Cole, Hope, Angie, and her sat in a dimly lit waiting area on a hard-wooden bench with their lawyer. Black and white tiled floors surrounded them. Pictures of judges and governors lined the walls. She was here for the last day of Divorce Court. The first couple of days were relatively uneventful. They had to travel downtown after school. The lawyers went over their finances and where they worked. Then they analyzed what would happen if each side won.

Dr. Bettencourt said the only way Michael could take custody is if he proved her to be crazy or incompetent. Also, this judge would decide, and she may be sympathetic to his cause or religion.

A tall older bald man, wearing a blue bailiff uniform opened the door and said with a kind voice, "Dr. Michael Donaldson and Dr. Julie Donaldson please enter the courtroom. You are next."

Julie, Cole, and her lawyer entered first.

When they ambled past the bailiff he said, "Cole and Hope from the Mars show?"

Cole nodded his head.

"I'm with you. I know you two will win."

The bailiff placed his hand over his mouth and said, "Sorry. I'm not supposed to talk this much. I'm always getting in trouble." He closed his mouth and mimed locking it and throwing away the key.

"Thank you for your support," Hope said, and they continued past him.

The bailiff smiled at them.

Her husband and his lawyer came in after them. She assumed they were waiting in the hallway which was smart if he wanted to make it to the hearing in one piece.

They took their seats in the front on more wooden benches. These had a shiny dark cherry stain. The room was much brighter than the waiting room with light wooden floors. Black banisters separated them and the lawyers. The lawyers had two soft leather chairs on each side behind two tables.

Tan paint covered the walls up to the ceiling, the top was white and designed like a church, arching up towards the center. Two large white chandeliers with large white globes were in the middle. Three windows with the same wooden cherry frames allowed additional light in. The judge, an older black woman, had glasses, and wore a white shirt underneath her black robe. She sat in the middle at a large dark cherry stained desk with a witness stand to Julie's right. The juror box was empty because the judge will decide this case.

This courtroom was always cold. Was it too old to have a heater?

There was a faint wood polish odor that combined with her situation made her noxious. Cole was next to her and Hope was on his left. Angie sat on her right. Her best friend caressed her back, which made her feel better. This courtroom appeared nicer than the ones she saw on the crime shows she watched.

The judge banged her gavel. Her lawyer said she was a woman which was helpful and a mother also beneficial. She prayed that the judge would throw it out before going to a hearing, but she decided to hear their cases.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I am continuing the Donaldson family divorce hearing. I do not have that much left, so we should be out of here early unlike yesterday."

"Today we will address the custody of Colton Donaldson. Counselor Hagan, please present your final remarks."

Counselor Hagan was a younger man with short brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a dark blue suit with a white shirt and blue tie. He rose and paced in front of the judge, "Thank you, Your Honor. I will summarize the points we made, yesterday. The transport that Cole will board en route to Mars only has a success rate of 67%. Your honor, would you board an airplane that only has a 67% success rate?"

"No. II would not."

Counselor Hagan continued, "Cole has a 33% chance of dying on the trip there. Then, if he is lucky enough to survive, he will rely on the same transports to provide them with food and supplies. If one supply ship does not make it, they will all be in grave danger. Not to mention the other hazards of living on the cold inhospitable planet and relying on an untested dome structure that is being designed by children at their school. His mother is willingly placing her child into harm's way, which is why the father, Michael Donaldson, is requesting full custody."

The judge addressed, her husband. "Dr. Michael Donaldson is that correct?"

"Yes. It is," he said, reluctantly, staring at his wife. He had lost his initial swagger he had when he moved out.

"Counselor Norvell, please present your final remarks."

Her lawyer stood up in front of the judge. She was a natural blonde-haired young woman that wore and gray business suit with no tie and a white-collared shirt. She stated, "Thank you, Your Honor. Dr. Donaldson signed a contract to join this expedition and only recently, decided he no longer wanted to go. If he wants to back out that is fine. Yet, he has not provided enough evidence about them being in imminent danger. And there is no reason to restrict his son, a boy that has dreamed and trained for this since he was born. His mother will not change her mind which is the reason she is requesting full custody."

The judge addressed, Julie. "Dr. Julie Anderson is this correct?"

"Yes. It is," she responded.

The judge jotted down several notes, then addressed all of them. "In normal cases, I can work out visitation rights to make both parties happy, but it is not possible here. Unless one of you wants to change their minds?"

Silence.

"I will speak to Cole alone in my judge's quarters first. I have additional questions for him." She continued, "After I talk to Cole, I will begin immediately but be patient. This will be difficult, and it will take time. I promise that I will decide my decree before the scheduled departure to Mars. Understood?"

Both lawyers rose and said, "Yes."

The judge rose and stated, "Cole please follow me." She gestured for him to follow her.

"Hey Joe, do you want to get a coffee?" Counselor Norvell asked her husband's lawyer. Both strolled out the entry. Their shoes click-clocked on the way out.

"Come on Hope. Now's our chance to use the restroom," Angie stated.

Hope and Angie followed behind the lawyers.

Julie remained on her bench and wondered what the judge was asking Cole.

Michael stood up and went over by her. Is he coming over here to talk? He walked in a slow, but deliberate manner. Then he hesitantly sat on the edge on the on the other side. "You look nice."

"Thanks. But if you came here to argue more, just leave me alone."

She was fuming about having to fight to keep her future and sad for the twenty years together they had lost.

He said, "I'm sorry. I'm scared. I'm trying to do the best thing for Cole. I still love him. I can't guarantee we're going to make it there or if we can survive once we land. When I signed up, it was only me. I did not care, live or die. I wanted the adventure. Then I found you, the perfect girl, that wanted the same things I did. We were doing it together." He paused and moved closer to her. "Now, I'm not alone anymore. We have a kid, and the countdown is on. I'm nervous... scared, and when I talk to you, you are shutdown. It's your way or no way."

She said, 'I'm scared too. But I'm still going. We spent the last twenty years working for this together. But somehow you have forgotten everything we went through. When did you become so cold?"

"I did not forget any of it. I think about us every day." He stared in the distance for a few moments pondering, something. Then he rocked back in his seat nervously and snickered, "Do you remember the time Cole and Hope flooded the basement, trying to build a water containment system?"

"Tried and failed." She chuckled and brushed a tear from her eyelashes.
"The first time. The second time it worked." He stated.

"We should have stopped them, but it was our anniversary and we were watching the same movie you took me to, on our first date."

He grinned and said, "Yep. Never Been Kissed."

"So, how did we end up here?" She thought about that and remembered the other girl and easily switched to yelling, "Oh yeah. You started banging your intern."

"I didn't just start screwing her," he shouted too, but then returned to his normal voice, "We kept fighting and she kept asking, and asking, and asking, and I finally said yes. It was a mistake and I regret it. But I'm still panicking about Cole. If you saw those videos and articles you would know..."

"Oh, enough about your little brainwashed cult. You can panic all you want but," she said the next sentence slowly and deliberately. "We're still going."

The judge's closed cherry wooden door clicked, and the hinges squeaked when it opened. Cole and the judge strolled out and made their way next to the bench. Julie and Michael stood.

"Thank you for your honesty, Cole."

Then the judged addressed his parents. "Like I said, I will review similar cases which there are limited, and do additional research on my own. I will issue the decree before the scheduled departure." She marched back to her office and closed the door. It was loud and echoed in the empty room.