The end of our national nightmare might be coming to a close very soon. In addition of TLC’s airing of the final Jon & Kate Plus Eight episode tonight, it looks like Jon and Kate’s divorce might be finalized a lot faster than everyone was expecting. Jon and Kate (and their lawyers) met on Saturday for a little day-long divorce arbitration. Jon, “Forever Douche”, decided he would try to bury the hatchet, I guess, and he brought red roses for Kate (photo here). Whatever happened to the roses, we don’t really know, although it’s assumed that Kate refused them (I imagine her hockey hair eating them) and both Kate and Jon left the meeting empty-handed. Their lawyers had initially scheduled two full days of arbitration, but apparently that got everything done in a day. Allegedly, the arbitrator is going to take about a month to figure out who gets what, and it’s totally conceivable that this whole mess could be over by the end of the year. Seriously!

Jon Gosselin showed up for a daylong divorce arbitration hearing Saturday with a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses for Kate – only to have her turn them down and later leave the courthouse empty-handed.

But while Jon wasn’t able to say it with flowers, the former couple were able to express themselves well in other ways, leading to a “successful and productive” session, his lawyer Mark Heller tells PEOPLE.

“This has been called the real-life War of the Roses,” says Heller, referring to the 1989 black comedy in which Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner played bitterly battling spouses, “and he brought that as a peace offering to break the ice and try to bring the war to an end.”

Things went so well for the Jon & Kate Plus 8 stars that the arbitration’s scheduled second day, planned for Monday, is no longer necessary. The arbitrator is expected to rule in a month, and Heller says “it’s possible” the contentious divorce could be finalized by the end of the year.

“It was a positive move in the right direction for us to bring them together to the mediation table,” says Heller of getting Jon and Kate into the same room for the hearing. “Obviously before two warring parties can smoke the peace pipe, they have to sit down at a table and address the issues that brought them to the skirmish.”

On the table: discussions of everything from custody, child support and distribution of assets. “There were a couple of very emotional moments, ” says Heller, “but in the end it all came together and concluded on a happy note.”

Jon was “very relieved,” adds Heller. Kate, meanwhile, left the courthouse without commenting, and her attorney declined comment to PEOPLE.

[From People]

I think it’s pretty cool that Kate didn’t take the flowers and didn’t make a big deal about any of it to the waiting press outside of the meeting. She could have pulled out her ol’ faithful pity party, but instead she just hopped into her car, not even speaking to the press. That’s much better. Oh, wait. I spoke too soon. Sunday afternoon, a source “close to Kate” told People Magazine that Kate will end up with primary guardianship over the eight children. Here’s more from the “source”:

With lingering anger and bitterness, the marriage of Jon and Kate Gosselin is all but dissolved, as the reality TV pair agreed to give primary custody of their eight children to Kate, a source close to her tells PEOPLE.

“Kate is just relieved that a very painful chapter of her life is nearly over, and she is looking forward to building a better, brighter future for herself and her kids,” the source said after Saturday’s all-day mediation hearing in Pennsylvania.

During the hearing, Jon “didn’t dispute Kate having primary custody of the kids,” says the source, which came as no surprise to Kate. Nor was she surprised that Jon showed up to the session with a bouquet of roses. His lawyer said they were a peace offering, but Kate saw it as something else and refused to take them.

“This was the proceeding that essentially ended their marriage,” says the source. “Jon would once again resort to a publicity stunt.”

[From People]

For f-ck’s sake, Kate. We get it. Jon is a douche. But did a “source close to you” really have to chime in and underline the point? I already know Jon is an a-hole. What I still have questions about is whether you’re just as bad, Kate. It would have been classier to simply not have any of your “friends” talk to the press anymore.

Jon Gosselin and Kate Gosselin leaving their divorce arbitration meeting in Norristown Pennsylvania on November 21, 2009. Credit: INFphoto.com