Joe Hardy was feeling pretty good about himself. He had just gotten to Las Vegas and had decided to try his luck at the quarter slots at the Saraphina Casino. He had never come to Vegas to do that–which was pretty stupid because everyone came here to take a gamble.

No, he had just wanted to get away from all of his problems–to have some time for himself.

And he was really impressed. He had been at the slots for a little over an hour now and had done pretty decent for himself. He had already won fifty dollars, but he was now starting to get tired. So, now against his better judgement, he put a few more quarters into the slot machine and was surprised to win twenty-five dollars.

Now, I'm done, he told himself. He looked at his watch and saw that it was close to midnight. He definitely needed to get some sleep. He hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours and it was starting to wear him down.

He collected his cash redeeming ticket from the machine and went to the cashier to cash it in. The cashier counted out him money to him, and he quickly pocketed it. He had heard stories about people hanging around the casinos, waiting to rob people to had just won and he wasn't about to be one of those people.

Joe was making his way to the elevators when he heard crying nearby. He turned around to see a beautiful woman sitting on a bench in front of the massive fountain that greeted everyone as they walked into the casino. He was really tired and the last thing that he needed was to worry about someone else's problems. But he couldn't just let her sit all alone like that.

Sighing, Joe made his way over to the woman.

"I'm sorry," Joe said hesitantly. "I don't mean to intrude on you, but I couldn't help but hear you crying. Is there something I could help you with?"

The woman looked at him with a glare.

"I'm sorry." Joe said, stepping back. If she didn't want his help, he wasn't going to press it. He turned and started back for the elevators.

"Wait," the woman called.

Joe turned back to look at her.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that," she said, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"It's okay," Joe said. "You're obviously very upset."

"I shouldn't be out here, crying like this in front of everyone. I'm only begging for attention when I do this." She said with a small smile.

Joe sat down beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm sure you don't want a complete stranger to pour out all of her problems to you." she said.

"Well, let's change that." Joe said. He held out his hand. "I'm Joe Hardy. And you are–"

The woman looked at his hand and smiled. "Abby Collins," she said, shaking his hand.

Joe smiled at her. "See, now we're not strangers. So tell me what's bothering you."

Abby sighed and then looked around nervously. "Can we go somewhere else and talk?"

Joe noticed her nervous glance. "Sure. I have a room here. Would that be okay?"

"I don't know," Abby said, nervously

"Don't worry." Joe said. "I have a girlfriend. I'm not trying to get with you."

"I'm sorry." Abby said with an embarrassed smile. "It's just, this is–"

"–Vegas, I know." Joe said. "Come on."

Joe and Abby took the elevator to the eighth floor and Joe led the way to his room. When they got in there, Abby sat down on the sofa in the room and Joe got her a glass of water. Abby took it gratefully and took several sips from it. Joe sat down across from her, waiting for her to finish drinking.

"So, what's bothering you?" he asked. "And it can't be nothing because not many people will cry in a casino full of people."

"I think I may be in trouble," Abby said.

Joe looked at her with concern in his eyes. "What kind of trouble?"

"I guess I should start from the beginning." Abby said. "First of all, I work here. I'm the star of Goddess of Dance–it's our stage show that we have here. I also happen to dating the owner of this casino, Stuart Grayson."

"Seems like you're doing pretty well," Joe said.

Abby forced a small smile. "Yeah. That is, until tonight."

"What happened?" Joe asked.

"I saw something that I shouldn't have." Abby said, just above a whisper.

"Abby, what was it?" Joe said, worried about the fear in her voice.

"I saw Stuart and his goon kill someone. And now I think they may have seen me." Abby said.

"Did you call the police?" Joe asked.

"Are you kidding?" Abby scoffed. "In Vegas, the police are bought off, especially by the casino owners. If they do something, the police look the other way. So if I go in, telling them that Stuart killed someone, they'd never believe me."

"You have to tell someone, Abby." Joe said.

"I know what Stuart is capable of," Abby said, that fear rising in her voice again. "I know what he's like when he gets angry. It doesn't matter if we're dating or not, he won't let me live if he knows what I saw."

