Judge Judy Can't Believe This Father's Gender Reveal Stunt! (DNA Results)

Añadido: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Hulk Grenuner.

[00:00:02]29-year-old Simone Decker is suing her ex-boyfriend, 31-year-old Darius Hol, for $4 800 in damages, covering the full cost of a gender reveal party she planned and funded, plus emotional distress and reputational harm after Darius stood up in front of 47 guests at the event she organized and announced publicly that he did not believe the baby was his. Darius claims he had legitimate reasons to question paternity, that Simone knew about his doubts before the party, and that he owes her nothing. Simone's sister, 26-year-old Kizia Decker, is present as a witness. She was standing 3 ft away when it happened. The courtroom settles into its familiar order. Gallery packed, flags straight, the low hum of anticipation that precedes every case, but feels today slightly more charged than usual. From the left entrance walks Simone Decker, late 20s, natural makeup, a burgundy blouse, 7 months pregnant.

[00:01:14]She moves carefully, one hand resting briefly on the side of the podium as she settles into position. She carries a folder and a small plastic storage box sealed with a rubber band. Beside her, slightly behind, stands Kesia Decker, her younger sister, jaw set, eyes already fixed on Darius with the focused displeasure of someone who witnessed something unforgivable and has been waiting 4 months to say so. in public.

[00:01:44]From the right enters Darius Halt, early 30s, athletic build, a collared shirt that suggests he dressed carefully this morning. He walks with the careful neutrality of someone who knows he is not the hero of this story and is hoping to at least avoid being the villain. He carries a single Manila envelope. Judge Judy enters. The room rises. She settles, opens the file, reads it with the rapid efficiency of someone who absorbs information at twice the speed of ordinary people and looks up. Her expression lands somewhere between professional interest and personal offense.

[00:02:26]Judy. All right, Miss Decker. Simone, you are currently pregnant. Simone? Yes, your honor. 7 months, Judge Judy. And the man standing across from you, Darius. He is the father, Simone. Yes, your honor. DNA testing has confirmed that, Judge Judy. When was the DNA test done? Simone, it was a prenatal paternity test, non-invasive, done through a blood draw. I had it done 6 weeks after the gender reveal. The results came back confirming Darius as the biological father with 99. 9% certainty. Judge Judy. And Darius, do you accept those results? Darius. Yes, your honor. I accept the DNA results.

[00:03:11]Judge Judy, you accept them now. But at the gender reveal party, which Simone paid for, you stood up in front of her guests and said the baby wasn't yours.

[00:03:20]Darius, I expressed a concern, your honor. I didn't. Judge Judy, you expressed a concern. In front of 47 people at a party she organized and paid for. We're going to come back to exactly how that concern was expressed because the words matter. But first, Simone, tell me about this party. When was it?

[00:03:45]What did it cost? And what was it supposed to be? Simone. The gender reveal was held on March 8th, your honor. It was at the Lake View Events Hall, a venue I rented. I planned it over approximately 6 weeks. I sent invitations. I arranged catering. I hired a photographer. I ordered a custom cake. I bought decorations. And I coordinated the actual reveal, which was a balloon box. Pink or blue balloons would come out when we opened it together. Together, meaning Darius and me. Judge Judy. How much did all of this cost? Simone. The venue rental was $1100.

[00:04:25]Catering was $980. The photographer was $450. The cake was $280. Decorations and supplies, $340.

[00:04:34]Invitations and miscellaneous, $150.

[00:04:38]Total spent, $3,300, Judge Judy. And you paid for all of it yourself, Simon. Every dollar, your honor. Darius contributed nothing financially to the event, Judge Judy.

[00:04:51]Did he offer to contribute? Simon, he said he would cover half. That was the agreement when we started planning.

[00:04:58]Judge Judy, when did he tell you? He would cover half. Simone in January when we first discussed having the party, he said, and I'm quoting as closely as I can. Let's do it right. We'll split it 50/50. I have text messages confirming that conversation. Judge Judy, I want to see those, Simone. Yes, your honor.

[00:05:22]They're in my folder. Simone passes documents to Bird, who delivers them to the bench. Judge Judy reviewing January 14th. Darius writes, "Let's do something nice for the reveal. Split it down the middle. Whatever it costs," you respond, "Deal, I'll start looking at venues." He replies with a thumbs up. "That's a contract, Mr. Holt." Informal written on a phone with an emoji for a signature, but a contract. You agreed to split the costs. How much of the $3,300 have you paid, Darius? Nothing yet, your honor.

