Author: NCISskittlesvampy TIFF

Rating- PG

Disclaimer- I don't own anything but Maddie's mom's name and the other neighbor, Lynette Preston, and her daughters Michelle and Lacy. I also own her husband, Michael, a staff Sergeant for the Marines. The song is called 'Sleeping with the Telephone' by Reba McEntire and Faith Hill...they own it...not me...

A/N- I'm at a roadblock on my other story, Wasted Whiskey, hopefully this will give my mind a chance to think of new ideas. This is a pre-show fic and slightly A/U...Shannon and Kelly don't die...

Feedback: this is a one-shot...so go ahead and post replies here...

Classification-angst...pure and simple

Summary: Shannon Gibbs thinks about her husband while her neighbors do the same.

Shannon Gibbs sat in bed with the phone in her hands. Her daughter, Kelly Gibbs was asleep the next room over. On night's like this, a stormy night, Shannon missed her husband, Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Shannon missed his arms around her during the storm. She missed the way he'd rub her back when she was worried about the storm...

But most of all she missed him. She had known what she was getting into when she'd married him. She just hadn't known he'd leave her only eight short months after the birth of their daughter. That had been almost two years ago, 21 months, 1 week, 3 days, 6 hours and 35 minutes to be exact.

Faith:

I knew who he was when I took his name

In somehow knowin'

Its just not the same late at night

He knows the danger

But he does what he does

He call it duty

But I call it love

So here I am

While he's gone

To some foreign land

Next door, Lindsay Tyler was having the same dilemma. Her husband was in Gibbs' unit. She missed him terribly. Her daughter, Maddie, didn't understand why her father wasn't there for her. Lindsay hated seeing her daughter like that. Sad, lonely, and hurt. The child didn't understand what was going on.

Both:

And I cry

Cause I'm alone

And the nights get so cold and long

And I try not to think he won't come home

But I'm sleeping with the telephone

Lindsay missed her husband. She missed the look on his face when Maddie did something funny or cute. She missed the way he looked at her in the morning. Yet she knew he had to do it. When she walked outside every morning to get the paper, she saw Shannon Gibbs doing the same. Every night, Lindsay held the phone under her pillow, waiting for her husband to call home, to tell her he was okay. Over the past two years, she'd received 45 phone calls, 30 e-mails, and a couple dozen letters.

She missed her husband terribly. There was also a new neighbor, Lynette Preston and her two girls, Lacy and Michelle. The youngest of her kids, Michelle, was the same age as Maddie and Kelly. The older one was three years older than the girls.

Reba:

The yellow ribbon on my neighbor's gate

Always reminds me that someone's awake

Just like me

I hear the sirens

And I watch the news

He laughs and leaves with his gun

And his blue uniform

And I pray God keeps him safe from harm

Lynette Preston was sitting in front of the fire, holding a picture in her hands. It was a picture of her and Michael, her husband. It had been taken on the 2nd anniversary, seven years ago. Lynette sighed to herself. She hadn't gotten a phone call from Michael in two months. Both of her girl wanted to speak with their father. Lynette wanted to speak with her husband Today was their ninth anniversary and he hadn't even e-mailed. She knew that he was busy, she understood that, but she had hoped he would get time off to at least write her a letter.

Both:

And I cry

Cause I'm alone

And the nights get so cold and long

And I try not to think he won't come home

But I'm sleeping with the telephone

Reba:

I loose him in my darkest dreams

Faith:

And my blood runs cold

And my heart skips a beat

Lynette had only spoken to her neighbors a few times. Shannon and Lindsay seemed nice enough. They knew what she was going through, but Lynette wasn't known to talk a lot. Her daughters seemed to like to other women's children. Lynette was looking out the window when it happened. The phone in her hand rang. Simultaneously, Shannon and Lindsay's phone's rang also.

Reba:

So I get up

I can't take anymore

Both:

Sometimes I hate how much I love him

But everyday I love him more

Both:

And I try not to think he won't come home

But I'm sleeping with the telephone

Faith:

Something awakes me from where he should be

I reach for him...the telephone rings

THE END!!