to enjoy his beverage while watching his dad condense forty years of a career into a few minutes.

“Do you think he’s gonna smash his guitar?” Alec asked.

Zooey responded, “Really? He hasn’t done that in a long time, Alec.”

“Since 2004,” he declared, “I think. He should do it tonight.”

“Will you just shut up and watch?” Audrey piped in.

All three of the children watched the rest of the performance without speaking. Watching their father set down his guitar at the end of the short performance, the three of them clapped along with the Daltrey family whom they shared the skybox. With little spoken, they decided to go down and meet up with their parents and head out of the stadium.

“Don’t mention his shirt,” Audrey commented as they entered the elevator.

“What? Why?” Alec asked.

Zooey rolled her eyes, “Because it was half-unbuttoned the whole show.”

“Oh. Well you try to windmill and see if your clothes stay perfect,” he instantly defended Pete.

Before the girls could say anything in response, the elevator reached the ground level and they headed out into the crowd to meet up with their parents. Everyone was talking about The Who. It made all three walk a little bit straighter, prouder right then. They were proud to be a part of The Who family.



Sitting in their parents’ hotel suite, Alec realized their luggage was still unpacked. His eyes went to his mother as she stepped out of the bathroom and smiled sweetly at him. While he knew she was used to packing quickly, he did not think she could pack their luggage in fifteen minutes. It would take any normal person at least an hour. Why was she not ready?

“I thought you were leaving today,” he commented.

Cady shook her head, “No, your father and I decided to stay a couple of days before heading to New York, especially since it’s cold and wintery there.”

“Oh,” his shoulders slumped.

“You can stay too, unless you wanted to hurry back to London?” she teased.

“Well I do have reason to get back there as soon as possible, but the weather is really nice here…”

“Call the front desk and extend your stay then,” she stated, sitting down to tie on walking shoes.

“Are you going somewhere?” he asked.

“You really do have to know everything, don’t you?”

Pete entered the living room from the bedroom, “He always has, love.”

“True,” her eyes went to her husband and she smiled. “Alec wants to stay with us for a bit longer.”

“You don’t have a date with Scarlet or anything?”

Alec flushed and shrugged.

Cady rolled her eyes, “If you’re staying you need to let the front desk know right away Alec. And change your flight. And let your older sister know that she’s flying alone.”

“Maybe Audrey will stay too?” Pete asked.

“If you’re inviting her to stay longer, Pete, you should invite Zooey too,” she pointed out.

“Yes, of course,” he picked up the nearest phone and rang the girls’ room.

A few minutes later, all the rooms were extended and flights changed. Waiting for the girls to arrive at their parents’ suite, Pete sat and pulled on his own shoes. Alec definitely knew something more was planned.

“Okay, tell me. What’s going on?” he asked.

A knock at the door interrupted the need to answer. Instead, Cady let the girls in. Alec barely let them sit before repeating his question to his parents.

Smiling, Cady sat on the armrest of the chair Pete was sitting in, “Well we figured since we’re here…”

“What?” Alec questioned.

“We’re going to Disneyworld,” she grinned.

The three adult kids looked at their parents, blinking and not saying a thing.

“You’re more than welcome to come with us,” Pete spoke up, “if you want, of course.”

“Come on. It’ll be fun,” Cady claimed.

A few minutes later, all five adults headed to the elevator. They were on their way to Disneyworld.

“I don’t know what got into Mum and Dad,” Audrey whispered to her siblings, “but they certainly seem half their age. At least.”

Alec scratched his head, “Do you think Dad’s gonna want his picture taken with Mickey Mouse?”