[00:05:59]But, Judge Judy, nothing yet. The party was in March. It is now July. Nothing yet, Darius. Given what happened at the party, I didn't feel I owed. Judge Judy.

[00:06:12]Given what happened at the party that you are responsible for. Yes, we're going to talk about what happened at that party. But I want to establish clearly first that you agreed to pay half. You paid nothing. And you are currently the confirmed biological father of this child. Is all of that accurate, Darius? Yes, your honor. Judge Judy. Good. Now, tell me what happened at this party. Simone, walk me through the day. What was it supposed to look like? And what did it actually look like? Simone, your honor, the party was supposed to be a celebration. We had 47 guests. My family, his family, mutual friends, my mother was there, his mother was there, his two sisters, my co-workers, people who love us or loved us at that point. The venue was decorated, the food was out, the photographer was moving around, taking candid shots. Everything was going according to plan, judged Judy. And then Simon, we were about 40 minutes into the party. It was almost time for the reveal. I had gone to the restroom. When I came back out, I could see that Darius was standing in the center of the room.

[00:07:30]People had sort of gathered around him.

[00:07:32]I thought it was I thought he was making a toast or saying something sweet. And then I heard him. Judge Judy, what did you hear? Simon, I heard him say, and I am going to quote this as accurately as I can because I have heard those words every day since. He said, "I just want everyone here to know that I'm not sure this baby is mine. I've been doing some thinking and I have questions about the timing. I'm not saying what I'm saying to be mean. I'm just being honest. I think everyone here deserves to know the truth." The gallery reacts. A sharp audible wave of shock and disbelief.

[00:08:14]Judge Judy. He said that at the party you organized in front of 47 people including both of your families. Simone.

[00:08:22]Yes, your honor. Judge Judy. While you were standing there at that point, how many months pregnant? Simone. 5 months.

[00:08:31]Your honor. Judge Judy. 5 months pregnant. in a room full of people who came to celebrate your baby and he stood up and publicly questioned whether the child was his Simone. Yes, Judge Judy.

[00:08:46]What happened next, Simone? The room went completely silent and then it was chaos. My mother started crying. His mother grabbed his arm and started talking to him in a low voice. People didn't know where to look. My sister Kzia, she came to me immediately and took me to the side of the room. I was I couldn't process what was happening. I just stood there. The balloon box was sitting on the table behind me. We never opened it. A heavy silence falls over the courtroom. Judge Judy, you never opened the balloon box, Simon. No, your honor. We found out the gender later from the doctor. It's a girl. A beat.

[00:09:29]The gallery absorbs this quietly. Kzia, standing beside Simone, closes her eyes briefly, as if hearing it still costs her something. Jud Judy, Darius, I want to hear from you. Why did you do it that way? Why, at a party in front of 47 people, did you choose that moment to raise that concern, Darius? Your honor, I want to explain. Because I know how it looks. I had been having doubts for several weeks before the party. Simone and I had been on and off. We'd had a period of about 3 weeks in July where we weren't together. And during that time, I didn't know. I didn't know with certainty what had happened on her end.

[00:10:15]When she told me she was pregnant and showed me the conception timeline, I had questions. The timing was close to that period. Judge Judy, did you share these doubts with Simone before the party?

[00:10:27]Darius, I I mentioned it once in passing. Judge Judy, in passing, Darius, I said something like I told her I hoped the timing worked out. That I had some uncertainty. Judge Judy, you told her you hoped the timing worked out. That's your idea of communicating a paternity concern to the woman carrying your child, Darius. I didn't want to start a big argument. Things between us were already complicated, Judge Judy. So rather than have a private conversation, a real conversation about your concerns, you waited. And then you chose the gender reveal party she had spent $3300 on to make your statement in front of both families, mutual friends, co-workers, and a photographer who was paid to document the occasion. Why, Darius? It wasn't planned, your honor. I want to be clear about that. I did not go to that party intending to say what I said. Judge Judy, what changed, Darius? I had been drinking a little and I was watching everyone celebrate and I just The doubt was sitting there and I couldn't. I felt like I was being dishonest standing there letting everyone think everything was fine when I had these questions. I didn't want to be fake about it. Judge Judy, you didn't want to be fake about it. So, your solution to not wanting to be fake was to be publicly humiliating instead. Darius, that wasn't my intention. In the gallery, Kzia exhales sharply through her nose. the restrained sound of someone who has heard that phrase before it and has run out of patience for it. She does not speak. She doesn't need to. Judge Judy, Mr. Holt, I've been sitting in this chair for a long time, and in that time, I have developed a very clear opinion about the phrase that wasn't my intention. Here is my opinion. What a person intends and what a person does are two separate things. and courts and reasonable people. Judge the action, not the intention. Your intention may not have been to humiliate her, but you stood up in front of 47 people at her party and told them you didn't believe her baby was yours. The humiliation was not a side effect. It was the direct and immediate result of your words. And the DNA test has since proven that every doubt you voiced that day was wrong.