"Then let me help." Joe said.

"And how can you do that?" Abby asked.

"I'm a detective. I can get you out of this mess and make sure that Stuart pays for this." Joe said.

"I couldn't ask you to do that, Joe. I just met you; you don't know me well enough to trust anything that I'm telling you." Abby said.

"Let's just say that I'm a pretty good judge of character." Joe said. "Like I said, don't worry about anything."

"Joe wake up! Joe!"

Someone was shaking him, Joe realized dully. He opened one eye to see Frank looking at him frantically.

"Joe, you need to get up!" Frank said, in a harsher voice.

Joe shot up from the couch and began to look around. Frank stared at him quizzically.

"What are you looking for?" Frank asked, impatiently.

"Nothing," Joe said. "It's just..."

"Just what?" Frank asked.

"I think I'm remembering a little bit from the other night." Joe said.

"What?" Frank asked. "Joe, that's great! What do you remember?"

"Meeting Abby. She was crying and I stopped to see if I could help her. She blew me off at first, but then I got her to come to my hotel room and she said she was in trouble." Joe explained.

"What kind of trouble?" Frank asked.

"She said that she was dating the owner of the Saraphina–Stuart Grayson–and that she saw him and one of his guys killing someone. She was scared that they had seen her. But that's all I got before you woke me up." Joe said.

"This is big, Joe." Frank said.

"No kidding," Joe said. "Now, what were you in such a panic about?"

"It's Nancy–she's not here." Frank said.

"Where is she?" Joe asked.

"I don't know," Frank said, shaking his head. "She was gone before I woke up."

"Have you tried calling her?" Joe asked.

"Not yet," Frank said. "I wanted to see if you had seen her first."

"I haven't." Joe said. "But Nancy never goes anywhere without leaving a note or something. Did you see one?"

Frank looked at Joe, a little embarrassed. "I didn't look. I just woke up and overreacted."

Joe rolled his eyes at his brother and sighed. He then turned and looked at the table behind him and saw the note that Nancy had left.

"Uh, Frank." Joe said, holding up the note.

"Not a word," Frank said, taking the note. He read it and let out a sigh of relief.

"What does it say?" Joe asked.

"She went to the doctor." Frank said. But then his face clouded in a mask of hurt. "Why didn't she wake me? I would have went with her."

"Probably because she knew that you would overreact like you just did." Joe commented.

"Funny," Frank said. He reached for the phone and called Nancy's cell phone. He let it ring and then let out a frustrated breath when her voicemail picked up. "Hey, it's me. Call me as soon as you get this."

"She's fine, Frank." Joe said as he saw Frank dial her number again. "She'll let you know as soon as she knows something."

"I know," Frank said, putting down the receiver.

"Now I, on the other hand, am not fine." Joe said.

"Let me guess–food." Frank said.

"Right you are." Joe said. "And I want to get out of here."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Joe." Frank said.

"I don't care what you think right now, Frank."Joe said. "I either get out of here with you or I'll get out of here by myself."

"Let me take a shower," Frank said. "That is, if your stomach can wait."

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It was a good thing thatNancy was sitting down, because she wasn't sure that her legs would have been able to hold her up. She stared at Dr. Chase, unable to say anything. I could be PREGNANT! But how?

Well, she knew how; she didn't need that part explained to her. And sure, she and Frank had been discussing the possibility of starting a family, but she didn't think it would be now. Just calm down, Nancy told herself. Dr. Chase just said she thought I may be pregnant.

Nancy didn't realize she was off in her own world until Dr. Chase cleared her throat.

"Nancy...are you okay?" Dr. Chase asked.

Nancy felt her head slowly moving up and down.

"Can you speak?" Dr. Chase asked.

"Y-Yes," Nancy finally said. "I'm sorry. I just kind of zoned out."

"It's okay," Dr. Chase said, understandingly. "Now, we can't be definite until we do a pregnancy test, so I don't want you to get your hopes up."

"I understand," Nancy said. "Can we do it now?"

"Of course," Dr. Chase said. She looked at Nancy questioningly. "I have to ask you this, Nancy. Are you sure this is something you want?"