[00:13:06]silenced Darius. I know that now, Judge Judy. You know it now, Kzia. You were there. You were 3 ft away when this happened. Tell me what you saw. Kzia, your honor, I was standing near the food table when Darius started talking. At first, I thought he was doing a toast like Simone did. I thought he was going to say something nice. And then the words started coming out and I it took me a second to understand what I was hearing. And then I looked at Simone's face. Judged Judy. What did you see on her face? Kazia. She didn't cry. That's the thing people might not understand.

[00:13:48]She didn't fall apart right there. She just The color left her face. She looked like someone had knocked the air out of her. She was standing there in the middle of this room she had decorated with this box of balloons behind her and she just went very still. Judge Judy.

[00:14:08]And what did you do? Kzia. I went to her immediately. I took her arm and walked her to the side of the room. I told her to breathe. She kept saying she kept saying, "Did he just do that?" Like she couldn't believe it was real. Judge Judy and the guests. Kzia. Some people left within about 20 minutes. People didn't know what to do. A few of Darius's friends were talking to him in a corner.

[00:14:34]My mother was crying. His mother, his own mother, came and apologized to Simone before she left. His mother apologized. Judge Judy. His mother apologized for his behavior at the party. Kiza, yes, your honor. She came to Simone, took her hands, and said she was sorry. That was that was more than Darius did that day. The gallery murmurss. Judge Judy. Darius. Your own mother apologized to Simone on your behalf at the party. Did you apologize to Simone that day? Darius. I tried to talk to her later that evening, but she didn't want to. Judge Judy. Did you apologize? Yes or no? Darius. Not formally that day. No. Judge Judy. Not formally. Did you apologize informally?

[00:15:22]Darius, I said I probably could have handled it differently. Judge Judy, you said you probably could have handled it differently. That is not an apology, Mr. Holt. That is a hedge. Probably and differently are doing a lot of work in that sentence.

[00:15:40]Simone, after the party, what happened between the two of you? Did you remain in contact? Simone, we had a few very difficult conversations over the next 2 weeks, your honor. He asked me to get a paternity test. I agreed because I knew the result. I had the prenatal test done. 6 weeks later, the results came back. 99.9% confirmed. He is the father, Judge Judy. And after the results came back, did he apologize? Then Simon, he texted me and said, "I'm sorry for the doubts. I should have handled it privately. That was the extent of it.

[00:16:19]Judge Judy, he texted after publicly humiliating you in front of 47 people, destroying the event you spent $3300 on, forcing you to find out the gender of your own daughter through a doctor's appointment instead of the celebration you planned. He texted Simon. Yes, your honor, Judge Judy. and at any point after the DNA results. Did he offer to reimburse you for the party, Simon? No.

[00:16:49]He said that since the party didn't really happen, his words, he didn't feel he owed anything and that since we were no longer together, the agreement to split costs was no longer applicable.

[00:17:02]Judge Judy, the party didn't really happen. There is a photographer, a catered meal, 47 witnesses, and a balloon box full of pink balloons that have never been opened. And the party didn't really happen. The gallery reacts. Laughter undercut by disbelief.

[00:17:21]Darius, what I meant was, "Judge Judy, I know what you meant. You meant that because the party didn't go as planned, because you made sure it didn't go as planned, you shouldn't have to pay for it. Let me ask you something directly.

[00:17:38]If you had kept your mouth shut that day, if you had simply attended the party, raised your concerns privately afterward, gotten the DNA test, and found out you were the father, would the party have been a success? Darius, yes, probably. Judge Judy and you would have owed half the cost. Darius, per our agreement. Yes, Judge Judy. So, the only reason you are not paying is because you personally insured the party failed and you believe the consequences of your own actions should excuse you from your financial obligations. That is a remarkable position. Mr. Holt did silence in the courtroom. Darius, your honor, I want to say something about why I had the doubts because I think the context matters. Judge Judy, go ahead, but choose your words carefully because you are speaking in front of the mother of your confirmed child, Darius. Simone and I, we weren't in a good place during that period in July. We had broken up briefly and during that time there was. I had reason to believe that she may have been seeing someone else. Judge Judy, did you have evidence of that? Darius, I had a friend told me he had seen her with someone.

[00:19:00]Judge Judy, a friend told you. Do you have that friend here today? Darius, no.

[00:19:06]Judge Judy, do you have any documentation? Any texts? Any photographs? Any concrete evidence? that Simone was involved with another person during that 3-week period. Darius, no, your honor. It was something I was told.

[00:19:20]Judge Judy, something you were told by one person who is not here. And based on that, based solely on unverified secondhand information from one individual who you have not brought to this courtroom, you concluded that your pregnant girlfriend might be carrying another man's child. And you announced that conclusion to 47 people at a party she paid $3. 300 for Darius. I know it sounds bad, Judge Judy. It doesn't sound bad. It is bad. There's a difference.

[00:19:57]Simone, did you see anyone else during that 3-we period? Simone, no, your honor. I did not. I went on one dinner with a friend who happens to be male. A friend I've known for 9 years who is like a brother to me. That is what Darius's friend saw, a dinner with a Platonic friend. Judge Judy, did you explain that to Darius Simone? When he mentioned his concerns, in passing, as he described, I told him exactly that. I told him it was Marcus, who he has met, who has been my friend since college. He said he understood.

[00:20:34]Judge Judy, he said he understood. So, not only was the information secondhand, it was also explained to him and he indicated he accepted the explanation and he still stood up at that party.

[00:20:47]Darius, I the doubt didn't fully go away. I can't always control what I feel. Judge Judy, no, but you can control what you say and when you say it and who you say it to. 47 people at a gender reveal party is not the appropriate audience for unresolved personal doubt. Your therapist is, your best friend is, your mother privately, is not a rented venue with catering and a photographer on the clock. Let me ask you something else. The balloon box, Simone mentioned it was never opened.

[00:21:22]Who has it now? Simon, I do, your honor.

[00:21:25]It's here. I brought it. A murmur moves through the gallery, soft and surprised.

[00:21:31]Judge Judy, you brought the balloon box?

[00:21:34]Simone? Yes, your honor. I've kept it since the party. I couldn't bring myself to open it alone, and I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. It cost $180, and it's been sitting in my spare room for 4 months. I brought it today because I don't entirely know why. I think I wanted it here. Judge Judy. A pause.

[00:21:58]Something shifts almost imperceptibly in her expression. Leave it where it is for now. We'll come back to it. Let's talk about damages. You are claiming $4,800.

[00:22:09]Break that down for me, Simon. Yes, your honor. The party costs total $3,300.

[00:22:16]As I detailed earlier, I am claiming Darius's agreed half, $1,650.

[00:22:22]I am also claiming an additional $3,150 for direct and consequential damages resulting from the incident itself.

[00:22:29]Judge Judy, what does the $3,150 cover? Simone, after the party, your honor, I had to take 2 weeks of unpaid leave from my job. I work as an administrative coordinator, and I was I was not functional. I couldn't sleep. I was having panic attacks. My OB flagged elevated stress markers at my next appointment and recommended reduced activity. I have a note from my doctor here. The two weeks of unpaid leave cost me tense $100 in lost wages. Judge Judy, I want to see that doctor's note. Simone passes it to bird judge Judy. Reviewing this is a note from Dr. Patricia Amara, OBGN, dated March 22nd, 2 weeks after the party. It states that her patient presented with elevated stress indicators, disrupted sleep, and anxiety symptoms, and that the physician recommended 2 weeks of reduced work activity and elevated rest. It is signed and on letter head. Looks up. This is a doctor's note recommending reduced work activity following the party. That is documented.

[00:23:42]Continue. What else? Simon. I also had to reschedu and in some cases cancel several things that had been organized around the party. The photographer had a policy that his fee was non-refundable after the event date regardless of circumstances. So, the $450 is a total loss. My cake vendor refunded $140 of the $280 cake fee because she was able to resell part of the order. So, I lost $140 there that isn't recoverable. Those specific losses on top of Darius's unpaid half account for most of the claim. The remainder is what I'm characterizing as reputational harm.