"I've always wanted to be a mother," Nancy said. "I guess it just took me by surprise, is all."

Dr. Chase smiled at her. "Let's go find out for sure, then."

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Nancy was unable to stop moving around in her chair. Any minute now, Dr. Chase would be coming in, telling her if her life was about to change. And now that Nancy thought about it, maybe it would be great if it happened now. She wasn't lying to Dr. Chase when she said that she wanted to be a mother. It had always been a dream of hers. And when she talked to Frank about it, he had this wonderful look on his face that made her melt.

There was a knock on the door and Dr. Chase walked in.

This is it, Nancy told herself. She mentally crossed her fingers as Dr. Chase sat down across from her. It made Nancy nervous because Dr. Chase was showing no emotion on her face.

Dr. Chase took a deep breath. "I have great news."

"You just saved a bunch of money on your car insurance by switching to Geico?" Nancy deadpanned.

Dr. Chase laughed. "You're a fan of the commercials, too, I see."

"Yeah, sorry." Nancy said.

"It's okay," Dr. Chase said. "It kind of broke the tension in here."

"Okay, so...news." Nancy said.

"Yes, great news." She looked at Nancy and smiled. "Congratulations, Nancy. You're going to be a mother."

Nancy watched Dr. Chase just to make sure she wasn't joking. When she realized that she wasn't, she felt tears spring to her eyes and she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Oh, my God." She said. She found that she was laughing and crying at the same time. "Oh, my God."

"I'm hoping those are tears of joy that I'm seeing." Dr. Chase said.

Nancy nodded, trying to stop crying and laughing. "Yes, definitely joy. Thank you so much, Dr. Chase."

"I don't think I'm the one you should be thanking," Dr. Chase said with a smile. "But you're welcome, Nancy. Now, unfortunately, since this is a walk-in clinic, we don't have the capabilities of doing an ultrasound. You need to get to an OB/GYN as soon as you can so they can make sure that everything is all right with you and the baby."

"I'm not from around here, but my husband and I should be leaving in a few days. When we get back to Chicago, I'll make sure that I see one." Nancy said.

"Just take care of yourself, Nancy. The beginning of a pregnancy is always the most critical time." Dr. Chase said.

"I will, Dr. Chase." Nancy promised.

Dr. Chase stood up and walked to the door. "Congratulations again, Nancy."

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Nancy felt as if she was floating when she got back to her hotel room. She hadn't called Frank yet and the thought of telling him was making her bubble over with excitement. She put down her things and looked around the room.

"Frank!" she called.

Where could he be? Nancy wondered. She looked in their bedroom and still didn't find him. She picked up the phone and dialed his cell phone.

The phone rang three times before she heard his voice.

"Finally!" He said. "I was wondering when you would call me back."

"I'm sorry," Nancy said. "Where are you?"

"Joe needed to get out and get something to eat. We're going to be back soon." Frank said. "Did you find out what was wrong with you?"

"Yeah," Nancy said. "But I need to talk to you about it."

"Why? Is it bad?" Frank asked, worried.

Nancy didn't want to tell him on the phone. "Just get back as soon as you can."

"All right," Frank said, sighing.

Nancy hung up the phone and sighed. She didn't care if Frank was annoyed with her right now. This was big news and he needed to be here and hear it in person.

Nancy walked towards the bedroom, but a knock on the door stopped her. Nancy looked at the door, confused. She hadn't called for room service.

It could be the maid or Dad, she thought.

"Who is it?" Nancy called.

"Management," came the voice on the other side of the door.

What could they want? Nancy wondered. She walked to the door and opened it so see a well-dressed man that she didn't recognize. But then she saw who was standing next to him, and her blood ran cold. It was the security guard from the Saraphina!

"You must be Nancy Drew," the well-dressed man said. "I think we need to have a talk."

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Author's Note: Yay, Nancy's preggers! I am so excited about it and I'm the author! And now Joe is starting to remember a little from that night. Also, please keep in mind that everything may not be entirely accurate. But I am going about it the best that I can, so please bear with me. I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter and please review!