[00:24:26]Judge Judy, tell me about the reputational harm. Simone, your honor, I have a professional life. I have co-workers who attended that party. I had clients who knew I was pregnant and asked about the reveal. The story of what happened spread, not because I told anyone, but because 47 people were there. Within a week, I was fielding questions at work. One coworker asked me to my face whether I had been messing around because she had heard that the father didn't think the baby was his. I had to explain in a professional environment that a paternity test had been done. I should not have had to do that. I have worked at that company for 4 years. My professional reputation is something I have built carefully. That conversation should never have happened.

[00:25:20]Judge Judy. Darius, do you understand that when you made that announcement, it didn't stay in that room? Darius, I I didn't think about it spreading. Judge Judy, you announced to 47 people that your girlfriend's baby might not be yours. You didn't think it would spread.

[00:25:40]47 people, including co-workers, and you didn't think it would spread, Darius. I wasn't thinking clearly. I've said that, Judge Judy. You weren't thinking clearly. You had been drinking. You made a public accusation against the mother of your child based on a rumor from one friend. The accusation was wrong. The DNA proves it was wrong. And the consequences, professional, personal, medical, financial, have been borne entirely by Simone. Is there any part of that you dispute? Darius. No, your honor. Judge Judy. Good. Then let's talk about what you do dispute. You dispute owing her money. Darius, I dispute the full amount. I accept that I owe her my half of the party costs. That's $1,650.

[00:26:32]I'm willing to pay that, but the additional 3,150.

[00:26:36]I think that's excessive. I didn't intend to cause her that level of harm, and I can't be held responsible for how far the story spread. I can only control what I said. Judge Judy, what you said reached 47 people directly. You are responsible for those 47 people hearing it. What they did with it afterward is a foreseeable consequence of telling 47 people something. When you choose a public venue to air private doubts, you don't get to limit the radius of the damage. You detonated something in a crowded room and you don't get to negotiate about how far the debris traveled. Darius, I understand that, your honor, but $4,800 is Judge Judy. Let me see everything.

[00:27:27]All the receipts, the vendor correspondence, the lost wages calculation, the doctor's note, all of it. Bird collects the full set of documents from Simone and delivers them to the bench. Judge Judy reviews each item with methodical attention. The courtroom waits Jud. Judge Judy reviewing without looking up. Venue receipt $100 for a room she rented to celebrate the beginning of her daughter's life. Turning page catering invoice $980.

[00:28:01]47 people ate a meal at a party that was destroyed before the main event. Turning page. Photographer contract. $450 with a non-refund clause highlighted.

[00:28:14]She paid someone to document a moment of joy. He documented something else entirely. Darius shifts at his podium.

[00:28:22]He is looking at the table in front of him. Not at Simone. Not at the documents. Somewhere in the middle distance. His jaw is tight. Judge Judy.

[00:28:32]Continuing. Cake vendor receipt. $280 with a $140 refund confirmation, half a cake's worth of loss because the celebration it was baked for never happened. Turning page, decorations, receipts, $340.

[00:28:50]She hung things on walls. She put thought into how the room would look.

[00:28:54]She wanted it to be beautiful for this.

[00:28:56]Simone's hand moves briefly to the plastic storage box on the table beside her. Not opening it, just a touch. She withdraws her hand. Judge Judy setting down the receipts and picking up the medical documentation. Lost wages calculation.

[00:29:13]$600.

[00:29:15]2 weeks. This is not a woman who took time off for convenience. This is a woman who could not function. Her OBGN put it in writing. Her employer confirmed it, looking up briefly at Darius. Do you understand, Mr. Holt what it means for a pregnant woman to have elevated stress markers flagged by her physician. This is not inconvenience.

[00:29:40]This is a medical event for her and for the child you are now confirmed to be the father of Darius. Quietly. Yes, your honor. I understand. Judge Judy returning to the documents. Total documented party expenditure $3300.

[00:29:57]You're agreed half 1,650.

[00:30:01]That number was established in January in a text message with a thumbs up. The agreement did not contain a clause releasing you from payment if you personally dismantled the event. setting everything down and looking directly at Darius, the documented verifiable damages in this case, your half of the party, the nonrefundable photographer, the cake loss, and the medically supported lost wages. Total $3,840.

[00:30:31]I'm going to award that figure. The balance of the claim covering reputational harm I acknowledge as real but decline to add without more specific quantification. The documented damages are more than sufficient to establish the cost of what you did. Judgment for the plaintiff 3,840 to. Before I close this case, I want to say something that has nothing to do with money. Because this child, this little girl whose balloons are still in a box in that plastic container on the plaintiff's table, is going to be born in 2 months, and she is going to need two parents who can function as adults in her life, even if they cannot function as a couple. Kzia standing beside Simone looks at her sister's profile, not at the judge, not at Darius, just at Simone. Something in her expression softens from anger into something quieter, something that looks like love and exhaustion in equal measure. Darius, you made a choice that day that affected more than the party. It affected the beginning of your daughter's story. The first public event of her existence became something her mother has had to apologize for and explain for 4 months.

[00:31:54]You cannot undo that. But you can decide what you do from here. Every decision you make from this point forward is a chance to be something different than what you were on March 8th. That is not a small thing. It is in fact the only thing that matters now. A pause. Darius says nothing. He is looking at the plastic container on Simone's table.

[00:32:18]Judge Judy. The balloon box. Simone, open it. A wave of murmuring moves through the gallery. Surprised, uncertain. Simone. Your honor. Judge Judy. Open it. Not for him. Not for this court. For yourself. You carried it here for a reason. Simone looks at the box. A long moment passes. She reaches over, removes the rubber band, lifts the lid.

[00:32:44]A cascade of pink balloons rises slowly into the air above the plaintiff's podium. Unhurried, silent, drifting upward. The gallery watches. No one speaks. Simone watches the balloons. Her hand moves to her stomach. Briefly, instinctively, Judge Judy quietly. There she is. A long pause. The courtroom holds it completely. And then from the right side of the room, from the defendant's podium, a sound, not loud, not performed.

[00:33:17]Darius makes a sound that is almost not a sound at all. A breath that breaks in the middle, caught somewhere between his chest and his throat. He presses one hand flat against the podium. When he speaks, it is not to the court. It is not a defense. It is not a hedge. It is the first entirely unguarded thing he has said all morning. Darius, my mother came home that night and she wouldn't look at me. She sat at the kitchen table and she just she wouldn't look at me.

[00:33:47]And I knew I knew what I'd done. I just I couldn't say it yet. A beat. The pink balloons drift silently above him. I keep thinking about her standing there when she walked back into that room with the box behind her. And I was already I had already said it and I couldn't take it back. I couldn't take any of it back.

[00:34:11]His voice doesn't break, but it comes close. She deserved better than that day. Whatever else happened between us.

[00:34:18]She deserved better than that day. So did our daughter. The courtroom is absolutely still. The balloons drift.

[00:34:27]Kzia, who has not taken her eyes off Darius since he began speaking, looks away. once and then back. The anger in her face has not entirely left, but something else has moved in beside it.

[00:34:40]Judge Judy. After a long pause, her voice neither warm nor cold, but steady.

[00:34:48]That is the first honest thing you've said in this courtroom that didn't require evidence to support it. Remember what that feels like. Your daughter is going to need you to lead with that.

[00:35:00]She looks at him for one more moment.

[00:35:02]Then she returns to the bench in front of her judge Judy. We're done. Hre Gavl strikes quieter than usual. Deliberate.

[00:35:12]The gallery applauds. Sustained. Warm.

[00:35:16]Kesia puts her arm around Simone's shoulders. Not gently, but firmly. The way you hold someone when you have been holding them up for 4 months and you are not letting go yet.

[00:35:28]Simone is still watching the balloons drift toward the ceiling. She does not cry. She exhales slow and complete as if she has been holding that breath since March 8th. Darius stands at his podium.

[00:35:42]He is also watching the balloons. He makes no move to leave. After a long moment, he picks up the Manila envelope he came in with. He sets it back down.

[00:35:52]He picks it up again. Bird opens the side door. The room begins to empty. Two pink balloons drift past the bench.

[00:36:01]Judge Judy watches them for exactly 1 second before returning to the next file. Dot dot ander AP log. Darius paid the $3 840 judgement in full within 30 days by check hand delivered to Simone's attorney without a note. 6 weeks after the taping of this episode, Simone gave birth to a daughter, 7 lb 4 oz. She named her Eleanor, her grandmother's name, a name that had been chosen long before the court date, long before March 8th, carried quietly through all of it.

[00:36:40]Darius was present at the birth. Simone had called him the night before. Kzia drove Simone to the hospital. She stayed the entire time. She was the first person after Simone to hold Eleanor. She has not missed a single visit since.

[00:36:56]Darius has filed a formal parenting plan agreement with Simone's attorney. As of this taping, both parties are in mediation. The balloon box is on a shelf in Elellanar's nursery.

[00:37:09]Simone kept